Howto: Install Ubuntu without a CD

[reisyboy]

Ahh so i can install the bootloader app and run keep it should i need to recover the system and then remove all other OS's an install a nice Ubuntu on the remainder of the disk, that right???

What i meant was just that i wanted an to keep UNetbootin on the pc. I was under the impression it NEEDED to have an OS installed, but from your reply i understand that the it can just reside on the disk, on its own.

BTW i presume when installing Ubuntu i can choose to keep the original bootloader??? or do i have to use a specific string on it to keep it?

[tuxcantfly]

I've updated the PartedMagic Partition Manager package to version 1.8, usual download spot at https://sourceforge.net/project/show...roup_id=198821

[tuxcantfly]

Ahh so i can install the bootloader app and run keep it should i need to recover the system and then remove all other OS's an install a nice Ubuntu on the remainder of the disk, that right???

What i meant was just that i wanted an to keep UNetbootin on the pc. I was under the impression it NEEDED to have an OS installed, but from your reply i understand that the it can just reside on the disk, on its own.

It needs to reside on a disk, and thus it needs to be on some kind of partition. Whether or not that partition has an operating system installed on it doesn't matter; so long as you have a bootloader installed that can load it (GRUB or GRLDR), and the file is on a partition, it'll work fine. But you'll need a bootloader to boot UNetbootin, whether you have an OS installed or not (GRUB installed on the MBR will probably work best).

BTW i presume when installing Ubuntu i can choose to keep the original bootloader??? or do i have to use a specific string on it to keep it?

Towards the end of the installation, you'll be asked whether or not to install GRUB to the MBR. If you select no, the original bootloader will be kept, but you'll need to find out some kind of way to get Ubuntu boot without GRUB, using whatever other bootloader you want to use. I'd just install GRUB, and if you need to boot another OS like Windows, GRUB will just allow you to "chainload" the other bootloader, so you can still use your original bootloader but also have GRUB installed to the MBR.

[Luca.es]

Any ETA on the Vista support?

I would create a dynamic partition with free disk space in vista and then tell ubuntu to use that new partition. Is that possible?

Thanks.

[tuxcantfly]

Any ETA on the Vista support?

I would create a dynamic partition with free disk space in vista and then tell ubuntu to use that new partition. Is that possible?

Thanks.

I don't have access to any computer that capable of running Windows Vista, therefore no ETA yet because I can't test it under Vista. Supposedly, GRLDR can work under Vista using the instructions http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/wiki...a_boot_manager but I haven't tried them. If they do work please post exactly what you have to do to get it working under Vista (other than the commands), I might be able to add support that way without needing access to Vista.

[tuxcantfly]

I would create a dynamic partition with free disk space in vista and then tell ubuntu to use that new partition. Is that possible?

Thanks.

Yes, certainly is possible; that was the exact technique I was considering using (once I have access Windows Vista, that is). The partition-shrinking bit can be done via the Windows Vista drive-management API, and thus can be used on all the UNetbootin versions, though the automatically-partition-and-use-new-partition bit will need a separate implementation on each distro (kickstart on Fedora, preseed on Ubuntu, etc.) so that'll probably take longer to do since it has to be redone on each version.

[tuxcantfly]

Note that the default US mirror for Ubuntu (us.archive.ubuntu.com) and various others happen to be VERY congested at the moment (7.10 release is probably the culprit), so UNetbootin may fail or go very slowly when attempting to use those mirrors. For now, use other mirrors, such as the South Africa mirror (za.archive.ubuntu.com) which appears to be going fast, or if that too fails, use the main Ubuntu mirror by going into the "manual" mirror selection mode, (archive.ubuntu.com)

[guyver]

keep the repository lines the same, just change the "feisty" to "gutsy", and change the apt-get command to "xubuntu-desktop" instead of "ubuntu-desktop"

I have gotten errors concerning the security and backport within the sources.list file. I entered all deb lines continuously from the command prompt up to the creation of the file since I wasn't sure if I could do a carriage return on each line you listed for the echo command. When I noticed the errors as a result of using the apt-get update command, I edited the sources.ist file so that each deb command was on its own line and I removed the backslash I though you accidentally omitted for the security.

I get the following errors:

W: GPG error: http://security.ubuntu.com gutsy-security Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 40976EAF437D05B5

W: GPG error: http://security.ubuntu.com gutsy-updates Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 40976EAF437D05B5

W: GPG error: http://security.ubuntu.com gutsy Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 40976EAF437D05B5

W: GPG error: http://security.ubuntu.com gutsy-backports Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 40976EAF437D05B5

W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems

I did rerun apt-get update but this did nothing.

[tuxcantfly]

I have gotten errors concerning the security and backport within the sources.list file. I entered all deb lines continuously from the command prompt up to the creation of the file since I wasn't sure if I could do a carriage return on each line you listed for the echo command. When I noticed the errors as a result of using the apt-get update command, I edited the sources.ist file so that each deb command was on its own line and I removed the backslash I though you accidentally omitted for the security.

I get the following errors:

W: GPG error: http://security.ubuntu.com gutsy-security Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 40976EAF437D05B5

W: GPG error: http://security.ubuntu.com gutsy-updates Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 40976EAF437D05B5

W: GPG error: http://security.ubuntu.com gutsy Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 40976EAF437D05B5

W: GPG error: http://security.ubuntu.com gutsy-backports Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 40976EAF437D05B5

W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems

I did rerun apt-get update but this did nothing.

You need to import Ubuntu's GPG key, more info at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SecureApt (the key you want is 40976EAF437D05B5)

However, I've just found this guide, it may actually work better than the approach I described: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...n/WithFloppies

[guyver]

If I use this other guide, I am not sure what I need to do to ensure I install Xubuntu instead of Ubuntu.

I try to use the following command and get a "server returned error 404: HTTP/1/1 404 Not Found": wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/deb...build1_all.deb