GRUB Problem while installing Mandriva 2006 using floppy

[coconutpalm]

Hello. I am trying to install Mandriva 2006 on my Windows XP machine, and I am not able to make any progress. I hope some kind soul can help me with this problem.

Configuration: Windows XP already loaded, single hard drive, CD-RW drive, floppy drive

I have the Mandriva 2006 DVD and using the LAN, I copied the contents of the entire DVD to the only FAT 32 partition on my machine in a directory called "mandrive_source".

My "menu.lst" file:
timeout 0
default 0
title Mandrake Install
root (hd0,6)
kernel /mandriva_source/isolinux/alt0/vmlinuz ramdisk_size=128000
root=/dev/ram3 acpi=ht vga=788
automatic=method:disk,partition=hda7,directory=/mandriva_source
initrd /mandriva_source/isolinux/alt0/all.rdz

I made the boot floppy using instructions on the Mandriva 2006 DVD.

When I insert the floppy and reboot the machine, the machine starts to boot fromthe floppy. So far so good.

GRUB takes over and here are the messages on the screen:

GRUB loading install......

Booting 'Mandrake Install'

root (hd0, 6)
Filesystem type is fat, partition type 0xb
kernel /mandriva_source/isolinux/alt0/vmlinuz ramdisk_size=128000
[Linux-bzImage, setup=0x1e00, size=0x17c8e9]
root=/dev/ram3 acpi=ht vga=788

Error 11: Unrecognized device string

Press any key to continue...

What is this Error 11? After this, I am not able to proceed further with Mandriva installation. Any help would be highly appreciated.

[je_fro]

I think you need to burn that dvd as an iso....I don't think you can do an install from a fat partition. Even if you could, do you have another hard drive that you were planning on installing to?

[coconutpalm]

I think you need to burn that dvd as an iso....I don't think you can do an install from a fat partition. Even if you could, do you have another hard drive that you were planning on installing to?

I only have one hard disk, and I was planning on dual-booting Windows XP and Mandriva 1006. The Mandriva documentation clearly said that installation from the hard drive was possible, even though it's not as simple as installing off the DVD. The problem is my machine does not have a DVD drive. Only a CD-RW drive plus floppy drive.

[je_fro]

Do you have an empty partition on which to install linux?
Can you link me to the documentition you're talking about?

[coconutpalm]

Do you have an empty partition on which to install linux?
Can you link me to the documentition you're talking about?

Yes I have an empty partition about 10 GB size at the end.
Hard Drive size: 40 GB
Partitioning Scheme: C: (10 GB NTFS), D: (5 GB NTFS), E: (5 GB NTFS), X: (3 GB FAT32), Y: (4 GB NTFS)
Empty Space: about 10 GB left on the end of the hard drive. This is where I was planning to install Mandriva 2006.

This is where I got the GRUB "menu.lst" file from. I went to this page, and the "menu.lst" file was generated for me:
http://qa.mandriva.com/hd_grub.cgi

I do not have a URL to that documentation. Here is an extract from the file "install.txt" on the Mandriva 2006 DVD.

Below are listed the different ways to install Mandriva Linux:

1. Boot directly from CD
2. Make a boot floppy with Windows
3. Other install methods

================================================== ==========================

1. Boot directly from CD

The Installation CDROM is bootable. In most cases, just insert the CD
into the drive and reboot the machine. Follow the instructions
displayed on screen: press the [Enter] key to start the
installation, or press [F1] for additional help.

NOTE:

On some laptops (portable computers), the system may not be
able to boot from the CD. In such a case, you should prepare a
boot floppy. See point 2 for details.

================================================== ==========================

2. Make a boot floppy with Windows

If your computer cannot boot from the CDROM, you must make a
boot floppy under Windows as follows:

* insert the CDROM, then open the icon
"My Computer", right click on the CDROM drive
icon and select "Open"
* go into the "dosutils" directory and
double-click on the "rawwritewin" icon
* insert a blank floppy in the floppy drive
* select "D:\images\cdrom.img" in the "Image
File" field (assuming that your CDROM drive is
"D:", otherwise replace "D:" as needed)
* select "A:" in the "Floppy Drive" field then
click on "Write".

To begin the installation:

* insert the CDROM in the drive, as well as the boot floppy, then
* restart the computer.

================================================== ==========================

3. Other installation methods

If for any reason the previous methods do not fit your needs (you
want to perform a network install, an install from pcmcia devices
or*...), you will also need to make a boot floppy:

* Under Linux (or other modern UNIX systems) type at prompt:
$ dd if=xxxxx.img of=/dev/fd0
* Under Windows, follow the method described in point 2, but
using xxxxx.img (see below) instead of
cdrom.img.
* Under DOS, assuming your CD is drive D:, type:
D:\> dosutils\rawrite.exe -f install\images\xxxxx.img -d A

Here the list of boot images:

+-----------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| cdrom.img | install from CD-ROM |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| hd_grub.img | install from hard-disk (from a Linux, |
| | Windows, or ReiserFS filesystem) |
| | you can configure it for your system at: |
| | http://qa.mandriva.com/hd_grub.cgi |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| network.img | install from ftp/nfs/http |
| | NOTE: you will need to insert network_drivers.img |
| | in your floppy drive when prompted |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| pcmcia.img | install from pcmcia devices (warning, most pcmcia |
| | network adapters are now directly supported |
| | from network.img) |
+-----------------+------------------------------------------------------+

You may also burn boot.iso on a CDROM and boot from it. It supports
all installations methods, cdrom, network, and hard-disk.

[je_fro]

Okay, well you're going to need a filesystem on /dev/hda6 (grub will see that as (hd0,5) because it starts counting from 0) before you can install anything. This is usually done using the OS on the install CD. I don't think what you're planning (installing from a windows partition) can be done. You need a partitioning tool. If I were you I'd get a Damn Small Linux cd and use that to format hda6 (ext3 is a good choice), then mount the partition containing your mandriva files, then copy the files to the newly created partition. Then make and point a boot floppy at the 6th partition (/dev/hda7, but grub will call it (hd0,6) Then cross your fingers.

[coconutpalm]

Okay, well you're going to need a filesystem on /dev/hda6 (grub will see that as (hd0,5) because it starts counting from 0) before you can install anything. This is usually done using the OS on the install CD. I don't think what you're planning (installing from a windows partition) can be done. You need a partitioning tool. If I were you I'd get a Damn Small Linux cd and use that to format hda6 (ext3 is a good choice), then mount the partition containing your mandriva files, then copy the files to the newly created partition. Then make and point a boot floppy at the 6th partition (/dev/hda7, but grub will call it (hd0,6) Then cross your fingers.

OK. I created a linux Ext2 partition using Norton Partition Magic. Then I copied the Mandriva 2006 source DVD to this Ext2 partition. This did not make any difference at all. I am having the exact same problems that I had when I tried to install from the Windows FAT32 partition.

My "menu.lst" file:

timeout 0
default 0
title Mandrake Install
root (hd0,8)
kernel /mandriva_source/isolinux/alt0/vmlinuz ramdisk_size=128000
root=/dev/ram3 acpi=ht vga=788
automatic=method:disk,partition=hda9,directory=/mandriva_source
initrd /mandriva_source/isolinux/alt0/all.rdz


When I insert the floppy and reboot the machine, the machine starts to boot from the floppy.

GRUB takes over and here are the messages on the screen:

GRUB Loading stage2......

Booting 'Mandrake Install'

root (hd0, 8)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
kernel /mandriva_source/isolinux/alt0/vmlinuz ramdisk_size=128000
[Linux-bzImage, setup=0x1e00, size=0x17c8e9]
root=/dev/ram3 acpi=ht vga=788

Error 11: Unrecognized device string

Press any key to continue...

[coconutpalm]

Okay, well you're going to need a filesystem on /dev/hda6 (grub will see that as (hd0,5) because it starts counting from 0) before you can install anything. This is usually done using the OS on the install CD. I don't think what you're planning (installing from a windows partition) can be done. You need a partitioning tool. If I were you I'd get a Damn Small Linux cd and use that to format hda6 (ext3 is a good choice), then mount the partition containing your mandriva files, then copy the files to the newly created partition. Then make and point a boot floppy at the 6th partition (/dev/hda7, but grub will call it (hd0,6) Then cross your fingers.

je_fro: thanks for taking the time out to respond to my problem.

Summary: Installed Mandriva 2006 on Windows XP machine using Mandriva 2006 source on the Windows XP machine in a FAT32 partition

Post-install: In the Windows XP partition, I installed two programs to access files on Linux Ext2 partitions: Ext2IFS (Ext2 Installable File System for Windows) and Explore2fs

Installation proceeded smoothly and I am able to boot into both Uncle Bill's OS and Mandriva.

I removed the following line from the "menu.lst" file, and everything proceeded smoothly after that:
root=/dev/ram3 acpi=ht vga=788



So my "menu.lst" file was like this:

timeout 0
default 0
title Mandrake Install
root (hd0,6)
kernel /mandriva_source/isolinux/alt0/vmlinuz ramdisk_size=128000
initrd /mandriva_source/isolinux/alt0/all.rdz
automatic=method:disk,partition=hda7,directory=/mandriva_source


Everything proceeded smoothly after that.

Some of the screen instructions:

Welcome to Mandriva Linux release 2006, Sep 23 2005 11:44:39

Please choose...
Please choose the installation method.

NFS server
FTP server
HTTP server
KA server
CDROM drive
Hard disk
Load third party modules


I chose Hard disk and pressed Ok.

Please choose...
Please select the partition containing the copy of the Mandriva Linux Distribution install source.
[bunch of partitions on my hard drive]
hda7 (size: 2990 Mbytes, type: FAT32)
...


I chose hda7 and pressed Ok.

Please enter the directory (or ISO image file) containing the Mandriva Linux Distribution install source.

I entered: mandriva_source, because I had previously copied the contents of the Mandriva DVD onto X:\mandriva_source

Language choice
Please choose a language to use.
Licence agreement
etc. etc.