Debian won't install from Windows ME

[RusBus]

I've been desperately trying to upgrade the OS on my IBM Thinkpad 380D laptop pretty much since I bought it. It has Windows ME on it currently, and I hate it, what with all its bugs. I just tried to install Debian 5.0 (I believe) on it, but after it had me agree to the GNU Public License, it came up with a dialog box saying something like "No support for Windows ME yet." Then, when I clicked "ok," the installer closed. What do I have to do to install Debian on my laptop? What am I doing wrong?

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

Which method are you using to install Debian? Did you boot your machine from Debian installation CD/DVD?

[RusBus]

I can't boot from a CD due to BIOS limitations, so I downloaded a network installation file that's supposed to be able to run within windows.

[bigtomrodney]

You might like SMART Boot Manager. It'll let you boot almost anything from a floppy

Smart BootManager | Get Smart BootManager at SourceForge.net

You can use it to boot the CD, your BIOS will only need to boot the floppy and this will chain load it.

[rokytnji]

Howdy Rus. I have installed Linux on a couple low end Laptops. I have also made up a Smart Boot Manager Floppy. Instructions for making floppy below.



1.I downloaded sbminst.exe (DOS executable)
cwsdpmi.exe (support file) and formatted a 1.4mb floppy and installed those 2 downloads to floppy. Used the 3.7 column Smart Boot Manager Download

2.1. Restart the PC, boot from the floppy and run:
A:\>sbminst

2. Read the displayed screen for guidance and run the following command:
A:\>sbminst -t us -d 0 [make sure to put a space before -t, us, -d, 0][- is a dash, 0 is a zero]
Enter Y when asked to confirm.
The above command converts the floppy into a standalone boot manager.

[rokytnji]

I was also gonna say that instead of going with straight Debian on my IBM 390E I went with AntiX 8.2 instead which is based on Debian Lenny and Squeeze. It runs fine on it with a Belkin F5D 7010 PCMCIA wireless G card with a Raylink Chipset in it. Good Luck with the install.

[RusBus]

Thanks. I'll try out the Smart Boot Manager as soon as I can. It sounds like it will be really helpful.

-Thanks!

[RusBus]

Well, I tried the Smart Boot Manager on a computer other than my laptop just to test it. It seems to have installed fine and ran all right, but I exited it and booted Windows 98, and then it came up with a message saying something to the effect of "a program has changed the master boot record. this may mean your computer has a virus." Is this something I should be worried about, or just Windows being over-protective?

[rokytnji]

"a program has changed the master boot record

LOL/ You Betcha. Grub is now the boot loader for your laptop and

this may mean your computer has a virus

this is windows saying that it doesn't like it. You are OK. Windows is having a Hissy fit because it wants it's boot loader as dominant bootloader. The Nice thing about Grub is that it will graciously allow windows to be included in the boot menu.

[RusBus]

All right. That's reassuring. I was worried for a second.

-Thanks.