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Is there a way to install linux completely from LAN? I don't have a floppy drive right now and the CD drive doesn't work properly. I have another computer running ...
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  1. 10-08-2005 #1
    be244
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    Install linux from LAN, no floppy/CD

    Is there a way to install linux completely from LAN? I don't have a floppy drive right now and the CD drive doesn't work properly. I have another computer running XP and FC4 perfectly. Thanks!

    BE244
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  2. 10-08-2005 #2
    bidi
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    Most PCs have an option to book from LAN, you might want to check if your BIOS supports that. Where I work, the computers are set to when boot, boot from LAN, format the local drive, and copy a brand new image. You just need to set the computer that is doing the booting correctly (which I don't know how to, but it's possible).
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  3. 10-08-2005 #3
    drakebasher
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    'loadlin.exe' is a DOS executable that will boot a Linux system from within DOS. UMSDOS is a Linux filesystem that can be written to a DOS partition. So maybe you can get your minimal system files working in a UMSDOS filesystem, boot it with loadlin.exe and then run the installer to pull files from the network drive. I think this is all do-able with Slackware.
    /IMHO
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  4. 10-08-2005 #4
    be244
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    Good news!

    Good news! I got the scsi cd drive to work! Only problem is, it won't boot from cd. I went into the bios and it doesn't have an option to boot from cd. I looked online and I don't see any versions beyond what I have (omnibook 800ct bios ver. 2.01 ). Can I download a different bios and see if that will let me boot from cd? Thanks a lot!

    BE244
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  5. 10-09-2005 #5
    Game master pro
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    i don't think you can "download" a different BIOS. The BIOS is a chip on the motherboard, you could replace it, if you had another bios but i don't recommend it
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  6. 10-09-2005 #6
    be244
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    Well, you can flash the bios. That's what I meant. It's running NT right now, and I am just finding that it doesn't recognize the cd drive, even though it powers on and spins (scsi external cd drive). Maybe I'll just have to get a floppy drive for this thing. Even then, though, it might not recognize the cdrom. This reminds me why I wanted to do it by LAN in the first place...

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  7. 10-09-2005 #7
    drakebasher
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    Quote Originally Posted by Game master pro
    i don't think you can "download" a different BIOS. The BIOS is a chip on the motherboard, you could replace it, if you had another bios but i don't recommend it
    With newer systems, yes you can download a new BIOS. I think it's called a "flash" BIOS. Actually, you download to a floppy (so it won't work for be244!) a program that writes the updated BIOS program to the BIOS chip. Sometimes a newer BIOS will provide additional functionality or fix bugs in a previous release. It can't rescusitate a failed BIOS, though: you've got to have a working system for it to work on and if things go poorly in an upgrade, your motherboard is worthless unless you can buy an exact-match replacement pre-programmed BIOS chip.
    /IMHO
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  8. 10-09-2005 #8
    drakebasher
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    Another thing you can do, be244, since you have another system that you were able to install on. You can put the drive from the second machine into the first and install a minimal system to it. As long as you make sure you have the driver for your NIC, you should be able to put the drive back in the second machine and then "upgrade" from the LAN. To make things easiest, you'd want to put the alien drive on the same IDE channel (primary master, etc) as it will be finally, so the bootloader will be installed to work without further configuration.
    /IMHO
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  9. 10-09-2005 #9
    be244
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    Oh, did I forget to mention that the destination computer is a laptop? Although they do sell notebook/IDE hard drive adapters...

    BE244
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