From windows to Suse Linux

[cocobryce]

Hi guys,

I have an Hp laptop with windows 7 installed and I want to install Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 instead. The problem is that it consists of two iso dvd's and the second one is 6.5 GB, so I can't burn it on a dvd. I have an USB flash drive, but only has 4gb capacity.

So my question is: is there any way to install it from my hard drive? With something like a boot loader maybe?
I would really appreciate your help. Thank you!

[whych]

You only need the first dvd. The second dvd is the source code.
I seem to recall that the dvd will boot from a unetbootin flash drive. (Have a look at pendrivelinux.com)

[cocobryce]

Thank you so much, that is great news. I will use a regular dvd for the first iso, the second one was the problem. Regards!

[fatra2]

Hi there,

Instead of making a bootable DVD, why don't you just install the Suse OS directly from the web, on the fly???

Cheers

[jayd512]

Though I haven't used it in a while, I believe that Unetbootin will let you install the whole thing... no burning necessary.

[whych]

Hi there,

Instead of making a bootable DVD, why don't you just install the Suse OS directly from the web, on the fly???

Cheers

No, SUSE enterprise won't allow that. Enterprise Linux is on the Novell network and not a public share.

You can use the network install cd image that is on of the SLED dvd, to install via a local hdd, iso or ftp/http on the local network.
Instead of burning the whole dvd, you can then use a usb boot to access the install elsewhere on your network or machine.
What I have done when installing SLES to a machine which only has a cd, is to load grub on the machine's hdd and added an entry to boot the dvd iso image that has been extracted to a usb stick.

[cocobryce]

Thanks for your replies guys, the problem is that I am a total noob at this as I just started very recently to be interested in linux. I burned the first iso to a dvd and tried to install it. When it came to partitioning I went into trouble, I got several error messages that I didn't quite understand and a checksum error also; now after installing it the system won't boot, I get an error message from the original winows 7 installation. Can you please point me to a detailed and easy to follow "from windows to linux" tutorial or smth? I recon that it is the same for any distribution, including Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 11. Thank you!

[cocobryce]

Ok, so I tried installing Suse linux once again, i also run a media check and there were no errors, but I'm lost when it comes to mounting partitions and mount points. I googled it but it didn't help me much. I get an error saying that there was an error while installing GRUB:

ERROR 17: Cannot mount selected partition.
grub>quit

The selected partition is the one that had windows installed on it, I selected this one to install linux on it and format it with ext3.

[yancek]

What exactly are you trying to do? Are you trying to install SLED as the only operating system, replacing windows 7? What error did you get in reference to Grub? Where did you select to install Grub? Did you set a mount point for / during the installation? Did you get a message indicating that the installation completed and asking you to reboot?

You should make notes on each step of the way so that if you do have problems you can post some information with detail so someone can help.

[cocobryce]

Yes, I want to install SLED as the only SO, no dual boot or anything like that. I am just trying to do it in the easiest possible way as this is my first time working with linux. The error message said:

Errors occurred while installing GRUB
grub>setup --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 --force-lba (hd0.1)(hd0.1)
ERROR 17: Cannot mount selected partition
grub>quit

To be honest, this mounting terminology is a bit confusing to be. If I recall correctly, I was asked to set a mount point and I did select "/". After trying to address the Grub error message and not succeeding in doing so, I skipped the message and the installation completed asking me to reboot. After rebooting I got the same windows7 error message saying something about a device not being accessible. Clearly it didn't work so well.

I'm definitely doing something wrong but I don't know what that is.