[SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

steevols · 2009-05-27 16:08:21

I've got an older Toshiba laptop that I currently am running XP and Zenwalk on. I'd like to switch out Arch for Zenwalk but the laptop will not boot from USB (not a BIOS option) and can't boot from CD (internal drive died a few weeks ago and obviously can't boot from a USB CD drive).

Is it possible to install Arch without using a USB drive or CD to start that first boot? Is there some way that I can make the existing GRUB see a USB drive?

I'm leaning towards removing the laptop's hard drive, connecting it to my desktop, and copying the desktop's install of Arch on to the drive by backing up the existing grub configuration and then 1) wiping / on the laptop 2) tarring up all of / on the desktop 3) untarring on laptop and 4) editing grub's config to match the arch kernel.

Has anyone ever attempted something like this before, or does anyone have a better way of doing things?

Last edited by steevols (2009-05-29 18:23:10)

gazj · 2009-05-27 18:03:12

Just do the install of arch with your drive in your dekstop, chances are it will boot when you put it back in your laptop on the fallback initrd, has worked for me before

steevols · 2009-05-27 18:24:35

Thanks, I'll try that when I get out of the office this evening. Why would I need to use the fallback initrd, and what would I need to do to fix whatever causes the need for using the fallback initrd?

gazj · 2009-05-27 18:41:25

/etc/mkinitcpio.conf will be created acording to your hardware (your desktop in this case) during installation. The installer will use a program called mkinitcpio to create the initrd to be used with the linux kernel. The installer will then create two grub entries.

1 Arch Linux - Is the initrd created during installation taylored to your hardware
2. Arch Linux Fallback - Is the initrd used with all disk controller modules and filesystems raid lvm etc to work in any situation

You can boot using two, then once into your installation on your laptop edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf to your hardware's needs and re-run mkinitcpio

mkinitcpio wiki page http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mkinitcpio

snowpine · 2009-05-27 19:22:17

If that does not work (and it sounds like a good idea), you could try Unetbootin in hard drive mode: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

hokasch · 2009-05-27 23:45:26

Unetbootin uses an outdated image which won't get you anywhere, if you use a custom one you should try the isolinux or archboot isos.
And try to avoid PXE boot - I just wasted a day on it and ended up installing ubuntu to install arch from...

Second Edit: The following part is bullshit, forget it. PXE wiki has been updated and should be working.

EDIT: Oh, Wait! maybe PXE boot could actually be a great way to solve your problem...
I did not had acces to an Arch install, and none of the offical isos (+archboot) worked for me.

But, here is what you can do:

1. install archboot (script package in extra), dhcp and tftp-hpa on your desktop pc:

pacman -S archboot dhcp tftp-hpa

2. configure /etc/dhcpd.conf to allow for tftp-connections, e.g.

# dhcpd.conf

default-lease-time 86400;
max-lease-time 604800;

authoritative;

subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
        range 192.168.0.10 192.168.0.49;
        filename "pxelinux.0";
        option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
        option broadcast-address 192.168.0.255;
        option routers 192.168.0.1;
    option domain-name-servers 208.67.222.222, 208.67.220.220;
}

(adjust to your network environment)

3. Prepare PXE-boot files:

 mkpxelinux -c=/etc/archboot/presets/pxelinux-ftp

4.start dhcpd and tftpd deamons:

/etc/rc.d/dhcpd start
/etc/rc.d/tftpd start

5. Change your laptop's boot order to start from Network

You should turn off any other dhcp-server present in your network, e.g. in your router, and stick to ethernet connections. Also, make sure the ipv6 module is loaded, dhcpd wont start otherwise.

I could not yet try this, but I think it should work... If you give it a try, post back how it worked out. The wiki for PXE boot is outdated at the moment, I will fix it if that makes PXE possible again.

Last edited by hokasch (2009-06-06 19:24:23)

steevols · 2009-05-29 03:21:02

Thank you very much, guys! I ended up just using gazj's method and it worked perfectly. I didn't really even have to re-run mkinitcpio (but I did to trim off SCSI and SATA, etc).

You learn something new every day.

ugugii · 2009-06-06 11:32:33

hokasch: Could you please update the PXE wiki for me? I'm suffering the same issues (no usb, no cdrom), but I don't have access to any laptop IDE->anything equipment for me to install on another PC first.

Thanks in advance.

hokasch · 2009-06-06 12:50:12

Do you have another PC with arch installed around? If so, you could follow the steps outlined above and try if it works for you. (and remember, if you can boot up your laptop to any kind of system, there may be more convenient options to install arch, e.g. extract the iso to an empty partition if you have linux, or grub-for-dos).

I want to update the wiki, but although it should work in theory, that doesn't really convince me... I can not test it out atm, but once I (or you) confirmed it to be working, I rewrite the article.

There is an Arch iso I made with larch, it is a live system with all the stuff needed for running the PXE server. It works for me when booted from a second partition, I couldnt burn it yet (ahm, the no-cd thing). I am rebuilding it at the moment, and will upload it when it finisehd so you can try it out.

hokasch · 2009-06-06 14:35:39

Archlinux PXE Install Wiki updated! Worked for me so far, I can load the installer and select packages, haven't tried a full installation (no hdd). Please help to improve the article if you discover problems/unclear passages/any other flaws.

I also made a LiveCD for use as PXE server, have a look here.

Last edited by hokasch (2009-06-06 19:17:57)

ugugii · 2009-06-07 20:08:12

I did the stuff in the wiki and it worked fine (had to copy the src files out to a usb though, doubt it would work over PXE, or does it?)

I also tried it using the dnsmasq for kicks, but it didn't seem to boot. Didn't access the tftpd server. I don't think I missed anything either, so not sure what was going on there.

Thanks a lot!

Now if only I could install WinXP via PXE too to dualboot for laughs ^^

Last edited by ugugii (2009-06-09 13:43:20)

hokasch · 2009-06-17 00:25:43

Great to hear it worked for you! Enjoy Arch...

dnsmasq: I did not try it with dnsmasq, just left the old instructions in place. Maybe we could remove them if they are outdated as well, no time to look into it atm.

src: It should somehow work, but no idea how... I selected ftp as sources. If you want, you could add the usb workaround to the wiki page until someone figures out a more direct way (before my edit there was a paragraph involving an usb-stick, but the instructions were very vague). edit: just found this

Last edited by hokasch (2009-06-17 00:41:40)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-05-27 16:08:21

[SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

#2 2009-05-27 18:03:12

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

#3 2009-05-27 18:24:35

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

#4 2009-05-27 18:41:25

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

#5 2009-05-27 19:22:17

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

#6 2009-05-27 23:45:26

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

#7 2009-05-29 03:21:02

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

#8 2009-06-06 11:32:33

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

#9 2009-06-06 12:50:12

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

#10 2009-06-06 14:35:39

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

#11 2009-06-07 20:08:12

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

#12 2009-06-17 00:25:43

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Arch on a non-CD/USB booting laptop

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