Still Stuck on Newbie install setup


Subject: Still Stuck on Newbie install setup
From: David A. Lewis (dlewis@smartt.com)
Date: Fri Jun 02 2000 - 21:36:23 MDT


I'm a "newbie" to Linux and have yet to manage to get it to install
correctly on my Umax S900...

I've got two external 9.1 gb Seagate "Elite" drives, formatted with
FWB HD toolkit... then partitioned and reformatted with Apple "Drive
Setup" ver. 1.8.1 (which allow Unix formatting for Linux partitions)
I'm using just a simple 2gb "/" root partition and a 60mb "swap"
partition...

After running through that, and running the install (from a
LinuxPPC-2000 install cdrom) the installation then prompts me to
REFORMAT these existing Linux partitions, from within an "Xwindows"
GUI shell of the installer... I do that, proceed with the O/S and
basic software installation..

When prompted to exit the installer and reboot, I do,, and then the
trouble starts.... :-\

No matter what I type into the "Boot Arguments", to direct the BootX
controlpanel to use the Linux O/S on the external drive,, it can't
seem to find it!!
I get "kernal panic" errors, and "root filesystem not found" errors...

I've switched to trying the YDL iso. diskimage, downloaded off their
FTP server, but I can't get it to properly launch any sort of
installer... (I have ramdisk.image.gz and vmlinux sitting on the
"root" level of my system folder... and have BootX control panel and
BootX extension correctly installed..).

Nor can I simply "mount" that YDL iso. diskimage, on my Mac desktop
using Toast, or DiskCopy, or Shrinkwrap. however, I DID manage to create
  a CDROM with this image data on it...but it mounts as only an untitled CDROM,
and shows the iso.diskimage inside the cdrom icon, when you open up the
root folder of the "burned" CDROM...

When I restart my Umax, I get the BootX splashscreen showing up, and
I select "Linux" for the startup----then the "RedHat" type of
installer comes up, but it cannot identify the YDL cdrom image on my
harddrive, nor can it recognize the mounted iso9660 format installer
CDROM that I created from that YDL image....(I use Toast 4.1 for burning
CDROMS..)

Previously, when trying to install LinuxPPC-2000 from their official
cdrom, I'd get the entire installation onto my harddrive completed
(from the ramdisk boot image on the cdrom disk..) then when prompted
to reboot and enter "boot arguments" to thereafterwards use the
installed Linux system on the external drive, I'd get all sorts of
error messages, no matter WHAT I tried to use as "boot arguments"...
It was as if the drive was totally "invisible" to Boot-X.... I'd then
get "kernal Panic" errors streaming across the screen,

I'm really stumped on this... Am I overlooking something REALLY basic here?

Advice appreciated!!



This archive was generated by hypermail 2a24 : Fri Jun 02 2000 - 21:35:13 MDT