SOTL wrote:
> Late but late is better than never.
>
> Thanks Robin
>
> Update to this I can burn CD from two different operating systems in this
> computer. Others I do not know about as I have not set the burner up in them.
>
> For those of you who do not know, care, or recall this computer is set up with
> drawers, you get them at CompUSA, with one HD in each drawer. Each HD has a
> different operating system on it. The initial idea some 6 years back was to
> test which operating system worked in my applications best with out working
> with the AT THAT TIME primitive VA system program. Now I would set this up
> different and will do so when the mother board is replaced as there is now
> other issues of compatable with the latest hardware.
>
> All that is well and good but this still does not solve the initial issue so I
> suppose a different approach is required.
>
> General: Can an iso be downloaded to the computer and then can the iso be made
> to run installing a new distribution.
>
> In particular the computer is set up as:
> hda1 = /boot
> hda2 = /home
> hda3 = swap
> hda4 = extended
> hda5 = /home
> hda6 = /home/trunk/Data
>
> If I down load a Mandriva iso to /home/trunk/Data is there any way I can boot
> directly into the Mandriva iso and use that configuration to install
> Mandriva?
>
No, because for one thing, the /home partition isn't mounted immediately
on startup. Another reason is that your boot loader doesn't understand
ISOs. It wants files on a partition.
> If this is not possible is there any other way without a network that I can
> install from an iso with out spending money say $100 for a USB memory stick
> or burning a DVD?
>
Whatever your BIOS can boot from can contain your boot loader files. If
you could properly arrange the files on a stick and get your BIOS to
boot from it, then fine. Your BIOS knows how to mount and read a CDROM,
which is why an ISO installed on it can be used to boot your OS. And
that is the simplest course of action. You might consider buying a
distro on CD from a place like CheapBytes for a few bucks and loading
from that. Caution: most distros these days are so large that they
aren't distributed on CD, but on DVD instead. Naturally, if you buy a
distro on DVD, you must have a DVD drive in your computer to run/boot it.
Paul
-- Paul M. Foster ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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