On Sun, Mar 31, 2024 at 11:18:30AM +0200, DdB wrote:

Hello list,

i intend to create a huge backup server from some oldish hardware.
Hardware has been partly refurbished and offers 1 SSD + 8 HDD on a 6core Intel with 64 GB RAM.
Already before assembling the hardware, grub was working from the SSD,
which got lvm partitioning and is basically empty. As i have no working
CD drive nor can this old machine boot from USB, i put an ISO for
bookworm onto an lvm-LV.

Not knowing how that was done, I guess disk was taken to another
computer where the lvm-LV was written.

If so: put the (ISO)image just on the disk, not in LVM.

Using grub, i can manually boot from that ISO
and see the first installer screens. But after asking some questions,
the installer wants to mount the external media (ISO), and does not find
it on sd[a-z], then aborts.
By switching to Desktop 4, i can see the attempt to search for the "CD"-drive, which is bound to fail.
I am not familiar with the very restricted shell, that is available from
the installer (busybox) and have not yet found an approach to circumvent
my problems. i would like to use the installer, as debootstrapping would necessitate alot more knowledge than mine.

Suggestions are welcome :-)

Original post based:
Take bootdisk out the back server,
take the disk to other server.
Install there, move the disk to the back server.

What I would do:
Network boot

DdB

Groeten
Geert Stappers
--
Silence is hard to parse

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DdB composed on 2024-03-31 11:18 (UTC+0200):

Suggestions are welcome :-)

https://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/

All my installations use this NET method. What I usually do though is extract linux and initrd.gz from it or directly from the mirrors and load them with Grub
rather than booting the NET .iso.
--
Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion,
based on faith, not based on science.

Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata

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On 31 Mar 2024 11:18 +0200, from [email protected] (DdB):

As i have no working
CD drive nor can this old machine boot from USB, i put an ISO for
bookworm onto an lvm-LV. Using grub, i can manually boot from that ISO
and see the first installer screens. But after asking some questions,
the installer wants to mount the external media (ISO), and does not find
it on sd[a-z], then aborts.

I would suggest to write the _same_ ISO file to a USB stick of
sufficient size, and leave the USB stick connected while running the
installer. The installer should detect the USB stick and use that as
the source for installation, regardless of how you booted into the
installer.

As long as both media contain the same data, this should be completely unproblematic.

Think of it as a variation of, in the old days, booting the installer
from a floppy (on a system that couldn't boot from CD) but actually
installing from a CD.

--
Michael Kjörling 🔗 https://michael.kjorling.se “Remember when, on the Internet, nobody cared that you were a dog?”

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On Sun 31 Mar 2024 at 11:18:30 (+0200), DdB wrote:

Already before assembling the hardware, grub was working from the SSD,
which got lvm partitioning and is basically empty. As i have no working
CD drive nor can this old machine boot from USB, i put an ISO for
bookworm onto an lvm-LV. Using grub, i can manually boot from that ISO
and see the first installer screens. But after asking some questions,
the installer wants to mount the external media (ISO), and does not find
it on sd[a-z], then aborts.
By switching to Desktop 4, i can see the attempt to search for the "CD"-drive, which is bound to fail.
I am not familiar with the very restricted shell, that is available from
the installer (busybox) and have not yet found an approach to circumvent
my problems. i would like to use the installer, as debootstrapping would necessitate alot more knowledge than mine.

My memory of doing this is rusty, as it's a while since my
Seattle2 machine finally expired. I would try downloading the
kernel¹ and initrd from:

http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/bookworm/main/installer-amd64/current/images/netboot/debian-installer/amd64/

as these can search for the ISO in a greater range of locations.
I'd copy the two files onto the hard disk, and use an entry like:

menuentry "Install Debian via HTTP" {
search --no-floppy --label --set=root noah03
linux /boot/linux priority=low
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}

in Grub to boot it. (Add a custom entry, or just edit a preexisting
entry to suit. BTW I use LABELs on my disks.) Make sure the kernel
versions are the same for those two files and the ISO.

https://www.debian.org/releases/bookworm/amd64/apas02.en.html#howto-getting-images-hard-disk
https://www.debian.org/releases/bookworm/amd64/ch05s01.en.html#boot-initrd https://www.debian.org/releases/bookworm/amd64/ch04s04.en.html

¹ I see linux, rather than vmlinuz, at that location now.

Cheers,
David.

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On 3/31/24 02:18, DdB wrote:

Hello list,

i intend to create a huge backup server from some oldish hardware.
Hardware has been partly refurbished and offers 1 SSD + 8 HDD on a 6core Intel with 64 GB RAM.
Already before assembling the hardware, grub was working from the SSD,
which got lvm partitioning and is basically empty. As i have no working
CD drive nor can this old machine boot from USB, i put an ISO for
bookworm onto an lvm-LV. Using grub, i can manually boot from that ISO
and see the first installer screens. But after asking some questions,
the installer wants to mount the external media (ISO), and does not find
it on sd[a-z], then aborts.
By switching to Desktop 4, i can see the attempt to search for the "CD"-drive, which is bound to fail.
I am not familiar with the very restricted shell, that is available from
the installer (busybox) and have not yet found an approach to circumvent
my problems. i would like to use the installer, as debootstrapping would necessitate alot more knowledge than mine.

Suggestions are welcome :-)
DdB

A computer with a 6-core processor, 64 GB memory, and 9 drive bays/
ports that cannot boot USB? That does not make sense.


Please post a console session that identifies the ISO you are using,
verifies the checksum, burns the ISO to a USB flash drive, and compares
the ISO against the flash drive.


Then insert the USB flash drive into a USB port on the the target
computer, power up and enter Setup, reset the settings to factory
defaults, enable USB booting, set the USB flash drive as the first boot
device, save, and exit. The Debian installer should then boot.


David

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On 2024-04-01, Michel Verdier <[email protected]> wrote:

On 2024-04-01, DdB wrote:

A computer with a 6-core processor, 64 GB memory, and 9 drive bays/
ports that cannot boot USB?  That does not make sense.

Why not?

Perhaps because usb boot is available since a very long time

The OP informed us that the board was over ten years old, and does not
offer USB booting.

I would assume he would know, and you would not.

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On 4/1/24 03:10, DdB wrote:

Am 01.04.2024 um 07:44 schrieb David Christensen:

Please post a console session that identifies the ISO you are using,
verifies the checksum, burns the ISO to a USB flash drive, and compares
the ISO against the flash drive.

Ok, in the meantime, i came to similar conclusions and found that the USB-stick i was using, had consistent read errors at the first 2
gigabytes after having been used for years as memory extension in my
router. Fixed that and will replace the stick.

A bad USB flash drive would explain why you cannot boot the Debian
installer. Please buy a good quality USB 3.0+ flash drive and try again.


David

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On 2024-04-01, DdB wrote:

A computer with a 6-core processor, 64 GB memory, and 9 drive bays/
ports that cannot boot USB?  That does not make sense.

Why not?

Perhaps because usb boot is available since a very long time

*should* is the correct word. The board being over 10 years old, it does
not offer USB booting, no way.

I have one 20+ old which can usb boot but need to switch it in the
bios. The usb choice appears in the bios only after having plugged the
usb device. And of course detecting a valid usb device. You should check
that.

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