On 08/01/2024 01:56 PM, DdB wrote:

Am 01.08.2024 um 17:33 schrieb Richard Owlett:

In the phrase "to boot the installer using grub stanza (or manually)",
just what does "(or manually)" refer to?

I am using all of the options listed below depending on circumstances.
If you are clear about using your hd to store an installer iso, and you
are able to boot grub2, there are several choices:

1. use grub commandline (pressing c during grub menu) and enter all the commands by hand. (possible to ask grub questions interactively,
autocomplete filemanes, aso, but needs some familiarity with its language)

2. compose the stanza manually (using the internet and your own knowing)
and introduce it temporarily into /boot/grub/grub.cfg (where it will be overwritten by update-grub some day)

3 permanently teach grub to add the stanza, which may even be
dynamically coded, if you want, by creating/modifying a file in
/etc/grub.d (but who wants to install several times on the same
machine?). I did permanantly add a live iso for emergency booting a
whacky system.

manually refers to 1.
was that clear enough for you?
i would expect to use 32bit installer and image files, but it is
necessary to be certain about the partitioning format (gpt or mbr) in
order to give grub the correct hints.

I've never had occasion to use Grub's command line. Good time to learn.
The existing install is so old it has Grub 1.??? rather than 2.??? .
Should that make any practical difference to manual install?

Not sure about gpt vs mbr. I have whatever Gparted defaults to when
creating new partitions. I have no longer required partitions available.

Wont have time available until tomorrow or Saturday to do the install.

Thanks.

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On 08/01/2024 02:33 PM, DdB wrote:

Am 01.08.2024 um 21:11 schrieb Richard Owlett:

I've never had occasion to use Grub's command line. Good time to learn.
The existing install is so old it has Grub 1.??? rather than 2.??? .
Should that make any practical difference to manual install?

Not sure about gpt vs mbr. I have whatever Gparted defaults to when
creating new partitions. I have no longer required partitions available.

Oh, grub-pc (a.k.a. grub1)?
I gotta confess: when i did join linux, there was grub1.98 already
available and for reasons outside this scope, i went for it.
i mean: i really have no idea about grub 1. Better ask someone else to
fill in.

gpt is much more flexible compared to the old mbr partitioning, but i do
not think, it would be necessary for you to change at this point. Just
check your scheme and use it, as you like. The merits of grub2 come
handy for a) large disks and b) uefi booting, both of which wont bother
you this weekend, right?

btw: to check, i would use

sudo sgdisk -p /dev/sda # or whatever disk you want to see, this will only output information, not change anything.

Maybe pxe is an option? i never used it, and do not plan to do so
anytime soon.

however, have fun! ... this weekend :-)

I will *GRIN*
Part of why I'm involved in this is education.
The sgdisk man page links to some interesting looking material.
Someone had already raised pxe as a option which led to many links.
I suspect tomorrow will be a reading day ;}

Thanks all.

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On 08/01/2024 02:11 PM, Richard Owlett wrote:

On 08/01/2024 01:56 PM, DdB wrote:

Am 01.08.2024 um 17:33 schrieb Richard Owlett:
[SNIP]

I've never had occasion to use Grub's command line. Good time to learn.
The existing install is so old it has Grub 1.??? rather than 2.??? .
Should that make any practical difference to manual install?

I should have turned on the machines in question.
They report "GNU GRUB version 2.02~beta3-5"
Seniors should "check first" before "opening mouth and ..." ;/

Not sure about gpt vs mbr. I have whatever Gparted defaults to when
creating new partitions. I have no longer required partitions available.

Wont have time available until tomorrow or Saturday to do the install.

Thanks.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 08/01/2024 02:33 PM, DdB wrote:

Am 01.08.2024 um 21:11 schrieb Richard Owlett:

I've never had occasion to use Grub's command line. Good time to learn.
The existing install is so old it has Grub 1.??? rather than 2.??? .
Should that make any practical difference to manual install?

Not sure about gpt vs mbr. I have whatever Gparted defaults to when
creating new partitions. I have no longer required partitions available.

Oh, grub-pc (a.k.a. grub1)?
I gotta confess: when i did join linux, there was grub1.98 already
available and for reasons outside this scope, i went for it.
i mean: i really have no idea about grub 1. Better ask someone else to
fill in.

gpt is much more flexible compared to the old mbr partitioning, but i do
not think, it would be necessary for you to change at this point. Just
check your scheme and use it, as you like. The merits of grub2 come
handy for a) large disks and b) uefi booting, both of which wont bother
you this weekend, right?

btw: to check, i would use

sudo sgdisk -p /dev/sda # or whatever disk you want to see, this will only output information, not change anything.

It reports:> ***************************************************************

Found invalid GPT and valid MBR; converting MBR to GPT format
in memory.
***************************************************************

All my machines, purchased new or used, came with some version of
Windows installed.

During initial installation of Debian Squeeze (or later) would I have
been explicitly asked to choose between MBR and GPT?

Maybe pxe is an option? i never used it, and do not plan to do so
anytime soon.

however, have fun! ... this weekend :-)

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Richard Owlett <[email protected]> writes:

I was hoping I could somehow tell grub to run an installer's ISO image.
I think the posted links will lead me adequately.

I have actually tried that. The ISO image needs a little special support
so that after the kernel has booted and initrd loaded, it needs to be
able to find the ISO again. Last time I tried this with Debian the
support wasn't there which is why I recommended the documented HD
install or using the GRML image which does support that.

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On 8/2/24 09:11, DdB wrote:

If all you have is swap space or outdated crap, then back it up and do whatever you like. GPT is no must, if the disk is below 2TB in size and
UEFI no option.

If you have >4 partitions, then except for booting and recalcitrant OS installers, GPT is easier to deal with.

Caveat: I know next to nothing about GPT vs non-i686 architectures.

--
Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which can be
adequately explained by stupidity." Derived from Robert Heinlein

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