This post has been answered many times throughout the forum, but there seems to be no agreed answer. For me I have a hard drive which is formatted and I wish to be able to install Slax to my hard drive. The live cd is great but it take me a while to get the internet up and running and loads of various other configuration. could someone point me in the right direction to installing slax to the hard drive. I'm quite noob but any help would be great, also I wonder if Slax will always be a LiveCD, I read somewhere that an older version of slax had a hard-drive install option!
It depends on what you mean by "install to hard drive". There are 2 versions of this statement :
1) Run the live system off the harddrive, where they are still in their compressed state and don't take up more than a few 100 MB
2) Decompress the live system onto the hard drive and install a boot loader (lilo) and have a REAL linux system which may be 1 to 2 GB in size.
The old Slax installed did both, however you don't need the installer to do (1) anymore, as its just a matter of copying all the files from your liveCD to the top level of your hard disk and running the bootinst.sh (or bootinst.bat file if you copied the files in windows/dos mode) or liloinst.sh.
If you want the installer to install the (2) way, then download a modified installer from here (no install as live system) :
Do the following :
1) Download GParted (http://backtrack.serveftp.com/backtrack/S6Mirror/Modules/gparted-0.3.5-i486.lzm)
2) Activate the GParted module then run it (K-Menu->Configuration-GParter or just open a terminal and type 'gparted')
3) Use the GParted GUI to unmount your hard disk and format it as ext 3 (or ext2, your choice - I prefer ext3)
4) When its done and you get a pop up saying that a new disk/partition has been detected and asks what you want to do, choose "open in new window". This actually mounts the partition again - take note of what it is mounted as (eg /mnt/sda1)
5) Close the new window that opened and clos GParted
6) Open a terminal and use kmdr-executor to run the downloaded slax6-install.kmdr - for eg: if you downloaded it to /tmp then do
kmdr-executor /tmp/slax6-install.kmdr
The "Source (Slax CD)" should be blank, "Install SLAX to:" should be the mounted ext3 partition you just formated, "Write MBR to" should be /dev/sd? where ? is the same as your harddisk. So for example if your hard disk is mounted as /mnt/sda1 then your options should be :
Source (Slax CD) :
Install SLAX to : /mnt/sda1
Write MBR to : /dev/sda
In most cases the default values that the installer displays are correct, but just ensure that the "Install SLAX to" refers to the correct hdd.
When you reboot without the CD Rom you should see a Red lilo menu and the system will boot SLAX after 2 seconds. You will have a REAL linux system installed and all changes are permanant.
I'M having a slight problem installing the installer. the slax6-install.kmdr file is on the desktop so I type in the terminal
kmdr-executor /root/Desktop slax6-install.kmdr I get the message "This file does not have a .kmdr extension. As a security precaution Kommander will only run Kommander scripts with a clear identity." I'm confused the file displays on the desktop as "slax6-install.kmdr", when i check the properties of the file it displays the type as a "Kommander File"
You missed the "/" between "Desktop" and "slax6-install.kmdr" so kmdr-executor thinks you're trying to get it to run "/root/Desktop"
linux_mike wrote:
I'M having a slight problem installing the installer. the slax6-install.kmdr file is on the desktop so I type in the terminal
kmdr-executor /root/Desktop slax6-install.kmdr I get the message "This file does not have a .kmdr extension. As a security precaution Kommander will only run Kommander scripts with a clear identity." I'm confused the file displays on the desktop as "slax6-install.kmdr", when i check the properties of the file it displays the type as a "Kommander File"
Thank you Mark. For this has put an end to my quest of installing slax on my old intel system! Excellent!!!!! I think the other posts should have a link to these instructions.
after doing this process carefully, upon reboot it says operating system not found. there is no lilo. how can i check if the mbr has been written?
i'm running a notebook called hp pavilion dv9000. settings in bios are as default (booting from cd,then hd). the installation was made on hda1, where it previously booted into evil winxp. i just wiped those corrupt partitions off. (now i wonder if i wiped too much, if there was some tiny partition there that the laptop needs for something???)
sorry to flood this thread, however the problem solved.
on step3, you should make the partition bootable, which i forgot. then i made it bootable after and it still didnt work. so after making it bootable you have to run the installer.
how would you perform option 1?
1) Run the live system off the harddrive, where they are still in their compressed state and don't take up more than a few 100 MB
Just wanted to say thanks for this thread. I am pretty much a linux noob, but i was able to follow these instructions to get it on a hard drive. One difference for me was i had gparted as a separate live disc and just used it to make one large ext3 Primary Partition. Didn't see any option in it for "bootable", but it worked.
One problem though. Off the live disc, my resolution is perfect. But off of the hard drive setup its really really small and i cant even read the menus to manually change it in the gui. I am going to compare the xorg.conf file between the two setups, but any help would be great. (yes i have tried to optimize)
Hi Nate -- if you like the display from the cd, just boot with the cd and copy that xorg.conf over the same file in the hd install. Boot it and then startx only [no xconf] to get it running the same as the cd.
Note, there are many KDE settings which affect screen display -- those are NOT moved with xorg.conf.
then arrow down to highlight the hda1 partition, and arrow sideways to the bootable item, hit return to toggle the state of that item, and when it's the way you want then arrow sideways to Write, enter, answer Yes, and when it returns Q to quit. At that point reboot to finalize the changed item. Reboot is not always necessary but it won't hurt to do it anyway.
works perfectly for me ; i used this how-to to install the GNS3-Slax LiveCD on a Virtual Machine [Vmware ESX] and it worked perfectly thank you and keep up the great work
I belive this will work perfectly for me except my Monitor is so old slax (and the other kernels) cant use it in "real" mode when i boot off cds or mem key everything runs fine but when i follow all steps exactly as markds said Pc boots to first hdd and starts up lilo and goes to a command prompt version of slax. :(
I tried this method and now my ubuntu grub menu dont appear , instead it shows the lilo menu , but does not show the ubunutu, when i logon onto the slax side , i can see the ubunutu drive , but cant boot it , how do i fix this?
Lilo had over ride grub. You need to manually add Ubuntu to lilo config (or whatever file it use). I am not familiar with lilo , lilo syntax or Ubuntu syntyax.
markds wrote:
It depends on what you mean by "install to hard drive". There are 2 versions of this statement :
1) Run the live system off the harddrive, where they are still in their compressed state and don't take up more than a few 100 MB
2) Decompress the live system onto the hard drive and install a boot loader (lilo) and have a REAL linux system which may be 1 to 2 GB in size.
The old Slax installed did both, however you don't need the installer to do (1) anymore, as its just a matter of copying all the files from your liveCD to the top level of your hard disk and running the bootinst.sh (or bootinst.bat file if you copied the files in windows/dos mode) or liloinst.sh.
If you want the installer to install the (2) way, then download a modified installer from here (no install as live system) :
Do the following :
1) Download GParted (http://backtrack.serveftp.com/backtrack/S6Mirror/Modules/gparted-0.3.5-i486.lzm)
2) Activate the GParted module then run it (K-Menu->Configuration-GParter or just open a terminal and type 'gparted')
3) Use the GParted GUI to unmount your hard disk and format it as ext 3 (or ext2, your choice - I prefer ext3)
4) When its done and you get a pop up saying that a new disk/partition has been detected and asks what you want to do, choose "open in new window". This actually mounts the partition again - take note of what it is mounted as (eg /mnt/sda1)
5) Close the new window that opened and clos GParted
6) Open a terminal and use kmdr-executor to run the downloaded slax6-install.kmdr - for eg: if you downloaded it to /tmp then do
kmdr-executor /tmp/slax6-install.kmdr
The "Source (Slax CD)" should be blank, "Install SLAX to:" should be the mounted ext3 partition you just formated, "Write MBR to" should be /dev/sd? where ? is the same as your harddisk. So for example if your hard disk is mounted as /mnt/sda1 then your options should be :
Source (Slax CD) :
Install SLAX to : /mnt/sda1
Write MBR to : /dev/sda
In most cases the default values that the installer displays are correct, but just ensure that the "Install SLAX to" refers to the correct hdd.
When you reboot without the CD Rom you should see a Red lilo menu and the system will boot SLAX after 2 seconds. You will have a REAL linux system installed and all changes are permanant.
Hello,markds
first, I am sorry for my poor English,
and I really hope someone can understand my message below!
I have an old notebook without cd-driver, and I try to install slax to HDD on the NB.
I follow the step below , but I can't boot NB up wiht some message that i don't understand !
1.I take the hdd to become a external USB HDD for another PC.
2.I use USB stick with slax to boot the PC,
3.follow your procedure: build two partitions , and run kmdr-executor /tmp/slax6-install.kmdr
4. Put the HDD back to old NB. Yes , I saw Red lilo menu and the system boot SLAX after 2 seconds.
5. After few seconds , I got a message below
cannot open root device "811" or unknow-block(8,17)
please append a correct "root=" boot option
hda driver:ide-disk
0301 4640655 hda1
0302 3582463 hda2
....................
and then boot procedure stop !!!!
I don't know what's wrong?
and how to install slax on an old notebook without cd-driver?
S-C-I wrote:
change the first line "boot = /dev/sdc" to "boot = /dev/sda" but omit the " marks
you mean that just modify and save lilo.conf , and then reboot NB .
I tried , but it doesn't work ?
How to make the configuration work ?
I just know few thing about lilo.
Do i need to execute lilo to make a new file 'map' ?
i don't have an internal or external floppy and cd-rom driver for the old NB.
Or the steps below is right ???
1. take the hdd to become a external USB HDD for another PC again.
2. use USB stick with slax to boot the PC,
3. find out the lilo.conf on the external USB HDD, maybe the file is at /mnt/sdac1/etc/ ........
4. modify and save lilo.conf
5. and type 'lilo' at the same dir of lilo.conf on terminal windows to make a new file 'map'
1) Run the live system off the harddrive, where they are still in their compressed state and don't take up more than a few 100 MB
How shold I do to install the SLAX in compressed mode when I have it already in uncompressed mode?
I have a working USB pen but not able to use CR-ROM.
Hello sorry to bother but I followed all your instructions I think correctly.
markds wrote:
It depends on what you mean by "install to hard drive". There are 2 versions of this statement :
1) Run the live system off the harddrive, where they are still in their compressed state and don't take up more than a few 100 MB
2) Decompress the live system onto the hard drive and install a boot loader (lilo) and have a REAL linux system which may be 1 to 2 GB in size.
The old Slax installed did both, however you don't need the installer to do (1) anymore, as its just a matter of copying all the files from your liveCD to the top level of your hard disk and running the bootinst.sh (or bootinst.bat file if you copied the files in windows/dos mode) or liloinst.sh.
If you want the installer to install the (2) way, then download a modified installer from here (no install as live system) :
Do the following :
1) Download GParted (http://backtrack.serveftp.com/backtrack/S6Mirror/Modules/gparted-0.3.5-i486.lzm)
2) Activate the GParted module then run it (K-Menu->Configuration-GParter or just open a terminal and type 'gparted')
3) Use the GParted GUI to unmount your hard disk and format it as ext 3 (or ext2, your choice - I prefer ext3)
4) When its done and you get a pop up saying that a new disk/partition has been detected and asks what you want to do, choose "open in new window". This actually mounts the partition again - take note of what it is mounted as (eg /mnt/sda1)
5) Close the new window that opened and clos GParted
6) Open a terminal and use kmdr-executor to run the downloaded slax6-install.kmdr - for eg: if you downloaded it to /tmp then do
kmdr-executor /tmp/slax6-install.kmdr
The "Source (Slax CD)" should be blank, "Install SLAX to:" should be the mounted ext3 partition you just formated, "Write MBR to" should be /dev/sd? where ? is the same as your harddisk. So for example if your hard disk is mounted as /mnt/sda1 then your options should be :
Source (Slax CD) :
Install SLAX to : /mnt/sda1
Write MBR to : /dev/sda
In most cases the default values that the installer displays are correct, but just ensure that the "Install SLAX to" refers to the correct hdd.
When you reboot without the CD Rom you should see a Red lilo menu and the system will boot SLAX after 2 seconds. You will have a REAL linux system installed and all changes are permanant.
But when I reboot the lilo loads and everything is good and goes to slax text mode automatically ( don't know if it's suposed to do that)
Well in there I log in with root and toor
And then I put startx
It shows the cross sourser and then goes to a blank screen
Is their something I have done wrong or is there something I need to edit?
