install from a boot floppy

[mukie]

my computer doesnt boot from cdrom is there a way to boot from a floppy and the mount the cdrom??

[pjp]

Here's an Alternative Install Guide.
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[texon]

Really, Gentoo desperately needs its own boot floppy
with DHCP network support. Every single "Alternative
Install" document or Forum post has some fatal flaw
for many people. Since both RedHat and Mandrake
have long had robust network install methods --- I use
Mandrake's network.img floppy --- Gentoo should be
able to provide one as well.

Here is a typical problem: I have a laptop with a
RealTek 8139 Ethernet card, but I need to use
DHCP, and absolutely _no_ floppy distro works;
especially not toms. They just don't; I'm not sure
why.

The closest I came to getting an install is to just use
the Mandrake install floppy, so that I can get past the
point where it has run DHCP OK, but then I don't know
how to get to a command prompt.

So far I've tried over 10 single-floppy boot disks, but
I _never_ get eth0 up. So maybe I'm incompetent, but
even that is beside the point since I am routinely able
to install Redhat or Mandrake, and have been for years,
without a CDROM.

I've read through every thread and HOWTO on this site,
and none of them work for me. (Please don't make me
run an ftp server on a local network!) All I need is to get
a command prompt (_with_ fdisk!) that also run dhcp!

Again, I know that the moderators are probably tired of
this theme, but it is still an important issue, especially
since so many people can install other distros from a
single-floppy network boot disk, but have trouble with
gentoo.

And I'm constantly reminded of this problem because my
main machine is a desktop running gcc-3.2 and gnome2,
which I installed with far fewer hassles than I've encountered
trying to get this CDROM-less laptop installed.

Vent over ...

texon

[pjp]

I would suggest that you read this thread regarding boot disks. As to why Gentoo doesn't have one, I don't know for sure. I'm guessing because it is such a new distro, it is geared toward newer hardware. I would think Gentoo would eventually have a boot disk. The link above should be enough to get you started in creating one. If you do, you could probably submit it as an option. If a boot disk is the only way you can install, and none of the others are working, Gentoo may not be for you at this time.
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[rac]

I think phong's bootdisk howto describes a method that can use any bootdisk you like. What's the fatal flaw in that technique?
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For every higher wall, there is a taller ladder

[Guest]

I'm not sure what the fatal flaw is, but what happens on
my computer is that I can't get DHCP to work. Usually,
its that the eth0 device won't come up, though on one
boot disk I did get it to RUNNING, but 'ifconfiig eth0 up'
gave some SIOetc errors. On other boot disks, like
the famous (and evidently quite good) toms boot disk,
the eth0 comes up, but the dhcp command, dhcpcd-- I
think, gives SIOetc type errors as well.

My guess is that Redhat/Mandrake et al have had a _lot_
of time to get their network boot disks working on basically
any hardware. Those disks have tons of ethernet device
drivers, for instance.

Gentoo is kinda new, and because you have to do all kinds
of manual things to get it installed anyway, a robust
boot floppy is probably not a high priority. But then again
I've been completely amazed at how straightforward the
CDROM based install is, even though looking at the install
guide you'd (or I'd) think that it would be very tough. So
I'm sure a robust network floppy install will happen eventually.
If I understood enough about boot/root disks, I'd work on it
myself.

That other thread you pointed me to, BTW, is very good. Didn't
see it the first time around.

Later,

texon

[phong]

Did you try the "Smart Boot Manager" referenced in my howto? If you have an atapi CDROM drive, it can usually let you boot off the Gentoo CD even if your BIOS doesn't support it. Also, if tomsrtbt can't get your network up and running, you probably won't have much better luck with the CD - that darn floppy distro is disturbingly robust.

Also there DOES seem to be something about the Gentoo ISO's that make them tough to boot on some computers that are able to boot other CDs just fine... I think most bootable CDs use floppy emulation (which the Gentoo CD doesn't use), which seems to be more compatable with older BIOSes.

[Guest]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to try the atapi method
tomorrow.

You're right about tomsrtbt (http://www.toms.net/rb) -- it
actually got eth0 to UP RUNNING etc, and was the _only_ single
floppy distro that did.

In fact tomorrow when my head clears I'm gonna see if I can't
make it actually ping something...

texon

[rizzo]

So if I go with Phong's guide, do I even need the CD at all, assuming I can just wget the stage 1 tarball?

[phong]

Nope, no need for the CD. In fact, I just recently added a note about using wget to fetch the tarball. I originally geared the HOWTO to copying off the CD, because I (and I think many others) tend to find out that a computer's not going to boot off it AFTER it's already been burned, and copying it off the CD is faster than downloading it.

[rizzo]

Phong you are my true lord and master. Your guide definitely needs more publicity. It puts Gentoo in the realm of the other distros with a floppy-net install.

[rac]

[rac]

Rizzo's question about tomsrtbt and SCSI has been forked here.
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For every higher wall, there is a taller ladder

[plate]