HD Install :: DSL newbie install on P166 fails

I'm a Linux newbie, trying to install DSL to experiment with on an old P166MMx with 16MB RAM and 2559MB HD. From what I've read here and on other forums, it should cope with DSL and run the GUI OK.

Having failed to get this working from within Win98 (which was on the machine) I tried to boot from the CD. This works OK, boots the kernel, detects hardware etc, but then kicks me out to runlevel 2 (see below). So went for a clean install and set up 2 partitions using cfdisk:

hda1 bootable linux fs2 2400 MB
hda2 linux swap 159MB

Using the "install" option, the only version that I can get to install to HD and boot is LILO (the main HD install and Grub install options fail almost immediately). The boot is fine until it gets to:

"Scanning for Harddisk partitions and creating /etc/fstab... Done
Using swap partition /dev/hda2.
mount: cannot find /ramdisk in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab
Automounter started for: floppy cdrom
mkdir: Cannor create directory '/ramdisk/tmp': No such file or directory
chmod: /ramdisk/tmp/: No such file or directory
chgrp: /ramdisk/tmp/: No such file or directory
mkdir: Cannor create directory '/tmp/mydsl.menu': No such file or directory
chgrp: /tmp/mydsl.menu: No such file or directory
chmod: /tmp/mydsl.menu: No such file or directory
mkdir: Cannor create directory '/tmp/mydsl.icons': No such file or directory
chgrp: /tmp/mydsl.icons: No such file or directory
chmod: /tmp/mydsl.icons: No such file or directory
Checking for myDSL apps... ls: /tmp/mydsl.icons: No such file or directory
Done
INIT: Entering runlevel: 5
su(pam_unix)[701]: session opened for user dsl by (uid=0)
/usr/sbin/xsetup.sh: line 82: $TMPFILE: ambiguous redirect
Using Xvesa default 1024x768x32 -mouse "/dev/psaux", 5 mouse
xauth: creating new authority file /home/dsl/.Xauthority
xauth: creating new authority file /home/dsl/.Xauthority

giving up
xinit: no such file or directory (errno 2): unable to connect to X server
xinit: no such process (errno 3): server error."

It then kicks me out to a command prompt (dsl@tty1[dsl]$).

I think these are the same error messages I was getting when booting from the CD! Having read every page of these forums, I'm now stuck. Can anyone help?

Sounds you don't have enough memory so then those directories can't be created.

Looks like some frugal installation - with this low amount of ram you should seriously consider just using a standard HD-debian-style installation, or boot with the "lowram", and/or "failsafe" bootcodes. See http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Cheat_Codes

Thanks very much. Sorry I should have said that I 've tried "lowram" and "failsafe" cheat codes when booting off the CD, and get exactly the same error messages.

Is the "standard debian install" the one that you get by typing "install" when booting off the CD? When I've tried this it exits back to the install menu almost immediately and won't boot from HD. LILO is the only one that even gets this far.

I have only installed DSL through the fluxbox menu and manually, but http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Cheat_Codes#Other_boot_labels says "install" bootcode should allow you to do most of the viable options.

It exits "almost" immediately <-- what does that mean? Please describe exactly what happens here.

Thanks for all your help.

Using the install option from the boot CD (option 3) it asks for the target partition (hda1), whether I want multiuser logins (n), whether to use ext3 (n) and to confirm (y). It then gives me:

"Creating ext2 filesystem on hda1"

for about a second before returning to the install menu, at which point I reboot.

When I did this BEFORE installing LILO it then wouldn't boot from HD at all. AFTER installing LILO it begins to boot but then gives the error:

"Can't find KNOPPIX filesystem, sorry
Dropping you to a (very limited) shell
Press reset button to quit

Additional builtin commands available:
cat mount umount
insmod rmmod lsmod"

And drops me to a knoppix prompt. This suggests to me that the install is not working, but is getting far enough to screw up whatever is already there.

However ... my guess is that this installation issue is a red herring since I get the same error messages whether I boot from CD (even using "lowram" or "failsafe") or HD (with LILO since this is the only one that boots). It may be lack of RAM as you suggest (Win98 says 16MB but DSL says it's got 13260KB during boot) but other posts here suggest that this should be enough.

Any other ideas?

PS I have tried both the syslinux and isolinux boot CDs with the same results.

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