HD Install :: PROBLEM- DSL 3.0.1 install on old Toshiba laptop

What are you trying to install? You mention Ubuntu why is this?

You should really use a frugal install - almost impossible to screw up the installed operating system then. A HD install can easily be screwed up & you haveto go through the whole installation again.

Your live CD should boot to the DSL desktop. If it doesn't watch what it does as it's booting. At one point it will display 'Accessing DSL image' & scan through the drives, then display which drive it is loading from (e.g. /dev/hda1 - the 'hda1' will be different, probably scd1 for the cdrom). If it isn't booting from the cd then you must have managed to copy the filesystem onto the hard drive previously.

Assuming you do get to the desktop:

1. right-click on te 'Atrem' icon at the top-right
2. type fdisk /dev/hda
3. type p
4. check the partitions are set up as you want them, if not delete, add, or change the type (type 83, linux is proably best at this point). If you don't know the fdisk commands type 'h' at the 'command:' prompt in fdisk.
5. exit fdisk (write partition table with'w', then type 'q')
6. type mke2fs /dev/hdaN, where N is the partition number you want to use
7. close Aterm
8. right click the desktop & go to apps->tools->frugal install->frugal grub install
9. follow the prompts
10. make sure to remove the CD when you reboot.

Good luck

Heh, ubuntu... I was trying to install that on another machine, and I got a little mixed up. I meant DSL, sorry.

To get to the LiveCD desktop, I have to:

-hit f2 for options
-use "fb800x600" command
-in X setup, choose Xfbdev
-Choose no for usb mouse and IMPS/2 mouse (2-button ps2 port trackball is what I use)
-US keyboard layout

I reached the above success with trial and error, and it frustrates me when I don't know what I am even doing... Why does it have to be FB?

Okay, results:

I get to ATerminal, then:

-type fdisk /dev/hda
-I see a list of options, the first is "-l list partition tables, -u Give start and End in sector"... etc.
-I am then back at user prompt, dsl@box:~$
-I type "p" and nothing happens

Thanks for the help so far!

fb = framebuffer
usually required for older hardware (laptops esp.)

The "p" I believe was meant to be inputted during your fdisk session, not back in your bash session.

You shouldn't see the list of options with that fdisk command. You will either get a prompt 'command (m for help):', or an error message saying hda couldn't be found (in which case there is a problem with the hard drive).

One way of checking what partitions have been found during the boot process is to look in the directory /mnt. THere should be directories named hdXY where X is the drive letter (a=first hd, b=second hd,...) & Y is the partition number. If there aren't any directories like this then either the hard drive wasn't detected, or it isn't partitioned. You could also check DMESG to see what happened during booting - either type 'dmesg' in Aterm or open the DSLpanel on the desktop & select the dmesg tab. look for lines starting with hda (or hdb, hdc, ...). This may give some idea if the drive is being found, or has an error.

original here.