Howto boot Quantian without a cdrom via grub or lilo

This HOWTO was contributed by Marco Caliari, who also created the miniroot files described here. Thanks, Marco!

The following procedure is useful for testing .iso images, as well as for installations where use of a cdrom (or dvd) may not be practical, possible or efficient.

This procedire also provides a clever way to add the rich set of application Quantian provides in a small space as it requires only slightly more diskspace that the compressed .iso image itself. It can be extended easily to allow a menu-driven selection between several iso files, which could even come from different Knoppix variants.

Downloading the boot files

miniroots.tar.gz

linux24

migshm24

linux26

minirt24.gz

migrt24.gz

minirt26.gz

Copy the right files in the right place

/dev/hda1

boot

boot/

menu.lst

/boot/grub

lilo.conf

/etc

The Grub setup

menu.lst

title Quantian kernel 2.4 root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/linux24 ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet fromhd=/dev/null bootfrom=/dev/hda1/*.iso config=scan home=scan noprompt initrd /boot/minirt24.gz title Quantian kernel 2.4 migshm root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/migshm24 ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet fromhd=/dev/null bootfrom=/dev/hda1/*.iso config=scan home=scan noprompt initrd /boot/migrt24.gz title Quantian kernel 2.6 root (hd0,0) kernel /boot/linux26 ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet fromhd=/dev/null bootfrom=/dev/hda1/*.iso config=scan home=scan noprompt initrd /boot/minirt26.gz

The LILO setup

/etc/lilo.conf

image=/boot/linux24 label=Quantian24 root=/dev/hda1 initrd=/boot/minirt24.gz append="ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet fromhd=/dev/null bootfrom=/dev/hda1/*.iso config=scan home=scan noprompt" image=/boot/migshm24 label=Quantian24shm root=/dev/hda1 initrd=/boot/migrt24.gz append="ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet fromhd=/dev/null bootfrom=/dev/hda1/*.iso config=scan home=scan noprompt" image=/boot/linux26 label=Quantian26 root=/dev/hda1 initrd=/boot/minirt26.gz append="ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet fromhd=/dev/null bootfrom=/dev/hda1/*.iso config=scan home=scan noprompt"

Different configurations

/dev/hda5

/dev/hda1

/boot

title Quantian kernel 2.4 root (hd0,0) kernel /linux24 ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet fromhd=/dev/null bootfrom=/dev/hda5/*.iso config=scan home=scan noprompt initrd /minirt24.gz

image=/linux24 label=Quantian24 root=/dev/hda1 initrd=/minirt24.gz append="ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 nomce quiet fromhd=/dev/null bootfrom=/dev/hda5/*.iso config=scan home=scan noprompt"

Other than the .iso, we need at least two files, a kernel and an initrd image. The archive () containing all the kernels (and) and the initrd images (and, respectively) can be downloaded from Debian's Alioth site Now, suppose thatis your root device (which should be formatted for either an Ext2, Ext3 or ReiserFS file system) containingas directory: then copy the kernels and the miniroots inand the .iso in /. Then, you have to modify the Grub configuration file(usually in) or the LILO configuration file(usually in), according to your boot manager.First, save a backup copy of. Then add to the file the following rowsNow you should be ready to reboot.First, save a backup copy of. Then add to the file the following rowsIf, for example, you put the .iso on the root ofand you have a boot devicemounted on, the configuration file for Grub becomesand for LILOand so on.

Extensions should be straightforward. See the Lilo or Grub or Mini-HOWTOs for more documentation.