SUSE FTP install from boot CD 2

[wmg]

Hey guys,

I've been using linux as a home desktop for about 6 months now (mdk9 then 9.1 then redhat 9 for about the last 4 months) so I've got a *little* bit of knowledge - but still not a heap - probably just enough to be dangerous with. I thought I'd install Suse9 onto a spare partition and give it a try for a while - just because I can. (Isn't choice a wonderful thing).

Last night, I tried to install SUSE 9.0 using the Network installation (via http) but I kept getting an 'system procedure interrupted' message (or some variation/order of those words).

I change to the messages screen and saw that the installation program was getting the right IP address from the DNS server but then didn't seem to be getting out through my ADSL connection. However, the fact that it was getting a DNS response showed that the eth0 interface was working. Odd.

I then tried the 'rescue' part to see if I could bring up the interface myself but I couldn't quite figure out the right 'ifconfig' command line to get that going properly so I couldn't test ping things or anything.

I've done some google-ing this morning to try and find some answers but haven't found anything yet. Currently having a look through some mailing list archives to see if I can find an answer. I was just wondering if anyone had seen something like this and whether or not it was just something silly I was/wasn't doing.

Any ideas?

"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other human invention in history...with the possible exception of handguns and tequila."

-Mitch Ratcliffe

 

[mbthaz]

Make sure that you are using dhcp as it will run the ifconfig for you. Also, if you are using suse 9.0 could be a mirror connection problem as it's a fresh release and most servers are getting slaughtered right now.

 

[fdalmoro]

Personally I mirror the FTP site (yes all almost 7GB of it) and then install from there. I have several boxes to upgrade so it makes sense for me but am willing to give out my FTP source if you want to try it.

I'm going to be Mr. Obvious but you made sure you installed the right Network Module before attempting to connect right?

Also, it's tricky getting the directory name in of the source files. I can't remember if it's the / at the beginning or at the end that always gets me. It's some combination of leaving one in and the other out or both in or both out. Prolly has nothing to do with it but heck.

Have Fun

 

[wmg]

Thanks guys - I'm doing the local FTP mirror thing. Wow - 7Gb - I though it was about 3Gb though. I better check I've got enough space!!

Yeah - I did load the correct network module (I think) - that part all seemed to be working.

Would you please be able to confirm whether that's 7Gb just for the 9.0 directory or for the whole thing? I was hoping to give a colleague the files so he could put them on a DVD for me - then I can boot off the boot.iso and install from the files on a disc (he says hopefully!).

Thanks again!

"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other human invention in history...with the possible exception of handguns and tequila."

-Mitch Ratcliffe

 

[flugh]

I'm with feross101 and the local mirror deal. I have had the last three Mandrake releases on a local drive, and it's made life so much easier with the "let's just start a fresh install and try it this way for funsies" wild hairs I get. Nice too when you try mucking about with the kernel and break the network connectivity and need some old modules or something, but can't get online to get them ;-)

7 gigs isn't too bad. My current Mandrake trees:

[root@bigtoe mandrake]# du -sh *
5.1G    9.1
5.7G    9.2

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JBR

 

[fdalmoro]

Unfortunately I'm sure it's around 7GB. The dir that's a pain in the neck is 9.0/suse/src (3GB), which might not be required. I think you only need that if you want to mess around with the code itself, not for installing anything. Maybe someone with more knowledge can help on this matter.

It wouldn't hurt to try an install without this dir. If later on you find out you need it then dl it too and reinstall.

Man if that works I'm going to kick myself. Let me know if you do it.

 

[flugh]

You can probably skip the src rpms. You will only need those if you want to compile programs. Since I'd bet you probably aren't doing that, I'd say skip those. You can always download them on a 'need-to-build' basis later.

----
JBR

 

[wmg]

Thanks guys - I'm just letting it all finish downloading first. I'll move the src directory out of the tree and then install from it and post back here with how it goes!

Thanks for your help!

"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other human invention in history...with the possible exception of handguns and tequila."

-Mitch Ratcliffe

 

[wmg]

Ok. The download seemed to have finished completely a couple of nights ago. I'm now the proud owner of 7.2Gb worth of Suse 9.0 files. Kewl.

I booted off the installation CD last night and pointed it at the hard disk. Away it went into the Yast2 installer and things seemed to be going swimingly. That is until the acutal package installation bit started. I get errors every two or three packages complaining about the header information being incomplete or incorrect or something.

So, it looks like I have some damaged RPM's - probably a lot of them by the looks of things.

Rather than blow my download limit by getting the whole lot again, does anyone know if there is a way (ie a smart downloader) that can re-download just the damaged ones? Or maybe an RPM tool that can check them all and give me a list of the ones I need to download?

If I can't fix the dead ones, I think I'll most likely just download the live ISO and try that. Unfortunately, that won't give me much of an idea of Suse in terms of speed and loading other things in and blah blah blah.

Bummer!

(I could buy a pack I guess - but I'm still not convinced Suse is the one yet - I don't want to lay down any cash until I have found the distro 'to keep').

"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other human invention in history...with the possible exception of handguns and tequila."

-Mitch Ratcliffe

 

[flugh]

There's a program called 'mirror' (ftp://sunsite.org.uk/packages/mirror/mirror.tar.gz) that I use to grab all my Mandrake trees. I don't have the docs handy here, but basically you edit a file giving the base address of what you want. You initially run a 'mirror -d -T' to get the timestamps synched up, then run it again for real.

It works for me, and has never let me down. Your mileage may vary

----
JBR

 

[wmg]

Thanks for the quick response flugh!

Do you know if that mirror app looks at anything other than date/time or filesize? The reason I ask is that I suspect all the file date/times and sizes are correct (I could be wrong of course).

I wonder if there would be a way to base the file comparison on a checksum.

Do you know if it's possible to do an md5sum on a remote file via ftp/http? If it was, I could perhaps modify the code in mirror to do that and compare it with the files I have locally - then only download stuff that was different.

Incidentally, what distro do you use? I can feel myself heading for Debian but I may end up going via Libranet. Not sure though.

;-)

"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other human invention in history...with the possible exception of handguns and tequila."

-Mitch Ratcliffe

 

[flugh]

As for the filetime/size/etc, mirror seems to be smart enough to keep me from knowing the exact answer ;-) You can run it showing only test output, not doing anything so you don't accidentally lose anything.

I run Mandrake on my desktop. It's just pretty good for me as far as "just install and run". I do Debian on my server though. I love apt-get for package maintenance. I can deal with fighting with rpms on my desktop box, but the server needs to be %100, so I stick with Debian there In fact, I'm going to try out the Progeny release of Sarge with the anaconda installer tomorrow, just for hoots.

----
JBR

 

[wmg]

*grin* Kewl - thanks for that!

Yeah, I'm kinda waiting either for the next Debian to come out or for the next Libranet so can get the current 2.8 version as a freebee.

(It's the scotsman in me)



"A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other human invention in history...with the possible exception of handguns and tequila."

-Mitch Ratcliffe

 

[wmg]

Howdy guys,

Flugh, I downloaded the 'mirror' tool last night and then had a squiz through the downloaded directories and noticed that there were MD5SUM files in each of them that contained hashes on the files in that directory.

A little later, I discover that you can run 'md5sum --check <filename>' and the md5sum tool will compare the hashes listed with the files on disk. Neat - now I can see exactly what I need to redownload.

My fear was realised when the results came back. About 95% of the packages failed their checksums.

That means around 6.5Gb would need downloading again and my limit won't handle that! I'd end up paying the ISP around $100 for the pleasure so I may as well buy it. Oh well. Maybe I'll try again next month!

Thanks for all your help though!

Regards
wmg

&quot;A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any other human invention in history...with the possible exception of handguns and tequila.&quot;

-Mitch Ratcliffe