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#1 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008, 08:40 AM

The laptop here will not read a cd-r, so neither will it boot off one.
Thus, I cannot boot from a qtparted cd. As everyone knows, partitioning a
mounted drive is a no-no, and I can't unmount the root directory. I can
connect the lap to a network. Is it possible to put the cd in a "server"
machine, and boot the lap off of it? I've looked in Google, but I'm
getting crosseyed. I just want to know if the above, or something like it
is possible; if so, I'll get further crosseyed. If there's some other way
to handle this, I'm all ears.

#2 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008, 08:40 AM

edju wrote:
> The laptop here will not read a cd-r, so neither will it boot off one.
> Thus, I cannot boot from a qtparted cd. As everyone knows, partitioning a
> mounted drive is a no-no, and I can't unmount the root directory. I can
> connect the lap to a network. Is it possible to put the cd in a "server"
> machine, and boot the lap off of it? I've looked in Google, but I'm
> getting crosseyed. I just want to know if the above, or something like it
> is possible; if so, I'll get further crosseyed. If there's some other way
> to handle this, I'm all ears.

Well not a linux solution ( don't know much about it yet )
but it it still might work.
Some ( many) CD dives have trouble reading certain brands
CD-r's . One brand CD is doing fine in some brands CD drives
while others don't and visa versa.
So try a few other brands CD-R's and burn it at a lower then
the max supported speed.
One other thing to check is looking for a firmware update
for your CD Drive, and look what the CD drive company says about
what brands CD-R's are supported as it is.

Edmund

#3 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008, 08:40 AM

edju wrote:
> The laptop here will not read a cd-r, so neither will it boot off one.
> Thus, I cannot boot from a qtparted cd. As everyone knows, partitioning a
> mounted drive is a no-no, and I can't unmount the root directory. I can
> connect the lap to a network. Is it possible to put the cd in a "server"
> machine, and boot the lap off of it? I've looked in Google, but I'm
> getting crosseyed. I just want to know if the above, or something like it
> is possible; if so, I'll get further crosseyed. If there's some other way
> to handle this, I'm all ears.
>
>

Grub and syslinux has the possibility to boot from network. I've done
it a few times but I don't remember exactly how to do it. You could use
the debian install procedure described here:
http://www.us.debian.org/distrib/netboot

I hope this helps.

wimpunk.

#4 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008, 08:40 AM

I demand that Edmund may or may not have written...

> edju wrote:
>> The laptop here will not read a cd-r, so neither will it boot off one.
>> Thus, I cannot boot from a qtparted cd.
[snip]
> Some ( many) CD dives have trouble reading certain brands CD-r's. One brand
> CD is doing fine in some brands CD drives while others don't and visa
> versa. So try a few other brands CD-R's and burn it at a lower then the max
> supported speed.

Alternatively, try a CD-RW.

[snip]
--
| Darren Salt | linux or ds at | nr. Ashington, | Toon
| RISC OS, Linux | youmustbejoking,demon,co,uk | Northumberland | Army
| + Use more efficient products. Use less. BE MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT.

The more things change, the more they'll never be the same again.

#5 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008, 08:40 AM

On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:27:35 -0400, edju wrote:

> The laptop here will not read a cd-r, so neither will it boot off one.
> Thus, I cannot boot from a qtparted cd. As everyone knows, partitioning a
> mounted drive is a no-no, and I can't unmount the root directory. I can
> connect the lap to a network. Is it possible to put the cd in a "server"
> machine, and boot the lap off of it? I've looked in Google, but I'm
> getting crosseyed. I just want to know if the above, or something like it
> is possible; if so, I'll get further crosseyed. If there's some other way
> to handle this, I'm all ears.

You might consider the first few chapters of the Gentoo install book. It
tells how to create a minimal system on a new partition.

You've not fully explained the situation - obviously if your current
partition fills the disk, the above would not work.

Would it boot from a USB CD drive?

#6 (**permalink**) 01-19-2008, 08:40 AM

On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:27:35 -0400, edju wrote:

> The laptop here will not read a cd-r, so neither will it boot off one.
> Thus, I cannot boot from a qtparted cd. As everyone knows, partitioning a
> mounted drive is a no-no, and I can't unmount the root directory. I can
> connect the lap to a network. Is it possible to put the cd in a "server"
> machine, and boot the lap off of it? I've looked in Google, but I'm
> getting crosseyed. I just want to know if the above, or something like it
> is possible; if so, I'll get further crosseyed. If there's some other way
> to handle this, I'm all ears.

It might get you better answers if you mentioned what laptop.

Is this a very old laptop, if it is Debian Etch may run very slowly on it,
even with enough memory. I have an old one, 500MHz K6 with 160MB that
runs well but slow, it's from 1999 yet it still is able to read a properly
burned CDR. If you burned the CD on a Windows machine, is it in a format
that can be read? I don't mean to insult you, but you didn't make the
common mistake of just burning the downloaded ISO to a CD, which will not
be bootable, did you? Does the laptop have a floppy it can boot from, in
that case smart boot manager on a floppy would allow you to boot from the
CD?

Tell us the make and model of your laptop, someone may even have one and
already know the answer you seek.

Rodney

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