Correction: I should have written "grub entry to boot from __usb__" idea.
On Thu, Aug 11, 2016, at 04:35 PM, Bruno Dantas wrote: > Yes, what you did seems much simpler and safer. Glad to hear you got the CD > to boot. Hopefully it will work just fine from USB as well. > > Just in case other people see this thread and decide to give my hack a try, > I'd be careful with my suggested "grub entry to boot from grub" idea: Without > being able to see the output of a "ls" command from grub's command prompt, it > would be impossible to confirm how grub sees the usb port (i.e., whether it > sees it as usb0 or as something else). The idea to create a custom grub entry > to boot the iso directly from hard drive would be a much better bet, as the > partition and path to file are not dependent on grub and would be known for > sure. > > > > > On Thu, Aug 11, 2016, at 03:59 PM, Marcel Maci wrote: > > > > Hello Bruno, > > Thx a lot for taking time to answer my question. I read about that (i.e. > > using an existing system to install another one) today, but it seem's quite > > complicated (and I'm not a pro). Actually, I discovered that there's a much > > simpler way to do it: > > Even if grub does not show up, it is active (which means you just don't see > > the entries). So when the system boots up you just press the down key of > > your keyboard (which is also active) until the system get's to a halt > > (which means that you are in the grub menu). From there you can directly > > select from the standard entries: > > - u: to boot from usb > > - d: to boot from cd rom > > The problem then is that your installer will start in a low resolution > > vga-mode (from what I understand) and you still won't see anything on the > > screen. But if you know your distribution, you can blindly tap your way > > through the first steps (in Trisquel it's just language selection and > > choosing if you want to run live cd or install the system) until you > > finally get to the graphical installer (and from there on it's no problem). > > I tried it with the CD today (and I suppose that USB should also work). > > Thx + greetings, > > Marcel > > > > On Thu, 11 Aug 2016 15:24:44 -0400 > > Bruno Dantas <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > I have two more questions: > > > > 1) since grub doesn't show up - how can I boot from usb / cd? > > > > > > Marcel, > > > > > > Details greatly depend on the distro. Assuming you already have a distro > > > installed on your machine, I think this could be your general strategy: > > > > > > 1. On a machine where you can see the grub menu, tinker with a custom > > > entry in /boot/grub/grub.cfg until you can successfully boot your usb > > > > > > 2. On your libreboot machine, put that working custom entry in > > > /boot/grub/grub.cfg and make it grub's default (either by making it the > > > first menuentry or by editing /etc/default/grub as appropriate) > > > > > > 3. Reboot your libreboot machine and it should boot your usb > > > > > > 4. After you are done in the usb and before rebooting, mount the > > > partition containing your installed distro and edit /boot/grub/grub.cfg > > > so that your installed distro is once again the default > > > > > > This worked for me for debian 8.5: > > > > > > menuentry 'Debian usb' { > > > linux (usb0)/live/vmlinuz boot=live > > > initrd (usb0)/live/initrd.img > > > } > > > > > > Configuration for booting some other distros from usb can be found here: > > > https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Multiboot_USB_drive > > > > > > ----------------------------- > > > > > > By the way, you don't even have to put the distro on a usb. Just having > > > the iso on your hard drive is good enough. This works for me: > > > > > > menuentry 'Debian iso' { > > > set > > > isofile='/home/bruno/Downloads/debian-live-8.3.0-amd64-mate-desktop.iso' > > > loopback loop $isofile > > > linux (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live config fromiso=/dev/sda4/$isofile > > > initrd (loop)/live/initrd.img > > > } > > > > > > Configurations for booting some other distros from iso can be found here: > > > http://www.howtogeek.com/196933/how-to-boot-linux-iso-images-directly-from-your-hard-drive/ > > > http://git.marmotte.net/git/glim/tree/grub2 > > > > > > > > > -- > > Marcel Maci > > Avenue du Guintzet 15 > > 1700 Fribourg > > 079 772 50 30 > > [email protected] > > www.liederlobby.ch > >
