On Feb 20, 2017 5:29 AM, "Richard Owlett" <[email protected]> wrote:
An underlying and/or related question: Explanation of the "whys" of the "whats" occurring when Linux is "installed". _The Background of My Question_ Historically I've been interested in optimizing a minimal Debian install. My method has been repeated clean installs, sometimes multiple installs in one day. I've made enough progress that use of preseed.cfg files improves the mechanics if the installation process. Some have questioned why I do this. I've found it a productive learning experience. I attempt things the normal user wouldn't. My failures force me to ask questions. _The Immediate Problem_ I've become annoyed with the physical mechanics of installing from a DVD *or* a flash drive. The installer should be in/on its own partition of the hard disk and recognizable to GRUB2. The closest approximation to an acceptable solution I've found is described at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2/ISOBoot and related pages. That page is unsatisfactory in at least two ways: 1. It is unclear what is Ubuntu specific and what applies to Linux generally. 2. Loop mounting an image of the installation CD/DVD obscures what's happening. [An underlying goal *IS* understanding how Linux works.] That the loop mounted installer can be launched by GRUB2 indicates that the image has everything needed. That a LIVE CD can also launch the installer suggests that what I want is possible. The only hint I've had of what needs to be done comes from observing the output of update-grub reporting: Generating grub configuration file ... Found background image: /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-grub.png Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-4-686-pae Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.16.0-4-686-pae done Have not been able to correctly apply that hint. What should I be reading? Is there something simple I've missed? Thank you. How about reading the source code of the installer. That should provide some definitive answers to all the above questions. Bill _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
