HD Install :: Please give me the frugal install procedure



I've made several unsuccessful attempts.  Or I'd get DSL installed but be unable to save the settings.  There's some certain critical step that I've been missing.  It's so frustrating that EVERYTHING has to go just right and just ONE thing that's slightly off messes up everything.

First, I'll use Darin's Ban and Nuke to wipe out the hard drive.  This step ALONE takes me half an hour.

Second, I'll have to partition.  How do I partition this 20GB hard drive?  I'm not dual-booting, but I want the frugal install so that I can make easy upgrades in the future.  I have 256 MB of RAM in this machine.

Third, I'll have to install.  I still don't understand the mumbo-jumbo about grub.

Fourth, I'll need a way to SAVE MY CHANGES.
The one area where I consistently got hung up was SAVING CONFIGURATION SETTINGS.  When I tried to follow the instructions given, the computer just hung.

Here is a procedure I've been working on.  PLEASE tell me what parts of the procedure I need to revise.

FRUGAL HARD DRIVE INSTALLATION FROM LIVE CD

1. Boot up DSL.

2. Back up all files on your hard drive to an external memory device.  You MUST save all of your data, because installing an OS to the hard drive involves wiping out its entire contents.  DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED THIS STEP.

3. Erase the hard drive.  (Formatting the hard drive does not suffice, because it only deletes references to data, not actual data.  Darik's Boot and Nuke is an example of a program that actually deletes data.)

4. When the hard drive erase program is finished, reboot.

5. Boot up DSL again.  Go to XShells -> Root Access -> Dark

6. Enter the command "cfdisk".  You are now in the cfdisk application.

7. Delete any and all existing partitions.

8. Create a new partition (hda1) for holding the original DSL image file.  Make it a primary partition with a size of 55 MB.  Place it at the beginning of the drive, and make it bootable.

9. Select hda1 and make it type 83 (Linux).  Select "Write" to write it to the hard drive.

10. Select the Free Space and create a new partition for the swap drive.  Make it a primary partition with a size equal to double the RAM.  Place it at the end of the free space.

11. Select hda2 and make it type 82 (Linux swap).  Select "Write" to write it to the hard drive.

12. Select the Free Space and create a new partition for the main drive.  Make it a primary drive and use the default size (rest of the hard drive space).

13. Select hda3 and make it type 83 (Linux).  Select "Write" to write it to the hard drive.

14. Select Quit to exit cfdisk, and reboot the computer.

15. When the big DSL splash screen appears, do nothing or press Enter if you are booting from the live CD.

16. When you are in DSL, go to DSL menu -> Apps -> Tools -> Frugal Install -> Frugal GRUB Install

17. Use hda1 as the target partition to hold the image.  Install from the live CD.  Select y to format.

18. When the hard drive installation is finished, reboot the computer.

19. At the DSL X setup, select cancel for the default configuration.

20. To save your configuration settings to the image file on the hard drive, go to DSL menu -> System -> Backup/Restore and backup to device "hda3".  If you mess up the configuration, restore from device "hda3".  Please save your configuration settings every time you successfully make the change you want, such as setting up the printer.
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It's so frustrating that EVERYTHING has to go just right and just ONE thing that's slightly off messes up everything.

No, that's a good thing. It's a lot better than having some stupid little thing happen after you've installed that negatively affects your system.

As for the speed of using Darik's, that's entirely optional -- but a good idea if you want or need a clean start on your drive. You don't need to run that every time you muck up trying to install DSL.

Here's a step by step guide for frugal install. You can use GRUB instead of LILO.
http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites....wto.pdf
OK, I remember reading that document before.  The installation process was skipping many of those steps, and then I later found out that the document was for the lilo install and not the grub install (not available until recently in DSL) that I was using.

Should I use a frugal lilo install instead of a frugal grub install?  I heard that grub is superior to lilo because it's more stable.  On the other hand, if lilo is better supported, then I should use that instead.

Once I have DSL installed to my hard drive, how do I save my settings?  The last time I had DSL installed to my hard drive, I couldn't save any files, and I had to change the settings every time I booted up.  And when I tried to backup my settings to hda3 (as the documentation suggested), my computer would hang.
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14. Select Quit to exit cfdisk, and reboot the computer.

It hangs 'cause hda3 hasn't been formatted. DSL doesn't format any other partitions than the install partition. Change that to
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14. Select Quit to exit cfdisk, format all your partitions and reboot

ie sudo mke2fs /dev/hda1
sudo mke2fs -j /dev/hda3
sudo mkswap /dev/hda2

this makes hda3 ext3, so your data is safer on a blackout...
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