Hello, I have a problem with FTP-based installation of Debian Linux for which I could find no information on debian.org or in the howto's. I have:
architecture: i386 model: Dell Dimension XPS266, PII memory: 192Mb scsi: none cd-rom: Toshiba, ATAPI network card: none pcmcia: none I downloaded version 2.1r4 files from: ftp://ftp.debian.org/pub/debian/dists/stable/main/disks-i386/current/ I made a rescue disk, a drivers disk, and the 7 base14-*.bin disks. I am able to boot from the rescue disk, and the other disks appear intact as well. I also have all the .bin files on a FAT16 partition, along with base2_1.tgz (downloaded ultiple times from disparate sources in an attempt to solve my problem). I'm running WinNT with 2 IDE hard drives: Drive 1: 3 partitions, 1 primary and 2 logical, all FAT 16, 4Gb total Drive 2: 3 primary partitions, FAT16, Linux, NTFS, in that order, 8Gb total The .bin files are on the 1st logical partition of the first disk, if that matters. I want to keep WinNT on the machine, but add linux to the 2Gb partition on my second disk drive. PROBLEM: I can boot to dos, run install.bat from the logical partition, and made it up to the "Install Base System" item. It can find and start unpacking the base2_1.tgz file, but crashes mid-way through unpacking with "File error!! There was a problem extracting the Base System from /instmnt/debian/base2_1.tgz" and halts, only allowing me to try that option again I re-downloaded the file multiple times, to no avail. WinZip is able to uncompress and untar the file with no trouble (100+Mb free on the FAT16 partition, 2Gb on the linux partition). That's when I made the base14-*.bin floppies, and tried installing from floppy rather than from a DOS partition. Again, I got up to the "Install Base System" item, loaded in all 7 disks (apparently without trouble), and then it crashed with a similar error after the 7th disk had finished loading. I could find no other menu items (from the install.bat program) that would help. Browsing the linux partition with the help of a shell, I found /usr, /bin, /sbin, /dev, and more. But, I'm assuming I'm not done installing, seeing as the process crashed. Any help, pointers to relevant doc, or suggestions are welcome. Gary
