I inadvertently deleted the kmod package from a laptop computer. Now it will not boot from the -14.1/x86_64 DVD, either.

I suspect that what I need to do is remove the hard drive from that laptop and connect it to a working system with a USB hard drive adapter. I can then mount the device and access it. Suppose it's recognized as /dev/sdd/ on the host system.

Am I correct that I can restore the kmod package by cd'ing to the host computer directory containing the file and invoking 'installpkg --root /dev/sdd/ kmod-15-x86_64-1.txz'? Is this the correct syntax to replace the missing files?

TIA,

Rich

Why couldn't you boot from the DVD ?
If you can, you have to :
1. mount your "/" partition to /mnt for example,
2. mount your dvd to /cdrom for example,
3. install your package using "installpkg --root /mnt /cdrom/slackware64/a/kmod-15-x86_64-1.txz" command,
4. restart your computer.

I don't know why I cannot boot from the DVD. Here's the situation:

Turning on the laptop with an empty optical drive the Vaio logo screen displays (during the POST), then the LILO prompt appears. Without kmod installed, of course, the system halts shortly after I select the 3.10.17gen kernel to boot. Requires turning off the power.

Turning on the laptop with the distribution DVD in the optical drive, the Vaio logo screen displays and that's all that happens. There's no sound of the optical drive spinning up and reading the DVD. Requires the system to be turned off. Why the optical drive is not activated puzzles me, but I don't know enough to understand how to resolve this.

What I've not tried is leaving the optical drive tray open with the distribution DVD in it, then turning on the system. When the LILO prompt comes up, I can try closing the tray and see if the Enter key then causes the system to look at the DVD rather than the hard drive.

Thanks,

Rich

Look in the BIOS to see if the boot sequence is set up correctly.

-------------------------
Steve Stites

Steve,

That was my first thought so I checked: the sequence is optical drive -> hard drive.

Thanks,

Rich

If tis machine is able to boot off USB and you have another one at hand, just put the ISO image on an USB key and boot off it. You can also use a Slint installer for that (they are hybrid), or a mini-iso provided by Eric. In the latter case run "ishoyhbrid -u <file.iso>" before runnning the dd command.

Didier,

I do not know that the Sony will boot off a USB drive. It _should_ boot from the optical drive, but won't.
I can remove the drive and connect it via the Bitecc adapter to a working host. Then I'll try installing the kmod package specifying the remote drive as the target. Before I do that, however, I'll tar the /home/ directory to a USB flash drive. That way, if I need to do a complete re-installation on the Sony's hard drive I can restore /home/ for the single user.

Probably do this next weekend.

Thanks,

Rich

Summary:

I removed the hard drive from the Sony and mounted it with the Bytecc adapter on /mnt/tmp on my laptop. Mounted the DVD and ran 'installpkg --root /mnt/tmp/sda1/ /mnt/cdrom/slackware64/a/xmod-15...'. Worked just fine. The Sony boots off the hard drive once again.

It's possible that the optical drive in the Sony needs to be cleaned. The Sony can mount the optical drive and list files, but will not boot from it. Other portables can boot from the DVD and the Sony boots from a USB flash drive.

Now that everything is working, I'll buy an optical drive cleaning kit and use that on the Sony. There should be no reason to boot from the DVD until the next Slackware release so I won't waste time futzing with it.

Also, adding /usr/sbin/ntpd to rc.local fixed the time problem. Almost certainly it's because the boot sequence runs ntpd before it sets up the network interfaces. So, running it again as the very last thing fixes that issue, too.