Hello,

I have received a Debian sarge DVD. I can not install from DVD as I don't have a DVD drive. I could take the DVD to a friend and create CD's from it on a windows ( or a Linux ) system.

How can I create CD's from this DVD?

Thanks
Another Linux Newbie

I know these suggestions aren't optimum (someone else may have a much better suggestion), but it would be a way to accomplish your goal (choose one of these four options):

1. Borrow your friend's DVD drive
2. Network your computer to your friend's and share the DVD drive by setting up an ftp server on your friends system. Then get a debian network boot floppy for your system.
3. If you have broadband internet access, just download the debian-installer CD (http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer) and install the system via an ftp mirror (note that this will install Debian testing...if you're looking for Debian stable, you'll need to do a search for woody installers).
4. If your friend has broadband, download and burn the installer CDs.

The reason why I can't just say copy this and that from the dvd is because during the debian install process, it expects to find packages in a certain order. I don't know what that order is, so i can't say put just these packages on the first cd, etc. If you just put packages at random on each cd, you're going to be going through a lot of CD swapping during install, and that would just be a pain in the neck (you would have to try each of the cd's each time it goes to install a new package...unless you wrote down exactly what package you put on each cd).

Hope some of this helps.

Thanks for your post zero79.

I have received Fedora, Debian, Mandrake on DVD's with a magazine. I am expecting more Linux distro's on DVD in near future. Very few of us here have a DVD drive as they are still expensive, and downloading a major distro is a bit difficult as local residential 'broadband' download speed is usually around 4 KBps, and local ISP charges are as per download done, which is around (after converting Indian rupees to US$) $6 per GB! It would take at least a year more for DVD writers to come down to affoardable prices, hence creating and distributing CD's is the only way for now. So for us, newbie's here wanting to try out various distros it would help to create CD's out of DVD we have.


Strange as the request is.......So if anyone works out a method to create CD's from DVD, specially on a windows box (I am Linux newbie's, remember!) , please do post the information...

i believe that fedora keeps it's packages separated by disc in the directory tree.

so create a bootable disc for cd 1 with everything on the dvd except the directories RPMS2, RPMS3, RPMS4. then directory RPMS2 goes on cd 2, and RPMS3 on cd 3, etc. be sure to retain the directory structure. otherwise, the install program won't find the packages.

there are vendors that sell Debian on CD in numerous countries (including India). check out this link http://www.debian.org/CD/vendors/.

good luck.

If you have a friend who has a DVD and a cd burner, you can use the debian-cd package.

Copy the contents of the DVD to the hard drive, and use it as a mirror

Have lots of space free, and some time as well and just follow the details that come with the package.

It does work as I just did it with a sarge DVD.