I've moved this question from the Linux Hardware forum as i believe the problem is not going to be solved from within linux. It has been moved following LQ forum rules -previous question mentions mswindows, but problem still involves linux.
here is the link to the previous thread http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=396705

This is still mainly a hardware problem, but my question has evolved because Hewlett Packard will not give support for the problem while windows is not present on this computer.

While chatting with the online help desk i was supplied with a windows patch which may fix the issue (cdrom is not properly detected.. unable to mount, or boot from the device) but i cannot install anything from cd.

So, my question is: Does anybody have experience installing windows over a network from a linux (ubuntu, or slackware) machine without having a bootable cdrom drive? the computer does have a working install of ubuntu.

If there is a fix for this problem within linux, posts in either thread will be greatly appreciated.

If you can't / don't want to read the other thread here is some more information not mentioned above:

cdrom was manually ejected with a paper clip without being unmounted (i know this is not the proper procedure)
all BIOS settings have been reset.
for more info see the previously mentioned thread.

Thank you for your time.
Josh

Hey Jgams,

I had this problem when I was using windows and still while using linux. I think the main problem is with HP. However, I didn't know they had a patch to fix it and now since I don't use windows anymore I can't fix it. I was just wondering if you had found a solution to this problem. I always see "cdrom: open failed" on my system logs and now that I have some time I wanted to find a solution.

Hope you keep current with this thread.

zmeharen,

i talked to a few local computer repair shops and they said it was most likely a problem with the drive itsself. one quote that was given to me was $60can - this is apparently for a "MacGuyver" fix. Another quoted me $300 for a new drive + shop hours. neither of these seem entirely reasonable to me, so i'm still trying to find better (free) way of solving the problem.

from what i've read, the only way to install windows is either from the cd or from another win machine. i can send you the patch that HP gave me if you do manage to get windows going, though i haven't tested any of this yet because i'm not really interested in screwing around with MS products.

if i find another fix i'll be sure to post back here