[SOLVED] Knoppix won't run live or install.

ObsoleteMan · 12-04-2018, 10:56 AM

Hi there,

I hope you can help.

I'm was running Knoppix 8.2 installed on a HP 2730p with a docking station. I tried to add LXLE alongside in a dual boot system but the LXLE installer crashed leaving a partial install of LXLE. I decided to reinstall Knoppix and got a;

"waiting for USB..."

Searching for Knoppix 8.2 in: /dev/sda

Searching for Knoppix 8.2 in: /dev/sda5

Searching for Knoppix 8.2 in: /dev/sda5

then "Could not mount disk to /mnt-system. Starting debugging shell...
sh: can't access tty; job control turned off
/ #

It (knoppix) won't even run in live mode.

I was able to install Mint, Debian 9.5 and Ubuntu with no problems. i burned a fresh disk of Knoppix 8.2 that works on 3 other machines but not the HP 2730p.

I replaced the docking station which includes the optical drive with a new one to no avail.

Knoppix worked so well on the 2730, I hate to loose it.

Ideas anybody?

Any help ia appreciated,
Thanks in advance,
Mike (ObsoleteMan)

whansard · 12-04-2018, 11:27 AM

i'm guessing the knoppix on the hard drive is a little messed up, and the live disk see's it and mounts it, but trouble ensues. i think it's time for you to up your game and learn some chrooting skills. with some scripts, you can mount a linux distro underneath another and run commands in it from there. assuming you mount your knoppix distro from another linux with variations of this following mess.

Code:

xhost +localhost
# xautolock -disable
mount -o noatime /dev/sda6 /5
mount --bind /proc /5/proc
mount --bind /tmp /5/tmp
mount --bind /dev /5/dev/
mount --bind /dev/shm /5/dev/shm
mount /dev/pts -t devpts -o gid=5,mode=620
chroot /5 /bin/bash --login 
umount /dev/pts
umount /5/dev/shm
umount /5/tmp
umount /5/proc
# umount /5/dev/
umount /5

jefro · 12-04-2018, 05:11 PM

Wonder if somehow uefi was enabled? Does Knoppix support uefi. The other disto's should I'd think from dvd.

ObsoleteMan · 12-04-2018, 05:19 PM

Thank you for your speedy response.

Currently, LXLE is installed on the 2730p. Upon install, I chose "Erase entire disk" and "Everything is one partition" thinking it would overwrite everything, but I suspect there are remnants of Knoppix in there somewhere. Should I run the given code at the /# prompt?

ObsoleteMan

jefro · 12-05-2018, 03:22 PM

Everything won't be on one partition. Every once in a while installers have a hard time if they are trying to preserve an existing install.

Boot to live media and see what a partition tool reports on disk.

ObsoleteMan · 12-05-2018, 04:30 PM

Kali Gparted reports:

/dev/sda1 ext4 145.21gB 9.21gB used 136.00gB boot
/dev/sda2 extended 3.84gB -- --
/dev/sda5 linux-swap 3.84gB -- --
Now I'm really confused.
;-)

ObsoleteMan · 12-05-2018, 05:19 PM

I've tried whansard's command's to no avail. The part about upping my game and learning chroot.

;-)

ObsoleteMan · 12-05-2018, 05:20 PM

I've tried whansard's command's to no avail. The part about upping my game and learning chroot skills is correct.

;-)

whansard · 12-06-2018, 04:34 AM

those commands i listed were an example i used for something else. all the device numbers and mount points would be different for what you are doing. they were for a linux distribution on /dev/sda6 to be mounted at /5, and then logged into, so you can fix things there. sorry i was so terse.

you can completely wipe a drive with the dd command

Code:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/(drive or partition you wish to wipe)

ObsoleteMan · 12-07-2018, 07:22 PM

Terse...??? No not at all.

Thanks for the code, I haven't used it but I used the Windows 7 install to wipe everything and was able to install Knoppix. I guess when LXLE is installed, Knoppix sees it as itself and hangs. LXLE is a fairly recent distro which requires a higher than normal skill set to configure, use and install in a dual boot system. As with most distros, LXLE is a work in progress and will improve over time.

Thanks whansard and jefro for your help.

Obsoleteman