I have a linux partition on my box. In it I have made a ghosted copy of linux from another machine.

I have been trying to load this environment with the loadlin.exe command. I get very far into the load but when it is just about done(I think) it give a warning regarding a missing initial environment and then the OS goes panic. In the panic it suggests I use the init= parameter.

Here is the batch file I am running.

rem Sample DOS batch file to boot Linux.

rem First, ensure any unwritten disk buffers are flushed:
smartdrv /C

rem Start the LOADLIN process:
loadlin bzimage rw root=/dev/hda5 vga=3 initrd=color.gz load_ramdisk=1 init=single


As the load takes place it goes through the normal process, and there are no errors until the panic.

Can anybody offer any guidance on this? Thanks.

Since you have a linux partition reserved, why not install linux normally, instead of running it from an image file.

Also, if the other machine doesn't have the same hardware, you may be loading in the wrong kernel device modules. Even an identical device (by model number) could use a different controller.

My whole problem began with a desire to load on a laptop that has neither a CD or floppy but only a USB port. I have the CD image on the harddrive to install but can't get past the lockup that occurs on USB floppy boot when I am asked to change disks.

I would be happy to get a version running well enough to do an actual install from a linux environment. Trouble is the lock up on floppy swap. So normal install not possible.

Thanks

Which distro are you trying to install, and what disk does the usb-floppy boot ask for. Can you borrow a usb-cdrom?

If you want to install from an image file on hard drive, then
A) You need to boot up with a boot floppy image that is made for that.
B) The image (.iso) file needs to be installed on a partition separate from the one where you want to install linux.
C) When prompted, you need to give the exact location of the image file(s).
D) Which reside on a file-system the the boot install can read from.

If you can put the image files on the c:\ partition and boot up with the correct boot image disk, you may have luck with the installation.

The init error happens to me when the folder woth linux in it isn't in C:\. The path in windows to the linux folder has to be C:\linux. If the folder isn't in the filesystem root, move it there.