[SOLVED] bad archive mirror on Debian wheezy install
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Hello all, first post. I'm on my third day of install/reinstall. I got my drives partitioned to dual boot windows 8 with no problems and finished the Debian install...no GUI. I was hoping for gnome, KDE, etc. to ease my transition into Linux, tried to apt-get install both...no luck. Maybe I messed up the install, reinstalled. Selected KDE GUI install route. Set up partitions again, no problems, setup my network connections, I think it went fine, get to mirror site choice and get "Bad archive mirror" error. It says to select another, I went through the all with the same results.
So...I've read through a couple posts in the forum, how do I test to make sure my connection is working?
"Re: Bad Archive Mirror
Postby qjqqyy » 2011-06-18 06:42
try ctrl-alt-f2 to switch to another tty
then ping google.com
if ok, then continue, else, setup your internet accordingly
also note that ethernet is THE way for netinst, most wireless cards will NOT work.
ethernet should work out of the box.
I never managed to configure a DSL/PPP connection in the command line though, so i am not too sure about DSL
anyway, once you finished configuring the interfaces, CTRL-ALT-F1 to switch back to setup."
I tried this only, how do I "switch to another tty"?
I tried: ping www.google.com
Result: bad address
Can you start by telling us which iso image you used to install Debian. What method was used? netinst? complete installation image? Which release? (stable, testing, unstable). The more information you give us about the installation procedure you used to install Debian, the easier it will be to offer suggestions.
jdk
Yes, sorry, netinst, stable. I chose the advanced install so I could walk through the steps. The first go I got to the archive mirror step and chose to ignore it, which, I imagine, is why my install excluded the GUI. The next install I setup the network config with my IP, subnet IP, and chose to skip the dsn step as my home network doesn't have a dsn.
I appreciate the response, however, I have to leave for work and will be offline for approx. 45 min. I'll be back!
The first problem I encountered is during the network configuration step, the installation says my network is not DHCP configured? So I have to select "manually configure network". I then enter my IP, subnet id, and gateway.
If I'm using a wifi router with several machines connected doesn't my network have to be DHCP configured?
After entering the information the installation continues with no issues until the archive mirror step. Am I to assume the installation wizard has internet access if it continues with no issues to this point?
Also, and I'm sorry for being so needy, but what does the archive mirror do? Install the complete OS from the web? Is the image disk only a partial installation and that's why I'm presented with only a command line interface upon completion?
I'm pretty sure my network info is correct, I rebooted into windows and ran a ipconfig to make sure
I don't know anything about Windows. What's ipconfig and what kind of information does it give you? How is that information relevant to your problem?
Quote:
Stupid question, where do I type this command? Or where do I find the this file?
Extreme newbie here.
The file name is "sources.list". The path to that file is /etc/apt which tells you where to find it. From a terminal/tty you can type in the command:
Code:
cat /etc/apt/sources.list
You can then copy the output to your post. You were talking about "archive mirrors". The sources.list file contains the list of repositories the Debian uses when it installs your software packages.
I don't know anything about Windows. What's ipconfig and what kind of information does it give you? How is that information relevant to your problem?
It gives the IP information of the machine you're using. IP address, submask IP, and gateway IP. I used it to ensure the information I was inputting into the "Manually Configure Network" screen was correct.
Quote:
The file name is "sources.list". The path to that file is /etc/apt which tells you where to find it. From a terminal/tty you can type in the command:
Can I type
Quote:
ctrl-alt-f2
during the install, at a point after the network configuration step, to get to a terminal? Or should I just finish the base install, the one completed after running the single image disk, and type the command in the command line?
Is it useful information to tell you I'm trying to use a wifi connection to perform the install? Would it be better to hard wire my internet connection?
Thanks jdk for the help...I'm going to download the entire stable debian release, not the small installation image I was trying. From what I'm reading, trying to install via wifi is difficult at best and I can't have someone holding my hand through the entire process.
I'll report back with results or post a new thread when I inevitability run into new problems.
Is it useful information to tell you I'm trying to use a wifi connection to perform the install? Would it be better to hard wire my internet connection?
Yes.
A lot of wireless chipsets require proprietary firmware that Debian cannot release as part of the official distribution for licensing and policy reasons.
There are also some Ethernet chipsets that are similarly encumbered, but much fewer.
Even with using the full installer, connecting by cable after installation will make it a lot easier to install the needed packages to get your wireless set up.
Also, if you install without network, you will also need to set up your sources.list manually later.
Last edited by descendant_command; 07-08-2014 at 03:46 AM.
Also, if you install without network, you will also need to set up your sources.list manually later.
Why will this be necessary? Where do I get information about this step?
I'm running a fresh install now, I've downloaded the large image disc so at least I'll have a GUI to work with...hopefully. This is actually the second attempt with the full disc, the first failed to install GRUB (fatal error). I think I found the solution to that though. Fingers crossed!
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