How do I install Ubuntu without a CD

ItsTimeToMoveOn · 11-18-2007, 11:29 PM

I've looked and looked but I can't find out how to do this:

I have half my HD partitioned and I want to install Ubuntu on it without making a CD. How would I go about installing Ubuntu on there without disrupting my windows OS. How do I need to format it? If anyone could give me an entire rundown of how to go about doing this? Don't leave anything out that you think would be helpful. Thanks!

duryodhan · 11-19-2007, 12:19 AM

you will need linux afaik.
I have this script somewhere in my comp ... I don't know where I got it from .. it is GPLed .

Quote:

#!/bin/bash
# Convert an Ubuntu live CD iso so that it's bootable off of a USB stick
# Copyright 2007 Red Hat, Inc.
# Jeremy Katz <katzj@redhat.com>
# Jani Monoses <jani@ubuntu.com> (slightly adapted to Ubuntu LiveCD)
#
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the License.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
# GNU Library General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
# along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
# Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.

# Running :
#$ sudo ./isotostick.sh /path/to/image.iso /dev/sdb1

export PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:$PATH

usage() {
echo "$0 [--reset-mbr] [--noverify] <isopath> <usbstick device>"
exit 1
}

cleanup() {
[ -d "$CDMNT" ] && umount $CDMNT && rmdir $CDMNT
[ -d "$USBMNT" ] && umount $USBMNT && rmdir $USBMNT
}

exitclean() {
echo "Cleaning up to exit..."
cleanup
exit 1
}

getdisk() {
DEV=$1

p=$(udevinfo -q path -n $DEV)
if [ -e /sys/$p/device ]; then
device=$(basename /sys/$p)
else
device=$(basename $(readlink -f /sys/$p/../))
fi
if [ ! -e /sys/block/$device -o ! -e /dev/$device ]; then
echo "Error finding block device of $DEV. Aborting!"
exitclean
fi

device="/dev/$device"
}

resetMBR() {
getdisk $1
cat /usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin > $device
}

checkMBR() {
getdisk $1

bs=$(mktemp /tmp/bs.XXXXXX)
dd if=$device of=$bs bs=512 count=1 2>/dev/null || exit 2

mbrword=$(hexdump -n 2 $bs |head -n 1|awk {'print $2;'})
rm -f $bs
if [ "$mbrword" = "0000" ]; then
echo "MBR appears to be blank."
echo "Do you want to replace the MBR on this device?"
echo "Press Enter to continue or ctrl-c to abort"
read
resetMBR $1
fi

return 0
}

checkPartActive() {
dev=$1
getdisk $dev

# if we're installing to whole-disk and not a partition, then we
# don't need to worry about being active
if [ "$dev" = "$device" ]; then
return
fi

if [ "$(/sbin/fdisk -l $device 2>/dev/null |grep $dev |awk {'print $2;'})" != "*" ]; then
echo "Partition isn't marked bootable!"
echo "You can mark the partition as bootable with "
echo " # /sbin/parted $device"
echo " (parted) toggle N boot"
echo " (parted) quit"
exitclean
fi
}

checkFilesystem() {
dev=$1

USBFS=$(/lib/udev/vol_id -t $dev)
if [ "$USBFS" != "vfat" -a "$USBFS" != "msdos" -a "$USBFS" != "ext2" -a "$USBFS" != "ext3" ]; then
echo "USB filesystem must be vfat or ext[23]"
exitclean
fi

USBLABEL=$(/lib/udev/vol_id -u $dev)
if [ -n "$USBLABEL" ]; then
USBLABEL="UUID=$USBLABEL" ;
else
USBLABEL=$(/lib/udev/vol_id -l $dev)
if [ -n "$USBLABEL" ]; then
USBLABEL="LABEL=$USBLABEL"
else
echo "Need to have a filesystem label or UUID for your USB device"
if [ "$USBFS" = "vfat" -o "$USBFS" = "msdos" ]; then
echo "Label can be set with /sbin/dosfslabel"
elif [ "$USBFS" = "ext2" -o "$USBFS" = "ext3" ]; then
echo "Label can be set with /sbin/e2label"
fi
exitclean
fi
fi
}

checkSyslinuxVersion() {
if [ ! -x /usr/bin/syslinux ]; then
echo "You need to have syslinux installed to run this script"
exit 1
fi
if ! syslinux 2>&1 | grep -qe -d; then
SYSLINUXPATH=""
else
SYSLINUXPATH="syslinux"
#menu texts are trimmed when syslinux is not in / no idea why
SYSLINUXPATH=""
fi
}

if [ $(id -u) != 0 ]; then
echo "You need to be root to run this script"
exit 1
fi

while [ $# -gt 2 ]; do
case $1 in
--noverify)
noverify=1
;;
--reset-mbr|--resetmbr)
resetmbr=1
;;
*)
usage
;;
esac
shift
done

ISO=$1
USBDEV=$2

if [ -z "$ISO" -o ! -e "$ISO" ]; then
usage
fi

if [ -z "$USBDEV" -o ! -b "$USBDEV" ]; then
usage
fi

if [ -z "$noverify" ]; then
# verify the image
echo "Not verifying image...(no checkisomd5 in Ubuntu so skipping)!"
#checkisomd5 --verbose $ISO
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Are you SURE you want to continue?"
echo "Press Enter to continue or ctrl-c to abort"
read
fi
fi

# do some basic sanity checks.
checkSyslinuxVersion
checkFilesystem $USBDEV
checkPartActive $USBDEV
checkMBR $USBDEV
[ -n $resetmbr ] && resetMBR $USBDEV

# FIXME: would be better if we had better mountpoints
CDMNT=$(mktemp -d /media/cdtmp.XXXXXX)
mount -o loop $ISO $CDMNT || exitclean
USBMNT=$(mktemp -d /media/usbdev.XXXXXX)
mount $USBDEV $USBMNT || exitclean

trap exitclean SIGINT SIGTERM

if [ -d $USBMNT/casper ]; then
echo "Already set up as live image. Deleting old in fifteen seconds..."
sleep 15

rm -rf $USBMNT/casper
fi

echo "Copying live image to USB stick"
if [ ! -d $USBMNT/$SYSLINUXPATH ]; then mkdir $USBMNT/$SYSLINUXPATH ; fi

for file in \
README.diskdefines md5sum.txt \
.disk casper pool dists preseed install;do
cp -a $CDMNT/$file $USBMNT/
done

cp $CDMNT/isolinux/* $USBMNT/$SYSLINUXPATH

echo "Installing boot loader"
if [ "$USBFS" = "vfat" -o "$USBFS" = "msdos" ]; then
# syslinux expects the config to be named syslinux.cfg
# and has to run with the file system unmounted
mv $USBMNT/$SYSLINUXPATH/isolinux.cfg $USBMNT/$SYSLINUXPATH/syslinux.cfg
cleanup
if [ -n "$SYSLINUXPATH" ]; then
syslinux -d $SYSLINUXPATH $USBDEV
else
syslinux $USBDEV
fi
elif [ "$USBFS" = "ext2" -o "$USBFS" = "ext3" ]; then
# extlinux expects the config to be named extlinux.conf
# and has to be run with the file system mounted
mv $USBMNT/$SYSLINUXPATH/isolinux.cfg $USBMNT/$SYSLINUXPATH/extlinux.conf
extlinux -i $USBMNT/syslinux
cleanup
fi

echo "USB stick set up as live image!"

ItsTimeToMoveOn · 11-19-2007, 12:24 AM

Uhm...I'm even more lost now.

What?

2damncommon · 11-19-2007, 12:38 AM

Maybe look at Wubi.

pixellany · 11-19-2007, 06:50 AM

Out of curiosity, why not use a CD?

I assume that you don't already have Linux installed somewhere. Without already having a Linux system, the advice from duryodhan is not relevant.

ItsTimeToMoveOn · 11-19-2007, 01:30 PM

The last 4 times I've tried using a CD, I always get errors. Missing kernal or something. Thanks 2Damncommon, got it up and running. Now if I could figure out how to install my nvidia driver so my screens not 640x480 and half way out of my monitor.

Ive tried using the synamtec manager thingy, sh, sudo, all that stuff and none of it works.

ItsTimeToMoveOn · 11-19-2007, 02:07 PM

Ok, since I've got my first question anwsered by 2damncommon(and thankyou for that info), I feel this threads finished.

Thanks for the help!