Thread: Ubuntu install from iso:how to show debian-installer the path to lucid-alternate.iso?

Hi ,
I have a Ubuntu 9.10 karmic with grub2 already in My PC with 2GB RAM* .My DVD RW Drive is not reading Fine .So ,the Plan to install from Ubuntu ISO from hard disk.

I Downloaded Alternate CD of 10.04 LUCID Which uses Debian Installer and I want to install it to another partition(Later,I want to clear the 9.10 partition /dev/sdb5 and install Debian Squeeze apt-pinned.but later!).

I successfully Booted from GRUB2 ,the Lucid ISO situated on /dev/sdb7 partition using below format in /etc/grub.d/40_custom and "update-grub" :

Code:

menuentry "amd64 ISO on /dev/sdb7" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,7)
loopback loop /lucid/ubuntu-10.04-alternate-amd64.iso
linux (loop)/install/vmlinuz iso-scan/filename=/lucid/ubuntu-10.04-desktop-amd64.iso noeject noprompt --
initrd (loop)/install/initrd.gz
}

^^^^ This Boots Directly to Debian-Installer.But ,the Problem is Debian installer seeks for Ubuntu iso(and packages?) from /dev/sr0(/dev/cdrom) DVD Drive.So ,this steps fails and I've to Abort the installation.

I want to know what is the way to Point debian-installer to find Lucid ISO as the Source?I am yet to try "INSTALL_MEDIA_DEV=" kernel boot parameter.
OR ,
If there is a way ,I can make the Device File of DVD DRIVE (/dev/sr0) directed to Lucid ISO(and do I need to loop mount the ISO?) ?
--
Also ,I want to load the Ubuntu iso directly to RAM(RAM DISK).I Tried "toram" Kernel boot parameter and a "df -h" showed that iso is mounted as /dev/tmpfs .
Is this Enough?Do I need to set "RAM_DISK" paramater mentioning the Size to have the iso completely stored and booted from RAM?
I want to boot from RAM ,since the Earlier try to have partitions made in hdd failed ,since if I invoke ISO from same hard Disk,It asks to umount all partitions as well as to umount /dev/sdb7 where Ubuntu ISO is stored.

Awaiting Replies,
Thanks

this is solved long back;forgot to update.I'm Copy pasting My own Reply from howtoforge forum here:
Hi ,
I am posting from My New install of Ubuntu Lucid using Ubuntu Alternate CD ISO booted from /dev/sdb7 partition.Alternate CD uses Debian Installer.

The Idea of copying to ram was not resolved.But ,Debian Installer in alternate cd by default copies to RAM(/dev/tmpfs).I will experiment with live cd iso copied to ramdisk at a later time.
--
With Debian Installer(Which is text/ncurses based) ,it asks to Mount Ubuntu CD when booted from hard disk iso.What I did was ,to symlink(symbolic Linking) Lucid Alternate cd ISO to /dev/sr0(Which is the device file for dvd drive) .Then If I ask debian-installer to retry to mount cd ,it got mounted!

Code:

ln -sf /yourubuntuisodirectory/ubuntu.iso /dev/sr0

After that the installation was smooth.ofcourse ,I had already formatted ext4 partition for Lucid install.but, partman partitioner is available in the installer.

^^^^of course!it is a crude method.moreover udev can overwrite the changes(umounting iso).But ,for the sake of iso install on *same* partition ,it worked.
Moreover ,inside debian-installer ,it can mount lucid desktop cd also(it searches).But ,I never tried.

I am interested in to getting know how to copy iso to RAM DISK.I hope someone will answer this.

Regards,

You need to setup ramdisk. Once ram disk mounted just copy files or iso or whatever you want to it. See Linux RAM Disk: Creating A Filesystem In RAM