Ubuntu Installation from USB-CDROM where it can not be booted at all -> DOS-Floppy!

[Lars Weissflog]

Good day.

Looking for a way to install Ubuntu (6.10 which came with a recent issue 
of german c't magazine) on my recently obtained Fujitsu Stylistic 3400 I 
had to workout the below quick and dirty way. Why? Well, all other ways 
seemed far more laborious or were relying at least in part on the 
ability to boot from USB or an internal CD-Rom.

I have posted my solution in a related thread on ubuntuforums.org:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=37432

However, maybe including this or a link to it on your pages might help 
people (even for other distros and hardware, as this is mostly 
transferrable to just about any install disk for any linux I think).

However, some of the tools used might be subject to legal restrictions, 
mainly the panasonic driver. Hence, you might want to reword the 
information in a way that allows people to find it without posting the 
link itself.

I'm not subscribing to the ubuntu-doc list for the moment, as I will not 
have to add too much more for the time being - just learning to walk 
with ubuntu ;-) If you want me to make the howto up to fit on your 
style, let me know by mail. Also, if you have any questions etc.

Regards
Lars
-------8<-------------8<------ -------8<------ -------8<------

Stylistic 3400 Ubuntu Install via FreeDos Boot Floppy with USB CD 
Support and external USB-DVD

Aim:
Install Ubuntu 6 on a Stylistic 3400 which can not boot from external 
USB or PCMCIA CD-ROM without going through the pain of a 
hdd/knoppix/dsl/foreign host installation.

The Stylistic is not the sole target of this method, but rather any 
outdated (er, better: older) hardware not supporting booting external 
devices should be designed to work with this method.


(I) Requirements

(I.i) Hardware

(a) A working external floppy drive (legacy system connector, not a USB 
floppy!) for the Stylistic 3400

(b) A working USB-DVD drive (or a CD-Drive if you have an installation 
CD, I had a DVD from c't magazine 25/2006)

(c) The Stylistic 3400 with an internal hard disk (or any other older PC 
hardware suffering the symptoms mentioned above)

(d) A working 1.44MB floppy disk. Be prepared to need more than one as 
these things are always damaged.

(e) A working PC to download some software (about a meg or two only) 
from the web


(I.ii) Software

(0) WinImage or another software that can write an .imz file to a floppy 
under your OS on the PC you will be using to prepare the boot floppy

(1) A "FreeDos" based boot floppy image
(http://www.fdos.org/bootdisks/autogen/FDSTD.144.imz)

(2) DOS USB ASPI Drivers for CD-Roms from Panasonic
(http://panasonic.co.jp/pcc/products/drive/other/driver/f2h_usb.exe)
Disclaimer: Above driver might be subject to copyright restrictions, 
allowing use of it only if you have panasonic hardware.

(3) DOS USB Storage/CD Driver from
(http://www.driver.novac.co.jp/driver/hd351u/mhairudos.zip)

(4) Linld, a dos based linux loader
(http://port.imtp.ilyichevsk.odessa.ua/linux/linld/linld.com)
Reason for not using "Loadlin": Loadlin even in version 1.6c had 
problems loading the large vmlinuz image of the ubuntu disk (loadlin 
error message "ran out of input data")
Linld.com can do it!

(5) The Ubuntu Install CD / DVD.



(II) Preparing the Boot Floppy

(a) use Winimage or the tool of your choice to write the fdd image from 
(1) to your lovely floppy disk

(b) extract the self-extracting archive f2h_usb.exe from (2)

(c) copy the files \f2h\usbaspi.sys and \f2h\usbcd.sys from the freshly 
created f2h subfolder to your floppy (root folder)

(d) extract the zip archive from (3)

(e) from the created unzip folder mhairudos, copy only the file 
di1000dd.sys to your floppy (root folder)

(f) edit the config.sys file on your floppy to look like
-------8<------
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=FDOS\HIMEM.EXE
lastdrive=Z
rem The following line loads Panasonic's universal USB- controller driver
rem the /v switch makes it verbose
rem the /w switch makes it wait for you to connect your USB-CD-Rom and 
press enter
devicehigh=USBASPI.SYS /v /w
rem the following is an aspi mass storage driver for usb- connected HDs
rem and compactflash memory cards
devicehigh=DI1000DD.SYS
rem The following one loads CD-ROM driver
devicehigh=USBCD.SYS /d:USBCD001
------->8------

(g) edit the autoexec.bat file on your floppy to look like
-------8<------
@ECHO OFF
CLS
ECHO Welcome to FreeDOS (http://www.freedos.org)!
LH \FDOS\SHSUCDX.EXE /d:USBCD001
------->8------

(h) done, your floppy is ready to be used. Should work on nearly any 
hardware and support not only external CD-Roms but also DVDs, HDDs, 
maybe even sticks!?!?
What a great tool..... Wish we had had that 10 years ago!


(III) Booting the ubuntu installer

(a) connect the external FDD and CD drives to the Stylistic 3400

(b) insert the Ubuntu DVD (CD) and FDD

(c) boot the system off the floppy disk. It will ask you to connect your 
CD drive. Make sure it is spun up before pressing enter, otherwise it 
might not get detected.

Note: If you are using a bus-powered drive, make sure you use both 
USB-Plugs on the Stylistic (the docking station port and the unit's own 
port) or an additional power supply unit for the USB CD drive. Mine 
regularly dropped out during the later package copy operations when 
using it with the USB data cable connected only (though on a different 
Laptop the same drive even burns CDs with power only provided through 
the data cable and the additional power-to-usb-cable unplugged) - assume 
this is because the USB 1.1 ports on the 3400 docking station do not 
provide enough amps for the DVD to work in heavy load situations.

(d) once the floppy boot is complete, type in the following commands to 
start the linux installation:
-------8<------{Space}
c:
cd install
a:\linld image=vmlinuz initrd=initrd.gz cl=root=/dev/ram
------->8------{Space}

(Note: C: is assumed the drive letter assigned to your external CD-ROM. 
If your hdd on the stylistic holds dos-recognized partitions, it might 
be d: or e: etc here. Look for the output of SHSUCDX.exe, it will tell 
you what letter has been assigned)

(Note: Not certain if the "cl=root=/dev/ram" part is required, might 
also be /dev/rd0 or similar with other distros/kernels)

(e) there you go. Ubuntu installer will load

(f) after the language and keyboard settings have been made, the 
installer will look for the CD drive. It won't find the USB drive, so we 
have to tell it:
- When asked whether you want to load cd drivers from a floppy, say no.
- Next, you are asked to select manually from a list. Do so, and select 
"cdrom".
- Next, it will ask you to specify the cd device. type in
-------8<------
/dev/scd0
------->8------
and confirm with enter. This will give you access to the CD drive.

(g) From here on, piece of cake. Follow the installer and fill in 
whatever you need to do


TADA!
You just installed Ubuntu with a FREEDOS BASED USB BOOT FLOPPY. Incredible!