Install and boot options [Solved]

[siamhie]

Do you get Live-Boot menu? If yes, add this two boot parameter:
fromiso="path-to-the-iso"
and
blab="Label-of-the-file-system"

Where is the live boot menu located? Do you mean on the boot manager screen? How do I add the path? Do you mean through the direct boot command line screen or through one of the graphical interface options in the easy bcd program?

Be precise in describing everything because sometimes I have no idea about a certain component.

6 pages later and I still don't know the if this is a desktop or a laptop. Who the manufacturer is and it's model name. (you never did answer my question on page 3 post #24)

[DukeComposed]

In the case of same disk for boot-disk and installation target disk,
do start the installer from terminal command line like this

Code: Select all

sudo minstall --brave

And may be important for legacy BIOS-boot (= none UEFI boot) do first not install GRUB to MBR of the WIndows Boot Disk whre C:\ is located but select PBR (Partition Boot Record) of the "/"-root partition. B/c in case of any error and grub boot loader on MBR would fail to boot, you would also not be able to boot into Windows and also into the ISO anymore using EasyBCD.
So, after installing GRUB to PBR, use EasyBCD again and create Windows Boot Menu entry for booting from the root "Partition".
You can later use MX Boot Repair to install GRUB onto MBR, but better do first backup the Windows MBR,which can be done also with MX Boot Repair.

OK, here's the first way I've found to replace Windows on a machine with MX Linux without using external media.

1. Install Windows 10. This typically results in a two-partition format: a 500+ MiB recovery partition, and an NTFS system partition.
2. In diskmgmt.msc shrink the C: partition and create a new FAT32 partition from the unallocated space. Give it a short, easy volume label, like "X".
3. In the new FAT32 partition, copy the MX ISO as "MX.iso".
4. Install EasyBCD, configure it to load MX.iso as a NeoSmart ISO boot entry.
5. Reboot, choose the NeoSmart ISO entry.
6. At the GRUB boot menu, add the arguments "fromiso=MX.iso blab=X". Hit Enter.
7. Open a Terminal window, run "sudo /usr/sbin/minstall --brave".
8. When the custom layout screen appears, choose the external partitioning tool.
9. Delete sda1 and sda2. Create a new ext4 partition in the newly unallocated space. Apply changes and close GParted.
10. Mark the new sda1 as "use for /" in minstall and finish the install. GRUB will fail and you will be told to boot the live medium again. Ignore this. Close the installer.
11. Set up mountpoints:

    Code: Select all

    TARGET=/media/demo/rootMX23
    for i in /dev /dev/pts /proc /sys
    do
     test -d ${TARGET}$i || mkdir -p ${TARGET}$i
     mount --bind $i ${TARGET}$i
    done
    

12. chroot ${TARGET}
13. update-grub
14. grub-install /dev/sda
15. Reboot. Login. sudo gparted.
16. Manually delete the FAT32 partition. Resize the ext4 partition to consume the unallocated space. Apply.
17. Confirm with "df -h" that the ext4 partition is the full size of the disk.

There are some very subtle gotchas in this method, and many ways it can fail and leave the machine unusable. Still, it is a little bit easier than manually unsquashing the contents of linuxfs and having to set every configuration setting by hand. Further still, it's far too advanced for a new user to attempt and should only be used as a means of last resort.

It started out as a fun exercise, then became outright annoying. I am, however, glad to know it's possible beyond more than just the "I think this ought to work" theoreticals.

[fehlix]

OK, here's the first way I've found to replace Windows on a machine with MX Linux without using external media.

Thanks, for trying this out.
Note in case enough RAM like 3-4GB++ is available, one can use the "toram" bootparameter,
which would allow to install MX Linux onto the entire disk, b/c the iso-loop-mount, would freed-up
after bootup and the disk booted from can freely be used for installing. So in this case GRUB boot loader would get installed by the MX-Installer normally, and any further chroot to fix GRUB would not be needed.

[DukeComposed]

OK, here's the first way I've found to replace Windows on a machine with MX Linux without using external media.

Thanks, for trying this out.
Note in case enough RAM like 3-4GB++ is available, one can use the "toram" bootparameter,

That would also have been useful. This experiment was only performed on a VM with 8GB of RAM, so it may have been possible to attempt this method, though I recall setting the "Load into memory" option in EasyBCD, so there's no knowing exactly how much RAM was left after invoking the live session. Optimizations like this are certainly possible and may be necessary if anyone is unfortunate enough to need them.

[Tarq]

At the GRUB boot menu, add the arguments "fromiso=MX.iso blab=X". Hit Enter.

How do I display the boot loader command line?

[Eadwine Rose]

Press e

[fehlix]

At the GRUB boot menu, add the arguments "fromiso=MX.iso blab=X". Hit Enter.

How do I display the boot loader command line?

Add the live grub menu menu:

live-grub-menu.jpg

You'll find a line explaining how to open the grub menu editor:

press-E-to-Edit.jpg

Now add the desired boot parameter at the end of the line starting with "linux..."
or just to the first setparams line, which will populate "$@", so it get added automatically to the linux-line.

add-boot-paramter.jpg

[Tarq]

Don't use spaces in the file system label. Just re-label using Windows file manager.

I had a confusion, as I think I am dealing so far with two components: the name of the partition on the hard disk and the name of the system image file. What do you mean in the third configuration, 'File System Name', where I know the designation of the file system type?

[fehlix]

Don't use spaces in the file system label. Just re-label using Windows file manager.

I had a confusion, as I think I am dealing so far with two components: the name of the partition on the hard disk and the name of the system image file. What do you mean in the third configuration, 'File System Name', where I know the designation of the file system type?

Maybe post the question with more context, b/c that's a long thread already and you missed quoting properly with reference to the post.
Esp. post:
lsblk -f
and the file path (path including file name of the iso-file, and on what partition is the iso-file saved on.

[fehlix]

Don't use spaces in the file system label. Just re-label using Windows file manager.

I had a confusion, as I think I am dealing so far with two components: the name of the partition on the hard disk and the name of the system image file. What do you mean in the third configuration, 'File System Name', where I know the designation of the file system type?

Maybe post the question with more context, b/c that's a long thread already and you missed quoting properly with reference to the post.
Esp. post:
lsblk -f
and the file path (path including file name of the iso-file, and on what partition is the iso-file saved on.

PS: Don't send me PM to answer questions. Please post here, doesn't matter if you feel it's a silly question or not.
But I need "context" to answer in detail.
E.g file "system label" on Windows, is what you see as Name or Label within Windows explorer for drive C: or drive D:
"Windows drives" are partition on disks, either on the same disk or on different HD-disks.
The file path is the full path e.g on WIndows like
C:\ISO\MX-23.iso
but in GRUB and in Linux we use forward slash, like this:
/ISO/MX-23.iso
and for Windows "C:" we use the partition label.