How to install Mint with no OS in place.

[jimbat1]

Hello, bear with me as my understanding of Linux is very limited but I am keen to learn....

I would like to install Mint on an old computer that currently has no OS on it. Given its age (2004) I doubt the computer has USB booting capacity but I have burned an image (.iso) disc of Mint Cinnamon 32 bit to a DVD and it should be able to boot from the DVD drive, however, when I have tried this, it doesn't work. I know the DVD drive works fine as I have an Ubuntu live CD that I can boot from and run straight from the disk; it connects to the internet OK through the wireless card and I can open various applications albeit a bit slowly. However the Ubuntu OS won't install properly (freezes up when creating file system) so I thought I'd try Mint instead, however it might be a hardware issue in which case it is a lost cause as I'm skint and can't afford to replace any of the hardware!

So, my question is, if it is not a hardware probelm, can I and if so how can I install Mint from the .iso image DVD?

I can load the DVD in the other DVD drive whilst using the Ubuntu live disk and it appears as expected with the Mint .iso, but when I try and extract the .iso to anywhere it all falls down.

I read on another Linux forum that one could mount an .iso file and boot it so I tried mounting the .iso using

Code: Select all

#mount -o loop *.iso

but it says that no file called *.iso can be found at /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab. I assumed therefore that /fstab and /mtab were directories within /etc and that I would need to copy the .iso to that location before mounting but on closer inspection /fstab appears to be a text file and I can't even find /mtab, so I was completely confused until I realized that there are no locations of any kind once the live CD is ejected so it would probably never have worked anyway!

As you can see, I have tied myself in knots trying to install an OS on this computer but am desperate to get it to work as I simply have no funds to replace it. The computer is fairly low spec but ran fine with Ubuntu once upon a time, but I don't need it to do anything fancy like gaming, just web browsing,the occasional spread sheet or word doc and to save camera images to a USB drive.
The computer has ~1.5GB RAM, Pentium 4, 40GB drive and 80GB drive, 2 DVD drives, 3.5inch floppy, various USB ports, wireless card.

Thanks, Jimbat

[Lord_Eager]

The best way to install an SO is by booting from CD/DVD/USB iso. To burn an image file you don't have to burn the iso on a DVD as a file but you have to use the option to "write an image" onto DVD. This means that after burning you won't have an *.iso file on the DVD but you will have all the files needed to boot and install the SO.
For the second question the "mount" command synopsis fto mount an iso file is:

mount -o loop /path/to/iso/file /path/to/mount/it/in

In your case you have to check where the iso file is, (it should be in /media/...), then using the command above.
You can use the directory /mnt/ to mount it in, but you have to use sudo in that case.

[jimbat1]

Thanks Lord_Eager I didn't understand there was a distinction between the the .iso file and the image itself. That now makes more sense. I shall reburn the disk accordingly and try again. Can you confirm If I have understood you correctly; if I succeed in properly burning the image to a disc then I won't need to do the mounting business and can boot and install directly from the disk.
Also, am I right in supposing that without an OS in place already, the mounting option is null and void anyway since all the directories present when I use the Ubuntu live disc only exist whilst I am running the CD?

Many thanks, Jimbat

[austin.texas]

You should have Brasero on your Mint installation disc. Use that to burn the iso image to a disk. Then boot on that disk.

[jimbat1]

Thanks austin.texas I have managed to burn the image disk now using my work Windows machine so will try it when I get home later. Cheers Jimbat

[austin.texas]

Obviously, you don't have a MInt installation disk - but you get the idea.
As for the freeze when installing, if you have that same problem with installing Mint Cinnamon 32, come back and ask. It could be that an older version of Mint would work better with that hardware.

[jimbat1]

Cheers austin.texas, I shall report back later. Thanks for your input.