When using a boot floppy (either boot.img or bootnet.img from the images directory of a standard 6.2 distribution CD) to initialise a Kickstart installation, the documentation explains that a ks.cfg file can reside on a local harddrive. If the harddrive is SCSI and the file is located on a ext2 partition, it cannot be found. You don't even receive an error message stating that the installer couldn't find ks.cfg it just stops on the "Choose a Language" screen. This works from IDE drives, or from SCSI devices off msdos partitions, just not off ext2 partitions on SCSI drives.
hmmm ... using sda1 on an advansys scsi card works for me with: boot: linux ks=hd:sda1/ks.cfg what kind of scsi card are you using ...? Does it's module load before fetching the kickstart file ...?
The module doesn't load when the kernel starts up, I assumed it would occur when once the install program starts up (similar when in manual mode). I found instructions about looking at the modules.cgz in the initrd.img on the bootnet.img, and noticed that the module for Adaptec adapters doesn't seem to be present. Does this need to be added, or is this supposed to be handled at someother time during the install program? If my problem is that it just needs to be added, are there instructions for doing so?
What card are you using and which driver module does it require?
ADAPTER: Adaptec 2940 MODULE: aic7xxx
OK, here's what i've done. I grabbed the aic7xxx.o module from boot.img and added it to modules.cgz on bootnet.img (following Kickstart HowTo). It took up too much space so I removed the 3c*, de*, and wavelan modules. I also looked at the modules/module-info on boot.img and added the aic7xxx entry to the same file on bootnet.img. And, i added the aic7xxx lines from modules/pcitable on boot.img to the same file on bootnet.img. When kickstarting now a message window pops up for a second saying that the aic7xxx module is loading, but then it disappears and some error messages stating "error 2 header not readable: Success" appear in the background, then it just stops at the select language screen. I tried removing the entries for modules i removed from all the files i mentioned above and in modules.dep, but it still has the same problem. Am I going about the correct route to add a module to the boot disk?
verified this behavior in both 6.2 & 7 ... since the aic7xxx module is loaded in stage 2 (after reading the ks file), pointing the kickstart file to a drive/partition will not work ... thanks for your report!
You have to use the boot.img file; it you are trying to load the kickstart file from the hard drive and then do an nfs, ftp, or http install you are just out of luck.Only cdrom and hard drive kickstart's are supported when the kickstart file resides on the local hard drive. This is really a problem with disk space; the boot disk isn't big enough to store both the scsi modules and the networking modules we need.You may be able to use a driver disk hack with a driver disk on the hard drive along with the kcisktart file, but that's not supported either.