jsalpha2 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 So Zenwalk has come out with a new ISO and I am trying to install it in VirtualBox. Zenwalk does not include partitioning tools and you have to partition a virtual hard drive first using gparted or another similar tool and then Create a new VB and try to install it onto the previously created Virtual Disk.( I think?) That is as far as I get, I can not figure out how to point to the Zenwalk ISO and the pre-formatted partition at the same time. I could try a real install of course, but the ISO is install only(no live USB) and I would like to take a test drive first. I have had trouble finding a 64bit Slackware spin that works for me. (Vector 32-bit works fine). I would try pure Slackware if there was an un-official installer like the Evo/Lution Linux project for Arch. Maybe I will try on a spare computer with nothing else on it. Wish me luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Actually the slackware installer is very similar to the evo installer for Archlinux. Both are ncurses based and are menu driven. As far as a derivative, slax can be installed even though it is mainly a portable distro and it has a 64bit version as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 There are a lot of Slackware derivatives; most are great... Zenwalk, Vector, SLAX, Porteus, Frugalware, Salix OS, Wolvix, etc., but there's ONLY ONE Slackware. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 There are a lot of Slackware derivatives; most are great... Zenwalk, Vector, SLAX, Porteus, Frugalware, Salix OS, Wolvix, etc., but there's ONLY ONE Slackware. Exactly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewmur Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 (edited) So Zenwalk has come out with a new ISO and I am trying to install it in VirtualBox. Zenwalk does not include partitioning tools and you have to partition a virtual hard drive first using gparted or another similar tool and then Create a new VB and try to install it onto the previously created Virtual Disk.( I think?) That is as far as I get, I can not figure out how to point to the Zenwalk ISO and the pre-formatted partition at the same time. I could try a real install of course, but the ISO is install only(no live USB) and I would like to take a test drive first. I have had trouble finding a 64bit Slackware spin that works for me. (Vector 32-bit works fine). I would try pure Slackware if there was an un-official installer like the Evo/Lution Linux project for Arch. Maybe I will try on a spare computer with nothing else on it. Wish me luck. I don't understand your problem. Why would you need a partitioning tool to install a distro? Vbox virtual disk are just files that can reside anywhere. They don't need their own partition. If you want more than one "virtual drive" for your session, just create multiple ones with the Vbox "drive create" tool. Then you can use the "share" tool in the Vbox session to share any folders or drives you want for sharing with the host. Or you can use "network" sharing for sharing with other "boxes". Edited August 26, 2015 by lewmur 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsalpha2 Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 This is where I get stuck. Other distros I can make the partitions. Gparted is usually included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 All you have to do is use another LIVE CD of any pedigree (Ubuntu is fine for this) to utilize Gparted. Load your LIVE CD, choose to "Try Ubuntu," then utilize Gparted from within the virtual Ubuntu LIVE trial to create and format your drive partitions. Once you're finished, reboot into the Slackware installation CD and follow the steps, but instead of having to create/format partitions (since you've already done that), you only have to assign what mount points to use... /(root) = /dev/sda1, /home = /dev/sda2, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 NOTE: Experienced and techie blokes like myself and Securitybreach would use parted and fdisk from the command line during installation. However, I wouldn't recommend that to users not VERY comfortable with command line apps. Do it the easy way (as noted above). Easy is always gooder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewmur Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 (edited) This is where I get stuck. Other distros I can make the partitions. Gparted is usually included. Click OK and follow the instructions found here. edit: Distros like this one expect you to know some CLI, so you might as well start learning now. Edited August 31, 2015 by lewmur 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 NOTE: Experienced and techie blokes like myself and Securitybreach would use parted and fdisk from the command line during installation. However, I wouldn't recommend that to users not VERY comfortable with command line apps. Do it the easy way (as noted above). Easy is always gooder. I would normally 100% absolutely agree with you..."easy IS always gooder"...but he's working with VirtualBox and hasn't installed anything yet. I submit that this is a textbook instance of what VirtualBox is for...an opportunity to work on new skills with no fear of messing up your main box. Screw up the installation? No problem, delete the files and try again... JMO... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewmur Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 NOTE: Experienced and techie blokes like myself and Securitybreach would use parted and fdisk from the command line during installation. However, I wouldn't recommend that to users not VERY comfortable with command line apps. Do it the easy way (as noted above). Easy is always gooder. I would normally 100% absolutely agree with you..."easy IS always gooder"...but he's working with VirtualBox and hasn't installed anything yet. I submit that this is a textbook instance of what VirtualBox is for...an opportunity to work on new skills with no fear of messing up your main box. Screw up the installation? No problem, delete the files and try again... JMO... My thoughts exactly. And it isn't as if the cfdisk command was "rocket science". There are no "flags" to worry about. Just type in "cfdisk /dev/sda" and make your choices from the menu. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsalpha2 Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 All you have to do is use another LIVE CD of any pedigree (Ubuntu is fine for this) to utilize Gparted. Load your LIVE CD, choose to "Try Ubuntu," then utilize Gparted from within the virtual Ubuntu LIVE trial to create and format your drive partitions. Once you're finished, reboot into the Slackware installation CD and follow the steps, but instead of having to create/format partitions (since you've already done that), you only have to assign what mount points to use... /(root) = /dev/sda1, /home = /dev/sda2, etc. <-- these are only example mount points. Yours may differ. Your instructions work fine in real life. on actual hardware, but in VirtualBox how do you assign the previously created VDI and create the mount points? There is an option for using a previously created VDI, but after using the menu to find the one created with Ubuntu, I can not figure out how to use it. Head pounding on wall. Going to try a few more times. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 I completely agree with what everyone said above. Sorry I was bit busy yesterday evening so I didn't get around to the post until this morning. Anyway, like Lewmur pointed out, Zenwalk will require some cli work as it is modular and based upon Slackware. Not saying all Slack derivatives are like this one but Zenwalk has always been this way. They kept the Slackware ncurses installer so if you installed Slackware, you would get the same sort of interface to work with. As others have noted, cfdisk is really easy to use. Basically you just use the tab bar and enter to navigate through the options: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewmur Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 My thoughts exactly. And it isn't as if the cfdisk command was "rocket science". There are no "flags" to worry about. Just type in "cfdisk /dev/sda" and make your choices from the menu. Bummer. Thought I'd give it a try just to make sure there were no major hitches. Unfortunately, I've run into a very major one. I used cfdisk and everything went according to plan. But once the install finished and I tried to boot it, I get an error saying something is wrong with the filesystem. It will let me get to the CLI but not the desktop. Tried from scratch again and get the same result. D/L'd the iso from a different source and started over. Still same result. Then I thought I try installing on a laptop along with Win7. Created an ext4 partition and booted the LiveCD. Tells me I need an 100mb EFI partition. What???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 NOTE: Experienced and techie blokes like myself and Securitybreach would use parted and fdisk from the command line during installation. However, I wouldn't recommend that to users not VERY comfortable with command line apps. Do it the easy way (as noted above). Easy is always gooder. Sheesh geeks always talking themselves up. Even barbarians can use fdisk. If I recall I used it on my first Arch install. Mind you after that trauma I always use a live cd and gparted 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewmur Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 NOTE: Experienced and techie blokes like myself and Securitybreach would use parted and fdisk from the command line during installation. However, I wouldn't recommend that to users not VERY comfortable with command line apps. Do it the easy way (as noted above). Easy is always gooder. Sheesh geeks always talking themselves up. Even barbarians can use fdisk. If I recall I used it on my first Arch install. Mind you after that trauma I always use a live cd and gparted fdisk and cfdisk are two entirely different animals. fdisk requires you to know all the different switches while dfdisk is entirely menu driven. cfdisk is the command the zen installer tells you to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 NOTE: Experienced and techie blokes like myself and Securitybreach would use parted and fdisk from the command line during installation. However, I wouldn't recommend that to users not VERY comfortable with command line apps. Do it the easy way (as noted above). Easy is always gooder. Sheesh geeks always talking themselves up. Even barbarians can use fdisk. If I recall I used it on my first Arch install. Mind you after that trauma I always use a live cd and gparted fdisk and cfdisk are two entirely different animals. fdisk requires you to know all the different switches while dfdisk is entirely menu driven. cfdisk is the command the zen installer tells you to use. Righty ho I figured they were different tools by the names. My post was really just an attempt at humor rather than advice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 NOTE: Experienced and techie blokes like myself and Securitybreach would use parted and fdisk from the command line during installation. However, I wouldn't recommend that to users not VERY comfortable with command line apps. Do it the easy way (as noted above). Easy is always gooder. I would normally 100% absolutely agree with you..."easy IS always gooder"...but he's working with VirtualBox and hasn't installed anything yet. I submit that this is a textbook instance of what VirtualBox is for...an opportunity to work on new skills with no fear of messing up your main box. Screw up the installation? No problem, delete the files and try again... JMO... Er... I hadn't realized this was a virtual installation. Never mind. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 All you have to do is use another LIVE CD of any pedigree (Ubuntu is fine for this) to utilize Gparted. Load your LIVE CD, choose to "Try Ubuntu," then utilize Gparted from within the virtual Ubuntu LIVE trial to create and format your drive partitions. Once you're finished, reboot into the Slackware installation CD and follow the steps, but instead of having to create/format partitions (since you've already done that), you only have to assign what mount points to use... /(root) = /dev/sda1, /home = /dev/sda2, etc. Your instructions work fine in real life. on actual hardware, but in VirtualBox how do you assign the previously created VDI and create the mount points? There is an option for using a previously created VDI, but after using the menu to find the one created with Ubuntu, I can not figure out how to use it. Head pounding on wall. Going to try a few more times. . All you have to do is use another LIVE CD of any pedigree (Ubuntu is fine for this) to utilize Gparted. Load your LIVE CD, choose to "Try Ubuntu," then utilize Gparted from within the virtual Ubuntu LIVE trial to create and format your drive partitions. Once you're finished, reboot into the Slackware installation CD and follow the steps, but instead of having to create/format partitions (since you've already done that), you only have to assign what mount points to use... /(root) = /dev/sda1, /home = /dev/sda2, etc. Your instructions work fine in real life. on actual hardware, but in VirtualBox how do you assign the previously created VDI and create the mount points? There is an option for using a previously created VDI, but after using the menu to find the one created with Ubuntu, I can not figure out how to use it. Head pounding on wall. Going to try a few more times. . Ooops, sorry. I don't "do" virtual; real for me or nothing at all. So, my advice to you was not appropriate for your circumstances. Again... sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Ooops, sorry. I don't "do" virtual; real for me or nothing at all. So, my advice to you was not appropriate for your circumstances. Again... sorry. I don't think you need to be sorry...you're just "ahead of your time" again! Once he masters this in the virtual arena and is ready to move on to bare metal, your advice is solid! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Ah... yes! METAL! Rock on! \m/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBHVQBNnGuk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 You're good VT! I specifically put that "bare metal" reference as a double entendre for you...not only did you "get it", you raised me. I "see" your Metal Church (great tune, BTW!), and raise you a "butt metal" (warning: explicit lyrics, do not click if easily offended!) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewmur Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 You're good VT! I specifically put that "bare metal" reference as a double entendre for you...not only did you "get it", you raised me. I "see" your Metal Church (great tune, BTW!), and raise you a "butt metal" (warning: explicit lyrics, do not click if easily offended!) I don't mean to rain on your parade, but aren't you guys getting a little off topic? I keep coming back to the tread to see if anyone has solved the Zen problems and all I see is this "metal" stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 I'm ADHD. Sorry... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 He's ADHD. I'm Metal. Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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