install from hda?

[redpark]

i'd like to install fedora core 8 on an older (333 mhz) pc that is not capable of booting from cd -- call that computer A.

i've looked at the thread "How to install F8 through LAN?" and will give that a try, but i'm wondering why the following (seemingly simpler) method would not work:

temporarily remove hda from computer A and attach it to computer B and there copy a bootable linux image to it (something like the fc8 live cd). move hda back to computer A, boot from it, and install fc8 to hdb in computer A.

there must be hidden difficulties in doing it this way, else my searching would have turned up some instructions for creating the bootable hda on computer B.

just curious -- is something like this really impossible to do? or was i just not searching hard enough to find it?

thanks, ed

[markjensen]

I would pull the drive out, put it in a faster computer, then install onto it.

When done, transfer the drive back to your slower 333 MHz beast.

(try to match drive configuration - that is, if this is the only hard drive in your 333, then remove all other drives from your temporary install box)

Also, I hope you plan on using fluxbox (or any other *box as your Window Manager). XFCE probably wouldn't be too bad.

[redpark]

thank you; so it really is that simple.

before my original post, i had done what you suggested, except for disconnecting the other harddrives in the faster computer B. then hda back in computer A failed to boot.

after following you suggestion to match drive configuration, it booted just fine (or at least tried to -- computer A has an amd k6 cpu which is not supported by the kernel that got installed. but that's a different problem for another thread.)

thanks very much for your help.

ed