Installation Error

I downloaded the “LinuxCNC 2.9.3  Debian 12 Bookworm PREEMPT-RT ISO ” from the downloads page on this site on a Windows laptop and used Rufus to create a bootable USB flash drive (using a new USB drive).

I put this USB in my industrial PC (IPC) and booted.  Chose the option to boot from the USB iso image and Debian loaded and I was able to run the Linux CNC software.

I then powered off the IPC and rebooted.  This time I chose the “Install” option to install Dorian and LinuxCNC on my SSD.  In this step: “Detect & Mount Installation Media”, I get this error (no matter how many times I retry):

”Your installation media couldn’t be mounted.” (see attached screenshot)

A question about this error:

- is this saying it can’t mount my USB drive? … or can’t mount my SSD?

And a couple of general install questions from a Linux newbie:

- how much space is needed on my SSD for installation of Dorian and LinuxCNC combined?  Note what I’m trying to install listed in previous paragraph).

- any recommendations on how my SSD should be partitioned for best performance?

Thanks for your help.

It sounds like this message is indeed referring to the USB flash drive, thank you.

I have a new SSD ordered that should arrive tomorrow. After I get it installed, I’ll attempt the install again.

Any feedback on how this new SSD should be partitioned for best performance? Or will the install partition it appropriately?

An update:

Ordered and installed a 500Gb SSD to replace the128GB SSD in my industrial PC (IPC).

I then retried the install from my bootable flash drive with the Debian/LinuxCNC install iso.

It again had the error trying to mount the iso on the USB drive so I did as described above…removed the USB drive, waited 15 seconds, re-inserted the USB drive, waited another 15 seconds, and selected the “Try again” option.

This time it mounted the iso on the USB drive successfully and continued with the install.

I went with the suggested partitions and sizes. However, it created a 1Gb swap partition and I had planned to make this at least 4Gb (since the IPC has 4Gb of memory). Oh well, hopefully 1Gb is plenty.

Remainder of install went off without a hitch. Rebooted from the fresh install on the new SSD and Dorian is up & running. Added a USB WiFi stick and loaded the drivers for it and now WiFi is working.

Powered off and moved the IPC upstairs where I only have a WiFi internet access. WiFi connected fine, but date shifted back to a day in June 2024…so I couldn’t get a secure (https) connection to any online web page.

So I googled configuring NTP for a WiFi connection, issued the NTP install command, and after installing I looked up and date/time were set correctly…and now https works fine for connecting to online web pages.

I’m a Linux newbie so happy to get this install working. Hopefully there is no conflict between NTP & LinuxCNC, anyone know?

I started LinuxCNC to take a look around. It immediately asked me to load a machine configuration so I just closed it as I have no idea which one to select.

Now it’s time to read LinuxCNC documentation…

I assume the machine configs define things like:

- number of axes
- stepper motor count per axis
- axis limit switches
- spindle functionality: fwd/rev, variable speed, output signal (0v - 10v, etc),
- estop functionality

…and so forth. Maybe they also define your motion control board and any daughter boards too?