Mdthbs

I installed Debian 7 using a USB flash drive "burned" from the first DVD ISO of the Debian installation CD/DVD.

I did a very minimal install without Debian desktop environment, Print server and Standard system utilities.

After installation and a reboot, I was presented with a console with the words Debian GNU/Linux 7 hostname tty1. I supplied the login username and password.

After I typed the command sudo apt-get install xorg, an error message popped up stating:

Media changed: please insert the disk labeled 'Debian GNU/Linux 7.4.0 _Wheezy_ - Official amd64 DVD Binary-1 20140208-13:47' in the drive and press Enter

I inserted the same USB flash drive into the same port and after waiting for a few seconds, I pressed Enter.

The same error message popped up.

I have tried the following steps on the advice of some of my colleagues:

1. remove/delete all the entries in /etc/apt/sources.list and reboot the computer


2. dmesg and fstab show that the USB thumb drive is mounted on /dev/sdb1
   


3. sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /media/usb0


4. sudo apt-cdrom -m -d /media/usb0 add

After doing the above, the following error message appears:

Using CD-ROM mount point /media/cdrom/

Identifying.......{a long string of alphanumeric characters}

Scanning disc for index files...............

Found 0 package indexes, 0 source indexes, 0 translation indexes and 0 signatures

W: Failed to mount '/dev/sr0' to '/media/cdrom/'

E: Unable to locate any package files, perhaps this is not a Debian disc or the wrong architecture

I prefer to install Xorg (60MB) and gnome-core (400MB) from the USB stick. The NGO that I am working with is in a developing country with a very basic internet access infrastructure. Internet access is very patchy and the average download speed is less than 2 Mbps.

I found that this problem was very similar to my own. Debian installed from USB stick but then when I try to use apt-get install I am prompted for a CdROM.

After much fuss I found part 14.3.1 of the Debian tutorial valuable because it explains the syntax for instructing the system to look for source content in a file location.
Here's what i did:

I ensured the usb stick was mounted and I took note of its location in the filesystem. For me that was /media/Debian 7.5 64 Copyleft FM

As su I edited sources.list so that the line with "deb cdrom" was commented-out.
Then I added a new first line of that file using the tutorial info and my usb stick file location:

deb file:/media/"Debian 7.5 64 Copyleft FM" wheezy contrib local main non-free

#deb cdrom:[Debian GNU/Linux 7.5 _Wheezy_ - Copyleft amd64 Full Monty amd64 DLBD Binary-1 20140427-09:14]/ wheezy contrib local main non-free

For newbies such as me, note the use of quotes in the URI to protect the enclosed spaces from being misunderstood. (See Nixcraft forum: Howto cd to folder name with spaces blank names (white space)

Then I ran sudo apt-get update as advised above (thx). That's all I did.

This solved my problem - I was able to run sudo apt-get install vim and I was no longer asked to insert a CD.

so in line with the previous answer, I just told my system to not even bother to use the cdrom as a source for updates at all.

I first had to change the file permissions of sources.list so I could change it

change to directory it was in

    cd /etc/apt

then change permissions

    chmod 666 sources.list

(read/write for owner, root, and user)

then I could open the file in text editor, and with new basic user read and write permissions, and stuck # in front of the line looking at the cdrom as a source.

    #deb file:/media/"Debian 7.5 64 Copyleft FM" wheezy contrib local main non-free

then changed permissions back to only owner and root could write as well as read, but user could not

    chmod 664 sources.list

apt-get now installs programs.

someone might tell me later there is a problem with this, but hey. it worked :)