Labview Real-Time Install Problem

[bob_mcbob]

I've been trying to install the labview real-time software on multiple computers with no success.  I have a format floppy disk, and I'm following the instructions in the "Using a Desktop Computer as a LabVIEW Real-Time for ETS Target" article very carefully (including disabling USB support, etc.).

I've tried installing it to two separate drives (I tried both in each computer).  I pre-format the disk to FAT32, then boot with the format floppy.  The format/installation runs through, then I get a message telling me to remove the floppy and reboot the system.  When I reboot and attempt to boot from the hard drive, nothing happens ("strike F1 to retry boot...").  Neither computer seems to recognize the drives as bootable.

Drive #1 is an old 13GB drive.  The installation itself is no problem with this one.  Drive #2 is an 80GB IBM drive.  If I try to install with the full capacity pre-formatted, I get various errors during the install process (which doesn't complete), including "User program stopped at exception: 0" and "Fatal error KERNEL.146080: System halted."  I assume there is some sort of maximum capacity limit for the installer - is that correct?  Creating a small (3GB) partition on the drive and leaving the rest unformatted solves the problem.

I originally suspected it was a problem with the first computer I tried, but having experienced it with multiple computers, I can only assume I'm doing something wrong, though I can't imagine what (it is a fairly simple process).  I'm about ready to tear out my hair here!

[bob_mcbob]

As it turns out, the labview real-time format disk does not write the to the mbr correctly in many instances.  I tried installing labview real-time on several computers, always having the same problem of the drive not being recognized as bootable.  I figured out what was wrong when grub loaded after installing on a drive that previously contained a Linux distro!

Anyhow, I managed to solve the issue by erasing the boot sector and starting fresh.  On some drives, I still have a similar boot issue unless the drive is completely zeroed, which is a real pain.  Note that this is for multiple computers and drives, so there is definitely a bug in the installer.  There is also the issue of large drives crashing it.  I don't know what the exact figure is; it will install on a 40GB drive, but crashes on an 80GB (as per my previous post).  For interest, the labview version is 7.1 (latest).