Damn Small Linux - Not!

Tehmod · Joined: 28 Jun 2006 Posts: 2

I searched and searched for all the information I needed to get this done. So far I have to say I do enjoy this distro and would reccomend it to anyone whose needs it fits. Great job with it fellas!

My post would be incredibly long if I included everything I want to say, so I'll try to keep everything relevant. My system, is a Dell Dimension 4600, the only customization I made was that I have 1gb of ram and the 128mb Nvidia graphics card. Other than that I'm not real sure what the specifics are except that it has a 3.2ghz P4. On my harddrive I have a windows xp partition and fedora core 4(not relevant) on the other half.

When I took this project on, the first vital piece of information I didn't know is that I couldn't create a bootable usb key from the files I downloaded, but I would have to create one from a running copy of DSL-N, this guide will tell you how to do that, without creating a CD rom, from within windows XP. You will download the files, install a program, create your new bootable usb key, then cleanup anything you don't wish to keep on windows. All of that can be done in about an hour if you follow this guide, all without rebooting!

I am by no means a "Linux Geek" I only know the terminal commands that share the same names as Dos. What I wanted to do was install this distro on my new 1gb memorex usb key. I don't have a CD burner and I didn't want to install this distro on my hard drive. I also wanted to be able to boot from this device. I couldn't find all the information I needed in one place so I thought it would be a good idea to help out the next guy and make this post. So if you have a similar system, odds are this will be exactly what you need to do.

I found Windows XP(oddly enough) the easiest place to do all this. First you need to start downloading a few things. I don't have the time to dig up all the URLS just yet, maybe a site admin can hook this post up, maybe not, google is your friend. Start downloading the EMBEDDED version of DSL-N. Also you are going to want to use
[url=http://www.vmware.com/products/player/]VMWare Player[/url] so download that as well.
Uncompress the embedded DSL-N to any directory you want on your hard drive. Install the Vmplayer.

Now you are going to start up VMPlayer, find the directory you decompressed DSL-N at, then select the VMPlayer file in that directory. DSL-N will boot up and you are halfway there! Once the GUI loads, you need to right click on the desktop to bring up a nice menu. Select Tools>Install to USB Pendrive>For USB zip pendrive.

When you do that, a scary looking terminal-like screen will appear. Tell it that you want to install to the device "uba"(if you have any other usb storage devices plugged in, DOUBLE CHECK, THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING!) It will begin to install on your USB key drive. For some reason it took around 45 minutes to install on mine, I don't know why but if you run into this, don't panic, it is working correctly. Once it is over, guess what?

You have a bootable USB key! w00t

I just thought I'd share that with the world, if it didn't work for you, I am sorry. I am not a techy and I probably cannot answer why it didn't work hopefully some helpful people here can. Just remember that almost any question can be answered by searching these forums and google. That is how I got all the information I needed, without asking anyone anything. So be sure to make an effort to find the answer to a question before taking their time to answer your question. I hope this is of some use.[/url]

Ju1esVerne · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 1

Nice trick!
It's working for the DSL-3.0.1_embedded version but didn't work for a embedded version of DSL-N, is it? Embarassed

Because i didn't find an embedded DSL-N on any dl-server i tried.
If there is any real existing embedded version of DSL-N please post an URL where everyone who is looking for it can download it.
THX!!! Smile

retrowb · Joined: 08 Sep 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Texas

I recall reading with newer versions of dsl and dsl-n they have been able to combine embedded with the other two types of dsl or dsl-n, meaning you can use the same one to run on usb or cd or hd.

I have been running dsl-n for 24 hours now from a usb drive. Works great! I did the cd to usb, but could have just as easily done the vmware to usb.

Happy computing!