CrazyBeethoven
Group: Members
Posts: 7
Joined: Aug. 2007 |
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Posted: Aug. 08 2007,06:32 |
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So, I have been a fan of DSL for a long time, seen it get upgraded many times. I distinctly remember one time booting it and getting all sorts of crazy colors, trying to get it to work and probably not caring enough to fix it. Recently I tried it on the same machine with the most recent version and everything worked automatically: Video, sound, network, etc. I was pretty excited.
I was recently given a Compaq Armada 4131T, currently running Windoze 98 (actually, it runs pretty smoothly) on a 3gig drive with 80mb of ram and a 133mhz processor. This thing is so old that it has no USB, no CD (and no slot for one either!), no integrated network/modem/anything, and a floppy drive that is on the fritz. So, I did what anybody with an old laptop would do: Try to run Linux! Specifically, DSL!
Eventually I did get it running, I am still unsure of myself with all the specifics, but here is what I did (I think this is called the "poormans" install?):
I made the boot floppy using the floppy.img online, copied the /KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX to /hda1/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX, copied the /boot/isolinux/* to /hda1/boot/isolinux/* and rebooted on the floppy.
Initially I got some hanging errors, but this could be because I got impatient and started pressing random buttons.
It boots fine right now. One thing missing is the stinking network card: I am using a 3Com Megahertz 574 pcmcia network card and it does not work. Neither does the modem plugged in either. I am moving to a location with a free wireless network, so I will be purchasing a wireless card and don't need to get this one working.
I have been fooling around with the "grub for dos 0.4.1", trying to see if I can ditch the floppy. I am hesitant to get rid of Win98 because it is the only way I can get online right now. When I can get online with DSL, I am planning on doing an install. It is slow going right now, because I have been raised on Windoze for so long and had to learn a lot of the commands/programs. Right now I am trying to understand what the initrd command is all about: It keeps saying "kernel panic ... try using the init command" or something. That is a topic for another thread and another time: I am moving tomorrow so I won't have time to fool with it for a while.
Just wanted to post a success story, even though it is only partially done. I really do love DSL, it is so blazing fast, even on a machine this slow it is ridiculously fast. I eventually want to top out the RAM so I can boot the toram option, but that will have to wait!
Thanks, guys, for all the work you do! Thanks, everybody on the forum, for all your help: I have read a lot of it and got much help already.
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I am running DSL on a Compaq Armada 4131T, 133Mhz, 80MB Ram, 3G hard-drive, no integrated USB/Network/Modem/anything, a fritzy floppy, and an external battery pack that I hope to remove someday. I love DSL on my lappy: Who needs up-to-date when you have DSL?
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