iB::Topic::DSL boot from CF card, it works YESSSS!!

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Topic: DSL boot from CF card, it works YESSSS!!, Booting from CF cards, USB devices, etc.

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snoodle99

Group: Members
Posts: 1
Joined: Sep. 2003

Posted: Sep. 26 2003,05:32

If anybody wants to know how to boot DSL from a CF card this is what I have done so far. Keep in mind that this recipe does not use USB (yet), I've started with a simpler approach.

I got a $20 IDE to CF adaptor off of a web store (ebay sellers carry them), stuck a 256mb Transcend 45x CompactFlash card into it, and did the HD-install. Whooomm it runs fast! Windows98 also runs FAST from CF by the way but corrupted itself within a few reboots when installing new devices.... I ran out of disk space on the CF, apparently, during driver installs. DSL thankfully is smaller.

The main advantage of running this way is that any customizations that you do are saved on the CF card (X windows settings, HTML pages, word processing documents, perl scripts, etc). Plus, the speed is nearly as fast as a RAMdisk, I think.

And let's not forget that with a short IDE cable, it makes an ideal silent low-power boot device in a mini-ITX system... I have my eyes on creating a tiny Linux box that fits into a slipcase or hangs on the wall like a pictureframe.

Now if I can just get this to boot in my USB slot using a CF-to-USB adaptor...

codestorm

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Posts: 52
Joined: Sep. 2003

Posted: Sep. 26 2003,06:48

Hmm, that gives me an idea.

Recently picked up an old Psion Series 5, and added a 256MB CF to it ... I know others out there have gotten Linux runnig on it. Wonder if I can get a (slightly modified) DSL running on it?! (Just gotta wait for the damn cable to arrive!)

--------------
9:34am up 32 years 7 months, 22:22, 1 user, load average: 1.00, 1.00, 1.00
USER TTY FROM LOGIN@ IDLE JCPU PCPU WHAT
Ben ttyp0 127.0.0.1 9:33am 11936:23:59m 0.00s 0.00s -life
Exception is the soul of Humanity (http://www.spoothead.net/~zensei/)

mw6b0

Group: Members
Posts: 3
Joined: Sep. 2003

Posted: Sep. 26 2003,21:11

This is interesting! I had been wondering about something similar -- I have a 128MB USB key and I was wondering if DSL could be made to live there.

I assume DSL is compressed to begin with, being knoppix-based -- is that incorrect? Similarly, I assume that uncompressed, it'd be bigger than 128MB, since the page on installing it to HDD calls for a 200-300MB drive.

Does anyone know if you can massage the CD iso to work off of some other, bootable media (is it just a matter of changing the image format, or does DSL expect to be found on the CD)?

I'm new to this (building the linux box, that is -- been using it in a tightly controlled IT environment for years), so I hope I haven't asked anything too terribly boneheaded.

EDIT: Yoi, I did ask a dumb question, didn't I -- found a link to a page explaining how to get DSL on a USB memory key on the main DSL site. Sorry about that!

Thanks,
--mw

im someguy
Unregistered

Posted: Sep. 27 2003,08:36

try mini-box.com they have an AWESOME cf adapter for your mobo that lets the cf card plu directly into the ide

jsc1959

Group: Members
Posts: 3
Joined: Oct. 2003

Posted: Oct. 06 2003,19:45

I am using DSL that boots off of a USB 2.0 memory Jump Drive with a 128 MB SanDisk memory stick. I absolutely love it. I havent figured out how to modify it so that you can add programs to it, but it sure is fun just the same.:) Whenever a new release comes out the only thing you have to do is copy over the Knoppix directory to the USB drive and you have an updated distro. Nice and simple. I got the idea off of the Knoppix web site. There are instructions on how to do it there if you look in the Docs section and then goto the Custumizations, Here is the link

http://rz-obrian.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/knoppix-usb/

Hope this helps. Any questions feel free to ask.

5 replies since Sep. 26 2003,05:32

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