Help downloading and installing Damnsmall Linux
Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: Help downloading and installing Damnsmall Linux
started by: john2005
Posted by john2005 on June 15 2005,22:43
Hi Everyone,I am completely new to Linux & DSL but I want to try it. I am using Windows 98 on an older Pentium 2, 400 MHz processor, Gateway G6-400 computer. I have 128 MB ram, but I am upgrading to 256 MB. I am hoping this older system is good enough to run DSL.
I would like to burn DSL on a CD, and then use it from the CD, without interfering with Windows in any way. Buy the way, I am also pretty new to CD burning.
When I go to this link < http://dsl.thegeekery.com/current/ > There are so many different files to download, I am not sure which one to download.
There are files named current, current.iso, DSL-1.2.1-SYSlynux.iso and DSL-1.2.1.ISO.
Can someone please give me the exact link and/or file name to download ? Also, I am not completely clear as to what ISO files are. Do I need to download the ISO file to burn DSL on the CD, or can I just download the regular DSL file and copy it to CD ?
I would be grateful for any feedback or help you can provide. I am very new to all of this, but very interested.
Thanks for your help.
John
Posted by ke4nt1 on June 15 2005,23:37
The files current.iso, and DSL-1.2.1.iso, are the same..The dsl-1.2.1 syslinux version is for computers whose bioses
won't work with the isolinux used on the other versions..
You won't know if you need the syslinux version until you see
issues with your particular box.. I don't think you'll need it,
given the specs you provided us with..
You'll need to burn the image contained in the .iso file
to a cdr. Nero, Prassi, Roxio, etc. all have ways of burning
"images" to the cdr. Don't simply burn a copy of the .iso file
onto some cdr media, that wont work..
You can easily burn it from DSL itself if you can borrow a CD.
With your system specs, DSL will run just fine..
Once you add the new ram, you can bootup with the
"toram" option, which on a 400MHz, should just flat out scream!
Let us know..
73
ke4nt
Posted by John2005 on June 15 2005,23:53
Hi Ke4nt,Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate your help. You mentioned burning DSL on a CD-R. At the risk of asking a really dumb question, can I just burn DSL to a CD-RW disc or does it have to go on a CD-R disc for some reason ?
All I have in stock are CD-RW, but I will pick up a few CD-R disc's if I have to.
I have Nero Express that came with my DVD/CD-RW drive, and I think it does have an option to burn an ISO "image".
Thanks again for your help.
John
Posted by green on June 16 2005,01:33
I have burned many an ISO to CD-RW, including DSL. You should be fine with using a CD-RW or CD-R. The beauty of CD-RW is erasing it and starting over if you need to.Good luck !
Posted by ke4nt1 on June 16 2005,02:32
I use cdrw's no problem here..( but I have come across many cdrom drives that don't LIKE them)
I always assume cdr's include cdrw's..
I use dvd-r, dvd+r, and dvd-rw's as well with no issues..
Enjoy..
73
ke4nt
Posted by John2005 on June 16 2005,06:02
Hi Everyone,Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate your help.
I was able to burn the DSL "Current.ISO" image to a CD-RW.
I read the text file and it said you must make sure your BIOS is set up to boot from CD-ROM. Can anyone tell me how to do that ? Also, when I am done using DSL and want to use Windows 98, will I have to change the BIOS back to boot from the hard drive ?
I have never messed with the BIOS before, but I know you can screw things up if you make a mistake, so I am a little worried about making changes to the BIOS.
Will clicking on the "Boot.cat" file start DSl, or do you always have to restart the computer with the CD in the drive ?
I would appreciate any feedback you might have.
Thanks for your help.
John
Posted by green on June 16 2005,13:55
If the CD is in the CD-ROM when you boot the computer up, does DSL run?If it goes straight into Windows, then you may need to look at your BIOS settings. To do that depends on your system. For most of my PC's, pressing the F1 key (a couple use F12) while the machine is booting will show you some BIOS settings which you can change. Read the information presented to you. It will tell you how to navigate around in the BIOS using the tab and arrow keys. You need to look for 'boot options' or 'startup sequence' or similar. It should list somewhere the order in which the machine will look for hardware to boot from. It may be showing HDD-0 or HDD-1 as the first boot device, or possibly even FDD-1, the floppy drive. You need to select CD-ROM if it will let you. Once done, save the settings by reading the text at the bottom of the screen. When saved, the machine will reboot. If the CD is in the CD-ROM, it should boot up from it and you'll see the DSL boot screen. Press F2 and/or F3 to view the boot options.
After you are done using your DSL Live CD, you can right click on the desktop, go to 'Power Down' and select 'reboot' or 'Shutdown.' You will NOT need to change your BIOS settings back to non-booting the CD-ROM. If it does not have a CD in it, it'll skip it and move on to the next device.
To start DSL (if trying to run from Live CD) you need to boot the PC with the CD in the CD-ROM. Clicking on things while viewing the CD contents via Windows will not get it going.
Have fun!
Posted by john2005 on June 16 2005,16:08
Hi,I was able to get DSL up and running ! I want to thank "Ke4nt1" and "Green" for their help. I really appreciate it guys !
I did not need to change my BIOS. Apparently, the bios was already set to boot from the CD drive before the hard drive. I just put the CD in, restarted my computer, and DSL popped up on the screen.
When I wanted to exit and go back to windows, I right clicked on the desktop, and then selected "reboot". The CD popped out, I removed it, then I closed the CD drive door. The cursor was blinking on the screen and I could not read the writing or code next to the cursor because it was too small, so I just pressed enter after waiting awhile, and the system re-booted back to windows.
I just gave the description above in case it can help another DSL newbie who might be reading this thread.
Anyway, DSL is cool ! What a neat concept, being able to run a completely different operating system from a CD.
Even with only 128 MB ram, and a Pentium 2 with 400 MHz processor, DSL seems faster running from CD, than windows does running from my hard drive !
Thanks again guys,
John
Posted by kriggo15 on June 17 2005,15:13
I am having some problems and I figured it would be easier posting tot his forum b/c I am havign the same problem. I am trying to put DSL on a computer that currently is running windows xp and I want to only run DSL on that computer. My system specs are windows xp, 128 mb ram, and pentium 200mhz.I downloaded all of the stuff from the the site and I burned the current.iso file to a cdr using roxio. I also tried burning dsl-1.2.1 and dsl-1.2.1-syslinux all on different cds. I put them in my computer that I want to put dsl on and when it tried to read from the cd-rom, it said failure.
Apparently, I am doing something wrong. Can someone please help me out? Also, I am new to dsl and linux... if you couldn't tell
Posted by kriggo15 on June 18 2005,16:07
bump
Posted by JO+ on June 18 2005,17:43
hi kriggo15,it could be the way you are burning your CD. You have to burn it as a bootable CD image (sometimes called 'ISO image' or 'El-Torrito bootdisk' or ...), not the way you are burning e.g. an MP3 file. I don't know the Roxio, but there should somewhere be an option to burn a bootable CD.
good luck, Jo
Posted by John2005 on June 18 2005,18:01
Hi,The burning software I am using is "Nero Express" that came with my CD-RW. Nero express offered several options for burning.
One option given is to burn a "disc image or saved project". Nero says this option is to "record a disc from a (disc image) previously burned on the hard drive".
The other option was under "data" and this option was "bootable data disc". Nero says this option is "to create a special kind of data disc, (El torinto bootable CD) that allows you to boot from the disc when you start your computer, this may be useful for presentations, backups, or system recovery if you want / need to bypass windows."
When I burned DSL on CD, I used the burn "Disc image or saved project" option, and it worked fine. After burning, I just put the CD back in the drive, and then restarted the computer and DSL booted up.
Hope this may help a little.
John
Posted by kriggo15 on June 18 2005,18:22
which of the 3 iso's should i burn?
Posted by John2005 on June 18 2005,20:07
Hello,I burned the "current.iso" file, and it worked fine. It was somewhere around 49 MB or so in size. The links are posted in this message thread, just look at the previous messages and replies.
John