Determining my future

Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: Determining my future
started by: soulvacuum

Posted by soulvacuum on Jan. 09 2005,14:15

I have a question that will determine my future of using dsl yes or no. I once tried the embedded version on my dad's computer (that is really faster than mine) and I wanna know:
When we boot from cd, is it dangerous for windows? I mean does it do something that can make problems to boot windows later?

Posted by DonttPanic on Jan. 09 2005,15:00

No, booting into DSL from cd is not at all dangerous to windows. It doesn't even access the hard drive unless you tell it to. That is the wonder of running from LiveCD. Just remember to take out the cd if you want to get back to windoze.

Posted by soulvacuum on Jan. 11 2005,02:03

I'll use dsl forever! Thanx man. But how the hell I make a network connexion and if I want to download something within dsl... It does access the harddisk or when I reboot the program just delete itself? I wonder, I only have set my bios to boot from cd first and put the cd and everything is allright?

I know I have a too much questions :laugh:

Posted by DonttPanic on Jan. 11 2005,02:34

If you're connected to a router, I'm pretty sure you should automatically get a connection to the internet. If not, open a terminal and type netcardconfig and you should be able to configure your network card to access the internet.

As for your question about the hard disk, it depends on how the hard disk is formatted. A harddisk formatted for winXP is formatted in NTFS, which I'm pretty sure DSL won't be able to write to. However, if the hard drive is formatted for win98, it would be formatted in fat32, which can be written to from DSL. Those versions of windoze are just examples. Check out how your disk is formatted. Either way, you should be able to read from the hard drive, as long as it is mounted. To mount the drive, you can use the mounting app in the bottom right of the screen.

Enjoy!

Posted by green on Jan. 11 2005,02:53

If you download stuff the internet, it will not be saved automatically when using the LiveCD. However, if you read the FAQ's in the Dillo window that pops up when you start the DSL LiveCD, you will find out how to save things you've done while using DSL. You can use a pen drive, a hard drive patition, etc.

Posted by soulvacuum on Jan. 11 2005,23:01

I have a network card connected to a lan modem. I just maked a bootdisk and a livecd. But for to make sure: It will not do anything in my bios? I mean it could change some configurations? maybe not anyway. about the network configuration, it will program itself?

Posted by DonttPanic on Jan. 12 2005,00:36

No, DSL will not automatically change your BIOS. Just boot into DSL and see if you are able to get online using Dillo. If you can, then your network config works and you don't need to worry.

Posted by soulvacuum on Jan. 12 2005,02:07

My computer wont boot the cd! I tried making a boot disk + the cd and my comp just doesn't want to. I burnt the live cd using alcohol 120% with the normal cd configuration, I download the boot iso and writed the iso to a disk. Do I did something wrong?

(sorry if I make english mistakes, french is my first language)

Posted by green on Jan. 12 2005,02:12

The CD burning software that you are using must know what to do with an ISO. Try to find an option somewhere for burning a CD image. If your CD burning software can burn an ISO image, then try that. You might want to get your hands on a CD-RW or two, instead of making drink coasters.

Posted by DonttPanic on Jan. 12 2005,02:17

When your computer boots up, go into the BIOS and change the boot sequence so it first reads from the CD-ROM. If your motherboard doesn't support this, you'll have to boot using a floppy disk. You have to write the boot image to the floppy, not just put it on there. To do that on a windows system, you would get a program called rawwrite.

Posted by DonttPanic on Jan. 12 2005,02:19

Quote (green @ Jan. 11 2005,21:12)

Alchohol 120% is a program that can burn the iso, so that's not the problem.

You should try checking the md5sum to make sure the iso was downloaded correctly.

Posted by green on Jan. 12 2005,05:05

DonttPanic,

Oh, I didn't know that. I thought the bloke was consuming adult beverages or somthing..... just kidding. Was just wondering if he used it properly.

Posted by soulvacuum on Jan. 12 2005,20:16

how do I check the md5sum? (my bios doesn't have cdrom booting options so I created a boot floppy)

Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 13 2005,03:48

You can check the md5sum from Windows/DOS by downloading the *.md5.txt file that contains the same filename as the *.iso download file.

Then search google for a program called "md5sum".

I use the DOS/commandline version.

Basically, I save the two files and the md5sum.exe file into a folder like C:\downloads\

Then I open a command prompt and type:

c:
cd \downloads
md5sum -c nameoffile.iso.md5.txt

and if your reply is "OK", then the download is not corrupted. If your reply is "FAILED" then the download is corrupted and you need to download again and/or use a different downloading program like an FTP program or Firefox for Windows.

Posted by soulvacuum on Jan. 13 2005,21:54

I checked my new iso's md5 and it was all ok. I also burned a new cd, cd-rw this time so at v.1 I'll not have to rewrite a ne cd. Is it possible that my computer doesn't accept to boot from floppy?

Posted by DonttPanic on Jan. 14 2005,04:59

It's not likely that it won't boot off a floppy. It's possible that you didnt correctly write the boot image to the floppy.

Have you tried going into the BIOS to change the boot sequence to boot from cd?

Have you tried booting the < syslinux version of DSL >?

Posted by soulvacuum on Jan. 14 2005,21:56

I checked my floppy iso image but I'll try the syslinux one... is it the same one but for different hardwares? (I also checked in my bios, there's booting sequences options but not options about booting from floppy or cd... strange)

Posted by soulvacuum on Jan. 15 2005,00:11

finally my sucky soyo card hided my the cdrom boot so linux is cool! thanx for you help everybody! I'm in the revolution now!! ahaha!

Posted by soulvacuum on Jan. 15 2005,04:06

the only problem is my internet. I have lan. network card connected to modem. I dunno how to make a connexion! I tried calling at my isp's help services but they don't know what is linux!? So...

Posted by DonttPanic on Jan. 15 2005,18:13

Quote (soulvacuum @ Jan. 14 2005,23:06)

the only problem is my internet. I have lan. network card connected to modem. I dunno how to make a connexion! I tried calling at my isp's help services but they don't know what is linux!? So...

In a terminal, type netcardconfig. You should be able to use DHCP so your ip could be configured automatically. Good luck!

Posted by soulvacuum on Jan. 15 2005,19:14

it sez failed. I got to connect to my isp through a login name and password too.

Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 15 2005,22:03

then try

pppoeconfig

instead of netcardconfig.

Posted by soulvacuum on Jan. 17 2005,01:53

I tried too, it just doesn't works