running DSL from USB on public school computersForum: USB booting Topic: running DSL from USB on public school computers started by: ryancw Posted by ryancw on Jan. 10 2006,03:43
A while back I replaced Windows98 with Libranet linux at home. My kids have become quite enamored of linux and are disappointed that all the school computers run Win2000. I am just now learning about various distros that can run "live" on various media: Puppy, Knoppix, and now DSL. It would be neat if there was a way for the kids to run a linux system at school, without modifying, harming, or interfering with the native Win2000 operating system, hard drive, or network (all the school PCs are networked together--I don't know the details.) In other words, it would have to be totally isolated from whatever was on the computer already.I think it's neat that DSL can be "booted up" right from Windows, without physically rebooting the machine. Froom what I understand of Puppy, it runs as root--not a good thing in this context. I don't know enough about Knoppix yet. Would DSL run from a USB pen be "safe" in this context? Thanks. --Chris Posted by roberts on Jan. 10 2006,05:39
DSL embedded (Qemu version) runs self contained in a virtual machine. Therefore it would not touch/change the host Windows machine and would provide the safest environment. DSL's performance depends on the spec of the Windows machine, hopefully they will be powerful enough for acceptable performance. Large memory being more important than processor speed.
Posted by Breadman on Jan. 11 2006,22:33
A system like this works in my school...We're running Celeron 300 processors, 64 Mb Ram at Win2000 Professional (that worth a laugh!). As you can imagine the performance is rather bad. But it is enough to run an embedded DSL from USB when all other (windows)processes are not running. So almost every system should provide enough ressources to run embedded DSL...and YES, its SAVE! BUT: How about the access-rights on this machines? is the USB-port at free access. Normaly its rather blocked so that noone except the admins can use it. Here the problem should not be DSL but Windows. b.MAN! ============================================== < www.bread-n-linux.de.vu > Posted by pr0f3550r on Jan. 12 2006,01:02
A knowledgeable pupil could create an image file with, for example, qemu-img, and mount it from the qemu console, or a number of other things, primarily exiting from qemu and accessing the host OS directly.The level of security given by DSL embedded is the one given by the host OS itself, plus something more. However, I'd wonder how many would ever think to press CTRL-ALT-F and exit the full screen. I did it at my friend's house and he accused me of wiping out the hard drive.... priceless! Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 12 2006,17:48
With a Celeron 300 and only 64MB of RAM, dsl-embedded will be almost unusable.You would be better off with a DSL livecd and if needed, create a DSL boot floppy (assuming that you are not able to boot from the CDROM drivE). Posted by Breadman on Jan. 12 2006,18:42
As far as security of the system is concerned: if DSL runs embedded there is no risk that the native windows might be damaged.If the risk of infecting the DSL with viruses is very small, because the Windows system has viruses which normally don't work on Linux. Running DSL as read-only protects is completely! Breadman < bread-n-linux.de.vu > Posted by _pathos on Jan. 15 2006,04:27
I don't think its going to work.usually on a public computer the bios is passworded and only the windows partition on the hard drive is allowed to boot. Other wise anyone could boot linux and trash EVERYTHING And a x86 emulator would never work on a machine with those specs. Posted by Breadman on Jan. 15 2006,11:45
Good point! In my school we do not know bios passwords.... The question from ryancw was:
And in this context an embedded DSL can run if the system has at least a celeron 300 MHz, 64 Mb RAM and a Windows 2000 operating machine. But it is very slow, almost unusable (depends on how much time you have, loading firefox takes about 1.5 min then). For it runs properly you should have a 500Mhz machine and 128 Mb Ram (the more the better). Very important if you can't reboot the system: are the USB-ports blocked or can you use them. Normaly if a system is made safe, they block USB ports (or as i heard recently make them write only). Breadman < www.bread-n-linux.de.vu > Posted by Linuturk on Jan. 15 2006,17:21
I would simply try it. install the DSL embedded onto a usb flash stick, and send it off with your kid. You can try a live cd. Most systems come with cd booting as default now a days. the only problem you would hit is not being able to save settings. Also, depending on the internet access setup, the system might be locked out. Chances are though, the school's tech department aren't good enough to lock down all the appropriate things. That's my experience with the 20+ schools I've been to. Posted by Breadman on Jan. 16 2006,21:19
Yepp...., but a live cd can't be a solution unless it does not need to reboot the computer.And, as far as I know, there are no Linux-LiveCD which run "embedded". If there would be it would be great! I have the following problem in a public library: I can start the DSL-embedded system from USB . But if i close it the system trashes DSL completely. Neither am I abled to boot it on the very same machine nor on mine at home. 1) What is the problem? 2) A live CD, which runs embedded would be grate, as I am not allowed/ abled to reboot the computer. In such a live CD i could include all favourite websites in Firefox and my personal settings (that's all I need). Then there wouldn't be a problem with a crashed system... Breadman < www.bread-n-linux.de.vu > Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 17 2006,04:12
Actually, DSL user Fordi once built a "DSL Embedded" livecd.It was pretty neat beacuse it was a 2-way install. You could boot it as DSL native when you turn on your computer, OR you could boot it as DSL embedded from within MSWindows. It was slightly over 50MB in size, so it could be burned to a business card CD-R disk if your CD-burner software supported the "overburning" function. Unfortunately, the scripts to build this embedded livecd disappeared from his website and have not heard much about the topic since then. Does anyone have a copy of Fordi's "DSL Embedded Livecd" builder script kicking around? Posted by pr0f3550r on Jan. 17 2006,19:15
About QEMU + KNOPPIX: < unit.aist.go.jp >.About making a DSL embedded cd: 1) Download a copy ok Qemu with Qvm86 support < h6.dion.ne.jp/~kazuw/ > 2) Download and install Qvm86 < h6.dion.ne.jp/~kazuw/qemu-win/Qvm86-20050805.exe > 3) Download the dsl image into the qemu folder 4) Create the appropriate dsl batch 5) Copy the qemu folder onto a CD-r Done. Then you insert the cd and double click the batch file and you'll start the q-emulated dsl image. Even better the administrator can install the Qvm86 accellerator and start "net start qvm86" at boot time. Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 18 2006,17:37
The main issue with a stock QEMU+DSL livecd is that it will be well over 50MB in size and not fit on a Business Card CD-R disk.Fordi had some tricks to accomplish this as described here: < http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....35;st=0 > |