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Topic: Tricky HD/laptop install, See post, weird question

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404

Group: Members
Posts: 4
Joined: Sep. 2004

Posted: Aug. 23 2005,06:14

I have an old 486DX laptop (Compaq Contura 420CX - like this model), it's got a 420MB drive and 16MB RAM so it should run DSL no problem with only the obvious hardware limitations. It currently has Win3.11 on it (with the rockin Microsoft Word 6!) and I'd like to put the machine to some good use...

I have a external USB 2.5" drive enclosure, I was wondering if I could boot DSL on a host machine with the 420MB drive in the enclosure plugged in (/dev/sdax usually) and install to that rather then the host. Has anyone done this before? Would it work?

EDIT: maybe a network install?

I had been thinking about a floppy install but I have not done one in years and I still remember why (like the 30 floppy Win95 install...ugh)

cbagger01

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Posts: 4264
Joined: Oct. 2003

Posted: Aug. 23 2005,16:10

You might run into problems with the bootloader if it is expecting /dev/sdax instead of /dev/hdax

A better option is to buy one of those cheap laptop IDE adapters and then use your hard drive as the primary master drive on a newer computer and then do a DSL hd install.

Don't forget to create a swap partition. With only 16MB of RAM, a decent linux swap partition (64MB minimum for example) is a must.

Also, if you are going to wipe the hard drive, be sure to back up any special DOS/Win3.11 driver files that are needed for your laptop. Otherwise, you won't be able to "undo" your changes if needed.

404

Group: Members
Posts: 4
Joined: Sep. 2004

Posted: Aug. 23 2005,20:35

I planned on making a 64MB swap and either ext2 or ext3 for the drive. It's looking like the adapter is the easiest way to go, I'm going to pick one up soon.

Thanks for the fast reply

2 replies since Aug. 23 2005,06:14

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