Rapidweather
Group: Members
Posts: 375
Joined: Jan. 2004 |
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Posted: Feb. 04 2004,03:35 |
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Partitions: How about three?
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I have run DSL so hard on a 200MMX processor machine, with only 128 MB ram that eventually, the swap will be used.
Usually takes several hours of use, and a lot of applications open to cause the swap to be used, then it's not a lot. If you have a really old machine, with say, 32 MB ram, then you will see heavy swap usage right off.
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Why three partitions? One for swap, one for the /knoppix folder, and one for your restore/backup files.
What's this about a /knoppix folder?
Well, you can copy the /knoppix folder from the CDROM directly to the hard drive, and run Damn Small Linux there rather than from the cdrom drive. It's much faster. Once you get your partitions made and formatted, then you can
probably use DSL running off a CD to do that, using emelfm. You can copy the entire /knoppix folder (50 MB) using DSL's Emelfm. You'll have to make a directory for that partition in DSL, and mount it:
#mkdir myname
#mount /dev/hda1 /myname
That partition will become the /cdrom folder in the DSL filesystem,
once you reboot into the new DSL setup you are doing with all this.
Because that partition will be /cdrom, you will need another partition to put your backup files,
which are:
l. backup.tar.gz
2. filetool.lst
as you cannot backup to /cdrom in DSL.
And, of course, the third partition, a linux swap.
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What do I put in the partition with the /knoppix folder? Anything else?
Yes, your backup script, filetool.sh
Look at this howto to get all the details:
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http://www.angelfire.com/ms/telegram/filetool_Storage
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How do I boot such a system? With a boot floppy. See the howto for
more information on that.
How big a hard drive will I need? I'm thinking 500 MB will be plenty, as
you will be only keeping about 60 MB of files there, mainly the 50 MB
/knoppix folder, and your 10 MB restore/backup file.
DSL runs in ram, so you don't need a lot of hard drive space.
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How can I partition the drive? You can use fdisk in DSL if you are running
off the CDROM drive. Nothing in the hard drive is needed, you are going
to set the entire little drive for DSL.
In a terminal, sudo su to root, and #fdisk /dev/hda
Make the partitions, and then change to type of the last one to "linux swap"
Now, you will want to set up the filesystems on the two partitions where
you will put /knoppix and your backup files.
In a terminal, sudo su to root, and cd to /sbin
There are some choices there, as to which program to use to create the
filesystem. I use:
#mkfs /dev/hda1 (for the first partition)
Get that done, the go on the the second partition:
#mkfs /dev/hda2
Finally, set up the swap partition with:
#mkswap /dev/hda3
You can also use a slave hard drive, /dev/hdb
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Whoa! What if I have Windows 98 on one partition, and two more
partitions for my backup files, and swap?
Yes, you can keep your Windows 98. Just copy your /knoppix folder
there, and your filetool.sh there. Copy your filetool.lst to the second
partition, and leave the Swap alone for now, ready for use.
Now, the Windows 98 partition will boot ok when you do not use
a boot floppy to boot DSL. So, it's still a Windows machine when you
want it to be.
When you boot DSL with the boot floppy, the Windows partition will
become your /cdrom directory in the DSL filesystem. You'll backup to
the second partition, that has the filetool.lst waiting. All that is controlled
by the script, filetool.sh that you have placed in the root directory of the
Windows 98 partition.
Again, look at the howto linked above.
Yes, it's complicated, but works well. I place, via a cd, a copy of my latest
backup.tar.gz in my backup partition, with the filetool.lst, so I can restore
/MozillaFirebird and all my files and settings, already made on another
computer. That way, I don't have to download MozillaFirebird for each
machine.
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Once restored, you will want to edit the /etc/wvdial.conf file to match your
new computer. Your hardware modem will most likely be on another
/dev/ttyS_ from the one you used on the machine that made the backup
tarball.
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You can run wvdialconf like this to set up that:
#wvdialconf wvdial.conf
Your username and password and ISP's phone number will be kept
from your working wvdial.conf, but the /dev/ttyS_ will change to match
the machine you have.
You might want to invest in Partition Magic to create partitions on a
hard drive with a working Windows 98 that you want to keep.
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What if I have Mandrake or SuSE there instead? That's ok, too.
Just place your /knoppix folder in the root "/" directory of that
distro's installation, and also a copy of filetool.sh.
filetool.sh needs to be modified in Scite, to reflect the partition location
where you will place your backup tarball. I believe it's line 40 on mine
shown here:
http://www.angelfire.com/ms/telegram/filetool_Storage
(You have to change the name from mine to filetool.sh if you download it.)
It's only a text file, and you run it like this:
#./filetool.sh restore (or backup)
You can keep filetool.sh on a floppy by itself, and run it from that.
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What I need now, is someone to get in here and describe for us how to
install DSL to the hard drive so it will boot with Lilo, if that is possible, rather than with a boot floppy.
We need a step-by-step, for there are lots of newbys around!
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Rapidweather Remaster of DSL:
http://www.angelfire.com/ms/telegram/getting_started.html
Rapidweather Remaster of Knoppix Linux:
http://www.geocities.com/rapidweather/getting_started.html
Screenshots:
http://www.rapidweather.com/linuxcdsales.html
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