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Topic: Small Complaint, 2 weeks of frustration uneeded

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emunity

Group: Members
Posts: 26
Joined: July 2007

Posted: Aug. 06 2007,01:12

I have a decent linux background. I use to beta test the 2.4x kernels.

SO I had a good knowledge of linux but not all the scripts and commands as much as I know now but did not know then.

I have spent nearly 2 weeks on DSL , reading over the wiki doc's how to and asking questions in here.

I recently joined the Damnsmalllinux channel in the freenode network and found some disturbing information.

First of I was told those Wiki Doc's are outdated. maybe why I am having some issues with the booting.

Secondly making a USB Bootable from a LIVE DSL CD is another issue I have.

No where does it state that the pendrive should be 512MG or less. It does say a minimum of 64MB which of course makes sense.

Another problem is when you create the bootable pendrive from the DSL tools Desktop from the Live CD it partitions it as fat16.

SO when you try to install a Frugal grub you get an error that its not a linux partition.

So tell me what is going on here? Is there any chance of updating documentation so others like myself do not go in circles.

I have finally made a working pendrive but it is 512MB. I have not been able to get a working pendrive over 2GB on one of my systems following WIki's DOcs.

I was told in the IRC channel that there is a problem with the way you create the Grub from WIki's docs is why I probably cannot get the knoppix image to be read during the boot process.

If that is the case then maybe some updated documentation for DSL on pendrives over 2GB and Newer Machines that rund USB version 2.0 and backward compatible to 1.1 might want to address as well.

THanks for reading!!

^thehatsrule^ Offline

Group: Members
Posts: 3275
Joined: July 2006

Posted: Aug. 06 2007,06:33

some quick points:
- why are you trying to install it twice?
- afaik fat16 is used due to compatibility, although it does have its limitations esp. on capacity. However, it is not a problem in your context... see the above point.
- from what I have seen, the 512MB limitation depends on the system/drive... and (that determines) the installation method.
- since there are so many different ways and problems, the USB-install scripts were deemed to be removed from the base image (still pending)
- for relatively newer systems, using an ext2 partition (at the end of the drive if you plan on using the rest with windows) with extlinux should be fine (w/ usb-hdd system capability I think)
- in any case, I have seen DSL on various sized usb's... perhaps searching the forums would be better in this case

EDIT: Anyone feel free to correct/add to these, since most of this is just coming from what I've read over somewhat, and concluded from it

roberts

Group: Members
Posts: 4983
Joined: Oct. 2003

Posted: Aug. 06 2007,13:35

Correct. The scripts in the core DSL are for the smallest of drives, which are still a viable choice. However using various FAT have limitations on size and efficiency. With so many new and much larger pendrives, these in core scripts are often not the best choice. Also consider the many ways to iinstall.

1. usb-zip - geometry based on zip specs < 250MB not windows friendly.
2. usb-hdd - single fat < 512MB (not capable of supporting permissions)
3. usb-hdd - ext2 - limit ? windows needs extra software
4. usb-hdd -grub 2 partitons (first larger one fat32, the second smaller one 50MB for DSL+grub)
5. some variation on the above.

The Wiki is user contributed documentation.
DSL development is ever evolving and as such the wiki will always be in need of more users willing to keep it updated.

Edited by roberts on Aug. 06 2007,13:36

JohnnyH

Group: Members
Posts: 16
Joined: Dec. 2005

Posted: Aug. 06 2007,18:46

I know that this is a bit off-topic for the people who have BIOS that supports booting directly from USB, but I normally only have access to older machines and so I have to configure for other methods :-

Copied the DSL /KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX and /lost+found files to an ext2 partition on the USB stick.

I use a FAT16 partition (could be FAT32 depending what size you might want to be windows-readable) at the 'start' of the USB stick where settings and so on can be saved.

There is also a SWAP partition.

Add MyDSL extensions to taste :;):

Boot from the 'vanilla' DSL bootfloppy.img (or a DSL CD remastered omitting the KNOPPIX file on floppy-less hardware) with the cheatcode

fromusb

This set-up should be tolerant of a variety of partition configurations.
NB it assumes that there is not another KNOPPIX image on the host system that would be found earlier.

^thehatsrule^ Offline

Group: Members
Posts: 3275
Joined: July 2006

Posted: Aug. 06 2007,23:13

JohnnyH:
- why copy lost+found?
- why create a swap partition on your usb stick?
- you could use the bootfloppy-usb instead

10 replies since Aug. 06 2007,01:12

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