Thought I'd start this one off, rather than continue on another thread.
As a quick catch up for others:
Have a look at Unetbootin, as a means to try out different versions of Linux, without producing numerous coasters (unwanted CDs).
I haven't tried the method of installing to hard drive, only the USB flash drive method (so far).
Just skimming the surface
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As a quick catch up for others:
Have a look at Unetbootin, as a means to try out different versions of Linux, without producing numerous coasters (unwanted CDs).
I haven't tried the method of installing to hard drive, only the USB flash drive method (so far).
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
Having never done it, It'll be a wing and a prayer job.
The first may actually work (a journal would need to be automatically created) but I ain't screwing my installations by trying 😛
This can be altered whilst running Mint and I've a sneaky suspicion that fsck will run a boot time and create the required journal. So alter the fstab, then reboot with crossed fingers [It'll be possible to change it back if needed using the Live CD].
The command would actually be:
sudo tune2fs -j /dev/sdb5 - where /dev/sdb5 is the 5th partition on the second HDD. It's manually creating the journal.
Yes, I would run this from a Live CD.
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
The first may actually work (a journal would need to be automatically created) but I ain't screwing my installations by trying 😛
This can be altered whilst running Mint and I've a sneaky suspicion that fsck will run a boot time and create the required journal. So alter the fstab, then reboot with crossed fingers [It'll be possible to change it back if needed using the Live CD].
The command would actually be:
sudo tune2fs -j /dev/sdb5 - where /dev/sdb5 is the 5th partition on the second HDD. It's manually creating the journal.
Yes, I would run this from a Live CD.
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
Some reading for you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ext4
Think of ext2 as being FAT and ext3 as NTFS (though somewhat better).
Shouldn't make any odds being in an extended partition.
"I suspect that the live disk seeks out swap space as soon as it is launched, and locks the relevant partition. " - correct. Controlled by swapon/swapoff.
"Even then, we're only talking a partition of 17 or 18 gb." - size is of no consequence, it's what it's used for that counts (said the wee guy in the corner).
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ext4
Think of ext2 as being FAT and ext3 as NTFS (though somewhat better).
Shouldn't make any odds being in an extended partition.
"I suspect that the live disk seeks out swap space as soon as it is launched, and locks the relevant partition. " - correct. Controlled by swapon/swapoff.
"Even then, we're only talking a partition of 17 or 18 gb." - size is of no consequence, it's what it's used for that counts (said the wee guy in the corner).
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
[Notice for possible database guru onlookers: apologies for any simplification ;-)]
*** Warning Geek Talk ***
There's not much point in journalling for a temporary (or static) filesystem but it's very handy otherwise, especially on laptops, which are rebooted frequently.
In my SVR4.2 days, I had never heard of journalled filesystems and became acquainted with the subject whilst using AIX. I'd been used to data integrity by using RAID5 disc configurations but not filesystem integrity. Enterprise databases had been using a journalling system for some time, with transactional processing.
Whilst using distributions in the Mandrake era (now Mandriva), I'd used Reiser extensively. Ever since ext3 became an integral part of the Linux kernel, I been using it. There have been various performance tests, comparing the likes of JFS, Reiser and ext3 but TBH, I haven't really paid much attention. I guess I would, if I was building a real-time or high performance system and look for possible alternatives.
My recommendation to use Mint has stemmed from experiences of quite a few *nix variants. I do think it marries the best of Ubuntu with OpenSuse and is a viable alternative for a lot of users. Relatively simplistic for general use, with enough similarities to Ubuntu, to keep it mainstream.
Just as a comparison, I went through to the desktop "Mandriva Free" today and was entirely frustrated at not getting the D-link USB wireless dongle to search for the router. I gave up and took the laptop through to print by directly connecting to the printer. Just didn't have the time (or inclination) to get it to co-operate.
I noticed that the 64-bit edition of Mint 7 has just been released, so for you people fortunate enough, it's worth a look.
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
*** Warning Geek Talk ***
There's not much point in journalling for a temporary (or static) filesystem but it's very handy otherwise, especially on laptops, which are rebooted frequently.
In my SVR4.2 days, I had never heard of journalled filesystems and became acquainted with the subject whilst using AIX. I'd been used to data integrity by using RAID5 disc configurations but not filesystem integrity. Enterprise databases had been using a journalling system for some time, with transactional processing.
Whilst using distributions in the Mandrake era (now Mandriva), I'd used Reiser extensively. Ever since ext3 became an integral part of the Linux kernel, I been using it. There have been various performance tests, comparing the likes of JFS, Reiser and ext3 but TBH, I haven't really paid much attention. I guess I would, if I was building a real-time or high performance system and look for possible alternatives.
My recommendation to use Mint has stemmed from experiences of quite a few *nix variants. I do think it marries the best of Ubuntu with OpenSuse and is a viable alternative for a lot of users. Relatively simplistic for general use, with enough similarities to Ubuntu, to keep it mainstream.
Just as a comparison, I went through to the desktop "Mandriva Free" today and was entirely frustrated at not getting the D-link USB wireless dongle to search for the router. I gave up and took the laptop through to print by directly connecting to the printer. Just didn't have the time (or inclination) to get it to co-operate.
I noticed that the 64-bit edition of Mint 7 has just been released, so for you people fortunate enough, it's worth a look.
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
Yep, Puppy is "the biz" for a lightweight distribution :-)
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
Just D/led a copy of DSL - burnt to CD and put in my ancient Thinkpad .
It took longer to reset the BIOS to boot from CD than it did to load the OS - something under 2 minutes from boot to online capable.
Now I'd better go and read the manual- but looks like a good thing to have in the toolbox.
Version is 4.4.10- very user friendly so far. 
It took longer to reset the BIOS to boot from CD than it did to load the OS - something under 2 minutes from boot to online capable.
Now I'd better go and read the manual- but looks like a good thing to have in the toolbox.
Version is 4.4.10- very user friendly so far.
Mint flatly refuses to mount flash drives - strange, I have no issues whatsoever.
lspci | grep USB
lsmod | grep usb
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lspci | grep USB
lsmod | grep usb
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| - sorry, for clarity, this is the vertical bar, often over '\'.
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
Just a note for EJ -some time back Puppy was mentioned in the same sentence as may old Thinkpad -
Puppy does run on the Thinkpad - no problems as long as the version is the Retro version with the older 2.6.21.7 kernel .
Any attempts with the "New" kernel version hang at the"Looking for Puppy files on hard drives" step (just the second step in .)
It does the same on Mrs T's PC which is an ECS K7S5A mobo from around 2002.
Have yet to try it on anything else.
Back to DSL - very much more user friendly than Puppy - particularly for Internet connection- needs no setup -unlike Pup which always insists on going thru a setup process before it will connect (Via LAN/Netgear Router).
Puppy does run on the Thinkpad - no problems as long as the version is the Retro version with the older 2.6.21.7 kernel .
Any attempts with the "New" kernel version hang at the"Looking for Puppy files on hard drives" step (just the second step in .)
It does the same on Mrs T's PC which is an ECS K7S5A mobo from around 2002.
Have yet to try it on anything else.
Back to DSL - very much more user friendly than Puppy - particularly for Internet connection- needs no setup -unlike Pup which always insists on going thru a setup process before it will connect (Via LAN/Netgear Router).
Thanks for the update, Truff. Time for me to revisit DSL - it was very basic when I last looked (some time ago) 🙂
It was the first of the 'light' distributions, as its name suggests ;-)
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
It was the first of the 'light' distributions, as its name suggests ;-)
Just skimming the surface
Opinions/guidance expressed are intended to benefit the reader (mostly) but no responsibility should be assumed for the accuracy and no warranty is implied/expressed or given - so eBay may pull this post
Main thing is the speed - under 2 minutes from power on to internet ready - for a Live CD that is quick.
For the kind of thing we were discussing a while ago about secure Live CD options for banking etc - it's getting well in to the zone of reality for that kind of thing.
It is quicker from power up to online than Mrs T's old PC (on WinXP)- and this is in a 11 year old 300mhz CPU laptop.
Haven't actually tried it in either of the frontline desktops here but may give it a go later.
For the kind of thing we were discussing a while ago about secure Live CD options for banking etc - it's getting well in to the zone of reality for that kind of thing.
It is quicker from power up to online than Mrs T's old PC (on WinXP)- and this is in a 11 year old 300mhz CPU laptop.
Haven't actually tried it in either of the frontline desktops here but may give it a go later.
Just to say that DSL LIVE CD will go from Power On to Internet ready in about 1 min 40 secs on a desktop here....Not the quickest of machines - AMD XP3000 at 10% overclock on a MSI KT6V-LSR(MS-7021) - 768MB DDRAM @333mhz.
