Baslinux mailing list

[Sindi Keesan <keesan AT iamjlamb.com>]

On Sun, 1 Feb 2004 3aoo-cvfd AT dea.spamcon.org wrote:

> Sindi Keesan wrote:
> >
> > How about it making 3 4M RAMdisks instead of two?  
> 
> No problem.  You can make seven if you want.  However,
> keep in mind that the memory provided by those ramdisks
> is not continuous.  The 4mb RAM is available only within
> that ramdisk.  For example, there is no way to run a 5mb
> binary (because it won't fit completely into a single
> ramdisk).  However, if you have a package containing a
> 3mb binary and 2mb of support files, you could split them 
> between two ramdisks (as long as you can point the binary 
> to the location of the support files).

Why can't a ramdisk be larger than 4M?  Could you change from 4096 to 
twice that, for instance?  (Not that we have any intention of running huge 
programs in RAM on a computer that has a hard drive).

>   
> > How do you tell it how many RAM disks to make?
> 
> It happens in /etc/rc  (the startup script for ramdisk BL2).
> --------------------------------
> mke2fs -i8192 -m0 /dev/ram1 4096
> mount -t ext2 /dev/ram1 /tmp  
> --------------------------------
> To make another ramdisk, do the same for /dev/ram2 and
> give it a different mountpoint (/tmp is already occupied
> so you must use something else).

There is also a /hd, we noticed.

> 
> > Windows is currently putting in drvspace.bin 
> 
> Every new version of windows also seems to increase the 
> size of msdos.sys/io.sys

We have finally 'upgraded' to Win98 and have no idea what the newer 
monstrosities are doing.  I wonder why the files are larger.

> > but with your 2-floppy system with 1.2M per floppy there 
> > is still enough space.   
> 
> I'm not sure that is correct for every version of Windows.

If we do go through with this I guess it is better to instruct people to
make a boot disk using DOS, not Windows.  Are there many basiclinux users
who don't have a way to make a plain DOS boot disk?  It sounds like we are 
reinventing a wheel that is not often going to work, but at least we can 
use our imperfect floppy disks this way.  

Could Part2 be made 200K larger and Part1 made smaller so as to leave more 
room on the boot disk?


> > People who format with Windows could be instructed how to 
> > unhide drvspace.bin and remove it.
> 
> I'm pretty sceptical about that suggestion.  An early version
> of make_fd asked people to add HIMEM.SYS to the first floppy
> (after formatting it).  Many people could not get that one 
> right.  Lord knows how they would cope with an invisible file.

It is nice of you to support a linux for beginners who don't even know how 
to format a disk.  We often also overestimate people's abilities.  I told 
someone to go to the Win98 Start menu and run 'msconfig'.  She said she 
could not find 'misconfig' on the menu so I then spelled it out.  (This 
was to get rid of a bunch of stuff that was eating up all the memory by 
having put itself into Quick Launch, which Windows does not warn you will 
happen.)


> > What else has Windows crammed onto a boot disk?
> 
> I've seen other junk there too.  I think one was a net-something.

We are watching the interesting battle between Linux and MS (the viral 
warfare).  

Thanks for all the interesting explanations.  


> Cheers,
> Steven
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