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[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

Turns out we could have used some boot disk that can access this computer, 
because it has a USB keyboard and our DOS and linux disks were not 
helpful.

What is the chance of compiling a SW81 kernel that supports USB keyboard 
and mouse, for BL3 or BL2, to fit on the 2-floppy boot set?

We ended up using both the Win98 CD-ROM and the Universal Boot Disk (with 
BL3 on it, which can access FAT32).

As it turned out, there were no files left on the hard drive to access. 
The 3 bad caps that we replaced apparently wiped out the hard drive 
entirely.  (Also the onboard modem).  Windows on a different hard drive 
which had been in there was badly messed up so we had to repartition and 
reformat and reinstall.  Win98 fdisk only found 48GB of the 120GB so we 
are offering to put some linux on the rest of the drive, but it HAS to 
support USB.  That is another reason I would like a BL-style smaller 
kernel that includes at least USB mouse and keyboard and modem support.
Some USB modems have linux drivers provided by the company.

Would the SW91 kernel be a better place to start?

This is a five year old computer.  Are there any plans to keep BL updated 
to support anything that new, at least via alternate kernels (that will 
also work with later libraries)?

On Thu, 3 Nov 2005, James Miller wrote:

> On Thu, 3 Nov 2005, sindi keesan wrote:
>
> > Will 2-FD BL3 access an XP hard drive?
> > If not, is there a small kernel I can use that will fit into the 2-FD
> > system (assuming I can figure out how to change it and there is space)?
> > Or will DamnSmallLinux work?
>
> If the drive is formatted FAT 32, any of the BL's should be able to read
> it. But most "factory" (or OEM) Win XP installs are NTFS. Linux has
> developed ways of reading--and even writing--to NTFS partitions. On older
> versions of the kernel such as will be found in BL, the least you'd need
> to do is probably insert a module for NTFS support. I've never tried it
> myself, but I would think you could get NTFS read ability that way. But
> I'd say the ideal solution to this problem would be to use a newer
> bootable Linux CD: DSL is an option, but Mepis and Knoppix would also be
> good choices if there is sufficient RAM (256MB or >). If you get newer
> versions of any of these, they will have all the latest greatest NTFS
> capabilities. They will also include CD burning programs to transfer files
> to CD, if the machine has a separate burner. They will also have Parted or
> QTParted, which might help straighten out, or at least identify, boot
> sector problems. If the drive is simply unresponsive, you might try the
> primitive-Pete approach--said to actually work--of sticking the drive in
> the freezer for a few hours, then trying it out again after "thawing."
>
> > A friend is hoping to at least get the files off his hard drive in a
> > computer which stopped booting and has Windows on it.  Best Buy repair
> > people gave up on it.   We don't have an XP boot disk - should we try to
> > get one from a friend or don't they use boot disks any more.
>
> You can download XP bootdisk images form the 'net (www.bootdisk.com). Then
> there's BartPE, using which you create a CD that boots you into a Windows
> environment for repair and so forth. It can be rather involved creating
> that CD though, and requires using a newer Windows machine with, of
> course, a CD burner.
>
> James
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keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org