Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT SDF.ORG>]

On Sat, 22 Mar 2014, James K. Banks wrote:

> On Fri, Mar 21, 2014 at 10:15 AM, sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.org> wrote:
>
> > > > Puppy Linux supports 'older' hardware and also the 'newer' cardbus wifi
> > cards.  I use the PULP version which is less memory intensive, boots up
> > into X with 10MB RAM if you run a 'full' installation (do not load
> > everything into memory, install to hard drive not 'frugal').  Turbopup is
> > another option but it is buggy.

> One of the constraints of this laptop is that it doesn't have a CDROM
> drive.  PULP comes as an .iso.  What are my options?  Would loadlin.exe

mount -o loop the .iso file and copy the .sfs file to your hard drive.
I boot puppy with loadlin from DOS, or with lilo.

> work?  (That's how I boot BL.)  In that case, I'd extract the contents of
> the .iso to a directory on C:\ and figure out what loadlin options to use.

loadlin vmlinuz initrd=initrd.gz ro

for frugal install (which uses about 35MB memory to boot)

or boot as for BL (10 MB memory) after copying all the individual files 
from the iso to a partition such as hda2

loadlin vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro

You can also copy the .iso to the hard drive and boot with a boot floppy 
'wakepup' which loads all possible drivers (CD-ROM, USB flash drive, SCSI, 
etc.), looks for the iso file, and boots it for you.

> Or would I have to try or be better off trying a net install?  The net
> install would require the laptop to boot from LAN, which the BIOS says it
> can do, but it would have to use a PCMCIA network card.  I have one, a
> cardbus Ethernet one that works in DamnSmallLinux (the one I ordered in the
> mail).  Would that work at boot time?  (For that matter, is DSL an option?
> I gave up on it a long time ago but don't remember why.)

I have not tried network boot.  The original DSL is extremely out of date 
and uses Firefox 2 (which works with upgraded glibc in BL).  Puppy is far 
more popular now, and has forum support for most hardware.

There is a youtube video on puppy linux and portege 7010, and a discussion 
of the 320CT (Puppy 4) and M300.  The USB port did not  work on one of 
these - I have the same problem on a Latitude D600 where USB works with 
BL2 but not Puppy.  Usually there are solutions.

If you prefer BL, try the 2.4.29 kernel and modules from Puppy 1.0.7 with 
it - later Puppy 1 versions use ALSA sound.  At a non-official site 
http://dotpups.de you can find all the puppy 1 and 2 versions and 
additional wifi modules.  Read how other people got X and mouse working in 
linux on that hardware.

Puppy 1 can be booted with loadlin if you put all the files in c:\ (root 
directory) and be sure to have 512MB free for a 'save file'.  Use the boot 
floppy or examine it for details on how to use loadlin - you need a config 
file in addition to the usual loadlin files.  It requires more knowledge 
of linux than later puppy linuxes, but works on my 133MHz laptop where 
puppy 4 does not (read the recent BL archives for details) - I forget 
whether it is sound or network that did not work.  It probably also uses 
less memory than later versions.

At dotpups.de go to pet packages 1 and 2, wifi - there is support for 
acx100, adm8211, atmelwlan, hostap, ipw2100, ipw2200 (these do WPA2 - has 
to be at least 2005),madwifi,ralink,rtl8180,zd1211.

Look up the linux driver for your cardbus card and if it needs a different 
one, try Puppy 2 (which has a few more drivers) or 4 not Puppy 1.

You should have hours of fun trying all this.


Sindi Keesan