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Linux on a Floppy: Intro to Mini Linux Distros
GonzoJohn writes: "If you've ever been stuck on the freeway with a flat tire and no jack, you know what it's like to have a Linux system crash and not have a boot disk. And although nearly every Linux distribution company asks you make a boot/recovery floppy when you install Linux for the first time, many users skip this important step. Out of the boot/recovery disk concept was born the Mini-Linux distribution." Read this article on Linux Orbit, with a brief intro to some of the mini-distros available.
Yes, this is nice ... in case of a disk failure, simply flop in the floppy, reboot an your server is running again, at least for gateway services!
Life sucks.
I've used floppy distros to rescue Windows boxes for more often than I've used them for rescuing linux. NT password crackers, disk utils, tiny editors, you name it - I used to carry a syslinux disk around with me at our all-NT shop just in case, and by the time I left I wasn't the only one using them.
All the rave, those floppy disk linux distros. Over the past few years, I've learned to love tomsrtbt (Tom's RootBoot).
...I want the iso!
Then, last year, I found some Business Card CDRs, which hold 30-50mb and fit in your wallet.
Naturally, I wanted a super-utility boot disk. My ideal was high; mix tomsrtbt with a standard Win98 boot disk (essential for flashing) and a few other tools. Multiboot? Now there's a tough subject. Even with the best guide to making bootable cdroms I could find, it was hopelessly difficult.
When I saw this post on Slashdot, I knew I had to post this little story. In researching it, I actually found an answer to the question I wanted to pose to all of you; does anybody know of a linux distribution for these business card cdrs.
LNX-BBC is just that. Anybody tried it? Anybody know of another one? Anybody made a multi-boot linux/dos businesscard cdr?
Use my userscript to add story images to Slashdot. There's no going back.
Don't forget the BSD's have things like this too. Tsk, anyone would think the BSD's and the Linux's aren't on speaking terms or something :)
/usr/src/release/picobsd/
PICOBSD(8) FreeBSD System Manager's Manual PICOBSD(8)
NAME
picobsd - floppy disk based FreeBSD system
DESCRIPTION
picobsd is a script which can be used to produce a minimal implementation
of FreeBSD (historically called PicoBSD) which typically fits on one
floppy disk, or can be downloaded as a single image file from some media
such as CDROM, flash memory, or through etherboot.
The boot media (typically a floppy disk) contains a boot loader and a
compressed kernel which includes a memory file system. Depending on the
media, it might also contain a number of additional files, which can be
updated at run time, and are used to override/update those in the memory
file system.
why not QNX? I find the 1.44mb floppy version very useful for machines with trashed HD`s etc. It`ll give you internet access, and a graphical web browser. (so you can search the web for solutions to your problem :) )
http://www.qnx.com/demodisk/index.html
I am currently scanning very old (50-100 years)family photos for distribution to the family on CD. I want to create a CD that is bootable and will go from a cold machine to an X11 desktop and immediatly start doing a slide show of the photos on the CD.
As a bonus, it looks like to me that a CD like this would be a great way for Linux to get exposure running business slideshows or product demos.
Therefore, it would have to logon as root (?), autoconfigure X11, and start playing. In addition, I would also put a 'autorun.inf' and copy of 'iview32' (win32 viewer) on it for those who shove it in and use with Winddows.
The basic requirements I can think of are:
1. All opensource/freeware
2. Linux Autoboot, Configure, Play etc.
3. Smallest disk space requirement, saving CD space for the pictures.
4. Ease of use. Might be nice to break out of the slide show and view pictures under user control.
Any ideas on what to use?
Which of these distros being discussed to use?
What Linux program will do the slide show?
How to autoconfig X11 if the distro doesn't?
How to autologon?
Indeed. I'm constantly surprised how much stuff the LNX-BBC guys can fit in ~50 megs. Except for emacs and man pages, the image has pretty much anything you could reasonably ask for.
Personally, I hacked the iso to boot to win95 dos rather than isolinux, then added loadlin and ntfsdos to the filesystem. All the same great Linux functionality, and now I can use it to fix win9x boxes and bypass security on NT/2k boxes. I never leave home without it.