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.

Comments

Floppy disks are so 1992

[red5]

When I want a boot disk I use SuperRescue. Nowa days every one has a cd burnner and CDRs are dirt cheap. Besides when was the last time you could find a blank floppy in less then 10 minutes?

Re:Floppy disks are so 1992

[claes]

Agreed. The days with resuce floppys are behind us. No matter how good they are, you can only fit very little on a floppy and it is a pain to work in a limited shell and not all the commands and utilities you are used to. Superrescue on the other hand gives you more than 1 GB on a compressed file system. If you have a bootable CDROM you really have no excuse for not using superrescue the next time you have problems.

Re:Floppy disks are so 1992

[Rogerborg]

• Nowa days every one has a cd burnner and CDRs are dirt cheap. Besides when was the last time you could find a blank floppy in less then 10 minutes

Great! I'll just chuck my firewall and fileserver boxen on a landfill and buy some newer hardware then!

Thanks for the info, but some of us like to keep hardware in service until the magic smoke gets out (for environmental as well as cost reasons), and a decent boot floppy is an integral part of that. "Buy new hardware!" is a Microsoft strategy, and that's one of the reasons why I've given up on their upgrade-or-become-unsupported OS's.

Re:Floppy disks are so 1992

[red5]

How often do you do a memory grep to search for in-core strings? I do that on a daily basis, and it is very reassuring.

You know there's help for people with OCD

Best recovery disk!

[awptic]

The tomsrtbt boot disk. IMO, is by far the best rescue disk available. In 1.44 megs of space they've managed to pack over 160 common utilities, and that's not including the kernel modules! You can grab a copy of the boot image at http://www.toms.net/rb/
This thing has saved my ass several times.

Try this

[sinserve]

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.

I know what it was like to have TWO flat tires on a country road, with nothing but
a $1500 Presario lap top. It was "Redneck Rampage", those fuckers even took my boots.

Ripped from my bookmarks: other distros

[Cally]

Some other fits-onna-floppy distros; many of these are security-focused, firewall-appliance type efforts. Disclaimer, this list is of stuff I /want; to check out when I get the time: I'vfe no idea how good or bad they are, beyond Theo's famous comment about entrusting the most important piece of one's network to the most unreliable piece of hardware in modern computers (approximately). Some of them may actually NOT be floppy-distros, I need to clean up these bookmarks... jesus where did the time go... *sigh*

• http://www.superant.com/smalllinux/
  
• http://ibiblio.org/vectorlinux/
  
• http://www.zelow.no/floppyfw/
  
• http://www.xandros.net/
  
• http://www.gentoo.org/
  
• Smoothwall ...
  
• http://www.ipcop.org/
  
• http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/snf
  
• http://www.freesco.org/
  
• http://www.coyotelinux.com/
  
• http://leaf.sourceforge.net/
  
• http://www.gnatbox.com/Pages/gblight.html
  (this ones based on BSD IIRC)
  
• http://www.bbiagent.com/
  
• http://www.clarkconnect.org/"
  
• http://www.linux-firewall-tools.com/
  

Rescues more than Linux

[saihung]

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.

Business Card CDR (30mb) Linux Distro

[Khopesh]

All the rave, those floppy disk linux distros. Over the past few years, I've learned to love tomsrtbt (Tom's RootBoot).

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? ...I want the iso!

Re:Business Card CDR (30mb) Linux Distro

[c_g_hills]

Wow you saved me having to write a post about this :) There is another great one i use called lbt (linuxcare bootable toolkit - which was the precursor of LNX-BBC) and you can find it here: http://lbt.linuxcare.com/. The other distribution is demolinux which needs a 700meg cd, but contains a whole operating system including KDE and Gnome that runs off the cd.

Re:Low quality floppies

[mgv]

've wondered sometimes if the makers of floppy disks have lowered the quality of the disks over the last 10 years.

Yes, quality has fallen because:

1) Who is going to pay a premium for a good floppy?

2) Data density has increased so each bit has a weaker field and smaller footprint than the old 720 Kb disks - easier to demagnetise or scratch.

Michael

Ramfloppy

[1%warren]

My favorite. Kernel 2.2.17, support for ext3 & reiserfs (tomsrtbt doesn't support reiserfs, can be hacked to do ext3), & a customised Midnight Commander that can be used to extract rpms & debs. Includes mcedit, far more "intuitive" than vi/emacs.

Details
Contents
Self extracting archive - run unzip on it to extract it linux.

Re:fli4l - floppy router distro and more

[XRayX]

There is a side-project of the fli4l developers called Eisfair, which aims to become a "one-disk-server". It is still very Beta and not ready for everyday server-use, but it's the most extensible mini-distro around.

Eisfair Beta Download

PicoBSD

[Fweeky]

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.

Re:PicoBSD

[TandyMasterControl]

Why do I have to "not forget" that the BSD's have something Linux has, in this case a floppy based version of bsd? Is there actually something in it for me or is it just so you don't feel bad about BSD?

I've looked into Pico BSD and the subject of floppy based BSD off and on for a couple of years. There's nothing going on there -or last I looked it was still dead.

Pico BSD is a defunct project and there were no surviving offspring. It's not being maintained, as the downloadable images all date from 1998. So it's unsafe in any setting you need a UNIX in, and pretty much useless unless you just get a thrill from loading a UNIX style OS from a bootable medium the rest of the world rememebers best as a vector for DOS viruses and typing 'ls' and marvelling at yourself. To handle and touch an OS this far fallen into decay and death has to be a kind of antiquarian's fetish. Before you sit down to type at the console, you should be sure to put on some harpsichord music and your favorite mauve satin smoking jacket. Atop your monitor should stand a seven armed silver candelabra and the room should be dark and cold as a tomb. Use a Ouija board to generate passwords.
Then my heart it grew ashen and sober
As the leaves that were crisped and sere -
As the leaves that were withering and sere;
And I cried: "It was surely October
On this very night of last year
That I journeyed -I journeyed down here! -
That I brought a dread burden down here -
On this night of all nights in the year,
Ah, what demon hath tempted me here?
Well I know, now, this dim lake of Auber -
This misty mid region of Weir -
Well I know, now, this dank tarn of Auber,
This ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir."

I've checked for a floppy version of OpenBSD. Mr. De Raadt has expressed an unwillingness for OBSD to be floppyized. Some people were talking about it anyway but there was nothing going on, nothing to use. Since you are into BSD and haven't mentioned it I will assume that the floppy based Open BSD is still sharing a bunk with OBSD .iso's on the Pullman car of sweet maybes rolling down track 29 to Ulalume Terminal.

With Linux on the other hand there are a number of robust open projects and commercial products that answer to the description of "floppy based UNIX router, that is actively maintained". I don't have to imagine them as still living, and harangue strangers about not forgetting them. They manage to attract a fair amount of attention to themselves without strident evangelizing.

Nobody's mentioned zip disks

[swb]

I used to use Zip disks back in the day when you could reasonably do viable a viable installation (one with development tools, editors, networking, etc etc) on 100MB. The "rescue" disk and the drive wsas portable to whatever machine it was needed on, reasonably fast and was a writable medium for saving configs or other data if it was determined that the original disk was dead (yes, there was actually 10-20 MB of FREE disk space).

It seems like the last time I tried to make a boot disk this way I couldn't get a basic install to fit on 100MB.

Removable IDE sleds sound the ideal solution, but so many boxes don't have room for them. A bootable CD seems like the most portable, although it lacks a writable filesystem.

Linux Photo player boot????

[jlrowe]

Does anyone know how to accomplish this?

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?

Re:Linux Photo player boot????

[Lumpy]

Therefore, it would have to logon as root (?),

Why? what reason do you need to add the overhead of login and user systems? what do you even need a shell for?

autoconfigure X11, and start playing.

again why? do you really need X? why cant you use microwindows or PicoGui? both of which are 9000% smaller and easier to use in a small environment than any X11 release. they both use the Framebuffer interface so will work on 99.667% of all current hardware and 40% of the old junk.

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.

Fair, that means your CD has to be iso9660 filesystem. (Yes you CAN have a EXT2 cdrom... I've made them) you cant use Joilet.. Why? because you need to keep your kernel small, and your ram filesystem small (your entire operating environment has to run in ram) a kernel,filesystem,busybox and picoGUI with a custom slideshow app is easy to stuff on a floppy let along in ram. use MicroWindows if you want that homey X11 look and feel. Or better yet screw the Gui... use a simple C app written with the SDL library.. There's no reason to bloat up your project with a useless GUI (Unless you want to add a fill in this form and click here to dial and send me your info.... bla bla bla...)

Reccomendation? learn C, learn SDL (only a little needed!) and not only show off something that is 100% impossible with any current microsoft product but you also can brag that you completely designed it.

finally, if you write it in SDL only, and write the C app correctly, you can ignore putting a silly viewer app on there, and run the C app under windows after you compiled it under the free windows Gcc... Same views under both linux AND winblows... Something else that cannot be done with any Microsoft product.

Some summaries of Linux floppy distros

[rtos]

Here's a quick list of some floppy distros that you may not have heard about (and some that you have) with summaries. Tom's Root Boot is definitely one to check out. I've heard Coyote is good too, but haven't tried it myself. Links and summaries are brought to you by Freshmeat.net. Enjoy.

Herbix : "Herbix is a Linux server that fits on a floppy. It supports ipchains and can serve FTP, HTTP, IRC, DHCP, SMTP, and IDENT."

Mike's Jukebox Distro : "Mike's Jukebox Distro is really just a floppy image that you add to a CD full of mp3's, using it as the El-Torito boot image. It has a complete Linux kernel and madplay, along with BusyBox. A simple shell script uses "find" to get a list of all mp3's on the CD, and it then plays each of them in order. tty3 is used for the player output, tty1, and tty2 have shells to allow the user to "play" while it's playing music."

RIMiRadio : "RIMiRadio is a floppy disk distro of Linux and an Icecast server."

floppyfw : "Floppyfw is a router and simple firewall on one single floppy. It uses Linux basic firewall capabilities, and has a very simple packaging system. It is perfect for masquerading and securing networks on ADSL and cable lines, using both static IP, DHCP, and PPPoE, and provides a simple installation, which usually involves editing of only one file on the floppy."

BBIagent Router : "BBIagent is a single floppy Linux-based router for sharing a broadband Internet connection. It also serves as a firewall to prohibit intruders from accessing your LAN. You can create your own BBIagent router software (a diskette file image) on our server based on your hardware configuration (NICs) and connection protocol (e.g. PPPoE, PPPoATM or DHCP). It is very easy to install and use."

Coyote Linux : "Coyote Linux is a single floppy distribution for people who have an Internet connection that they wish to share with other computers on a LAN. In addition to connection sharing, it also provides firewall services to help protect the internal network. The goal of the Coyote project is to make it as quick and easy as possible to share an Internet connection."

Tom's RootBoot : "rtbt is the most Linux on one floppy disk for rescue recovery panic and emergencies, contains tools to keep in your shirt pockets, is useful whenever you can't use a hard drive and contains about 100 rescue tools."

Pocket Linux : "Pocket Linux is an almost minimal, one floppy linux system designed to quickly convert PC workstation into secure linux-based workstation using ssh to connect to remote host (other networking clients are also supported). It supports bootp for determining host IP and other network parameters (there's also manual configuration possible, but bootp is recommended). In addition to workstations equipped with a network card (ethernet or arcnet), you can also use Pocket Linux on a PC equipped with a modem. Modem is automatically detected and then PPP connection is made."

Trinux : "Trinux is a minimal Linux distribution that boots from a single floppy or CD-ROM, loads its packages from an FTP/HTTP server, IDE filesystem, or additional floppies, and runs entirely in RAM. Trinux contains the latest versions of popular network security tools that can be used to conduct security research, analyze network traffic, and perform vulnerability testing."

Hopefully this list is helpful to those of you just starting to think about tiny distros.

Learn by doing

[MadFarmAnimalz]

I was a little disappointed by the article; I've tried Mandrake, RedHat, and Debian but my current system is one I built from ground up from source. There's a lot of lip-service paid to the merits of really learning linux and its internals, through things like the Power-up to Bash prompt HOWTO, but I don't see many people actually doing it.

I've only been using linux since December, but I think building my own system has taught me a thing or three that someone who has used, for example Mandrake for a few years wouldn't know.

There's much to be said for learning by doing. I was expecting a little more than a listing of ready-made distros.

People have been predicting that it will take a dumbing down of some sort for linux to become a viable alternative on the desktop. Is this it?

Why not recovery CDROMs?

[pclminion]

I'd make a boot floppy. Gladly. If only I had a floppy drive.

Why should I buy and install an archaic piece of hardware just for disaster recovery? The distributions should supply programs to help me make boot CDROMs.