On Thursday 13 December 2001 03:33 pm, Dan Axtell wrote: > I've got an old Toshiba portege that lacks both a network adapter and a > CD-ROM drive. I'm considering putting LM on. Which option do people think > will be easiest with Mandrake? > > 1) Installing it via PLIP through the parallel port? > 2) Getting a network card for the PCMCIA slot > 3) Finding a "tiny" distribution that can be installed via floppies? > > Any help is appreciated. > > Dan
Well, first consider what the notebook is capable of running. If you want mandrake, 7.1 is still in support as well as 7.2 and they both have kernel 2.2 which has (still) a much better volume manager and is better suited for lower-power computers. But to put it on.... My gimmick was usually to find a 2.5 to 3.5 hdd adapter and install on a major machine, then use the console to update via PLIP or a PCMCIA network card if I could get one to fit. It would be nice if we had a facility to install from hd to hd with a boot from that hd, but right now the best that can be done is install hd to hd with a boot from floppy (hd.img) This is another use of the 2.5-3.5 adapter--just copy the CDs you want to use to one big partition. Of course in that case you need a really large hd, but I have seen them offered at places likw www.compgeeks.com. A PCMCIA network card will run an install often when it cannot be later set up as a network card for the finished product. Check archives to see which ones don't work well, there are plenty of trouble reports. THe PCMCIA is probably the least invasive (no special PLIP cable, no digging out the hdd) of the methods available but certainly not the cheapest. Tiny linux is a good compromise between ease of install (many floppies) and power. Smaller distros are unlikely to be of the sort of interface one would expect for a laptop. Civileme
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