On 6/4/06, Tech Writer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
... 150 MHz Pentium ... 40MB RAM ... Some of my son's friends have decided to learn Java this summer ...
Be warned that Java may be unbearably slow on that system. (Given that it's irritatingly slow on much newer systems.)
This system can only hold a floppy or CD drive (not both at the same time).
First question to ask would be, "Can it boot from CD"? Check the BIOS "SETUP" program for options. If that's not an option, another question might be, "Does it support hot-swapping the FD and CD modules"? If so, that might be a workable solution. Most of the Linux install systems I've encountered load from floppy to memory and then don't touch the FD again. Another possibility is a network install. If the laptop has either onboard Ethernet, or you have a PCMCIA Ethernet card you stick in it, you should be able to boot from floppy and then do the rest over the 'net. If none of that pans out... it should be possible to do a "two stage" install, as you describe. You'll need several pieces, though. One piece is a small, bootable DOS partition on the hard drive. Another piece is LOADLIN.EXE, which is a Linux boot loader that runs on DOS. Google finds it. Finally, you need copies of the Linux kernel and initial RAM disk image files from the install system of the distribution, along with the kernel command line from same. It should be possible to extract these from the distribution's install CD, but it might be a bit tricky. With all those pieces put together, you can stick the Linux install CD in the drive, boot DOS, then use LOADLIN to boot the install system, pointing it to the CD drive. What specific version of Ubuntu do you have? I might have the same version handy, and thus might be able to provide more specific assistance. -- Ben _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
