<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9"> <TITLE>4mb Laptop HOWTO: Choices Made</TITLE> <LINK HREF="4mb-Laptops-4.html" REL=next> <LINK HREF="4mb-Laptops-2.html" REL=previous> <LINK HREF="4mb-Laptops.html#toc3" REL=contents> </HEAD> <BODY> <A HREF="4mb-Laptops-4.html">Next</A> <A HREF="4mb-Laptops-2.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="4mb-Laptops.html#toc3">Contents</A> <HR> <H2><A NAME="s3">3. Choices Made</A> </H2> <P>This section describes the choices available, which options are practical, which ones I decided on and why. <H2><A NAME="ss3.1">3.1 What to use to create the initial root partition?</A> </H2> <P>The best tool for this is a mini-Linux. There's a wide selection of small Linuces available on the net, but most of them won't boot in 4mb RAM. I found two that will: <P> <DL> <DT><B>SmallLinux <A HREF="http://smalllinux.netpedia.net/">http://smalllinux.netpedia.net/</A></B><DD><P>SmallLinux will boot in as little as 2mb RAM but its root disk can't be taken out of the drive, which is a shame since otherwise it has everything we need (i.e. fdisk, mkswap and mkfs.ext2). SmallLinux can create the needed partitions but can't be used to copy the root partition. <DT><B>muLinux <A HREF="http://sunsite.auc.dk/mulinux/">http://sunsite.auc.dk/mulinux/</A></B><DD><P>muLinux will boot in 4mb but only in a limited single-user mode. In this mode fdisk and mkswap are available but mkfs.ext2 and the libraries needed to run it are on the /usr partition which is not available in maintenance mode. To use muLinux to do the whole pre-installation procedure the files needed to create ext2 file-systems must be extracted from the usr disk image and copied onto a floppy. </DL> <P>This gives the option of either using SmallLinux to create the partitions and muLinux to copy the root partition or using muLinux to do the whole job. Since I had two laptops I tried both. <H2><A NAME="ss3.2">3.2 The Distribution</A> </H2> <P>It didn't take much time to choose Slackware. Apart from the fact that I like it but haven't used it much and want to learn more, I considered the following points: <P> <UL> <LI>Slackware has possibly the most low-tech DIY install of all the major distributions. It is also one of the most flexible, coming with a wide range of boot-disk kernels to suit many different machines. This makes it well suited to the kind of hacking about required in this scenario.</LI> <LI>Slackware supports all the methods listed in <A HREF="#sec:whichmethod">Which Installation method to use?</A>.</LI> <LI>Slackware is a distribution designed by one person. I'm sure Patrick Volkerding won't object if I say this means its configuration tools are simpler and more streamlined. In my opinion this makes the job of trimming the installation to fit cramped conditions easier.</LI> </UL> <P>Version 7.0 was the latest version when I tried this so that's what I used. <H3>But I don't like Slackware! </H3> <P>You don't have to use it. I can't answer for all the distributions but I know that Debian, Red Hat and SuSE offer a range of installation methods and have an "expert" installation procedure <BLOCKQUOTE>Does Debian do any other kind? </BLOCKQUOTE> which can be used here. Most of the steps in this document would apply to any of the distributions without change. <P>If you haven't used the expert method with your preferred distribution before, do a trial run on a simple desktop machine to get the feel of it and to explore the options it offers. <H2><A NAME="sec:whichmethod"></A> <A NAME="ss3.3">3.3 Which installation method to use?</A> </H2> <P> <DL> <DT><B>Floppy Install</B><DD><P>This means churning out 15 floppies - which only gives you an absolute minimal install and requires a second stage to get the apps you want on. It's also <EM>very</EM> slow on such low-spec machines. This is a last resort if you can't make the others work. <DT><B>Parallel-port Install</B><DD><P>Where the parallel port has an IDE device, parallel cable or pocket ethernet adaptor <BLOCKQUOTE>A pocket lan adaptor installation onto these machines will be <EM>very</EM> slow. </BLOCKQUOTE> attached. This would be a good choice for the Aero, leaving the PCMCIA slot free to run the floppy drive. <DT><B>PCMCIA Install</B><DD><P>As above, this could be a CD-ROM or network install. This would be the best method for the T1910 - on the Aero it's a bit more awkward. <DT><B>ISA/PCI Ethernet Install</B><DD><P>Not an option for the laptops, obviously, but included in case your target machine is a desktop PC. </DL> <P> <BLOCKQUOTE> The tools I had to hand dictated a PCMCIA network install. I will point out where steps differ for the other methods. Whichever method you choose, you need to have a higher-spec machine available - even if only to create the disks for a floppy install. </BLOCKQUOTE> <H2><A NAME="sec:partitionlayout"></A> <A NAME="ss3.4">3.4 Partition Layout</A> </H2> <H3>Basic Requirement </H3> <P>This procedure requires at least two Linux Native partitions in addition to a Swap partition. Since one of the ext2 partitions will be in use as temporary root during the installation it will not be available as a target partition and so should be small - though no smaller than 5mb. It makes sense to create for this a partition that you will re-use as /home after installation is complete. Another option would be to re-create it as a DOS partition to give you a dual boot laptop. <H3>How complex a layout? </H3> <P>There isn't room to get too clever here. There is an argument for having a single ext2 partition and using a swap file to avoid wasting space but I would strongly urge creating a separate partition for /usr. If you have only one partition and something goes wrong with it you may well be faced with a complete re-installation. Separating /usr and having a small partition for / makes disaster recovery a more likely prospect. On both machines I created 4 partitions in total: <P> <OL> <LI>A swap partition -- 16mb on the T1910, 20 on the Aero (I'm more likely to upgrade the memory on the Aero).</LI> <LI>/home (temporary root during installation) -- 10mb</LI> <LI>/ -- 40mb on the T1910, 30mb on the Aero.</LI> <LI>/usr -- All the remainder.</LI> </OL> <P>In addition, the Aero uses hda3 for a 2mb DOS partition containing configuration utilities. See the Aero FAQs for details. <H2><A NAME="sec:whichcomponents"></A> <A NAME="ss3.5">3.5 Which components to install?</A> </H2> <P>The full glibc libraries alone would nearly fill the hard disks so there's no question of building a development machine. It looks as if a minimal X installation can be squeezed in but I'm sure it would crawl and I don't want it anyway. I decide to install the following (for a full listing see <A HREF="4mb-Laptops-7.html#sec:appendixA">Appendix A</A>): <P> <UL> <LI>The core Linux utilities</LI> <LI>Assorted text apps from the ap1 file set:</LI> <LI>Info/FAQ/HOWTO documentation</LI> <LI>Basic networking utilities</LI> <LI>The BSD games</LI> </UL> <P>This selection matches the kind of machine described in <A HREF="4mb-Laptops-1.html#sec:whatuse">What use is a small laptop?</A>. <HR> <A HREF="4mb-Laptops-4.html">Next</A> <A HREF="4mb-Laptops-2.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="4mb-Laptops.html#toc3">Contents</A> </BODY> </HTML>