On Sat, Jul 04, 1998 at 10:44:04PM +0200, Brederlow wrote: > If you use a bootdisk with a ram filesystem, put a script like below > into /etc/rcS.d/S00zipfind.sh > > ZIP="" > > while [ x$zip = x ]; do > for device in sda4 sdb4 sdc4 sdd4 sde4 sdf4; do > mount /dev/$device /zip > if [ -e /zip/<file used to mark this zip as rescue zip> ]; then > ZIP=$device > else > umount /dev/$device > done > echo Please insert the rescue zip and press return > read > done > > If you want to have root on the zip, root=/dev/zip That assumes SCSI and really does it the hard way. It seems much easier and faster to just read the veodor ID. Also, once the Zip is found, you can mount the zip as /, but I think that I'll likely not be doing that. > > That's a big issue. You don't want them to have to download a big fileset. > > I'm working on that too, but the result looks like you'll probably use a > > standard FAT Zip disk and unzip or untar a fileset on to them. (I intend to > > I had a look at the e2compr patches and they might be helpfull > there. One could have a loopback filesystem on the zip in its > compressed form. No need to uncompress it and no hassle with people > getting that wrong. :) > > e2compr can use lzw, gzip or bzip(2) for compression/uncompression. A > small/slow system could be made with bzip2, a slightly bigger/faster > one with gzip. I think on Zip I don't need to worry for rescue. I might look at that for a normal Zip system--though it'd be user's option really. > There no difference between scsi zip and parallel I think. Both use > the 4th partition by default. (parallel zips are recognised as /dev/sdx4) But IDE Zip is like /dev/hdb4.. And I don't even KNOW what PC-Card Zip would be, but once I get others working I'll incorporate them if people gimmie info => > > The point is simplification for the user, especially the NEW user. > > For the m68k I made it come down to inserting the CD into an Amiga, > clicking at the icon, waiting and saying yes to "Do you want to run > the demo mode?". Thats simplicity. :) I wish PC hardware was so simple as Amiga hardware.. <sigh> YEARS later, and the Amiga is still more advanced in many ways. > > There'd be no reason to have two filesystems. Just use the one with X for > > both and ask the user what they want. However, I don't want to take up 1-- > > megs or so on a CD to have an X-able installation. Again, that's why I > > suggest seeing what GGI can offer. It'll support most of the hardware X > > does by the time slink is released and then would be a really smart move to > > look at it. > > The problem is the size. For people with modems the small console > setup would be fine. For people with 10 MBit ethernet at university > or people with the CD a 150 MB live filesystem (40 MB compressed) > wouldn't mean much hassle (The numbers are from an m68k installation > of everything that is preselected in dselect). My Zip install profile will include slightly different selections to accomidate the size differences. I'm less concerned with live filesystem demos on CD's than I am with live filesystem rescue. Though really I can see many reasons to have a demo CD image handy to get people addicted to Linux in general real quick and without the repartitioning pain.
Attachment:
pgpvZPTFPTGIA.pgp
Description: PGP signature