Re: Prospective Newbie
"Charles O. Hartman" wrote:
>
> (My state: I've used computers for 30 years, but no Intel machines for
> 10 [so I don't know modern hardware & interfaces], and Linux never.)
>
> I'd like to install Linux (dip toe in water!) on an ancient Zeos machine
> (AMD 386DX, 6Mb RAM, 120Mb disk). However, this machine has no CD drive,
> and no net connection yet.
6MB RAM is a bit tight. 120MB is fairly tight also, but if all
you're putting on is a minimal system, it'll do to get your feet
wet.
> 1) Is it reasonable to try to install a beginner's system on this
> machine from floppies?
Yes.
> 2) Is there a way to do so with only a Mac connection to the net for
> downloading the disk images? (The problem: when a Mac writes or even
> reads an "IBM" floppy, it puts on a couple of hidden files that, though
> just 1k, make a file like "base14-1.bin" not fit.)
Oops. Have you got a zip drive that'll attach to both machines?
Or can you somehow network the two machines together? Do you have
another DOS/Windows machine you can download the files to?
Probaby "no" on all of these, huh? If the Zeos has a SCSI card
(not likely) or the Mac has an IDE drive, perhaps you can
download the files to the Mac, then temporarily put the Mac drive
in the Zeos box to install from. Of course, the Zeos BIOS
probably won't recognize the Mac drive, assuming it's larger than
512M.
Another option, but a pain, is to create a DOS partition on the
Zeos box of about 15MB, then download the disk images to the Mac,
then use some sort of cross-platform Stuffit-like tool that can
compress the images into one file and then break that file into
DOS-floppy-sized bites. Copy the files to the DOS partition and
unzip them, and then do your install from the DOS partition
(you'll still have to hav e bootable floppy, so make sure you can
build that first). You'll lose the 15MB from your 120 total (but
can recover it later for a small Linux partition (pretty much
useless that small, however).
If you have VirtualPC, perhaps you can build the disk images from
there.
> 3) If the floppy idea is crazy, should I pay MEI-Micro $25 for an EIDE
> controller and $40 for a CD drive?
No, I'd go to a garage sale and pick up an entire 486-33 with a
larger hard drive for $40.
> Sorry for numskull questions; I promise to get smarter if I can get
> Linux going.
Not numskull at all.
However, here's perhaps your best bet. Don't install Linux on an
Intel box. Grab a copy of LinuxPPC or YellowDog Linux and install
it on your Mac. I've even heard rumours of a Debian distro for
Mac; hmm, think I'll go check on that now.
> Charles Hartman
> Poet in Residence, Connecticut College
> cohar@conncoll.edu
>
> --
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