Re: Knoppix: Was: The *ONLY* real problem with Debian...

[Kent West <westk@acu.edu>]

Shawn Lamson wrote:
> --- Kent West <westk@acu.edu> wrote:
> > But in the case of low RAM, if a Linux partition is not available, 
> > Knoppix uses the Windows partition and creates a swap file (not a
> > swap 
> > partition).
> >
> > Kent
> >   
> Does it use "freespace" on the drive, or will it destroy data from the
> windows partition?
>
> Shawn


>From the Knoppix web site at http://www.knoppix.com:

/Begin quote
>

Question: "But my computer doesn't have that much RAM, so some programs on the CD won't run at all or will only run very slowly. Is there some trick that I can use to run KDE and the office programs/graphics/games?"

Yes. After a swap partition has been initialized, Linux can add the missing RAM from an area of the hard disk that has been reserved for this purpose. KNOPPIX recognizes and automatically uses any available swap partitions. Optionally, a swap partition can be added manually. However, only experienced users should try this, since repartitioning of the hard drive is required.

Version 1.5 and later of KNOPPIX can use an existing DOS partition for its Linux swap data (command mkdosswapfile or in the KDE menus under "Knoppix"). This also allows one to work with less RAM. The swap data knoppix.swp on this partition can be erased later to free up space for other things.

/End of Quote


The mkdosswapfile script can be seen at: http://zork.net/pipermail/lnx-bbc/2001-August.txt
(search for "message1" and then scroll down a quarter of a page to the English)

but here's enough snippet to probably answer your question:
MESSAGE1=3D"Do you want to create a swapfile 'knoppix.swp' on your existing=
 DOS partition $p? A swapfile allows you to use huge application packages l=
ike KDE even if your computer is low on memory. You can safely delete the s=
wapfile after finishing your KNOPPIX session."
MESSAGE2=3D"Please specify the amount of diskspace that you want to use as =
SWAP. Recommended: 60 - 128. Free: "
MESSAGE3=3D"Creating swapfile 'knoppix.swp' on $p..."
ERROR1=3D"Sorry, not enough free space on $p. At least 60 MB required."
SUCCESS=3D"Swapfile 'knoppix.swp' on $p successfully created."