I would just mount a DSL iso on a loop back device on another computer, change the isolinux to Grub, copy the files into a partition of the old Vario.
The laptop looks old enough to have a floppy drive and so a bootable Grub floppy can fire up the DSL and makes the system permanent.
Command to expand a DSL.iso
Code:
umount /mnt/cdrom
mount -t iso9660 -o ro,loop=/dev/loop0 dsl-4.0_alpha1.iso /mnt/cdrom
Expanded DSL.iso directories are
Code:
root@saikee-desktop:/abit/saikee/Desktop# ls /mnt/cdrom
boot index.html KNOPPIX lost+found
The isolinux.cfg (inside /boot/isolinux) that controls DSL booting from a CD (only the
red lines are of interest or needed to converted into Grub)
Code:
root@saikee-desktop:/abit/saikee/Desktop# ls /mnt/cdrom/boot/isolinux
boot.cat f2 german.kbd isolinux.cfg logo.16
boot.msg f3 isolinux.bin linux24 minirt24.gz
root@saikee-desktop:/abit/saikee/Desktop# cat /mnt/cdrom/boot/isolinux/isolinux.cfg
DEFAULT linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 initrd=minirt24.gz nomce noapic quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix
TIMEOUT 300
PROMPT 1
DISPLAY boot.msg
F1 boot.msg
F2 f2
F3 f3
LABEL dsl
KERNEL linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 initrd=minirt24.gz nomce noapic quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix
LABEL memtest
KERNEL memtest
APPEND initrd=
LABEL dsl-txt
KERNEL linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=normal initrd=minirt24.gz nomce noapic quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix
LABEL expert
KERNEL linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 initrd=minirt24.gz nomce BOOT_IMAGE=expert
LABEL fb1280x1024
KERNEL linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=794 xmodule=fbdev initrd=minirt24.gz nomce noapic quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix
LABEL fb1024x768
KERNEL linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 xmodule=fbdev initrd=minirt24.gz nomce noapic quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix
LABEL fb800x600
KERNEL linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=788 xmodule=fbdev initrd=minirt24.gz nomce noapic quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix
LABEL lowram
KERNEL linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=normal initrd=minirt24.gz noscsi noideraid nosound nousb nofirewire noicons minimal nomce noapic noapm lowram quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix
LABEL install
KERNEL linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=normal initrd=minirt24.gz noscsi noideraid nosound nofirewire legacy base norestore _install_ nomce noapic noapm quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix
LABEL failsafe
KERNEL linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init 2 lang=us vga=normal atapicd nosound noscsi nousb nopcmcia nofirewire noagp nomce nodhcp xmodule=vesa initrd=minirt24.gz BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix base norestore legacy
LABEL userdef
KERNEL linux24
A menu.lst that will boot up DSL if stored as /boot/grub/menu.lst
Code:
title LABEL dsl
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/isolinux/linux24 ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 nomce noapic quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix
initrd /boot/isolinux/minirt24.gz
Assuming the DSL is copies into the 1st partition of the the 1st hard disk known to Grub as (hd0,0) then booting up a bootable Grub floppy and press "c" key will get a Grub prompt. DSL will be fired up in a Grub prompy by one line command
Code:
configfile (hd0,0)/boot/grub/menu.lst
Works OK for me, booting directly from a hard disk, or a DVD (with several distros) or in a pen drive.