Not only am I a total newb when it comes to Linux, I'm also an idiot. After downloading and burning a Knoppix live CD, I checked it out and I'm really liking this whole Linux "thing" . I liked it so much that, after a day or so of messing around with it and getting the display to function correctly and the sound to work, I decided to do a poor man's install. After partitioning the drive I copied the Knoppix folder from the CD to my D: (hda5) partition...then I could boot it using a bootfloppy or the CD.

Anyway, I decided that I didn't want to have to use the CD or the bootfloppy in order to boot Knoppix...so I decided to make it a dualboot. Unfortunately, loadlin.exe could not boot knoppix, the kernel panicked, the system crashed...and my config.sys file went back to what it was before I changed it (by itself !).

Setup, info and questions follow:

Setup:
Toshiba 2100CDT
AMD K6-2 @ 400MHz
64MB RAM
4GB HD - Two partitions, both FAT32
C: (hda1) partition - 2GB - Windows 98se + apps, etc.
D: (hda5) partition - 2GB - Knoppix folder, swap file, configs, \boot\ dir with bootfloppy contents + loadlin.exe and loadlin.par

Ok, so I wanted to make it a dualboot system ...so I changed the 98se config.sys file to let me choose which one I wanted to boot.

The modified config.sys file looked like this:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
[Menu]
MenuItem=Win98, Windows 98 (second edition)
MenuItem=KNX, Knoppix 3.3 (debian based linux)
MenuDefault=Win98,15

[KNX]
Shell=D:\boot\loadlin.exe @D:\boot\loadlin.par

[Win98]
device=c:\dos\toscdrom.sys
device=c:\dos\himem.sys
device=c:\dos\panning.sys
----------------------------------------------------------------------

loadlin.par looked like this:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
d:\boot\vmlinuz initrd=c:\linux\miniroot.gz myconfig=scan
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Questions:
#1: Did I leave anything out of loadlin.par that should be there? Such as "ramdisk_size=#" and/or "init=/etc/init" (after vmlinuz)
1a: If not, how do I make a dualboot using my config.sys file with the poor man's install (and 98se)?

#2: Even though I have Knoppix running off the HD (after using the cd to boot it, or a bootfloppy)...it seems to run slower than when I just run it off of the cd. Why?
2a: Is it because I have the swap file on the same partition as the Knoppix folder?
2b: Is it because it's a FAT32 partition?

When replying please keep in mind that I'm still basically an idiot m$ user any instructions and how to's need to be detailed and written in the simplest terms.

Thank you in advance for your help, your patience and your time.


Regards,
Rob

Update:
I decided to start over. I deleted the contents of my d: partition then re-copied Knoppix to d:\knoppix\. I then placed loadlin.exe, loadlin.par, vmlinuz and miniroot.gz into the root dir of d:\

The config.sys file looks pretty much as it did (except to reflect the location change of loadlin and loadlin.par).

the loadlin.par now looks like this:
d:\vmlinuz ramdisk_size=45760 init=/etc/init initrd=d:\miniroot.gz myconfig=scan

However, I keep getting the same error(s).
FAT: bogus logical sector size # (the number changes each time)
Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 01:01

What am I doing wrong here?

It may be a lot less bother if you remove those attempts, boot up with the knoppix cdrom and run the command knx-hdinstall . That will give you an oportunity to create the partitions and install the linux boot loader.

I would have to agree with Homey on that matter. If I were you I would boot off the CD and then open a console and switch to root then run knoppix-installer and follow the instructions from there.

I don't have enough space to do a real install
I'm just gonna have to deal with the boot floppy/cd. Oh well, I tried.

Here's where to find the installation procedure.

http://www.freenet.org.nz/misc/knoppix-install.html

There are a few others that you can find by doing a Google search for 'knoppix hard drive'