I'm currently trying to use ZipSlack before I can install Slack. To boot ZipSlack, I would have to use MS-DOS startup disk and then go to my D: drive and run linux.bat.

Now I have an idea, I have a USB thumbdrive 128megs and since I can boot this USB drive, is there any way I can create a bootloader on the thumb drive so that I can start my ZipSlack on my D drive (w/o plugging my usb FDD everytime I wanna get into ZipSlack.)

Thanks!

Sure, just copy loadlin.exe and linux.bat over to the thumbdrive and run them from there. BTW, see the faq.txt in / for directions on how to copy your ZipSlack to a linux partition. All configurations will be saved- a real easy way to install slack.

Just wanted to mention that you should be able to boot from the thumb drive by installing Syslinux on it just as it is installed on your floppy disk. then it should work the same way as your floppy drive to boot ZipSlack. In fact, since the thumb drive is larger than 100 megabytes, it should be possible to install ZipSlack (or RUNT Linux) to it, but then you may run into the same issues of using it as a root device that you ran into trying to install Slackware in the first place.

Thanks for the tips.

I have already installed ZipSlack and transferred it to a linux partition.

I have an idea but I think I'll experiment with it later. I'll use rawritewinxp to read the RUNT boot disk into an image and then use rawrite to write it onto USB thumbdrive ( rawritewinxp doesn't write to non-floppy drives ) and then I'll include Zipslack onto it.

Since your USB is bootable from the BIOS you wouldn't need the RUNT image. It's for booting a USB drive that's not bootable from the BIOS. SInce yours IS bootable you can always do syslinux /dev/sda1 to make it bootable.
Rawrite will only write to a floppy anyway, but linux 'dd' would do what you are thinking of. I wouldn't recommend it though as it may foul up the formatiing of your thumb drive.

I am on Win2k and have zipslack on a 2 GB FAT32 partition with X and KDE running well.

However, i can only boot from a diskette to get it running. How, do i get to select it automatically at boot while keeping my Win2k intact just like lilo or Grub?

Alternatively, I have a 128 flash disk. How do i boot from a flash disk. I have tried RAWRITENT & RAWRITE but they won't write on the flash disk.

What do i need to do to get the flash disk bootable? The description on this thread is very confusing i.e. do i need to extract zipslack onto the flash disk or only the vmlinuz and do a syslinux /dev/sda1?

Help

Eric

If you can boot your flash disk from your BIOS, then just do a syslinux /dev/sda1 ( assuming your flash drive is there ), your config file must have root=/dev/xxx ( xxx pointing to your drive where zipslack.. Please read the syslinux manual before doing anything. (I'ma newbie, don't trust me)

It's true that he doesn't need to use the RUNT boot image to boot ZipSlack on his hard drive from the USB drive. He could use the Slackware bare.i floppy by passing it the location of his ZipSlack install as the root=/dev/xxx, or any other Linux boot method (including what you suggested) by passing the correct root drive. However, the RUNT image is not for booting a USB drive that's not bootable from your BIOS; it is for using a USB drive for your root device. It doesn't matter whether you boot from a USB device or not. You can boot from a USB drive or a regular floppy (or another non-USB boot device), and if you are booting to a root drive on the hard disk, you don't need RUNT. Conversely, you can boot from a USB drive or a regular floppy and if you are booting to a USB root drive, you do need the RUNT disk (or another kernel that can load USB drivers as modules in combination with an intrd file that loads modules for USB devices, or simply a kernel that recognizes USB devices).

We're working in developing countries on ways to load up Flash memory USB drives in the 64-512 MB range with various Mozilla firefox based e-learning rmaterials.

The typical case: an owner of a hot-swappable Flash drive will connect to a Windows machine.

From there, he/she will be immediately be able to access apps and files in the Windows portion of the Flash drive.

Ideally, we'd also like the Flash drive to include a partition for the Linux OS, Mozilla firefox, and other apps and files.

The Linux items would become accessible after restarting the host Windows machine.

Is this possible? We're looking for something simple for non-techie users. Perhaps a Windows-based dual boot installer utility to set the BIOS could automatically pop up when the user first connected the Flash drive in Windows.

Also appreciate advice on the pros and cons of various small footprint Linux distros for this purpose.

Look forward to hearing your advice on the simplest possible solution.

Best,

Mark Frazier
Openworld Learning LLC
"E-Learning for All"
http://learning.openworld.com

I'm working on a similar goal. I already have a family of Slack-alike distros that run from various kinds of file systems, principally from FAT which is what most FLASH devices come with. Recently adapted to run from ntfs also, but this is also going to run from FLASH devices.
There are several problems, though, the worst being that if you run read-write from FLASH the device will quickly be ruined. So a special file system must be used, at least on parts of the device, which provides 'wear-leveling'.
Some cheap devices may not be readily partitionable.
I'll probably use an initial FAT partition which will provide space and compatibility so that the device still works on all systems. Then a separate space for a JFFS2 file system for linux.
There are many good 'no-install' programs designed for use with USB devices. Check the IOMEGA site for a good list. Not sure about mozilla though.
Anyway, I think your thinking is the next wave in the growth of linux. Live CD's have been great to show lots of people about linux, but the 'read-only' problem limits their usefulness, and the workarounds to fix that are complex and need lots of 'guruness' to implement.
See my humble website for a clue or two. And e-mail me personally if you like.
www.amigolinux.org

Glad to hear about the Amigo solutions! What I saw on the web site makes it look like an excellent solution for 256 - 512 MB Flash drives.

A few comments/questions ...

1) Driver compatibility check

When the (partitioned) Flash drive is first plugged into on a Windows machine, could a Windows-based utility on the drive pop up and report on the results of a hardware configuration compatibility check? Ideally, the Amigo distro would ship with a checklist of Amigo-compatible drivers, and let the user know at first use on a new machine whether there would be any compatibility issues if he/she proceeds to reboot and launch the Flash drive-based Linux OS. (If a live Internet link exists, the utility could also crosscheck with a web site and get an updated list of Amigo-supported drivers, along with live download options).

2) Amigo support for multimedia

We're leaning towards including on these USB drives e-learning content in Macromedia Flash-based video format, which can be viewed through the USB drive's Mozilla browser plugins.

Are there any issues that would keep AmigoLinux (or VectorLinux, as another option) from playing Macromedia Flash-encoded video files or similar small-footprint multimedia formats? If Macromedia Flash is not supported on AmigoLinux, are there other highly compressed video file formats that can work?

Appreciate your interest and look forward to hearing.

Best,

Mark Frazier
Openworld Learning LLC
"E-Learning for All"
http://learning.openworld.com

I have sent you e-mail to the contact address on your home page.