Ok, I'm looking to do a complete install from scratch, only using the packages I need. My hard drive is formatted and waiting for linux, however I need the right floppy distro to get me further.

I cannot use CDROM distros, or even boot from CDROM. I cannot use Smart Boot Manager - it doesn't see my CDROM drive.

(Sorry about the bold text, but everyone suggests the same thing, and it doesn't work for me. I'm pretty sure someone will mention it in this post. Any bets? )

Basically my requirements are:

• Great support for old NICs
• wget
• dhcp client, to access the outside world from my network
• ifconfig, so I can check whether I'm connected or not

I've tried everything I can find. There are two distros which each get me half-way there: Redhat netboot, and Zool Linux.

The Redhat netboot has great support for my NIC, which is motherboard-based, but doesn't have any tools to allow me to "get" anything.

Zool linux has everything I could wish for... except support for my NIC.

I've tried the following distros with little or no success:

• Slackware rescue disk
• Leka Rescue disk
• alfalinux
• brutalware
• mulinux
• Wolf
• bootE
• BlueFlops

Can anyone recommend any other distros which might be able to help?

Or is there any way I can "merge" or "copy" the environments to my hard drive?

doesn't gentoo have a floppy ftp install disk, like the bsd's do?

Unfortunatly not. I've looked at gentoo and, like the other mainstream distros, have dismissed it due to its size.

Thanks anyway!

can you put your hard drive in a different computer, and install linux, then move the drive back?

I'd rather not. There's to much messing about with that, and there's not guarentee that it'll work.

Try Slackware... packages are in floppy-sized images, there are package 'sets' - A - base, X - xwindow, E - emacs, N-networking. All are (or used to be) in floppy-sized images you can rawrite install disks under MS os's. A full install will be > 40 floppies. You may have to use an old version of Slack, so the packages are broken into floppy-sized chunks. Alternatively, you could do a net install with Debian. Here's a site for Debian net install, booting from floppy images:

(quoted from http://www.debian.org/distrib/floppyinst)
You can boot the Debian installation system from floppy disks, and then proceed with installing the rest of Debian from the network.

Download the floppy disk image files from the /dists/stable/main/disks-XXXX/ directory of any Debian mirror; substitute your computer's architecture for the "XXXX", for example "i386" or "alpha".
You can either download just the files you need, as described in the installation manual, or simply get the whole tree.
Write images to floppy disks, according to the instructions in the installation manual.
Boot from the rescue floppy, following the instructions in the installation manual.
At the "boot:" prompt, press enter, and follow the installation instructions in the installation manual.
Configure your network card driver correctly (this is an essential prerequisite).
When the installation process prompts you to choose between CD/Hard Disk/Network/Floppy media, select "Network".
Connect to a Debian mirror and download the installation files, as described in the installation manual.

(end quote)

Hope this helps.

BTW, that is how I did my first linux install in 1994! -- floppy images, rawrite, and install from boot and root images.

Some more Slackware info (from http://www.slackware.com/install/softwaresets.php):

Slackware Linux was first released before CD-ROMs became a standard in systems and before fast Internet connections were cheap. Because of this, the distribution was broken down into software sets. Each set contains a different group of programs. This allowed for someone to get the Slackware Linux distribution quickly. For example, if you know you don't want the X Window System, just skip all of the X software set. Though most people today obtain Slackware Linux on CD-ROM, the distribution can still be installed by making a pile of floppies. The listing below describes the different software sets.


You can find these software sets in the slakware subdirectory from within the Slackware Linux distribution. For example, for the A sets there are subdirectories called a1, a2, a3, and so on.






A
-
The base system. Contains enough software to get up and running and have a text editor and basic communications programs.


AP
-
Various applications that do not require the X Window System.


D
-
Program development tools. Compilers, debuggers, interpreters, and man pages. It's all here.


DES
-
Includes the GNU libc crypt() function.


E
-
GNU Emacs. Yes, Emacs is so big it requires its own series.


F
-
FAQs, HOWTOs, and other miscellaneous documentation.


GTK
-
The GNOME desktop environment, GTK widget library, and the GIMP.


K
-
The source code for the Linux kernel.


KDE
-
The K Desktop Environment. An X environment which shares a lot of look-and-feel features with the MacOS and Windows. The Qt widget library is also in this series, as KDE requires it to function.


N
-
Networking programs. Daemons, mail programs, telnet, news readers, and so on.


T
-
teTeX document formatting system.


TCL
-
The Tool Command Language, Tk, TclX, and TkDesk.


U
-
Contains packages for programs designed specifically for and that will only run on UltraSPARC systems.


X
-
The base X Window System.


XAP
-
X applications that are not part of a major desktop environment. For example Ghostscript and Netscape.


XD
-
X11 program development. Libraries, server link kit, and PEX support.


XV
-
XView libraries, the OpenLook Virtual and Non-Virtual window managers, and various other XView applications.


Y
-
Games (the BSD games collection, Sasteroids, Koules, and Lizards).

(end quote)

There you go!

Dan

Ooh, looking good. Another quick question then - when installing a software set, do you have install all packages within that set, or can you select them individually?

I remember an advanced (or expert?) mode for the installer that allowed fine-grained package selection, but that was many, many moon ago. I would hope slackware would have retained that feature in its installer.

Good luck!

or put a tomsrtbt on to the drive ;-)

Yes, the advanced setting was still there, but you still have to put all the files in a series on floppies, I believe(all of A on floppies). Do you have USB on that board? Can you boot from the USB? If so, you may want to look into Feather Linux . It can fit on a 64 MB USB Flash card, so if you have one handy, that would work. Also, if you know what module you need for your NIC, there's an RPM of kernel modules for 2.0.36, which is what mUlinux uses. You may be able to get the one you need from there and make it work. I haven't been able to, though, so don't hold your breath.

I originally tried tomsrtbt when trying to do the install I wanted. Nightmare to say the least.

muLinux didn't work for me. Seems like I tried every single floppy distro!

Slack is actually the first distro thats going on nicely. I booted from floppy, followed with intall.1 and install.2, threw in the CD, typed "network" at the prompt, and it found my NIC, reading the modules from the CD. Then, "setup" at the prompt, choose my packages, finds the CD again... installing.

I'm just configuring xFce as we speak. Being a little sod, but thats probably because I'm not too up on linux as of yet, and I'm still trying to get my head around things.

i put slackware 9.1 on my 486. I haven't gotten X to work by then I really haven't tried.

Wow, I'm amazed that I actually gave some practical advice.

Keep us up to date on your progress. I'm considering putting some flavor of GNU/linux on an old box with a Cyrix 166 proc, and Slackware/floppies look like the way to go.

Easiest way .. get a HD laptop / desktop converter :-)