I'm attempting to install Mandrake on a stripped Compaq LTE 5250 laptop.

The machine is a P120 with 32MB of RAM and a 10GB hard disk. I attempted a dozen Red Hat installs on it, but I can't get the video adapter to work at all. I've given up trying. Rumor has it that Mandrake supports the Compaq LTE 5xxx series much better than Red Hat, so that's my next thing to beat my head against.

Here's the problem. I have only a floppy drive. No CD-ROM. (Plus, this machine doesn't allow the use of a floppy and CD at the same time.) So, I have to install from floppy.

I attempted to do this via FTP, as I did all my RH installs. No dice. Apparently Mandrake requires more than 80MB of RAM in order to do a network install?

My last option, I suppose, is to download all the data onto the hard disk, then boot from floppy to read the source material on a separate hard disk partition. Is this correct? Is it easy? Do I download the ISO images or do I have to capture an entire directory structure off of an FTP server?

This is a tremendous amount of work, but I know it'll be worth it if I ever get things sorted out. Thanks for any suggestions -- I need the help!

John

I feel for you, I have been helping out a few friends with their crappy Compaqs and I would just as soon never see their hardware again.

That said, you can copy the Mandrake files to your hard drive and then install from there. If you have an idea as to what files you will need to get the basics installed, then you can copy just these files and network install the rest later on (once you get the minimal Mandy installation going).


This site might help:

http://t2100cdt.kippona.net/linux/lte5200/


John