phatlinux install
 

I am currently downloading phatlinux. I have seen (at different places on the web) several comments about a problem with the installation. Apparently the directions for installation are incorrect. Does anybody know anything about this? The only directions I have seen so far are: use "root" for the username and "phatlinux" for the password.
Also- is there anyplace I can get detailed directions (written for a linux newbie that is barely computer literate)?

Forget the pseudo-installation procedure. I guess those guys have to review that. You should create a directory c:\phat and decompress manually the files inside phatv33.zip file to that directory.

Then reboot your machine press F8 for the menu choose 'dos command only' then:

cd phat
linux.bat

and you're in!

but getting to work X is another story...

a last reminder: the password for root is "phat" not "phatlinux" as you stated previously. You should change that ASAP with the "passwd" command.

Good luck,
lapja

PhatLinux install - words of encouragement
 

PhatLinux and X ran fine for me on my desktop (Celeron 266 with 320MB ram) once I got over a few hurdles.

There is a line in the linux.bat that needs to be changed.

Getting ahead of myself though.

PhatLinux comes in a zip format if you have downloaded it.
Unzip and you get a few small files and one biggy (200MB+), right?

You can ignore the smaller files by following these instructions::cool:
Unzip the biggy (phatv33.zip) to your C: drive into a folder called phat. This could take awhile as the files decompress to 600MB+; make sure you have enough room on C: and defrag before decompressing.

Once the files are decompressed into C:\phat then edit the linux.bat file using notepad or similar.

The first line should read:
loadlin vmlinuz initrd=ramdisk.gz mem=384M
change the mem value to represent the amount of RAM that you have installed on your machine (probably 128M, 256M, 320M, 512M or something like that).

Save the linux.bat file. Now you are ready to run PhatLinux.

You could restart your machine etc etc but you may find it easier to close all of your windows apps (except for Explorer) and simply double-click on the linux.bat file.:)

Once in you should see a :Pengy: and request for username and password. In my release the defaults were 'root' and 'phat' respectively.

What you do now is up to you.

If you choose option 11 to get the shell prompt here are a few things to try:

'fdisk -l' to get a list of partitions that could be mounted

'cd /directoryname' is used to change to a directory (similar to dos) -- the partition that the linux.bat file is in should be mounted to the /dos directory; type 'cd /dos' to switch to it and now you should be looking at your dos(windows) files and folders

'mount' displays the filesystems currently mounted - notice the /dos directory and the 'vfat' type that is associated with it. type 'info mount' if you are curious about what can be done with this command (see below for instructions on how to use the info screens)

'md /newdirectory' to create a new directory

'mc' executes a program called Midnight Commander similar to the old dosshell which can be used as a file manager. NOTE: Midnight Commander is also available from the command prompt.

[alt]+[F2] or [alt]+[F3] etc... switches between different terminal screens (you can log on as root into any of these) -- [alt]+[F1] switches you back to your original terminal screen

'exit' logs you out as a user on that terminal

'shutdown now -h' will have the computer go through the proper sequence and power down:cool:

If you need information on most of the commands just type 'info' followed by the name of the command then press enter; 'q' exits the info screen and [ctrl]+h will display help on using the information screens.:study:

Happy Linux-ing