UnixGuruIdiot elderly LinuxN00b wants to learn by asking painstakingly dumb questions while installing Slackware on OLD$0 Toshiba M115-S1061
 

To any new readers of this: it's full of rambling junk, so just skip to the very end to see what's going on at the moment!!!

Currently, go directly to page two


It has 1GB ram, 80GB hdd. I want to preserve the Windows XP, shrink the partition, install slackware 15, and painstakingly learned everything bottom up step-by-step as I go. (I'm also hoping this could be usable/useful for others in the future. I want to 'hide' this in general because of its chatty nature.)

I'm running slackware 15 i586 mini .ISO (feel free to ask for any necessary details I have not provided)

The first thing I'd like to learn is: what neofetch options (or other programs; inxi not present) I could use to |nc termbin.com 9999 to post maximum details.

Web searching says I need ntfsresize which is not present, to resize to make space for Linux without disturbing the old XP

Edit added:
Is there a way to download that, into the running Mini? Beware: I know **absolutely no** slackware unique stuff!!! (I want to get over avoiding slackware simply because it doesn't have apt, & many say slackware is *the best* way to learn Linux)

I was once an outstanding kernel TSE for SunOS4!!!

You could download the GPartd live CD and use it to resize the partitions.

You may find it helpful to read this first. It doesn't specifically mention XP, but I think it is a worthwhile article.

So you're saying that is the best way, under Linux. I initially thought it was a gnome GUI app! A lot of web pages said that was the way to go.

** If it's soooo important, why doesn't the Slackware include it? (rhetorical question!!!)

I found a lot of other Advanced things in the mini ISO, but not a driver for whatever my Wi-Fi is. (best ways to find&post the device?) By the way, antix works relatively fine (though it did not know what exFat is!).

I would have to go find another flash drive or I guess I could erase this one and then re-dd mini. (making it unfortunately unlikely because I'm lazy and stubborn, sorry)

One thing said: just (boot XP and) use XP to resize the the partition.

Definite thanks @#2; apologies to anyone who doesn't like my chattiness LOL

P. S. I initially (blindly stupidly erroneously) shrunk it to 20 using parted, but then I carefully put it back to the full size the same way. Hopefully I didn't damage XP. I don't think I did because it's just changing the partition table and not touching the data.

P. P. S. Another stupid point of resistance: I can't get it to boot a USB drive if the hdd is plugged in! So I have to insert the HDD at the boot: prompt. Any bios ideas are welcome!!!

Gparted IS included in Slackware. It's just not available until installed. That said, the Liveslak system (bootable USB with persistence, very nice) has GParted as well and is a very handy recovery device. Personally I prefer resizing partitions from OUTSIDE the running drive anyway.

Slackware does know what exFat is and why do you think the kernel won't support your wifi? Most chips are supported unless they require a specific Firmware blob. My Thinkpad T61p (almost as ancient as your Toshiba) needed a firmware blob for 14.2 but none needed for 15.0. You might get lucky.

IIRC XP does not come with a partition tool beyond mere fdisk so I'd go with GParted.

I'd check for any BIOS updates if any are still available but hopefully it does have a Boot Priority page in BIOS Setup. Many older PCs have options to treat USB as either Floppy, CDROM, or HDD. If yours has that you might need to trial and error which works with flash drives but once found, setting it as 1st priority should solve that issue. If not, you might try the PLOP bootloader which offers proper USB Boot on older BIOSes. It even worked for me on OS/2.

My mis.... I meant in the mini. (I don't want to start over, in a different path, ...yet ...
I'm trying to learn ... maybe the 'hard way', sorry.... I'm lost&clueless!)

https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...up-4175714680/

I actually kinda like "the hard way" as long as it is specific to my specific learning curve. I don't like fighting extraneous obstacles that are in the way, complicating that process. I also enjoy some older hardware if it is still capable of modern work. I deeply respect the value of a $0 investment but it is possible to vastly improve your current constraints for a very small investment. I love my X86_64 T61P Core 2 Duo, SATA, 4GB RAM, 15.4 inch display Thinkpad. I'd be willing to sell my older, almost as good, T60 Thinkpad dirt cheap, price depending on what peripherals you want included.

My insane trip takes a bit of a sidestep here: https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...up-4175714680/

I have static-get from http://s.minos.io on my MX19 fav tiny eeePC
I found ntfsresize in ntfs3g (but I have not yet found a static gparted).
My favorite distro is distrowatch.com/mll, which is just busy box, for which I use static binaries and it works wonderfully!!!

I was afraid static programs would be 64-bit, but they seem to be okay on 32 bit.

Unfortunately, this Slackware Mini (yeah I hear you: use for installing the hardest way!!!) does not have the fuse module which this package requires, so I guess I finally hit a dead end or at least become willing to give up, and go the liveSlack route (after I sleep on it LOL)
Update!!!: I found https://slackbuilds.org/repository/12.0/system/fuse/ but that's probably not it but I'll try it now. (that URL does not work without the trailing slash which makes no sense to me) never mind I looked at the contents and there's no binaries. now I remember what a slack build is. By any chance does anybody know where the binary kernel module is???

ONLY IF you have 'thick skin', read the following thought: suggesting that I give up on this mini, seems like telling a devout slacker to: go use Ubu/pop_os!/Kali/arch/etc. Grrrrrr...

Another thing I want to learn is persistence, along with slackware. Actually I'd be happy with any distro where I could get persistence to work. I know it's probably trivial, but it's just a mental block from not having gotten it to work in the past. A couple of total spoon-feeding links would be welcome but I'm not going to be so presumptuous as to ask.
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...nt-4175671177/

The reason for this is that: I bought an insperion 1420 (tag 9714NF1) which cannot have a HDD because it's missing the internal connector. No battery and only 2x1gb Ram &no vt-x makes it turn out to be overpriced at $20, although it had a nice **but dead!!!** 320 GB HDD sitting loose in the disk bay (unconnectable because the adapter is missing). So I can either find my external USB HD adapter or put some distro on a USB stick with persistence. Reminds me of the nice guy who had a mega thread about uses for old scrap PCs.... have not heard from him for a few years. [/ramble]

LiveSlack cannot find the USB, & from=usb (that antiX needed) didn't help: https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...0/#post6367852

You really are taking the hard road here! Life would be much easier for you if you could drop XP.

The biggest hurdle in front of you is the way XP organises its files. It tends to put things like swap and restore points at the end of the partition, and they have to be moved (or removed) before you can shrink the partition safely. Microsoft's own tools don't do this, and with XP now being 8 years out of official support, many of the 3rd party software houses have dropped support for XP and their software will no longer even run on it.

EDIT: I found an old (and free, as in $$) version of Paragon Partition Manager, which takes care of moving & resizing for you: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/det...e_edition.html. This is an easy (and safe) way to shrink your Windows XP partition. You need to install it & run it from within Windows.

You can use "lsusb" and "mount" to discover that USB is detected and then mount it to a known location. I don't think just "=usb" is sufficient.
Commonly in Slackware a USB drive will be assigned a "/dev/sdfoo" designation.

Also in Slackware Live docs "Option to create a bootable USB stick running Slackware Live (which is different from 'dd'-ing the hybrid ISO to a USB stick!)" means you can use most usb "burn" software, whether something like Rufus from XP or balencaEtcher in Linux to create the bootable usb drive. Note some "burn" software will require usb drives to be mounted and others require them to be dismounted. Both are trivial commands once you discover how the kernel "sees" the drive.

I've given up on those old obsolete junk broken two laptops for now. I do have a couple of eeePCs 2009ish that run various Deb derivatives fine, with 2 / 4 GB Ram. (and a couple of more decent UEFI but only 4GB Ram laptops, but they are toooooo heavy for me to want to hold in my lap/hand.)

Two directions I would like to go in:
I need a cell phone to replace my iPhone 4S (died in 3G shutdown). I also want a laptop that weighs like 1 pound! A little keyboard like Blackberry would be okay, along with great on-screen-kbd integration.

But I don't want to have to fight with something (Pine phone?) that does not quite work!!!

In the opposite of that lazy Direction,
I want to make the huge effort of getting comfortable with configuring the kernel! (I did do this successfully half dozen years ago from Tinyconfig, but it was a lot of work plus I didn't have a decent PC, and have forgotten how) One would be for slackware mini that isn't missing fuse, has my obscure Wi-Fi drivers, and just the perfect mix of minimal config options for all my many laptopS. Also an easy one would be minimal for Vbox: anyone&everyone has the same virtual Hardware! This has been my lifelong dream!

Another ramble: I'm elderly now, and painfully have no human contact. (I could call the Friendship line 800-971-0016 for 10 minutes a day but that's pretty minimal)

A couple times I've tutored beginning students over the phone, and it was immensely rewarding and fulfilling!!! I tried to post that on Reddit /r/linux4noobs, but they flagged it because they said that they could not know whether I was a scammer or not.

if you have to have Xp, for whatever reason, you could run it in VirtualBox, with Slackware as the host.
I have Xp, service pack 3, running in VIrtualBox so I can use the HP windows' drivers for my "old" (but "low mileage") HP flatbed scanner. It runs in Linux, but the windows' drivers give the perfect scan each and every time on the first pass.

I don't know if this will be of any interest since it weighs ~2.5 pounds but from my POV "heavy" is less an issue than "hot" and this runs very cool and has very low power requirements but is modern and quite fast.

https://www.pine64.org/pinebook-pro/

There are lots of YouTube video reviews and demos you can check and LQN has a number of users and developers here in several areas including Mobile Linux and Slackware-ARM. There are very likely other sub-forums but I'm a Slackware guy so those are the only two I've visited that I know have threads regarding the PinebookPro.

There are versions of Manjaro, Suse, Debian, and Slackware that I've tried on mine though I just bought the same SBC that is the brains of this laptop (I use an external keyboard, mouse and display). It's quite impressive. So far I'm just experimenting with this but I suspect it is possible to combine usage for calls. Since SIM card readers are readily available and most using the USB interface do not require drivers, they should work with any Linux, though you'd have to run XP virtually if you really must keep that system. I know the SIM card readers will function on most USB ports but I am unsure if that's all one needs for wifi calling or if you are commonly mobile and need cell calls. That might require a newer but cheaper phone if you must have mobile access. If your iPhone does wifi calling you can certainly tether it in Linux if that's a useful factor