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how to frugal/manual install slitaz (revision 2.0)
  • tikbalangtikbalang November 2009
    taken from puppy forums:
    http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=16954


    a full, complete install copies each uncompressed file that is in the Puppy operating system's file system to a dedicated partition ... so there will be the directories /bin, /dev, /etc. /lib, /mnt, /proc, /root, /sbin, /var etc etc etc on the partition, each filled with hundreds of files

    a frugal (or poor man's) install just copies the files on the CD to the hard drive ... a boot loader program can boot Puppy from those files exactly the same as if you boot from the CD

    so a frugal install is not a complete install, where a dedicated partition is created and the files in the Puppy file system are copied to the dedicated partition ... for a frugal install, the 3 or 4 files on the CD are copied to the hard drive and they are booted from the hard drive exactly the same way they would have been booted from the CD

    that is, a frugal install is just like booting from the CD disc, except you don't need the cd disc or drive

    so with a frugal install are 1) you don't need the cd and 2) the hard drive is faster and quieter than the cd drive ... and there are other advantages to a frugal install



    this is the same method employed by Tazusb LiveUSB tool, using syslinux as boot loader. i will discuss installing Slitaz 2.0 to a FAT32 disk which will appeal more to linux noobs and dos/win users. this revision solves /home/tux problems.

    caveats:

    - there will be permission warnings which is a limitation of the fat32 filesystem. these can be ignored, or in some cases, root login may be needed.

    - slitaz files can not be organized into one subfolder (more clutter at root of disk).



    credits:

    slicel - for pointing out the problem with "home="

    lmart - beta tester


  • tikbalangtikbalang November 2009
    boot slitaz from DOS.


    1. prepare the disk. format C:\ or hda1 as fat32 and make it bootable by freedos or msdos 7.10 (from win9x for fat32 support). other dos versions can be used but untested. other disk partitions can be used but a dos bootdisk will be needed.


    2. search for and download "linld.com". copy this in the / folder.

    http://busybox.net/~vda/linld/

    http://troglobit.com/files/linld/


    3. create these two textfiles in root of the disk:


    /SLITAZ.BAT


    :: slitaz.bat
    @@echo off
    linld.com image=\boot\bzimage initrd=\boot\rootfs.gz cl=@slitaz.cl




    /SLITAZ.CL


    rw
    root=/dev/null
    autologin
    home=hda1
    lang=en
    kmap=us
    vga=normal
    acpi=off
    power_off=1



    device names, dos serial number, uuid allowed for "home=". i recommend the use of volume serial numbers for fat32 disks. acpi and power_off lines are options for older computers only, like mine.


    4. copy contents of slitaz cd into root of disk, keeping folder structure. do this while in windows or when booted from slitaz cd since there is one file with long filename. or load an lfn driver for dos. if booted from slitaz, copy /home/tux to the root of the disk. this preserves the preconfigured user settings.


    on a fresh DOS disk it would look like this:


    (dos startup files)
    io.sys
    msdos.sys
    command.com

    (folders from cd)
    boot/
    images/

    (folder from /home/tux)
    tux/

    (files from cd)
    readme
    index.html
    md5sum
    style.css

    (slitaz startup files)
    linld.com
    slitaz.bat
    slitaz.cl


    in my setup, i reduced clutter by moving files from cd and slitaz startup files into slitaz/ folder and boot from there.


    5. reboot into DOS, using dos bootdisk if necessary. cd to where SLITAZ.BAT is and run it.

    you can add these two lines to AUTOEXEC.BAT to boot slitaz everytime.


    cd \slitaz
    slitaz.bat


    goodluck.
  • tikbalangtikbalang November 2009
    forum formatting is horrible.

    for the two textfiles, copy what's between [code] and [/code] then remove double spacing.

  • tikbalangtikbalang November 2009
    boot slitaz using grub4dos

    http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/


    1. download the latest grub4dos version and unzip it to the root of bootdrive, keeping folder structure. run "bootlace.com 0x80" to install grub4dos to the MBR of C:\ or hda1 (first primary partition of active boot drive). it runs in both dos and linux.

    2. edit /MENU.LST and add this entry:


    title Slitaz
    find --set-root --ignore-floppies /boot/bzimage
    kernel /boot/bzimage rw root=/dev/null autologin home=hda1 vga=normal
    initrd /boot/rootfs.gz


    copy what's between [code] and [/code] then delete empty lines.
  • lmartlmart November 2009
    tikbalang, my forum friend

    Good documentation! Here are my findings on your method for my laptop environment. If anyone wants to know the in-and-out of how I got SliTaz working on my laptop, let me know.

    1. Prepared hdd, 2 GiB partition fat32, with format c:\ under msdos 7.10.
    2. Copied grub4dos to c:\ exactly per your instructions; "download the latest grub4dos version and unzip it to the root of bootdrive, keeping folder structure. run "bootlace.com 0x80" to install grub4dos to the MBR of C:\ or hda1 (first primary partition of active boot drive). it runs in both dos and linux."
    3. My only menu.lst entry is exactly per your instructions
    title Slitaz
    find --set-root --ignore-floppies /boot/bzimage
    kernel /boot/bzimage rw root=/dev/null autologin home=hda1 vga=normal
    initrd /boot/rootfs.gz
    4. Extracted all contents of my LiveCD to c:\boot.

    Everything works. Now here's the rub.

    I culled through every page of documentation on the slitaz website and wiki. Most of the documentation appears geared to a technically oriented person rather than a businessman. Most seems out of date. For example, I tried SliTaz cooking [Traditional frugal install] from the wiki; no workee. I tried SliTaz cooking [ISO image] from the wiki; no workee. The TazUSB approach to frugal install; no workee.

    For months I've been trying to use SliTaz as a replacement for Windows. Right now, I am spending more time trying to figure out SliTaz than I do fighting Windows.

    Here's what I can't do in SliTaz.

    Remaster a LiveCD after updating all of my packages with 'tazpkg upgrade', despite multiple forum postings.
    Can't use the full laptop monitor real estate, despite multiple forum postings.
    Can't use my wireless, despite multiple forum postings.
    Can't get CupsPDF working, despite multiple forum postings.

    More frustrated than ever! Maybe apple ... lmart
  • tikbalangtikbalang November 2009
    add packages to your own satisfation then copy your new rootfs.gz to the iso using magiciso in windows. just make sure you preserve the original iso properties.
  • hantorhantor September 2010
    With APPLE you are definetly better on if you have some money to spend ! Using open source some time can be very hard due of proper installation lack, unsuported packages, drivers .... If no go first time then very big possibility that second or more atempt will not do also !
  • hantorhantor September 2010
    With APPLE you are definetly better on if you have some money to spend ! Using open source some time can be very hard due of proper installation lack, unsuported packages, drivers .... If no go first time then very big possibility that second or more atempt will not do also !
  • hantorhantor September 2010
    With APPLE you are definetly better on if you have some money to spend ! Using open source some time can be very hard due of proper installation lack, unsuported packages, drivers .... If no go first time then very big possibility that second or more atempt will not do also !
  • Trixar_zaTrixar_za September 2010
    @hantor - It's the price of freedom open source offers. Many of us are glad to pay it if it comes with complete choice and control.

    Don't kid yourself though. Even with Windows and OS X you have to install 'packages' to make certain things work. Try running a DivX movie out of the box on either of those OSes and you'll see what I mean.

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