Old laptop, new-ish Linux -- not totally happy...
Robert Heller
and a 40gig hard drive. I had (and will have again) White Box Linux
3.0, aka RHEL 3.0 (with a 2.4.20 kernel). Everything was working
fine, including its sound card, a CS4232 type card (built-in).
This morning I upgraded it to CentOS 4.3, aka RHEL 4.3 (2.6.9 kernel).
I had previous (on another machine running CentOS 4.3) build a custom
kernel with the CS4232 sound driver enabled. After the upgrade and
after installing the new kernel and installing lilo, I have two
problems:
1) Lilo is not happy. With linear disabled (this is an older machine
with an older BIOS) Lilo only does 'LI' and stops. The version of lilo
with WBL 3.0 works just fine. So I am stuck with grub (which I just
don't like).
2) I cannot get the sound card to work. I use my laptop as a kind of
overgrown IPod, so the sound is important. It is the only machine I
have with a sound card.
There is one Chech (.cz?) guy with one of these running Slackware 9.1 --
a 2.4.25 kernel (comparable to WBL 3.0's 2.4.20 kernel).
Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933
Deepwoods Software -- Linux Installation and Administration
http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Web Hosting, with CGI and Database
hel...@deepsoft.com -- Contract Programming: C/C++, Tcl/Tk
Douglas Mayne
> I have an older laptop, a Toshiba Tecra 510CDT. It has 148meg of RAM
> and a 40gig hard drive. I had (and will have again) White Box Linux
> 3.0, aka RHEL 3.0 (with a 2.4.20 kernel). Everything was working
> fine, including its sound card, a CS4232 type card (built-in).
>
> This morning I upgraded it to CentOS 4.3, aka RHEL 4.3 (2.6.9 kernel).
> I had previous (on another machine running CentOS 4.3) build a custom
> kernel with the CS4232 sound driver enabled. After the upgrade and
> after installing the new kernel and installing lilo, I have two
> problems:
>
> 1) Lilo is not happy. With linear disabled (this is an older machine
> with an older BIOS) Lilo only does 'LI' and stops. The version of lilo
> with WBL 3.0 works just fine. So I am stuck with grub (which I just
> don't like).
You know, the loader isn't the /* show */ (as they'd say in Bull Durham.)
Use whatever loader you like. I like grub because it is a more flexible
loader, IMO.
Is there a BIOS upgrade for your computer?
>
> 2) I cannot get the sound card to work. I use my laptop as a kind of
> overgrown IPod, so the sound is important. It is the only machine I
> have with a sound card.
>
> There is one Chech (.cz?) guy with one of these running Slackware 9.1 --
> a 2.4.25 kernel (comparable to WBL 3.0's 2.4.20 kernel).
>
WTF is WBL? I didn't know Warner Bros. had a Linux Distro. Ahhh, what's
up doc?
Slackware for an IPod equivalent would work quite well. You could try
Slax live CD to get the flavor.
>
> Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933 Deepwoods Software --
> Linux Installation and Administration http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Web
> Hosting, with CGI and Database hel...@deepsoft.com -- Contract
> Programming: C/C++, Tcl/Tk
Note: comments inline.
Obviously, you can do what you want, but you really seem locked into
finding what other people have already done and using that. The latest
2.4.x kernel is 2.4.32. I'd use that without a very good reason not to.
For 2.6.x, I'd go with something 2.6.15.x (+). The changelog for the
kernel is too long to just ignore. I'd rather have bugs fixed, than not.
--
Douglas Mayne
Unruh
White box Linux. Brought to you by the idiots at Redhat and their
"tradmark" issues, so you cannot call a downloaded version of Redhat by the
name RedHat. Completely counter tho the GPL under which they distribute
their system, but people cave in because a namechange is easier than a
court case.
Robert Heller
In a message on Sat, 22 Apr 2006 10:22:14 -0600, wrote :
DM> On Sat, 22 Apr 2006 17:49:32 +0200, Robert Heller wrote:
DM>
DM> > I have an older laptop, a Toshiba Tecra 510CDT. It has 148meg of RAM
DM> > and a 40gig hard drive. I had (and will have again) White Box Linux
DM> > 3.0, aka RHEL 3.0 (with a 2.4.20 kernel). Everything was working
DM> > fine, including its sound card, a CS4232 type card (built-in).
DM> >
DM> > This morning I upgraded it to CentOS 4.3, aka RHEL 4.3 (2.6.9 kernel).
DM> > I had previous (on another machine running CentOS 4.3) build a custom
DM> > kernel with the CS4232 sound driver enabled. After the upgrade and
DM> > after installing the new kernel and installing lilo, I have two
DM> > problems:
DM> >
DM> > 1) Lilo is not happy. With linear disabled (this is an older machine
DM> > with an older BIOS) Lilo only does 'LI' and stops. The version of lilo
DM> > with WBL 3.0 works just fine. So I am stuck with grub (which I just
DM> > don't like).
DM>
DM> You know, the loader isn't the /* show */ (as they'd say in Bull Durham.)
DM> Use whatever loader you like. I like grub because it is a more flexible
DM> loader, IMO.
DM>
DM> Is there a BIOS upgrade for your computer?
Probably not...
DM>
DM> >
DM> > 2) I cannot get the sound card to work. I use my laptop as a kind of
DM> > overgrown IPod, so the sound is important. It is the only machine I
DM> > have with a sound card.
DM> >
DM> > There is one Chech (.cz?) guy with one of these running Slackware 9.1 --
DM> > a 2.4.25 kernel (comparable to WBL 3.0's 2.4.20 kernel).
DM> >
DM> WTF is WBL? I didn't know Warner Bros. had a Linux Distro. Ahhh, what's
DM> up doc?
WBL == White Box Linux. WBL 3.0 is a GPL release of RHEL 3.0 (RHEL =
RedHat Enterprise Linux).
DM>
DM> Slackware for an IPod equivalent would work quite well. You could try
DM> Slax live CD to get the flavor.
My laptop lacks a CD-ROM drive...
DM>
DM> >
DM> > Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933 Deepwoods Software --
DM> > Linux Installation and Administration http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Web
DM> > Hosting, with CGI and Database hel...@deepsoft.com -- Contract
DM> > Programming: C/C++, Tcl/Tk
DM>
DM> Note: comments inline.
DM>
DM> Obviously, you can do what you want, but you really seem locked into
DM> finding what other people have already done and using that. The latest
DM> 2.4.x kernel is 2.4.32. I'd use that without a very good reason not to.
DM> For 2.6.x, I'd go with something 2.6.15.x (+). The changelog for the
DM> kernel is too long to just ignore. I'd rather have bugs fixed, than not.
WBL & CentOS are based on RedHat Enterprise Linux -- RedHat backports
most (all?) important bug and security fixes to the older, stable
kernels. I just want a *stable* system that does not need fussing with
-- I need to spend my time working on stuff I am being paid for and
don't have copious free time to spend upgrading my several computers on
a daily or weekly basis.
I will need something newer than WBL 3.0 for various reasons, on my
laptop for newer wireless cards and on my desktop for various other
bits of software.
DM>
DM> --
DM> Douglas Mayne
DM>
Douglas Mayne
> Douglas Mayne <do...@localhost.localnet>,
> In a message on Sat, 22 Apr 2006 10:22:14 -0600, wrote :
>
<snip>
>
> DM>
> DM> Slackware for an IPod equivalent would work quite well. You could try
> DM> Slax live CD to get the flavor.
>
> My laptop lacks a CD-ROM drive...
Read my comments about alternate ways to test Slax below.
>
<snip>
>
> WBL & CentOS are based on RedHat Enterprise Linux -- RedHat backports
> most (all?) important bug and security fixes to the older, stable
> kernels. I just want a *stable* system that does not need fussing with
> -- I need to spend my time working on stuff I am being paid for and
> don't have copious free time to spend upgrading my several computers on
> a daily or weekly basis.
I definitely agree with you, especially, as you say, this is an IPod
equiv. You want it just to work with as little fuss and muss as possible.
But I find it hard to believe that running something equivalent to RH
Enterprise Linux, using a sub-200MHz CPU box with <200MB RAM meets your
criteria. Good luck not spending _a lot_ of your time learning to fix this
and adding new functionality. Take my last statement with a grain of
salt if you are truly an expert using RH and its derivatives. If you
are not an expert, then IMO, you went right for the sledgehammer when you
needed to drive a nail.
>
> I will need something newer than WBL 3.0 for various reasons, on my
> laptop for newer wireless cards and on my desktop for various other bits
> of software.
Oops. There is the start of the time sink.
>
<snip>
>
Okay, just for grins, I tested Slax on VMWare without using the CDROM. It
does seem like a non-sequiter that a live CD could run without a CD, but
it does work. I know you didn't ask for this, but I am posting the
results here anyway (because I want to.) I didn't do extensive tests with
this, and I'm not sure if changes are saved in a readonly or a read-write
location, but it does work. Here's a screenshot:
http://www.xmission.com/~ddmayne2/slax.png
Notice what devices are mounted:
/dev/hda1 has the filesystem as laid out on the Slax Live CD.
When all of the files are copied it consumes less than 200M.
I used this page for a hint:
http://slax.linux-live.org/doc_boot_iso_md5.php#lilo
I use grub as the loader, so I adjusted that as shown below.
This is the grub stanza to load Slax:
#begin grub stanza
title Slax
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz rw root=/dev/ram0 init=linuxrc load_ramdisk=1 \
ramdisk_size=4444 max_loop=255
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
#end grub stanza
--
Douglas Mayne
Robert Heller
In a message on Sat, 22 Apr 2006 20:22:39 -0600, wrote :
DM> On Sat, 22 Apr 2006 20:16:30 +0200, Robert Heller wrote:
DM>
DM> > Douglas Mayne <do...@localhost.localnet>,
DM> > In a message on Sat, 22 Apr 2006 10:22:14 -0600, wrote :
DM> >
DM> <snip>
DM> >
DM> > DM>
DM> > DM> Slackware for an IPod equivalent would work quite well. You could try
DM> > DM> Slax live CD to get the flavor.
DM> >
DM> > My laptop lacks a CD-ROM drive...
DM>
DM> Read my comments about alternate ways to test Slax below.
DM> >
DM> <snip>
DM> >
DM> > WBL & CentOS are based on RedHat Enterprise Linux -- RedHat backports
DM> > most (all?) important bug and security fixes to the older, stable
DM> > kernels. I just want a *stable* system that does not need fussing with
DM> > -- I need to spend my time working on stuff I am being paid for and
DM> > don't have copious free time to spend upgrading my several computers on
DM> > a daily or weekly basis.
DM>
DM> I definitely agree with you, especially, as you say, this is an IPod
DM> equiv. You want it just to work with as little fuss and muss as possible.
DM> But I find it hard to believe that running something equivalent to RH
DM> Enterprise Linux, using a sub-200MHz CPU box with <200MB RAM meets your
DM> criteria. Good luck not spending _a lot_ of your time learning to fix this
DM> and adding new functionality. Take my last statement with a grain of
DM> salt if you are truly an expert using RH and its derivatives. If you
DM> are not an expert, then IMO, you went right for the sledgehammer when you
DM> needed to drive a nail.
I've been using RH systems since RH 4.1 -- I was an system admin/guru
for a research group at UMass and we used RedHat starting around RH 4.1
and were up to WBL 3.0 at the time I was laid off (lack of grant money).
I did use Slackware way back when (kernel 0.99 and later 1.2.13), but
moved on to RedHat and have gotten very comfortable with it.
It actually works quite well. Not only do I use it as a "glorified
ipod", but I write code and documentation on it -- it is much more
portable than my desktop box (an AMD K6-500 with 256Meg of ram and a
paid of 36-gig SCSI disks in an extra large tower, presently running RH
7.3 (I know seriously out-dated)). Note: I *do not* use a overweight
GUI (I use a very basic fvwm based desktop on all of my machines that
have an X server installed). I also do not use a resource hog word
processors either. I use MicroEmacs (a lightweight Emacs clone which
is probably lighter in weight than vim) and LaTeX. The laptop takes a
while to compile stuff, but there is not a massive rush generally -- I
don't use it to do full builds from scratch -- just incremental
compiles of the one or two modules I am working on while on the road.
The laptop does everything I need it to do with WBL 3.0 (== RHEL 3.0),
including the sound. I am one of those people who don't see any reason
to get an 18-wheeler or formula-1 car when a VW beetle has enough
capacity. The only *additional* thing I need to do is get things prepared
and tested for upgrading my desktop to CentOS 4.3 (I need this for
various other reasons). I figured on using my laptop as a convenient
testbed for some of the software I'll need on my desktop, since it is
also a FidoNet node and I am an NC -- I don't want to randomly be
rebooting and otherwise messing with that machine, so I need to
pre-test/pre-configure some packages, some of which are a bit tricky
and fussy.
DM>
DM> >
DM> > I will need something newer than WBL 3.0 for various reasons, on my
DM> > laptop for newer wireless cards and on my desktop for various other bits
DM> > of software.
DM>
DM> Oops. There is the start of the time sink.
DM> >
DM> <snip>
DM> >
DM> Okay, just for grins, I tested Slax on VMWare without using the CDROM. It
DM> does seem like a non-sequiter that a live CD could run without a CD, but
DM> it does work. I know you didn't ask for this, but I am posting the
DM> results here anyway (because I want to.) I didn't do extensive tests with
DM> this, and I'm not sure if changes are saved in a readonly or a read-write
DM> location, but it does work. Here's a screenshot:
DM> http://www.xmission.com/~ddmayne2/slax.png
DM>
DM> Notice what devices are mounted:
DM> /dev/hda1 has the filesystem as laid out on the Slax Live CD.
DM> When all of the files are copied it consumes less than 200M.
DM>
DM> I used this page for a hint:
DM> http://slax.linux-live.org/doc_boot_iso_md5.php#lilo
DM>
DM> I use grub as the loader, so I adjusted that as shown below.
DM>
DM> This is the grub stanza to load Slax:
DM> #begin grub stanza
DM> title Slax
DM> root (hd0,0)
DM> kernel /boot/vmlinuz rw root=/dev/ram0 init=linuxrc load_ramdisk=1 \
DM> ramdisk_size=4444 max_loop=255
DM> initrd /boot/initrd.gz
DM> #end grub stanza
I know how to do all of this! How do you think I installed CentOS (and
later re-installed WBL)? I copied the boot images (vmlinuz and initrd)
to my /boot directory and added a block to lilo.conf / grub.conf. I no
longer bother with and upgrade install from CD or any other removable
media -- it is actually easier when upgrading a box to copy the
CD-images to a hd partition, and copy the boot image files (pxeboot) to
the old system's /boot directory and update lilo or grub.
I don't have much reason to use a 'live' cd type system, when I might as
well just install it. It is not like I have any need to keep some
'foreign' O/S on the hard disk, since non of my machines run anything but
Linux -- I either buy a used box with a dead or trash hard drive or a
'blank box' with a new, but empty hard drive.