4mb Ram 386 router
mike dombrowski
networks. The software is dos based and requires that you register it
or it only will run for an hour. So I was wondering if Linux could do
the job. I headed over to the linux router project and it says that a
486 with 12mb ram is needed. Now the 386 has a hard disk so couldn't
an 8mb swap partition do the trick? It doesn't need to be high
performance, just around 200kbs so mp3 transferrs won't take so long.
If so how should I go about setting it up? Or is my best bet to stick
with DOS?
thanks
Mike Dombrowski
Ron Flory
most Linux installers need 8-meg (minimum) to run. start with that,
then remove ram if you must. with the price of ram nowadays, its easier
to just put in a few more 1M or 4M sticks. Running off of swap will
cause unpredictable runtime delays, and wear out you disk before its
time.
ron
Thomas Lepkowski
> I'm currently using a 386sx with 4mb ram to route between my two
> networks. The software is dos based and requires that you register it
> or it only will run for an hour. So I was wondering if Linux could do
> the job. I headed over to the linux router project and it says that a
> 486 with 12mb ram is needed. Now the 386 has a hard disk so couldn't
> an 8mb swap partition do the trick? It doesn't need to be high
> performance, just around 200kbs so mp3 transferrs won't take so long.
> If so how should I go about setting it up? Or is my best bet to stick
> with DOS?
>
> thanks
> Mike Dombrowski
One of my Linux boxes is a 386DX 20MHz w/ 8MB RAM and I would not dare
run on a skimpier
system.
-TML
--
_____________________________________________
| In a free World who needs gates? LINUX! |
| http://www.redhat.com |
|_____________________________________________|
Greg Weeks
lego...@home.net (mike dombrowski) writes:
> I'm currently using a 386sx with 4mb ram to route between my two
> networks. The software is dos based and requires that you register it
> or it only will run for an hour. So I was wondering if Linux could do
> the job. I headed over to the linux router project and it says that a
> 486 with 12mb ram is needed. Now the 386 has a hard disk so couldn't
> an 8mb swap partition do the trick? It doesn't need to be high
> performance, just around 200kbs so mp3 transferrs won't take so long.
> If so how should I go about setting it up? Or is my best bet to stick
> with DOS?
If you can put more memory in that's best. Slackware can be installed
with 4 meg of ram, but you have to manually configure swap before the
installer will work. The LRP requires 12 meg because it doesn't use
swap and runs entirely out of RAM. I have installed slackware on a 4
meg 386 before. I wasn't configuring it as a router though. With an
install like this you will need to recompile the kernel. The 386 with
4 meg will need 30+ hours to do a kenel recompile. I use a faster
machine for this.
Greg Weeks
--
http://durendal.tzo.com/greg/
Geoff Short
: I'm currently using a 386sx with 4mb ram to route between my two
: networks. The software is dos based and requires that you register it
: or it only will run for an hour. So I was wondering if Linux could do
: the job. I headed over to the linux router project and it says that a
: 486 with 12mb ram is needed. Now the 386 has a hard disk so couldn't
: an 8mb swap partition do the trick? It doesn't need to be high
: performance, just around 200kbs so mp3 transferrs won't take so long.
If you just want to route between two networks (without firewalling,
masquerading or whatever) then your machine will be OK. Any modern
distribution needs 8 meg to install though, and if you don't have much
disk then you'll need some trail and error to squeeze everything you
need on. You best bet is to put the hard drive in a fast machine,
install and/or compile what you need, then transfer the disk back.
If you can get another 4 meg it will make the machine a lot nicer to
work on, but won't make it route any faster.
Good luck,
Geoff
--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ever sit and watch ants? They're always busy with Geoff Short
something, never stop for a moment. I just ge...@kipper.york.ac.uk
can't identify with that kind of work ethic. http://kipper.york.ac.uk/~geoff
Dick Repasky
but I know none of the details or how well the machine would perform as
a router.
Dick
--
Remove the underscore from my e-mail address to reply by mail.
Stuart Lynne
Greg Weeks <gwe...@geocities.com> wrote:
>In article <36f50fca...@24.2.68.71>,
> lego...@home.net (mike dombrowski) writes:
>> networks. The software is dos based and requires that you register it
>> or it only will run for an hour. So I was wondering if Linux could do
>> the job. I headed over to the linux router project and it says that a
>> 486 with 12mb ram is needed. Now the 386 has a hard disk so couldn't
>> an 8mb swap partition do the trick? It doesn't need to be high
>> performance, just around 200kbs so mp3 transferrs won't take so long.
>> with DOS?
>
>If you can put more memory in that's best. Slackware can be installed
>with 4 meg of ram, but you have to manually configure swap before the
>installer will work. The LRP requires 12 meg because it doesn't use
>swap and runs entirely out of RAM. I have installed slackware on a 4
>meg 386 before. I wasn't configuring it as a router though. With an
>install like this you will need to recompile the kernel. The 386 with
>4 meg will need 30+ hours to do a kenel recompile. I use a faster
>machine for this.
LRP is optimized around a specific set of assumptions. By using a small
RAM disk as the root device and booting from a DOS compatible device
you can simplify some parts of the install process and possibly increase
security by simplifying the system (less stuff means less stuff to get
right and ensure that it has not been comprimised etc etc etc).
It is also optimized from your point of view in that you can do a small
install without having to figure out what parts of a full install to
throw out. LRP and variants can boot and do routing from a 1.4MB floppy
disk.
There are also other small linux kits that install and run well on minimal
systems. Don't know if they are as easy to configure for a router or are
available with a current kernel.
Anyhow if you can get some more memory you can find a fully configured
masquerading firewall router at http://edge.fireplug.net. It does require
at least 16MB of RAM though.
--
Stuart Lynne <s...@fireplug.net> 604-461-7532 <http://edge.fireplug.net>
PGP Fingerprint: 28 E2 A0 15 99 62 9A 00 88 EC A3 EE 2D 1C 15 68
t...@sosweb.net.nospam
wrote:
>I'm currently using a 386sx with 4mb ram to route between my two
>networks. The software is dos based and requires that you register it
>or it only will run for an hour. So I was wondering if Linux could do
>the job. I headed over to the linux router project and it says that a
>486 with 12mb ram is needed. Now the 386 has a hard disk so couldn't
>an 8mb swap partition do the trick? It doesn't need to be high
>performance, just around 200kbs so mp3 transferrs won't take so long.
>If so how should I go about setting it up? Or is my best bet to stick
>with DOS?
>
>thanks
>Mike Dombrowski
>
I think an older version of slakware should do the trick,
just install the base system and the network disk sets. ( this should
only take about 30 meg HD space. you may also want the development to
build a new kernel if necessary) kernel version 2.0.36(even 1.2.x
would work for this and takes less ram but lacks hardware support) and
set up routing tables. an 8 meg swap partition should do.
once up, kill all the deamons. you dont need inet services, you don't
need mail, you wont need cron, etc. after proper set up, the computer
will only use the HD to boot because the only service it's doing is
routing, that would be done all in ram never needing the HD. the swap
partition would be used to kick the gettys (logins) out of ram and
after about 10 minutes or so, never touch the HD unless requested
tng
Carles Arjona
>
> On Sun, 21 Mar 1999 15:41:32 GMT, lego...@home.net (mike dombrowski)
> wrote:
>
> >I'm currently using a 386sx with 4mb ram to route between my two
> >networks.
> >
I agree. Slackware 3.1 could be installed with just 2MB RAM, so 4MB
should suffice.
You might try also tomsrtbt-1.7.0, a highly customizable 2.0.36 kernel
based "one floppy disk" Linux. It usually needs 8 MB RAM, but it can run
also with 4 MB (read the tomsrtbt.FAQ file).
http://www.toms.net/rb/
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/recovery/
Since instructions about running tomsrtbt with 4MB RAM are removed from
the tomsrtbt.FAQ file on newer versions (like tomsrtbt-1.7.118), 4MB
might not suffice for these versions. Maybe tomsrtbt-1.7.0 is still
available at some ftp servers:
http://ftpsearch.ntnu.no/
PS.: tomsrtbt is great for system recovery and many other things, but I
didn't test its performance as router.
Regards.
Carles Arjona NOS...@afb.ddnsNOSPAM.org
-
Please, just remove the second NOSPAM for replies from newsgroups.
(Yes, NOSPAM is my real username)
[Don't send me e-mail copies of usenet postings, please]
Rod Roark
>t...@sosweb.net.nospam wrote:
>>
>> On Sun, 21 Mar 1999 15:41:32 GMT, lego...@home.net (mike dombrowski)
>> wrote:
>>
>> >I'm currently using a 386sx with 4mb ram to route between my two
>> >networks.
>> >
>> I think an older version of slakware should do the trick,
Perhaps even a newer version. See
http://www.sunsetsystems.com/tip-lowmem.html for a possible solution.
-- Rod
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunset Systems Preconfigured Linux Computers
http://www.sunsetsystems.com/ and Custom Software
----------------------------------------------------------------------