Mailing List Archive

Bob wrote:
> Jeremy Silber wrote:
>
>> Hi all.
>>
>> I'd really like to have a bootable USB key containing a lightweight
>> linux distro like Damn Small Linux (DSL) and mythfrontend 0.19. This
>> would let me boot a laptop and use it as a frontend without messing
>> with the laptop's OS. I briefly tried booting ubuntu from CD on one
>> old laptop, and the boot time was horrific... so I'm trying to find a
>> distro to fit on my 512MB USB key.
>>
>> Has anyone built mythfrontend for DSL, or found a way to pare down
>> another distro like KnoppMyth so it would run off a 512MB usb key?
>>
>
> I've been thinking about this but DSL uses kernel 2.4 as it's a bit
> smaller than 2.6, however in my very small personal survey of trying to
> boot it on my VIA system with a CLE266 chipset, it didn't auto configure
> the LAN (Smoothwall uses 2.4 too and I know a lot of people run it on
> similar systems so it's not an insurmountable problem I just didn't have
> time), I think the drivers in 2.6 are better (as long as you don't have
> a phillips webcam or a 'hardware" RAID card of the software type) so
> would prefer to use a newer kernel.
>
> I think Puppy linux uses 2.6.

You might want to look at Recovery is Possible which is a small complete
live system CD ISO.

It is hosted at tux.org
http://www.tux.org/pub/people/kent-robotti/looplinux/rip/

Latest version uses the 2.6.15 kernel. There are add-ons to allow use
with PXE boot or USB key booting.

I have a copy on a business-card style CDR and keep it in my briefcase
for emergencies. It boots quickly to a command line... The only
suggestion I would make is that you should add a text file to your CD,
with a listing of the partitions (or the fstab) of the machines you may
want to rescue, as you will have to make some mount points and manually
mount the hard drive of the 'to-be-rescued' machine. (Really messy when
the dead machine has a bunch of extra partitions for Win98 and OS/2 on
it.... Lots of guessing going on!)

It takes only about 30M of file space so you would have lots of room for
myth... In fact, I suspect you could fit all of mythtv onto a 256M USB
key together with RIP.... Hmmmmm....


Geoff




--
R. Geoffrey Newbury
Barrister and Solicitor
Suite 106, 150 Lakeshore Road West
Mississauga, Ontario, L5H 3R2

905-271-9600 Fax 905-271-1638
newbury@mandamus.org

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Please update the list if/when you find a solution. I would be
interested in this too.

On 2/25/06, Jeremy Silber <jsilber@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> I'd really like to have a bootable USB key containing a lightweight
> linux distro like Damn Small Linux (DSL) and mythfrontend 0.19. This
> would let me boot a laptop and use it as a frontend without messing
> with the laptop's OS. I briefly tried booting ubuntu from CD on one
> old laptop, and the boot time was horrific... so I'm trying to find a
> distro to fit on my 512MB USB key.
>
> Has anyone built mythfrontend for DSL, or found a way to pare down
> another distro like KnoppMyth so it would run off a 512MB usb key?
>
> Thanks,
> Jeremy
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users@mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>


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Jeremy Silber wrote:

> Hi all.
>
> I'd really like to have a bootable USB key containing a lightweight
> linux distro like Damn Small Linux (DSL) and mythfrontend 0.19. This
> would let me boot a laptop and use it as a frontend without messing
> with the laptop's OS. I briefly tried booting ubuntu from CD on one
> old laptop, and the boot time was horrific... so I'm trying to find a
> distro to fit on my 512MB USB key.
>
> Has anyone built mythfrontend for DSL, or found a way to pare down
> another distro like KnoppMyth so it would run off a 512MB usb key?

You could roll your own from scratch. That is what I do
(<http://linpvr.org>). It gives you full flexibility to include only the
programs you want and the kernel / xorg modules you need. This results
in a distribution that is relatively small.
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Jeremy Silber wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> I'd really like to have a bootable USB key containing a lightweight
> linux distro like Damn Small Linux (DSL) and mythfrontend 0.19. This
> would let me boot a laptop and use it as a frontend without messing
> with the laptop's OS. I briefly tried booting ubuntu from CD on one
> old laptop, and the boot time was horrific... so I'm trying to find a
> distro to fit on my 512MB USB key.
>
> Has anyone built mythfrontend for DSL, or found a way to pare down
> another distro like KnoppMyth so it would run off a 512MB usb key?

I've been thinking about this but DSL uses kernel 2.4 as it's a bit
smaller than 2.6, however in my very small personal survey of trying to
boot it on my VIA system with a CLE266 chipset, it didn't auto configure
the LAN (Smoothwall uses 2.4 too and I know a lot of people run it on
similar systems so it's not an insurmountable problem I just didn't have
time), I think the drivers in 2.6 are better (as long as you don't have
a phillips webcam or a 'hardware" RAID card of the software type) so
would prefer to use a newer kernel.

I think Puppy linux uses 2.6.

--
Don't know....
I'm midway through a game of musical computers....
now, which one is going to be my Smoothwall....
you, you could be my Astrisk box....
but then I've only got one MythTV frontend....
I'm going to have to get more old computers....
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