Versions of Linux on a USB Ram stick question!
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| I know DSL runs from a ram stick just wondering if there are any versions of linux that can run from a ram stick and that can run BlitzMax? :) |
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| i think most distros can if you have a big-ish memory stick (4-8 gigs) think about it, most live cds are only 700 odd meg :D |
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| You can get 16gig sticks for under £20 now... so you can go crazy and dual boot ;-) |
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| You can get 16gig sticks for under £20 now... so you can go crazy and dual boot ;-) Except not all computers will recognize multiple partitions on a flashdrive, and those which do may not be able to boot from a secondary partition... but it's nice in theory. :-) |
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| I was wondering about the 'run off ramstick' windows like thing. I would love to have a dualboot Linux/Vista thing but atm I dont have a spare HD to add to my computer. |
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| FWIW, Mandriva and Fedora have stick versions. |
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| Theoretically you should be able to run Windows of a ramstick as well -- after all, Ultimate Boot CD for Windows can run XP straight from CD. (Just like a Linux LiveCD, on most common hardware. There is a boot flag for XP indicating that it's running on read-only media, which is aimed at use in embedded devices.) Only a few weeks ago microsoft announced that they are finally stopping sales of Windows 3.x completely -- apparently they were still selling it as an embedded OS for things like copiers/washing machines/etc. |
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| The latest Ubuntu (or any *buntu) can install to USB (1GB+) from the Live CD. That's probably the best choice, if you want to use BlitzMax. |
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| I was wondering about the 'run off ramstick' windows like thing. I would love to have a dualboot Linux/Vista thing but atm I dont have a spare HD to add to my computer. You dont need one. The Ubuntu installer will do it for you on the same disk (providing its big enough). |
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| ah k will have a look :D |
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| Back up yer data to be on the safe side, but ive not had a problem doing it before. |
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| My Athlon64 PC doesnt boot via USB :( so im stuck either using DSL on a stick or dualbooting with something else. I read somewhere that Vista is a bit finiky about dual booting. |
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| Edzup: Vista can dual boot just fine, except windows doesn't really account for sharing with non-windows. In general when setting up a multi-boot system: Install your oldest version(s) of windows first, and the newer ones later. Install any non-windows operating systems last. (Linux will detect and work with windows, while windows would just waltz all over linux if you install it last) |
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| xlsior: ah thanks will look at that :D |
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| I managed to get a 30Gb hard disk to put in along side me 120Gb that I will be using for me Ubuntu 8.10.1 :) |
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| I just today started using DSL on a 256MB stick using Qemu and I like it a lot... I don't have to worry about not knowing very much about Linux because I can easily switch. Plus, I only wanted linux for browsing the net/textediting/simple graphics and DSL does it :) Also DSL has way more helpful help sites. So far I'm happy... give it a week and then we'll know for rea! |
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| Well I am posting this from Ubuntu Linux 8.10 installation to the second hard disk was extremely easy (had to choose manual install and then the second drive) it done it flawlessly. Now when I start I can choose my partitions and off I go, the main reason to have a Linux install for me is multi platform coding now I can :D I would recommend it to anyone tbh its easy to do :) |
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| So Ubuntu 8.10 allows you to partition the disk when you install? |
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| yup but I chose to install to my space 30Gb hard disk :) |
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| Edzup: Vista can dual boot just fine, except windows doesn't really account for sharing with non-windows. The only problem for me has been that every time Vista scans the disk (== after it crashes == once a week or so), it thinks the disk's "corrupt" due to a Linux installation and suggests reformatting the disk to factory settings... I just today started using DSL on a 256MB stick using Qemu and I like it a lot... I don't have to worry about not knowing very much about Linux because I can easily switch. Plus, I only wanted linux for browsing the net/textediting/simple graphics and DSL does it :) DSL rocks on computers with up to 128MB RAM. Most more modern Linuxes don't run on those computers even as well as XP does. So Ubuntu 8.10 allows you to partition the disk when you install? Haven't seen a Linux distro that wouldn't, though many also offer automatic partitioning. Ubuntu installer can even automatically resize the Windows partition to create space for itself, or install inside the Windows partition using Wubi. |
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| Well I considered dual booting, and I thought I saw something that partitioned the disk when installing Ubuntu... I wasn't sure though, and everywhere else said use a live CD partitioner. When that failed I just gave up. But I'm happy running DSL so far, its a bit slow and I can't include standard libraries in my c code, but once I get it all straightened out I'll be all set. |
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| Oooh... it's so exciting! My new 16gig Sandisk stick just arrived. Time to try out Linux-on-a-Stick when I get home :-) |
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| Cool... it boots :-) (okay... so it took about 5 attempts to get it right, but it's going good now). |
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| .. or more than 5... So, interesting things to note. The persistence file is limited to 4gig - a limit of FAT32 apparently. Which is a problem if you have more space :-p I've ended up splitting my 15.3 gig (that's all you get from a "16gig" stick!) into a 4.0 and 10.3 The CD image and persistence fit onto the bootable 4 gig The 10.3 I will stick BlitzMax onto - needs about 4gig for a full debug+release set of everything (core BlitzMax modules + wxMax + maxmods) |
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| Hmm.. I'm kind of interested in this now :D What is the exact model you got? How are the read/write speeds on the stick? |
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| This one : http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(2573)-SDCZ8-016G-A75-Extreme_Cruzer_Contour16GB_USB_Flash_Drive.aspx 16 gig Supports up to 25MB/second read and 18MB/second write. Ignore the price on sandisk's site... I got mine for £32. (yes you can get 16gig sticks for half that, but not at these rated speeds - although it does require a hi-speed USB port to get that speed out of it) You will need to remove the 60meg "U3" partition using a tool from the U3 folks. It won't boot properly until you do. |
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| I also install NOMACHINE. (client + node + server + openssh-server). It's a bit like VNC, only much, much better. Since I have a 24" screen on my Mac, it's convenient for me to open a Linux user session with nomachine on the Mac and work on it from there - rather than move between computers) Now to finished setting up BlitzMax on the stick ;-) |
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| I found this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171375&Tpk=USB%20Flash%20Drive But all the Contour ones I found were $80-$100. |
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This is BlitzMax running (well) from my sandisk flashdrive : Building modules is a little slow (compared to the harddrive), but once that's done, it's not too bad at all :-) (Although you can see a Mac window titlebar at the top, it is actually running on my Linux box - nx is a bit like xwindows session, or vnc... only much better). |
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| On another related note, I experimented today with booting from the USB stick with Windows running. VirtualBox didn't want to play, but I did manage to get it to boot using Qemu. ;-) Except my uber-crappy work PC took 20 mins from boot to being logged in. Nonetheless, it did work ;-) Apparently VirtualBox on Linux supports booting from flash, so that might be fun (at least I have 3 spare cores to run it on here) |
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| Boot and run Linux from a USB flash memory stick |
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