# Floppy-based Linux distro



## Lectraplayer (Aug 24, 2002)

I'm about to try to put Linux on a laptop without a CD-ROM. Because of this, I need to find a Linux distro which uses floppies. I would actually find a "make disk" distro which I can make floppies as I need them (if it needs a bunch). I have a Linux system and CDs ready if I need them.


----------



## Lectraplayer (Aug 24, 2002)

...sorry to multi-post, but does anyone know if Linux Mandrake 9 comes with PC Card drivers so I can plug in a PC-Card CD-ROM and install?


----------



## Jason (Dec 30, 2001)

http://www.distrowatch.com/

http://www.linuxlinks.com/Distributions/Floppy/

Linux Mandarake 8.2
PCMCIA Installation -- Primarily for laptops, a PCMCIA installation enables the use of PCMCIA devices (such as a PC-card CD-ROM drive or network adapter) 
http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/demos/Demo/Mandrake8.2/Install/


----------



## Lectraplayer (Aug 24, 2002)

danrak said:


> *http://www.distrowatch.com/
> 
> http://www.linuxlinks.com/Distributions/Floppy/
> 
> ...


SWEETNESS!:jump1: That will help me emmenseley! I expected this thread to go a month without a reply! ...that is, assuming I understand you correctly (and I may be trippin':hit: ), I can buy a PCMCIA CD-ROM and install using my CDs and a floppy disk, right? On the other hand, my quick look didn't reveal any distros that have a floppy install option.:no: I guess few need that.


----------



## Lectraplayer (Aug 24, 2002)

...after checking again, I found some floppy installations (many thanks to you Danrak!). I'm grabbing a few of 'em, including a hacker's toolkit. This could be useful later on when I go to recovering data from crashed PCs!


----------



## Lectraplayer (Aug 24, 2002)

Also, what command do I use to format my hard disk? I know I'm asking stupid questions, but I'm a Linux rookie.


----------



## gotissues68 (Sep 7, 2002)

to format your drive for Linux use:

This is using "Slackware" the distro of Linux I happen to use.

boot from CD or floppy: Following commands are all done from a command line and should work on command line based Linux install. All are with the quotes ommited.

cfdisk /dev/hda <~assuming I'm installing to my first hard drive.

follow the prompts to re-create my partitions and then write the partition table.

For reference in CFDisk and Linux FDisk Linux Native is 82 and Linux Swap is 83 (I might have those reveresed)

once back at a prompt I issue the following command. Again assuming I want to format my first partition on my primary hard disk

mke2fs /dev/hda1

<random stuff scrolls by>

done... 

Thats all there really is to it. If anyone has questions that are specific to a distro let me know and I'll do my best to help. 

Redhat, Mandrake,Suse all have partitioning GUI tools if I recall correctly.


----------



## Lectraplayer (Aug 24, 2002)

I found mke2fs, and that seemed to did the trick.:winking:


----------



## gotissues68 (Sep 7, 2002)

most excellent!


----------

