Recomend a distro?

Hatchet Juggla · 11-02-2005, 09:15 PM

I have recnetly aquired a 333mhrz laptop, without a screen. the screen was screwed so it was removed. the thing still boots though

i decided this thing is PERFECT for a car mp3 player. for now, all i want it to do is play mp3s. it doesnt have a hard drive so i decided I would create a bootable linux cd loaded with my mp3s (or several). i need the smallest linux distro possible, and something i can boot from cd. any ideas??

intuitionsys · 11-03-2005, 08:36 AM

I've recently become a Gentoo convert but it's not necessarily (although it can be) a "tiny" distribution. You could check out DSL or modify one of the existing bootable distros like Knoppix to make room for your MP3s.

One suggestion though - if it were me I'd get tired real fast with that scheme. If I were you I'd get a cheap laptop HD, say 20 or 40 GB and boot from that instead. It'll boot faster and you won't have to swap CDs all the time. Just my 2c though.

TheLlama · 11-03-2005, 09:18 AM

I too am a Gentoo zealot. You can also try out Damn Small Linux.

Edit: I guess that is what DSL stands for... Durr... If you get familiar with Linux and you are feeling crafty, then you may want to do a LFS. I wouldn't want to do the cd-swap thing though. I second intuition. You can get a 5-10gig laptop drive for around $15 on eBay.

gbr · 11-03-2005, 09:28 AM

Gentoo for me. My install is pretty small, and I'm working on boot times.

Jagaer · 11-03-2005, 11:26 AM

Count me in for gentoo as well

However if you want the smallest distro possible that is able to play mp3's, and don't require a graphical UI, then I would suggest looking at OpenEmbedded.

It is possible to create a full linux environment capable of playing mp3s with a curses based interface in under 32 megs. It could probably be slimmed down to 24 if almost all configure options were removed and possibly some coding was done.

techyguru · 11-17-2005, 10:43 PM

Well I am trying ubunto now. I am actually using the "live" version which runs off the cd. Seems easy to set up but it didn't work on my 300mhz 64mb old HP. Think it had too little ram, but that is going to change.

Without getting additional drivers it is able to use my wireless, which came as a surprise..

It's great to know I am online and my hard drive isn't even connected.

Edit: over estimated that systems processor speed, correcting for accuracy

TheLlama · 11-19-2005, 02:46 AM

Ubuntu is very nice, especially for trying Linux out. It's worth noting that if you actually install Linux, it should run on that HP. Running a live cd requires alot more things to be held in memory. Combine that with the lack of swap space.

gnomad · 11-19-2005, 09:35 AM

The quickest, easiest way to get a small, fast-booting Linux system up and running is with Debian. When you do the install, don't select any of the package-sets and you'll have a console system that takes up less then 100 megs of disk and starts almost instantly after the kernel spawns init. If you are running a framebuffer-based app, it too will start almost immediately.

-p.

FezzR · 11-19-2005, 09:58 AM

http://www.arklinux.org/ - never tried it
http://slax.linux-live.org/?lang=en - very good for beginer like me, i found

Dizzle · 11-22-2005, 12:40 AM

I posted this in another thread, but here seems more appropriate now that I think about it.

The mention of Debian got me intrigued. I've got a few ideas for my carpc, in this message here, but is Debian able to do wireless without going into a graphical windows server (i believe that's what it's called, X or Xfree86 or something)? Also, can it be made to start right into a program that:
-Starts playing where i left off
-has playlists and whatnot
-allows cd ripping and burning
-allows wireless syncing

I know I'm overlapping myself here, but I'm really excited about the prospect. And I'm sorry if I'm threadjacking...

revorg · 11-22-2005, 10:27 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Dizzle

Debian able to do wireless without going into a graphical windows server (i believe that's what it's called, X or Xfree86 or something)? Also, can it be made to start right

There is an old saying in in the *nix world, that if it doen't work from the command line it doesn't work.
Obviously I'm not saying that this holds true for X11 interfaces, but it does for all services, that includes wireless. Much of this stems from the fact that the vast majority of *nix boxes will never have a keyboard, let alone a monitor connected to them. Many people have used different flavour of linux including debian for wireless bridging and routing without every using a graphical interface, so yes it will work that way.

You can start whatever you want on boot, it's up to you. You just need to add it to your init/rc scripts.

TheLlama · 11-22-2005, 03:41 PM

Linux makes me laugh like a schoolgirl.

revorg · 11-22-2005, 05:56 PM

It can do that from the command line too.

TheLlama · 11-22-2005, 06:47 PM

# gtitter --schoolgirl

revorg · 11-22-2005, 07:37 PM

Code:

###
# uncomment as appropriate
legal=18
#legal=17
#legal=16

while [[ $age -lt $legal ]] ; do
    sleep 60;
done
touch -t now schoolgirl