Other Help Topics :: Help downloading and installing Damnsmall Linux

Hi Everyone,

I am completely new to Linux & DSL but I want to try it. I am using Windows 98 on an older Pentium 2, 400 MHz processor, Gateway G6-400 computer. I have 128 MB ram, but I am upgrading to 256 MB. I am hoping this older system is good enough to run DSL.

I would like to burn DSL on a CD, and then use it from the CD, without interfering with Windows in any way. Buy the way, I am also pretty new to CD burning.

When I go to this link http://dsl.thegeekery.com/current/ There are so many different files to download, I am not sure which one to download.

There are files named current, current.iso, DSL-1.2.1-SYSlynux.iso and DSL-1.2.1.ISO.

Can someone please give me the exact link and/or file name to download ? Also, I am not completely clear as to what ISO files are. Do I need to download the ISO file to burn DSL on the CD, or can I just download the regular DSL file and copy it to CD ?

I would be grateful for any feedback or help you can provide. I am very new to all of this, but very interested.

Thanks for your help.
John

The files current.iso, and DSL-1.2.1.iso, are the same..

The dsl-1.2.1 syslinux version is for computers whose bioses
won't work with the isolinux used on the other versions..

You won't know if you need the syslinux version until you see
issues with your particular box.. I don't think you'll need it,
given the specs you provided us with..

You'll need to burn the image contained in the .iso file
to a cdr. Nero, Prassi, Roxio, etc. all have ways of burning
"images" to the cdr. Don't simply burn a copy of the .iso file
onto some cdr media, that wont work..

You can easily burn it from DSL itself if you can borrow a CD.

With your system specs, DSL will run just fine..
Once you add the new ram, you can bootup with the
"toram" option, which on a 400MHz, should just flat out scream!

Let us know..

73
ke4nt

Hi Ke4nt,

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate your help. You mentioned burning DSL on a CD-R. At the risk of asking a really dumb question, can I just burn DSL to a CD-RW disc or does it have to go on a CD-R disc for some reason ?

All I have in stock are CD-RW, but I will pick up a few CD-R disc's if I have to.

I have Nero Express that came with my DVD/CD-RW drive, and I think it does have an option to burn an ISO "image".

Thanks again for your help.
John

I have burned many an ISO to CD-RW, including DSL. You should be fine with using a CD-RW or CD-R. The beauty of CD-RW is erasing it and starting over if you need to.

Good luck !

I use cdrw's no problem here..
( but I have come across many cdrom drives that don't LIKE them)

I always assume cdr's include cdrw's..

I use dvd-r, dvd+r, and dvd-rw's as well with no issues..

Enjoy..

73
ke4nt

Next Page...
original here.