[kwlug-disc] FreeDOS

Oksana Goertzen ogoertzen at gmail.com
Wed Jun 10 17:26:32 EDT 2009


That's a good point.  I could install it completely on another system..
install all the drivers
and allow rdp and then perhaps I can get to it even if I have no display.
The display
doesn't work with the standard drivers but I was able to get an external
display working
so that might be moot.  :)  My other older system is a PIII of similar
vintage - i.e.  IDE
drive - so that might be worth another try.

Thanks!

Oksana



On Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 5:14 PM, unsolicited <unsolicited at swiz.ca> wrote:

> Any system I've done in this fashion, and there's been quite a few, I've
> always done a complete install on the other machine, then moved it back into
> the original machine. But I've never done a tablet edition. Yes, it gains
> some hardware, and loses some, but that's the price paid.
>
> As long as you get a screen and a network connection, the rest can be
> resolved afterwards over the net. I've never seen it not get the keyboard,
> but I have seen it not get a mouse, initially. (VNC is really useful in this
> instance - once VNC is running you can connect to it, and the mouse works.)
>
> I've run into cases where the video is confused at install, between
> internal only, external only, or both. There is probably a magic keystroke
> that is OS independent for switching among them.
>
> I've only had good success when I stay on the internal video only option,
> for the duration of the install. Once that's complete, then I can go to the
> external one (only), and install drivers appropriate for it. Then I'm free
> to use any video mode afterwards.
>
> I've also run into the internal and external having different resolutions.
> e.g. 800x600 internal (max.) and 1024x768 external (max.) Go with the lowest
> common denominator until installation is complete.
>
> Oksana Goertzen wrote, On 06/10/2009 3:52 PM:
>
>> Hi Colin et al,
>> An update...
>>
>> I did try this - setup the drive in another PIII laptop and after it
>> stopped copying the files and
>> started the first reboot - I tried to move it back to the Toshiba.  No
>> luck... it doesn't boot.
>> No display either.. I had it connected to an external LCD to see what was
>> going on.  Maybe
>> I should have finished the install completely and then moved it over plus
>> installed as many
>> of the drivers I could find.
>> This is still a work in progress.  I haven't tackled it recently (due to a
>> work issues like a
>> SAN problem that ate up all my free [and not so free] time lately) but I
>> have been able
>> to obtain the recovery cd's from Toshiba thanks to my rep at Softchoice.
>>  :D  They require
>> you boot from cd (yes, the cd attached via PCMCIA - which I don't have)...
>> but it's a
>> start and it would give me everything that should be on the system... all
>> the Toshiba
>> utilities and such.  There are three disks and it looks like the first one
>> is prep and the
>> rest use ghost or something.
>>
>> It doesn't boot from a USB attached CD-DVD but it will boot from a usb
>> FDD.  I may
>> be able to get it to boot from the floppy and run the install from the CD.
>>  [Next effort].
>>
>> Yes, Linux might be a nice option for this machine, I agree, but I
>> couldn't find much
>> in the way of a tablet distro that might work on an old PIII and work with
>> the really
>> old hardware (read proprietary).. so I figured I should, from a pragmatic
>> point of
>> view - go with what the machine came configured and set up for.  Is
>> anybody using
>> Linux on a tablet?
>>
>> Thanks, Oksana
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Colin Mackay <zixiekat at gmail.com<mailto:
>> zixiekat at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>    Sorry for replying to myself (Hi me!), but another thought occurs...
>>    If this is just for personal use, and you have some time to play
>>    about, move the HDD to another computer and install Windows Tablet
>>    edition.  Then transfer it back over and let it boot.  Worse case
>>    scenario; you end up where you are now.  More than likely you might
>>    just have a semi-working XP tablet.  At that point, assuming you
>>    have USB and a key, you can install the correct drivers.
>>
>>    Windows doesn't always like all the hardware changing, but I've had
>>    it survive such transitions in the past.
>>
>>
>>    On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 11:30 AM, Colin Mackay <zixiekat at gmail.com
>>    <mailto:zixiekat at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>        They still have it for XP.  It's called sysprep.  It will
>>        basically allow someone to install Windows in full, test it,
>>        then return it to a non-activated state for the end user.  I
>>        can't recall if it 'strips' out the drivers and lets XP rescan
>>        the hardware...  I used to used it when deploying images to
>>        machines.
>>
>>
>>        On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 10:33 AM, <john at netdirect.ca
>>        <mailto:john at netdirect.ca>> wrote:
>>
>>            kwlug-disc-bounces at kwlug.org
>>            <mailto:kwlug-disc-bounces at kwlug.org> wrote on 05/29/2009
>>
>>            10:23:06 AM:
>>             > I was fighting with a similar problem last night on
>>            different hardware.
>>             >
>>             > I came across this on installing ubuntu from different
>>            media - including
>>             > hard drive:
>>             >
>>             >
>>
>> http://news.softpedia.com/news/Alternative-Installation-Methods-for-
>>             > Hardy-86977.shtml
>>             >
>>             > Short version:  Install ubuntu(server?) on the hard drive
>>            leaving an
>>             > extra partition big enough to copy your iso into then
>>            adjust grub to
>>             > point at the disk-based iso installer.  Put the drive
>>            back in your
>>             > tablet and boot to the Winstaller.
>>             >
>>             > Advantage:  grub is going to work without fiddling with sys.
>>             >
>>             > Similar to what you suggested, but without the FreeDOS step.
>>
>>            Microsoft used to have an OEM install method for system
>>            builders that
>>            involved creating a FAT file system and placing OEM drivers
>>            on the disk.
>>            We never did this because our volume was so low.
>>
>>            How about removing the disk, installing elsewhere and doing
>>            the first boot
>>            on the tablet? If removing the disk isn't an option, you
>>            could install on
>>            a disk on another PC and image the result to the tablet
>>            using a PXE boot.
>>
>>            John Van Ostrand
>>            Net Direct Inc.
>>
>>            CTO, co-CEO
>>            564 Weber St. N. Unit 12
>>            map
>>
>>            Waterloo, ON N2L 5C6
>>
>>            john at netdirect.ca <mailto:john at netdirect.ca>
>>            Ph: 866-883-1172
>>            ext.5102
>>            Linux Solutions / IBM Hardware
>>            Fx: 519-883-8533
>>
>>
>>
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