low end linux
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From: philo on 24 Jan 2010 15:07 Darklight wrote: > philo wrote: > >> ray wrote: >>> On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 09:30:39 -0600, philo wrote: >>> >>>> I had posted a while back concerning setting up some low-end Linux >>>> machines.I now have several p-II 333mhz with 128 megs of RAM >>>> >>>> They will be for a non-profit organization short on funds. The machines >>>> will be used by the members >>>> strictly for "surfing" the net insure the "work" machines do not get >>>> tampered with. >>>> >>>> I've tried Damn Small Linux and it does the job... except it did not >>>> survive an important test: What happens if someone turns the power >>>> switch off while the machine is running? >>>> >>>> >>>> Even if using ext3 (rather than ext2) the system fails to boot and fsck >>>> must be run manually. I tried it a number of times to confirm and have >>>> decided that this will not be a satisfactory solution...and got the same >>>> results with Puppy Linux. >>>> >>>> I did try xubuntu and it recovers fine from a bad shut down...but the >>>> machines are too low end to run it properly. >>>> >>>> >>>> The closest I've come so far to getting something that works right is >>>> Vector Linux... >>>> not sure if the members will like logging in manually ...plus the only >>>> way to shut the machine down is by logging in as root or "sudo" from the >>>> command line. >>>> >>>> Suggestions welcome >>> Have you considered running off the Live CD - that would certainly >>> eliminate the power off scenario. BTW - what happens when they do that to >>> their MS machines (rhetorical question)? >> >> >> I've considered a live cd as that's pretty fool proof.. >> but the initial startup asks a few questions... >> though simple enough...would baffle the users. >> >> >> >> I am a bit puzzled why DSL with ext3 does not survive a bad shut down... >> the more full Linux distros can handle that fine. > > can a p11 handle that file system can a p11 handle a ntfs file system. > Yes the P-II has no problem with ext3 or NTFS (It had win2k on it originally) I went with Vector Linux 6 and rfs and all is working well now
From: philo on 24 Jan 2010 15:09 David W. Hodgins wrote: > On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 11:34:49 -0500, philo <philo(a)privacy.net> wrote: > >> I am a bit puzzled why DSL with ext3 does not survive a bad shut down... >> the more full Linux distros can handle that fine. > > Try turning off the hard drive write caching. I do, and notice very > little difference in performance during normal usage, and haven't > had any problems restarting after a power failure since I turned > it off. I did have problems with ext3, xfs, and reiserfs, prior > to that. > > $ grep hdparm /etc/rc.d/rc.local > hdparm -W 0 /dev/sda > hdparm -W 0 /dev/sdb > > Regards, Dave Hodgins > I will look into that thank you for supplying the exact info I was looking for
From: Moe Trin on 24 Jan 2010 15:56 On Sun, 24 Jan 2010, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux, in article <7s37vcFfekU1(a)mid.individual.net>, J.O. Aho wrote: >philo wrote: >> I've tried Damn Small Linux and it does the job... >> except it did not survive an important test: >> What happens if someone turns the power switch off while the >> machine is running? >> Even if using ext3 (rather than ext2) the system >> fails to boot and fsck must be run manually. Wonder why - write cache? >There are other file systems to use, I do recommend reiserfs (version >3.6), Is anyone supporting/maintaining that? >which has been the most crash resistant file system I have used. Try iso9660 - it's even better. Mounting a conventional file system 'read-only' and 'noatime' may also be a simple solution. Old guy
From: J G Miller on 24 Jan 2010 16:04 On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:06:09 -0600, philo wrote: > I have Vector Linux running fine using rfs > > the problem I was having was with Damn Small Linux and ext3 So what happens if the power to the machine gets switched off before it has been shutdown cleanly?
From: philo on 24 Jan 2010 16:23
J G Miller wrote: > On Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:06:09 -0600, philo wrote: > >> I have Vector Linux running fine using rfs >> >> the problem I was having was with Damn Small Linux and ext3 > > So what happens if the power to the machine gets switched off > before it has been shutdown cleanly? > tested many times: what happens is the machine fails to boot I need to manually run fsck to repair the file system in not all cases is the repair successfully completed. Moot point now as I am now installing Vector Linux on the last machine I need to setup for now |