Reproduction for posterity

Reproduction for posterity

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Updating My Laptop with some editing

I must tell you after preparing the 15 partitions booting four Linux images took little over 2 and a half hours. 

Pinguy took little longer and 20 minutes extra since I had to install Dropbox and I was connected to the Internet.
 

Half and hour is all that is required to install Linux.

1.Knoppix DVD was the quickest.
2. Then Vinux
3, Then Sabayon
4. Pinguy took one hour and one can cut it down to half an hour if you do not tick updates from Internet and third party software like Flash and Mpeg.
To be honest I had made a mistake in the night by inadvertently using its home partition (wrong numbering of partitions) for Sabayon and I had to redo all including repartitioning to correct order and numbering sequence for me to remember by heart and I finished in less than two hours.
This would go as the quickest update under one day (24 hours) while doing lot of other things including taking my son out for meal who has high degree of visual handicap and sat with him with Vinux after returning home. 

He of course picked up the finer points in no time and by the time I returned having attended  to Internet cables I had pulled out accidentally while configuring the laptop.
In fact, that took longer than the installation since I had to check all the cables and make sure my download work continued (it broke twice yesterday) and listen to BBC cricket on radio while doing all this.
 

Since PCLinux 64 bits version is not there I am going to install Debian and leave two partition free for it for future day.

Beauty is that the GRUB file/s of each distributions is / are now compatible it does not matter in what order I install them.

That also saved lot of time.

In other words it is going to inhabit 6 distributions with all the utilities I used in various combinations.

I have not installed ArtistX or AVLinux since I have no time for graphic work now but I have their images in my collection if any of my friends need them to be installed.

Laptop is a showpiece but my real workhorses are old IBMs which run almost 24 hours everyday downloading various images I test on daily basis but that exercise is going to end very soon.

I was waiting for the PCLinux2011 64 bits Version but it was never coming and decided to upgrade my laptop with a bigger hard disk which are becoming cheaper by the day.

The steps are 

1. Remove the battery.

2. Remove the Hard disk.

3. Fixed the new Hard Disk and place the old one on a portable mini USB bay/tray enclosure.

4. Use gParted to partition the new hard disk (15 partition restriction applies  for SATA Hard Drives).

5. Install Knoppix 10 the anniversary edition. 

No problem.

6. Install Pinguy. 

No problem with GRUB and detects Knoppix but painfully slow when updating on line.

7. Install Dropbox in about 5 minutes.

8. Install Sabayon 6 with no problem and it detects both Knoppix and Pinguy. 

 

No problem with XBMC media center and mouse does not freeze.

9. Boot up Pinguy and let Dropbox synchronizes and me go to sleep and it is 6 am in the morning.

10. Test the USB Hard Disk and boots up OK but slow and my data in old hard is intact. 

All these without paying any ransom to Microsoft and now I have 7 operating systems 4 on the old disk 3 on the new one with another  7 partitions left for install.

 

Two for Linux Image Storage in ntfs partition and three for Debian Sinhala another three for PCLinux 64 bits when it comes and I still have another partition for testing new Linux distribution and a FAT partition for posterity but sometimes destructive for some Linux distributions with my oversight might make me to reinstall all in one night of hectic work and the whole Saturday for me to  go into sleep mode and have a couple of dreams for Maha Brahma.

 

Please note that installing was done in the night only because out Telecoms download is painfully slow for on line updates (takes ages if done during day time) in day time and all Ceylonese including doctors on duty sleeping except poor Interns who have poor diagnostic skills.

Please do not get sick at night because we do not have ambulances to take you to a hospital and the ambulance drivers also prefer a good night sleep. 

Then you might wonder me keeping up all night. 

Well I had to keep all night up when I was on call abroad often working for three others and patient prefer coming to me at night since I used to solve problems those GPs took ages to give an appointment let alone solve.

Those nightly habits are a bonus when one deals with computing in Linux, not that Linux gives problems but often due to human errors like installing a root partition on some other distribution's home partition due to wrong numbering of the partition table.