NTFS Read Write Support and other Features

[src]

Hello to everyone :)

This is my first post and I hope that I'm posting in the right section.

I am planning to use Linux beside my Windows installation, and I have zeroed down on Knoppix as most of my friends (as well as tech magazines in my country) recommended it as the best Live Distro available. But before I start using it I would love to have some of my doubts cleared, which are as follows:

1. In live Cd mode will it be possible to access the NTFS partitions in both READ and WRITE mode? That is whether I shall be able to read as well as write data in my NTFS drives without installing Knoppix.

2. I tried but I could not find the full list of softwares packages included in the latest Knoppix DVD (English Edition), so could some one please provide me the link if such a page exists?

3. Is Knoppix based on Debian?

4. Is there any free e books available for novice Knoppix users like me? If yes please provide me the link.

5. Is it possible to install new softwares which are not included in Knoppix DVD while running Knoppix in Live CD mode?

I know some of these questions may sound quite mundane as well as foolish, but please understand that I am very fresh in the Linux world but highly enthusiastic about it.

Sorry if I missed anything in the FAQ. :(

So please help me out.

Thank you.

[src]

Anyone please???? I still need a little help with the doubts. :(

I checked the FAQ and found that with a right click of the mouse I can enable the Read-Write capability for an NTFS partition while using Knoppix in Live CD mode. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Harry Kuhman]

Good move editing the subject line, it started out quite lame.

1) Some think writing to NTFS is safe. Others including myself are not convinced of this yet. My suggestion is that there is no reason to do this if it puts all of your data at risk, avoid doing it. Installing Knoppix to hard disk will not change this and is not recommended.

2) There used to be a package list for both the CD and DVD on the mirrors, but the last time that I looked there was not one for the DVD. There generally is a packages.txt file that comes with a BitTorrent download. I still have the one from my CD download, but burnt my DVD iso and needed the space, so I deleted the 5.1.1 download directory. If you used BitTorrent to download and there wasn't one included with the download then I guess one was never made for 5.1.1. You might try looking at a package list for an older DVD, I doubt that much changed.

3) Yes, but unfortunately for those who try to install it, it is based on a mix of Debian version, and doesn't apt-get update well.

4) Yup, sure are. Look through the news section of this forum for some suggestions.

5) Because of the mixed version issue mentioned above, installing software doesn't always work. And large packages may exceed the limits of the ram disk. You can try to install software, are you feeling lucky? There is also Klik, an effort to address this issue. See the Klik forum for details. Some other Live CDs have somewhat better support for this, see DSL and Puppy Linux for examples. And you stress that the question pertains to running oin Live CD mode, but don't think that it will be beter if you install Knoppix to disk. If you want an installed Debian system, install Debian.

[src]

Thank you very much Harry :)

Great answer, honestly.

After going through your answers, I think that I shall prefer to use Knoppix as a Live CD always, and if I require to install don't you think that Ubuntu will be a good choice? It is also based on debian.

Thank you again for the e book suggestion, though could you please be kind enough to point out the one (or two) that will be best suited for a newbie like me?

BTW, I have got the torrent from the address posted in this forum for version 5.2. Will it be ok if I use it instead of 5.1.1?

Thanks again.

[Harry Kuhman]

I've looked at Ubuntu but was not impresses by it over Debian. I would consider using it if I had some new hardware that Ubuntu had support for that Debian lacked, but otherwise I see no reason to use it.

5.2 is not an official Internet release. It's a copy of a release that was done for a trade show. I don't know what issues have kept Klaus from releasing it on the Internet, but I'll respect his wishes. An Internet release of 5.2.x is long overdue and I see no reason to expect it anytime soon, if ever. There doesn't seem to be the interest in putting out Internet versions that there was when Knoppix was gaining popularity with the community. But there are plenty of alternativs now if you don't wish to wait for a new Knoppix release.

[src]

Thank you Harry for your reply. :)

No I would prefer to stick with Knoppix as everyone (more experienced users) told me that it is still the best.

I shall surely look into the debian as you have kindly suggested.

Regarding version 5.2, I understand that this is not the official release, but I hope downloading it won't violate the licensing terms. And I also hope that you shall provide support for that version.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Harry Kuhman]

AFAIK it's perfectly legitimate to post and download the 5.2 release. But as Klaus has not seen it ready for release on the Internet. out of respect for him I do not download or use it. And, of course, that would imply that I can't support it. I do expect there are more than the usual number of problems in that release, since it was released based on a show deadline, rather than the more traditional "When it's ready".

[src]

I understand your point Harry :)

BTW, could you please suggest me an free e book for Koppix beginners? I searched the news sub forum, but could not find anything current.

Regards

[drb]

src

I started with knoppix about 3 years ago. It was a good LiveCD but there appear to be many problems with a hd install. I now use sidux which is pure debian sid + very useful scripts; it is easy to install (dual boot with Windows if you want); NTFS support; a great manual, forum and irc for 24 hour support! I have one dual boot machine and a standalone linux box (main box). I've installed on 5 other laptops/ desktops for others and it is stable on all boxes. Debian compatibility is no problem with ability to apt-get anything in debian sid repos. There is also an excellent script for dist-upgrading, new kernels and video driver installation.

I haven't heard of any NTFS support issues over the last 6 months - seems very reliable. Always wise to back-up key work files for any system as hardware reliability can be worse than software!

[src]

Thank you drb for your very informative inputs. :)

Basically I have been getting a lot of positive feedbacks regarding Ubuntu so I decided to go for it, though I can't say that I have completely made up my mind. ;) So all these inputs really helps me a lot.

I remember once I have installed Ubuntu ver 6.06 in an old PC, but it really developed issues while I tried to install the nVidia display drivers. There was no proper display afterwards. As NTFS Read-Write support is very important for me, I shall surely check the distro you pointed out. Could you please let me know the website for it?

BTW, what exactly is a Linux Box? Is it a PC only having Linux as its OS or it is something like a Virtual Machine?

Thank you again.

[drb]

Yes, sorry - 'linux box' = desktop with linux OS

My system :

Host/Kernel/OS "drbbox" running Linux 2.6.22.2-slh-smp-1 i686 [ sidux 2007-01 - Χάος (200702210759) ]
CPU Info (1) AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+ 1024 KB cache flags( sse sse2 nx lm pni svm ) clocked at [ 1000.000 MHz ]
(2) AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+ 1024 KB cache flags( sse sse2 nx lm pni svm ) clocked at [ 1000.000 MHz ]
Videocard nVidia G70 [GeForce 7600 GS] X.Org 1.3.0 [ 1024x768 @50hz ]
Network cards nVidia MCP55 Ethernet, at port: e000
Processes 119 | Uptime 4:07 | Memory 205.8/2027.5MB | HDD ATA WDC WD5000AAKS-0,ATA WDC WD3200AAKS-0 Size 820GB (12%used) | GLX Renderer GeForce 7600 GS/PCI/SSE2/3DNOW! | GLX Version 2.1.1 NVIDIA 100.14.11

There are a number of options depending on which nVidia card you have. Try out the latest LiveCD release which came out earlier this week and see what you think.

drb

[Harry Kuhman]

I now use sidux which is pure debian sid + very useful scripts.....
I've looked over the information on this (but have not downloaded and tried it). Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see the point of this. According to the sidux.com site, "sidux is a full featured debian sid based live CD with a special focus on hard disk installations". If I want a hard disk install of sid, I'll install sid (I currently have Lenny on an old system but might try real Debian sid on my newest system). Why would anyone complicate things with this for a hard disk install when sid itself is available, and why fool with a Live CD whose focus is admited to be on hard disk installs if you want a Live CD?

Back when Knoppix first came out, a Linux install was a real mess. You had to record IRQs, IO addresses and lots of other stuff before you even tried to install Linux, and you usually had to abort the install when you found that some cryptic value was needed that you hadn't thought to record. People saw how cleanly Knoppix detected hardware and decided to try to install that, even though it wasn't intended for hard disk install and had many design choices that caused problems after a hard disk install. People asked "why, if Knoppix can detect the hardware, why can't the hard disk based Linux distros do the same ?'". Well, in the years since, Linux hard disk installs have become much cleaner. I had to do a little more of my own disk allocation with Lenny than with etch, but the hardware detection was a breeze. People got what they asked for, but they still persist in installing Live CDs when real intended for hard disk install distros like Debian seem a much better choice to me.

[src]

Thanks Harry

I understand your point perfectly :)

Thats the reason I chose Knoppix as I am more inclined to work with a Live CD based distro rather than installing it. As I can not afford to let go windows due to my nature of work and windows MBR has a nasty habit of getting messed up by Linux GRUB. If that happens and the Fix MBR command does not work, then there comes the real scary part of re installation.

[drb]

src,

sidux is a great LiveCD as well - there are alternative installations options to a grub MBR but I'm not aware of any problems with sidux 'messing up' an MBR. The website address is http://sidux.com/index.html

drb

[kirol]

Sidux (http://sidux.com/) deserves nothing but praise in my opinion. Here's a debian-based live cd that has managed to stick to their schedule for their first three releases, has a team of developers who listen to suggestions on their forum and irc, and encourage and accept contributions. They also have a supported installer, which reportedly leaves you with a plain sid install, hence avoiding the complications inherent to the repositories mix on which knoppix is based (but obviously leaves you with the occasional breakage debian unstable is subject to - beginners beware). Being current also means they include a post-1.0 version of ntfs-3g, which is very solid - writing safely to ntfs is finally possible.

Keeping up with linux/debian is daunting for anyone, and Klaus has done it essentially on his own for very long... Whether he is still interested in maintaining his creation or not, we remain forever indebted, and so are the developers of the many live CDs that ran with his ideas. Sidux is definitely amongst the best debian-based ones.

[cbagger01]

Thank you Harry for your reply. :)

No I would prefer to stick with Knoppix as everyone (more experienced users) told me that it is still the best.

I shall surely look into the debian as you have kindly suggested.

Regarding version 5.2, I understand that this is not the official release, but I hope downloading it won't violate the licensing terms. And I also hope that you shall provide support for that version.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Because KNOPPIX is composed of software that is covered by open source and more importantly by freely-distributable licenses, it should not be a violation to download the ISO of KNOPPIX 5.2 from a torrent.

However, it appears that Klaus himself has reached an agreement for exclusive distribution of this version as a CDROM that is published with a magazine. So HE personally might not be allowed to publish the ISO on the internet, but ironically anyone else in the world (basically, anyone who is not bound by this agreement) who gets a copy of the disk can then rip it to an ISO file and redistribute it via a torrent.

The only thing that could change this would be if the CD also contained software or other content (copyrighted pictures or documents, for example) that was NOT freely distributable.

I would be very surprised if this were the case, as it would be counter to everything the KNOPPIX project has stood for in the past. Someone like Klaus would need to confirm this if you wished to be 100% certain that you are not violating license terms.

[src]

Thank you everyone...and sorry for this delayed acknowledgment.