I think I've broken it

[terrybull]

I have installed Knoppix 7.2 to the HDD of an old laptop (Pentium 2 mobile CPU @ 300Mhz and 200 Mb ram). All works pretty well considering the low spec. I installed a few things fine then I did a mark all upgrades in synaptic. The upgrade failed and now it's broken and anything I try to install fails. I have trawled the forums and saw reference that you should not try to upgrade the installed packages. What have I done, why shouldn't I have done it and can I fix this. My Linux knowledge is beginner. Many thanks.

[Werner P. Schulz]

.. why shouldn't I have done it and can I fix this.No, you cannot repair the broken installation.
HD install warning (http://knoppix.net/wiki/HD_Install_Warning_not_to_do_it)

[terrybull]

I should have read that in the first place. My laptop cannot boot from USB and running from cd is too slow. Knoppix runs really well from the hdd install on this slow system so it is a shame it is not 'suitable'. It runs as well as any distro I have tried which is limited by the limited hardware. Thanks for the answer.

[Werner P. Schulz]

.. so it is a shame it is not 'suitable'.Knoppix is a Live Linux CD .. (http://knoppix.net/forum/showthread.php?30804-Remastering-from-the-Dead&p=130405&viewfull=1#post130405)

[terrybull]

Why does it have a hdd installer.

[terrybull]

I meant that my laptop is not suitable for running knoppix as I cannot boot from USB. But it does beg the question why is there a hdd installer.

[Werner P. Schulz]

You can do the HW install, but it remains a Live system with all the limitations I've told you. HW install isn't a conjuring trick to change the action of Knoppix.

[utu]

.
Greetings terrybull & Werner.

I have a similar situation where I'd like to do something like a
"poor-man's hdd install" of Knoppix. That is use a Knoppix LiveCD
to perform a Knoppix "Install to FlashDisk" but issuing the hdd descriptor
instead of a usb descriptor when asked.

I would expect this process to proceed to put something on the hdd,
but that perhaps the boot process would need some re-working, there
likely being some differences in booting hdds rather than usbs.

Somehow I expect the persistence process to be workable as well,
since that was part of the essence of the original "poor-man's install"

I was planning to use the following material as a guide to this
endeavor. Have I got something all wrong here or is this a viable
approach? Thanks in advance.

Read "Poor-Man's Install" at:
http://smtp.knoppix.net/wiki/Category:Hard_drive_Installation

See also this ref and its variations:
http://g33kgrrl.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/make-a-gnu-linux-livepartition/

[utu]

ICPUG has a response to my post #8 at:
http://knoppix.net/forum/showthread.php?31081-Poor-Man-s-Install-of-Latest-Knoppix
--utu
(http://knoppix.net/forum/showthread.php?31081-Poor-Man-s-Install-of-Latest-Knoppix)

[Werner P. Schulz]

I would expect this process to proceed to put something on the hdd, but that perhaps the boot process would need some re-working, there likely being some differences in booting hdds rather than usbs.I've described this in the Wiki => Poor man's install (http://knoppix.net/wiki/Category:Hard_drive_Installation#Poor_man.27s_inst all) and you'll find there how to boot this install with Grub legacy or Grub2.

With this installation method you can install Knoppix for example on a NTFS partition with Windows7 on it or on a ext3 partition with Ubuntu on it. Windows7 or Ubuntu (my examples) will not be damaged by this "Poor man's install" and when your are booting this install for the first time, you'll be asked to create persistent memory (overlay file - not overlay partition).

[utu]

I've described this in the Wiki => Poor man's install (http://knoppix.net/wiki/Category:Hard_drive_Installation#Poor_man.27s_inst all) and you'll find there how to boot this install with Grub legacy or Grub2.

With this installation method you can install Knoppix for example on a NTFS partition with Windows7 on it or on a ext3 partition with Ubuntu on it. Windows7 or Ubuntu (my examples) will not be damaged by this "Poor man's install" and when your are booting this install for the first time, you'll be asked to create persistent memory (overlay file - not overlay partition).

Greetings, Werner and thank you for your response.

I've received two big surprises with this response:

1. I was unaware that your were the author of my first reference to the Knoppix Wiki's "Poor-Man's Install to HD"; and

2. I was unaware of the fact that the Wiki information had been significantly reworked sometime before January 2013.
and now contains the inclusion of an additional section I'm not familiar with:
http://knoppix.net/wiki/Completely_new_HD_based_HowTo_page

Are you the author of this section as well?
If so, how does a reader of this section interact with the Wiki to clarify some sections that are unclear?
Is this done via the Forum or via webmaster@(this domain)?

Thanks again for your Wiki authorship in addition to your moderator duties.

[Werner P. Schulz]

Since 2011 I've reworked over many of the Wiki articles and deleted more or less the half of them, because they had been outdated.
If I look in the history of "Completely new HD based HowTo page" it seems, "Capricorny" is the author of it. I didn't want to change the title of this Wiki page, but I think, it is time to insert links to the paragraphs of "Category:Hard drive Installation".

[utu]

.
I really appreciate both your efforts, Werner, and Capricorny's
that are to be found in the Knoppix Wiki.

I was unaware of the fact this material had been upgraded.
I had been aware of its former obsolescence but had not recently ever
checked to observe that it might have been recently improved.

That said, I have three observations about its present much-improved state.

1. The hard drive material in the Knoppix Wiki does need some better
coordination of comparable material from two or more authors, just as you suggest.

2. A Wiki, in my understanding, connotes a means whereby reference
material may be submitted, be considered and judged, and then if
appropriate used to advance the depth or quality of the reference
material. The Wiki category is a misnomer under which all Knoppix
reference material appears. I don't view any Wiki to be advisable
for our forum because there are so few active members and so terribly
few really competent active members. I suggest we change the Wiki
category to Reference, but add some means of accessing authors of
this material for clarification, where warranted.

3. There needs to be some more obvious means whereby the category of
Poor-Man HDD Installs reference material itself now found under a 'Wiki' heading
might be questioned and discussed. I suggest that Poor-Man HDD Installs is
by itself such a diverse topic that it merits its own unique forum category.
If Ideas, Tips & Tricks, Other LiveCDs and the Lounge deserve categories,
then Poor-Man HDD Installs certainly does.

[hobocaver]

I just did a re-install because I didn't pay attention; I have used Knoppix for many years, just have never installed it.When I tried to use synaptic to update, it broke most things.So if I were to attempt to update Chromium, say, where would the relevant files be?If I were to install new programs, what kind of exciting things could I expect?QGIS is a program that is Debian compatible; which version, testing or stable, would be recommended?Thanks for your answer and your patience.Hobocaver