Using Knoppix with a DVD burner

[d_jedi]

My machine has Windows XP installed, with two NTFS formatted hard drives.
From what I've read, there is a bug with Knoppix that will not allow me to write to an NTFS formatted drive, at least not without the risk of corrupting data.

I'm wondering if I could boot to Knoppix, and use a DVD+RW (or even a CD-RW) disc as a small hard drive (should be sufficient for my needs)?

And if this is possible, can I save configuration settings on this disk, such that when I boot into Knoppix, my preferences apply?

Thanks.

[windos_no_thanks]

The reason Knoppix won't allow you to write to NTFS is that M$ refuses to publish the specs for it so nobody knows for sure how to handle it.
Using optical DVD+/-RW or CD-RW would not be smart even if it was made possible, they can not take very many write/erase cycles before failing. Get yourself a USB memory dongle instead.

[bzack]

I would recommend using the persistent home directory feature and a usb thumb drive. It has worked great for me. At boot time I just pass

knoppix home=/dev/sda1

to the kernel at boot time. If you need more storage, you could always grab a usb hard drive or salvage a small IDE drive from an old system some where.

[d_jedi]

Problem is, no space on my IDE chains to put a new (old) HD in and no money to buy new hardware..

I take it that the DVD thing won't work at all? Damn.. guess it's SSHing for me..

[bzack]

You could also try resizing the an existing NTFS partition to make room for a linux one or a vfat one. I have used QTparted before and it seemed to work. Here is a link:

http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html

Also, I believe is possible to do what you originally suggested, but I think the random write to dvd/cd are dicey in linux. I have never tried it myself, but if you do, let me know how it works.

http://lists.debian.org/cdwrite/2003/cdwrite-200309/msg00014.html

[paradocs]

Hi d_jedi,

Packet writting that would allow treating media
as a rw disk is not yet developed to KNOPPIX.

I do boot KNOPPIX from a floppy disk and CD drive
and use a second USB DVD RW to hold my data.
This is not a high powered solution but fills
a useful purpose for computing without a
hard drive.

http://www.knoppix.net/docs/index.php/BurnHome

Best Wishes
paradocs