Knoppix_V6.2.1, First impressions

[Capricorny]

I'm curious about your setup here; that seems like an awful lot of cheatcodes, but since I've only been using Knoppix for a few days I expect a little shell shock Do you mind explaining what each of them do?

Neither you nor I need to know.. It's the default list. To work with this, you should know your way around a little, this is from the default .cfg file. You might for example try a grep -R 'initrd=' /* to see where initrd is specified.
But if you are new to this, I don't think manipulating the booting process is the best place to start learning.

[garaden]

That's what I was afraid of... I thought it looked an awful lot like the voodoo magic that comes with an HDD install. I'm surprised though: I thought simply loading the kernel would do the same thing as "knoppix" at the isolinux prompt. If I'm mistaken, that explains a lot. I'll take a closer look at this ".cfg" of which you speak. Thanks!

As for learning, the booting process is mostly what I'm interested in learning about. I know my way around Ubuntu and GRUB, but not Knoppix, and I've never really taken an in-depth look at the boot process (loading modules, mounting filesystems, etc) for any distro. No time like the present!

[Capricorny]

....
As for learning, the booting process is mostly what I'm interested in learning about. I know my way around Ubuntu and GRUB, but not Knoppix, and I've never really taken an in-depth
look at the boot process (loading modules, mounting filesystems, etc) for any distro. No time like the present!

Then you may be in for some pleasant surprises! In fact, I had never thought is was that easy to set up GRUB to boot Knoppix cleanly, as Knoppix uses another booting mechanism by default. A good way to experiment, might be to look at the Knoppix 6.2 cheat codes, and set up a number of menu.lst entries, with various choices of cheat codes and values. The look into the different parts of the booting process - I think you can find sources for most in the Knoppix repository, if the scripts are not enough.

I personally prefer to have a standard Linux HD install to fall back on (in my case Mandriva, mostly for historical reasons), and I use the GRUB from that. Taking backups of the /boot directory system might be a good idea.

[mecho]

I am a newbie to Linux, but I am very persuasive. Since I started learning linux 2 months ago I tried a few versions to find which suits me best, and so far Knoppix is the best for me at this stage. I find it very good for learning purposes as to achieve what I want I have to tru the whole learning process. Thanks to Capricorny and Krisha for their activity in this forum I learn a lot from them.
Now I tried both 6.2 and 6.2.1 and for me 6.2 runs smoother then 6.2.1. THere is a Intel video driver problem in 6.2.1. For some reason the new Intel driver that is included in 6.2.1 does not work with 855GME chip that I have in my laptop and the mkxorgconfig which is included in 6.2.1 does not even try to use vesa as a fallback it just locks.
I had to copy mkxorgconfig from 6.2 to make 6.2.1 work properly with vesa driver. There is one more thing in 6.2.1 - Network Manager does not work properly after logout-login. It loses connection or does not connect at all.
So I am using 6.2 now and I can say that I like it alot with the exception of the kernel header problems everything else I find perfect

[Harry Kuhman]

I am a newbie to Linux, but I am very persuasive....

Do you know what the word persuasive means? From the context I think you might have wanted to use persistent.

I don't see a lot of differences (or any) between 6.2 and 6.2.1 myself, but there are a lot of things missing in 6.2.x that were in 5.x.

[Capricorny]

....
Now I tried both 6.2 and 6.2.1 and for me 6.2 runs smoother then 6.2.1. THere is a Intel video driver problem in 6.2.1. For some reason the new Intel driver that is included in 6.2.1 does not work with 855GME chip that I have in my laptop and the mkxorgconfig which is included in 6.2.1 does not even try to use vesa as a fallback it just locks.
I had to copy mkxorgconfig from 6.2 to make 6.2.1 work properly with vesa driver. There is one more thing in 6.2.1 - Network Manager does not work properly after logout-login. It loses connection or does not connect at all.
....

Interesting. I noted X-related bugs being introduced from 6.0.1 to 6.2, now you find new creeping in from 6.2 to 6.2.1.
It could make a case for remastering, especially if most could be put into a script.

BTW, I'm writing this running 6.2.1 with a wlan connection - but I had to use Windows to start the wlan, then (rebooting) warm-starting Knoppix..
It should be possible to start it in Knoppix, too.

It is kind of sad that Knoppix used to be in a class of its own with hardware detection/initialization, but now other distros seem to work better out of the box with several hardware configurations. I wonder if this would have been better with more of a community effort.

[mecho]

Yes I ment persistent excuse my english - I am doing my best trying to express myself properly in english. It's not my native language.
Anyway according to me there are quite a few differences between 6.2 and 6.2.1
MOst of the packages are newer versions from unstable and some of the knoppix scripts are changed too, as I mentioned before mkxorgconfig and knoppix-autoconfig a some of them.
I also think Capricorny is right, if knoppix is more of a community effort it would get more stable and better polished. Even if it comes down to error reporting

[Gemu]

6.2.1 DVD is great it just seems like there is always a problem to install anything. Which is the only reason I kinda prefer Ubuntu for every day use. I can'
t get youtube-dl to install for instance.

I like the 5.3 panel better just for flexability.


All the web stuff works extremely well though, I think as good as anything out there. And it never seems to hang like older versions.

If 5.3 had all the latest iceweasel updates you could call it 6.4 and relax a while.

[Capricorny]

6.2.1 DVD is great it just seems like there is always a problem to install anything. Which is the only reason I kinda prefer Ubuntu for every day use. I can'
t get youtube-dl to install for instance.

I like the 5.3 panel better just for flexability.


All the web stuff works extremely well though, I think as good as anything out there. And it never seems to hang like older versions.

If 5.3 had all the latest iceweasel updates you could call it 6.4 and relax a while.

I think many longtime Knoppix users may not be fully aware that the latest CD/DVD versions aren't really optimized for CD/DVD, they must be installed on writable media to work really well. When that is done, usual Debian packages will mostly work, but it may be a bit of a hassle to get all versions right. Everything I have tried with 6.2.1 has succeeded.

[Gemu]

I think many longtime Knoppix users may not be fully aware that the latest CD/DVD versions aren't really optimized for CD/DVD, they must be installed on writable media to work really well. When that is done, usual Debian packages will mostly work, but it may be a bit of a hassle to get all versions right. Everything I have tried with 6.2.1 has succeeded.

. I really do like 6.2.1 I miss being able to flatten out the terminal as in the 5xx series to make room for more windows. In fact I kept my default term about 2.5 inchs tall and two inches wider. I miss the desktop pager. Every time you open a new window in 6.2.1 it covers up the Knoppix folder, Root Terminal and Documents folder and I find myself dragging them out of the way regularly. I guess your supposed to hit th flip button. I love the way it mounts its file systems now, with a considerable amount of freedom to create new folders and move things around a little. Click to mount and go right to work in the terminal. Hit df to see where things are mounted. It seems like the older system aways occupied cdrom no matter what you did. Now you have sr0 for cd's. Another plus. The noppix-data.img inside the KNOPPIX folder is definitely an improvement. I understand you can burn it to cd with the knoppix-data image inside and boot the cd and it will work. I remember on 5 series many times not being able to write to the hard drive that KNOPPIX was mounted on because you couldn't unmount it to make it writeable. 5.1 barely fit on the second partition of my usb and the knoppix.img was mounted on the first so I couldn't even correct my grub menu while booted into it. I think if the 5xx series had had a free to write system it would have been more appealing even today. I still love the 5 series but I think the developers are heading in the right direction. The only real issue I have had with 6.2.1 is no available loop to mount an image on. But I found the answer to it hear on Knoppix forums. Love it, love it.