ThinkPad 380D

**TrajMag** · 01-31-2006, 08:37 PM

After the years with M$ after coming from the very beginnings of computers (command line), it's Linux time! I spent time doing research concluding Knoppix is the best choice.

I have an old ThinkPad 380D running running w2k so I know the "bloat" will run with 150Mhz and 82megs of memory. I may figure wrong but if w2k will run on there nearly anything will. You just have to have plenty of time.

I have a Knoppix 4.0 Live CD but the 380 will not boot from the CD just the floopy. Research at Knoppix Hints says that "mybootfloopy" will boot the laptop and I can load Knoppix? Can this be done and how does one get an image of mybootfloppy? I can't find info other than making a floppy from a running Knoppix installation.

Trajmag

**Harry Kuhman** · 01-31-2006, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by TrajMag

After the years with M$ after coming from the very beginnings of computers (command line), ....

You youngsters are funny. Calling comand line the very beginning of computers. Before there was command line there was machine code, and lights and switches to enter your program. And before that there were wonderful plugbards, with their ratnests of interconnections. Want to reprogram the computer? Rewire it!

**Harry Kuhman** · 01-31-2006, 08:51 PM

See answer #1 for your booting question.

**TrajMag** · 01-31-2006, 10:54 PM

I wasn’t going to admit to that but yes, I was a party to switches, wire wrap, jumpers, etc. We thought 1 or 2 K of work space was forever and anything you didn’t have to scratch build was a dream!

Trajmag

**TrajMag** · 01-31-2006, 11:34 PM

The distro on the CD is fine. The BIOS of the old 380D will not allow setup to boot from the cd instead of the HDD. You can only set the floppy drive or HDD sequence. The access to the Bios on this relic is only through ThinkPad setup. Thus it appears the only way I can get to the Live CD is to boot from the floppy and then run the CD drive. It may not be possible to accomplish.

Trajmag

**Harry Kuhman** · 01-31-2006, 11:36 PM

Originally Posted by TrajMag

The distro on the CD is fine. The BIOS of the old 380D will not allow setup to boot from the cd instead of the HDD. You can only set the floppy drive or HDD sequence.

answer #1 covers this.

**TrajMag** · 02-02-2006, 07:49 PM

It took a while for your direction to sink in but we finally got it! After a little hassle with reformating a NTFS drive, Knoppix is running on a ThinkPad clunker although slow with the swap file and CD access time. Next step is to install on the HDD for a true test.

Thanks again, solved the problem.

TrajMag