Knoppix 5.0.1 - Auto boot with -nodma option

**myk** · 07-04-2006, 11:27 PM

I have a PII - 266 which runs Knoppix 5.0.1 quite nicely. However, the machine must be booted with the -nodma option i.e. a user has to wait during the boot process and manually enter the command. Is there a way to automate this so that the machine, say, reads the info from a diskette during boot thus allowing a complet boot with no user intervention required? TIA

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**Harry Kuhman** · 07-04-2006, 11:55 PM

Boy, wouldn't that be nice?

There is the concept of storing a persistant configuration, although I don't kmow if that kicks in before the dma/nodma decision has to be made. But even if it did then the user would have to type in the options for that.

I don't know of any way to do a perfectly clean boot short of remastering. Or using a boot manager like XOSL that can feed keystrokes at boot time.

The developers seem to think that booting automatically into a stored configuration is a security risk. I don't agree, but I don't get a vote.

**myk** · 07-05-2006, 12:06 AM

Hmm ... floppyfw and such boot with a write protected diskette and they seem secure.

**Harry Kuhman** · 07-05-2006, 12:51 AM

Originally Posted by myk

Hmm ... floppyfw and such boot with a write protected diskette and they seem secure.

I'm not the one that you have to convince. See this post. I don't agree with it, I'm just giving you the information. By the way, we were told over a year ago that Knoppix would soon get some sort of start-up menu. Although a scan for config would not be the default and some sort of user interaction would still be required, that would make starting simpler for many users too, but it never happened.