I'm amazed at how Knoppix figures out all the hardware on a system and gets Linux and X up and running so quickly and smoothly. I'm even more amazed when I go back and try to do an old fashioned Debian install on a fresh computer and realize how ridiculously hard it is.

I think I've finally convinced knx-hdinstall to do an install on my machine (it kept hanging up when I ran it from the root shell, but it looks like it's going to finish from a command line only boot), but I kept wondering, as I wrestled with Debian 30r1 install on my somewhat flaky laptop, why I couldn't run a hardware discover routine like Knoppix does to get up and running in a hurry.

Can anyone give me any info on this or any pointers on how it works, or how to use it with a base Debian install.

Also, some Debian boards recommend against using a Knoppix hdinstall for more than a temporary setup (although my understanding is that you really have a Debian install when you're done). Why not use a Knoppix hdinstall?