TCL on a pendrive to run an Asus EeePC 1000HA?

[Mike7]

Hi, and cheers to everyone in the Tiny Core Netbooks forum group!

I'm new to this forum, new to Tiny Core Linux, and relatively new to Linux, although I did work for five years in the 1990s at a Unix mainframe terminal with emacs (no x-windows), so I'm not a total newbie to Unix-like operating systems.

I have an Asus EeePC 1000HA with the original WindowsXP SP3 on the hdd. It's been my only computer for five years. I've never owned anything besides laptops or netbooks because I travel a lot. My first was a Z88, designed by Clive Sinclair back in 1987 before the days of the laptop PC.

After five years of hard use, the hdd on my 1000HA is wearing down. I always backup important files, but the fact is that I love this little netbook and don't want anything else. So I thought I'd extend its life by putting a small, run-in-RAM Linux op sys on a pendrive and use that instead of the hdd.

I've researched a lot of Linux distros and the one that has perhaps most impressed me is Tiny Core Linux. I like the images in the .png files at the download sites, I like its modular nature, and I like the documentation. It looks to me like a serious distro, and I want to give it a try.

I've read the pertinent pages in your wiki and in this forum, but I still have some unanswered questions before I try to install TCL on a pendrive. I hope the kind folks here will help me with answers.

Here are my questions:

-- Will Tiny Core Linux (and/or Core Plus, Multicore) work on an Asus EeePC 1000HA if run from a pendrive? Will the keyboard functions, power management, and other features of the EeePC 1000HA be preserved?

-- Can core2usb.exe be used to install the recent versions of TCL (TinyCore-4.7.4, CorePlus-4.7.4, multicore_3.8.4) on a pendrive? If not, what is the most recent version that core2usb.exe supports?

-- Does TCL have persistence when installed on a pendrive (for example a savefs file or a casper_rw file)? If so,which versions have it?

-- Is there a fairly painless way to add wireless support to Tiny Core (rather than Core Plus or Multicore) once it is installed?

-- Does Tiny Core have some sort of minimal browser? Can a better browser be added to it once it has wireless support, if such is possible?

That's all I have for now. I'm looking forward anxiously to your response.

Thanks!

Mike7

[Rich]

Hi Mike7
If your EeePC 1000 is capable of booting from a thumb drive, it should work. There are posts from members who
have run Tinycore on EeePCs including any special steps they may have taken. The search page should help you
to locate them.

Can core2usb.exe be used to install the recent versions of TCL (TinyCore-4.7.4, CorePlus-4.7.4, multicore_3.8.4) on a pendrive?

Yes, though Multicore is obsolete.

Does TCL have persistence when installed on a pendrive (for example a savefs file or a casper_rw file)? If so,which versions have it?

Tinycores persistence is achieved either through a persistent /home or a mydata.tcz file (compressed tar archive).
Read the concepts page on the website and check the Wiki.

Is there a fairly painless way to add wireless support to Tiny Core (rather than Core Plus or Multicore) once it is installed?

Coreplus is the preferred method. Don't let the size of the ISO fool you, it's only due to all the extra drivers.

Does Tiny Core have some sort of minimal browser? Can a better browser be added to it once it has wireless support, if such is possible?

Tinycore has many different browsers available.

[curaga]

The hard drive on it seems to be very easily replaceable: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4655

[Mike7]

Hi, Rich. Thanks for your replies to my questions. I've been busy with a leaky roof all week and haven't had time to respond until now.

If your EeePC 1000 is capable of booting from a thumb drive, it should work.

It is. I have Kaspersky Rescue Disk on a pendrive and it boots fine.

There are posts from members who have run Tinycore on EeePCs including any special steps they may have taken. The search page should help you to locate them.

As I said, I looked through them before posting. Nothing very useful there, especially since the various EeePC models are quite different one from another.

Yes, though Multicore is obsolete.

Great! I'll give core2usb.exe a try as soon as I have the chance. I've had total unsuccess making bootable pendrives from Linux distro iso's, and I've tried all the usual installer programs.

Thanks for the tip-off re Multicore.

Tinycores persistence is achieved either through a persistent /home or a mydata.tcz file (compressed tar archive). Read the concepts page on the website and check the Wiki.

I'll do as you suggest.

Coreplus is the preferred method. Don't let the size of the ISO fool you, it's only due to all the extra drivers.

I suppose that the unused drivers in Coreplus can be removed and space reduced?

Please excuse me for insisting, but can wireless support be added to Tiny Core?

What interested me about Tiny Core in contrast to Coreplus was, in particular, the x-windows interface and the simple, straight-forward way everything seems to be arranged in the windows. I'm tired of fancy GUIs. But perhaps the Tiny Core interface is an option in Coreplus?

Tinycore has many different browsers available.

Good to know!

Thanks again for your help.

Cheers!

Mike

[Mike7]

Hi, Curaga.

The hard drive on it seems to be very easily replaceable: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4655

That was back in 2008 <grin>. And even then, when they were still easily obtained, they cost almost as much as the computer. Now, I'd be surprised if I could find one.

Cheers!

Mike

[roberts]

The CorePlus iso is an isohybrid. That means that simply using the dd command to write the iso image to a pendrive often results in a bootable device.

I used to own an eeePC back in 08. Recently I rescued an eeePC900 from being tossed away. Its SSD had been removed and even the SSD card slot was damaged. Therefore not good for anything? 

Nope. Turns out that model can boot from full size SD Card. So, easy to dd the coreplus image to a pendrive. Boot eeePC CorePlus from pendrive. Insert SD Card into eeePC. Select TC-Install and install to SD Card including wireless.

Granted, as you previously stated, not all eeePC are the same. But perhaps, your eeePC will be as easy as the one I rescued. It boots and uses the class 10 SD Card just fine.

[tinypoodle]

I suppose that the unused drivers in Coreplus can be removed and space reduced?

Yes.

Please excuse me for insisting, but can wireless support be added to Tiny Core?

Yes, but may be easier to start with CorePlus.

What interested me about Tiny Core in contrast to Coreplus was, in particular, the x-windows interface and the simple, straight-forward way everything seems to be arranged in the windows. I'm tired of fancy GUIs. But perhaps the Tiny Core interface is an option in Coreplus?

Yes.

[Rich]

Hi Mike7
If your machine has a wired connection, Tinycore is fine. If it only has a wireless connection, make a bootable
Coreplus thumb drive. It contains everything you need to create a bootable Tinycore thumb drive with wireless
support.

[coreplayer2]

and replacement re-manufactured HDD's are available dirt cheap for this model on ebay   

[Mike7]

Hi, Roberts. Thanks for your post.

I’m glad to hear that CorePlus at least is a hybrid iso. I won’t have to deal with that persnickety isohybrid command <grin>.

I’ve been fooling around with dd all week. I even found a Windows version of it (dd.exe). Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. (I’m trying to put some anti-malware iso’s like Bitdefender on a pendrive.). There’s something about the way the bytes are written to the destination, or else the disruption dd causes to the FAT filesystem, or maybe MBR problems, that Windows doesn’t like.

By the way, do you happen to know if \\.\x: is the proper device designation for the output file (of=) of dd in Windows?

Congrats on your success with that eeePC900! My 1000HA has an SD socket, and I’ve been thinking of eventually putting Linux in there permanently so I don’t even have to worry about a pendrive. A really cool solution.

Cheers!

Mike

[Mike7]

Hi, tinypoodle.

You made my day.

Cheers!

Mike

[Mike7]

Hi, Rich.

No, no wired connection here. I function strictly on wi-fi.

I like your solution. Sounds good. That'll be my plan.

Cheers!

Mike

[Mike7]

Hi, coreplayer2.

Interesting. The thing is, I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina (although I'm a New Yorker originally), and customs here is a nightmare. There's no way to get anything like an hdd shipped here. And they cost a fortune in stores, if you can find them.

Anyway, I like pendrives. I think they're cool <grin>.

Mike

[Rich]

Hi Mike7
You want to be extremely careful with the  dd  command. If you get the  of=  parameter wrong, you can overwrite
data you did not intend to.

[tinypoodle]

http://www.chrysocome.net/dd