pondering tc2.4.x disk space requirements

[3rail]

Hi,

I just acquired one of these
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11746_na/11746_na.HTML

It's pretty cool little box (cheap!) and I'm able to boot into TC2.3.1 using an external USB CD no problem (nice!).

Now I'm thinking ahead to TC2.4.x with its tcz only model.  For argument's sake, let's say this machine will have 32MB (yes, megabyte) "drive space" but 512MB of RAM.  In this scenario, where there is very little disk space and approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of it will be taken up by TC+extensions, would I install the tcz's into memory (acting like the old tce)?  For a web browsing/flash viewing/net device, just how much drive space would I need to accomodate a tcz loop device type of install if I wanted to take advantage of tcz?

Thanks again for a great distro!

[Guy]

There will not be a lot of difference in drive space required which ever way you use the extensions.

Just a thought, and maybe I don't fully understand your situation. With 32 mb, you can only have a limited number of programs. You could install Tiny Core on a usb drive, and run it from the usb drive. You would have much more space, and install any programs you want.

[gerald_clark]

Unless you are operating in 'cloud' mode, the tcz has to be on the drive regardless.
When you load it into RAM it exists on drive AND in RAM.
When you mount it, it resides ONLY on the drive.

[danielibarnes]

The t5500 has 32MB of flash and 128MB of RAM. It sounds like he upgraded the RAM himself and plans to load TC on the onboard flash. I checked eBay and saw them going for about $20 - $35 each. Not bad, really.

@3rail:
Even loading only opera and flash you may not have enough space. After loading the kernel + rootfs (about 10MB) you are left with about 22MB. I estimated the size of Opera, OSS, flash, and dependencies to be about 22MB. It may be possible, or you may be a few KB short. You'll have to try it to find out.

You will definitely want to trim the rootfs (about 1.5MB) by removing network drivers you know you won't need. If necessary, I suggest combining all of the necessary .tcz files into one .tcz to save space lost to partially filled disk blocks.

[thane]

FWIW, I run TCL using only tcz extensions on a box with 512M, booting off CD ROM and with the tce directory on a 4 gig USB stick. Very small set of apps; basically just Opera, flash, alsa, mplayer, and epdfview with gtk2. I can't install TCL to USB since my box won't boot from there (unless I use with some boot utilities I haven't tried yet).

I second the idea of using a USB stick rather than the flash memory/RAM for tce and any downloads. A couple of times I froze the pc with large downloads (didn't notice I was loading to RAM instead of the USB stick). Also you won't get very many extensions in 32M. I don't have the box in front of me but the extensions take up a lot more space than that.

Alternatively I guess you could remaster the CD with the extensions you want (haven't tried that either).

edit: I'm using 196M on the USB stick (includes extensions and backup).

[3rail]

Thanks for all the replies.    

Edit:  prett-y kewl, thanks for all the great URLs!

[robc]

It looks like the connector for the flash memory is a 40-pin IDE? If it is you can get a newer IDE Flash device, they have them up to 8GB. But check and make sure that the connector is correct.

Here is a link to the horizontal flash drives: http://www.emphase.com/fmh_4000x

[bmarkus]

More generic and for sure more economical is to use a Compact Flash Drive adapter which is available from different sources, like

http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_memory_reader/ad44midecf.asp
http://www.pcengines.ch/cflash.htm
http://www.acscontrol.com/Index_ACS.asp?Page=/Pages/Products/CompactFlash/SFF_IDE_To_CF_Adapter.htm
...

and reuse a CF card from an older digital camera. Of course you can buy a new one  

Make a Google search for "compact flash ide adapter"

[danielibarnes]

Here is a good link for the flash modules:
http://www.logicsupply.com/categories/flash_storage/40_pin_ide_flash_modules

I use a Compact Flash Adapter and CF card to boot my firewall/router. The system cannot boot from USB, and I didn't want to power a floppy or cd-rom drive that would only be used on bootup. The combination of the two was more expensive than $17 for a 512MB flash module.