The Ultimate USB Pendrive Distribution!

megamaced

megamaced

Geek Geek Geek!
Guys, I am in love with a Linux distribution! I have found what I believe to be the best Linux distribution that runs from a USB pendrive! It's called Slax and needless to say, it's based on Slackware.

Why do I love it?

-It's very, very, very, very fast! It even runs fast on my USB1.1 drive! Awesome! I can only imagine how fast it would run on a USB2.0 drive
-It's small enough to fit on a 256MB drive
-It runs KDE 3.5.2! :)
-Looks gorgeous
-Full of applications such as Koffice, Juk, Kplayer, K3B.
-Automatically mounts Windows partitions (FAT and NTFS)
-Excellent hardware detection, very fast.

How to use Slax?

Firstly, click here and choose a version of Slax. I downloaded the 'KillBill' version

Second, click here to download the 'My Slax Creator'. This handy tool is actually a wizard that will install the Slax ISO image onto a USB Pendrive! Nice and easy!

God I love Slax. I feel like an over excited child at the moment :D

DOWNLOAD IT!!!
 
Sorry for stating the obvious but make sure your BIOS can support booting from a USB device!

A little tip:

The default resolution is 1024x768 @ 75Hz. Not all LCD monitors can handle this so you may get a 'out of sync' notice on your monitor.

Boot from the USB pendrive, you will be asked to log in.
Enter 'root' as the login name and 'toor' as the password
Then type xconf to automatically detect the best resolution for your monitor
Then type startx to begin

I hope I am not too late with this post! :D
 
thanx, no you wern't too late, cos it's finished downloading but it's cig time, so gotta go, again thanx :D
 
no it wasn't stating the obvious, cos although i'm thick with computers (compared to you) as it happens, i know about setting the BIOS to boot from USB (just have to start saving for a USB pen) and i don't have an LCD monitor, don't like the image they project (besides that, i can't afford one)

i usually use 1024 x 768 but usually but @ 60Hz


EDIT: just being thinking, would it be possible to have Slax on a USB pen then use a port emulator (like for a laptop) to create a virtual pc, then connect the RJ45's of my pc & the emulated port on the USB pen to then use them as a peer to peer net ?
 
donkey42 said:
EDIT: just being thinking, would it be possible to have Slax on a USB pen then use a port emulator (like for a laptop) to create a virtual pc, then connect the RJ45's of my pc & the emulated port on the USB pen to then use them as a peer to peer net ?
Click to expand...

Come again? :P

I'm not sure what a port emulator is. Obviously you know more about computers then I do! :D
 
MOBILE COMPUTING

Kensington announced a new docking station that lets users quickly attach a keyboard and mouse. The Laptop Desktop USB docking station raises the notebook so that the open notebook's monitor faces the user. The docking station includes a four-port USB hub and has an integrated document holder. However, the station doesn't include the accessories. (You'll need to provide your own USB keyboard and mouse.) The station can tilt and swivel, and the station's shape protects the open notebook's exposed keys. The Laptop Desktop USB docking station is available for $79.99 from Kensington's Web site and retailers.
www.kensington.com/html/5702.html

this is what i was moaning on about, but unfortunatly the url doesn't work, if you remember a few years ago you could get a docking station for a laptop and the docking station emulated serial, parallel, PS/2 & i'm not sure about USB.

yeah right, i'm a lidslammer compared to you, thanx

EDIT: just realised, i meant "port replicator not port emulator"
 
Matt555 said:
I tried a SLAX Linux Live CD a while back - didn't work, so I gave up on it :P
Click to expand...
Yeah, I had the same experience. Slax kernel panicked on all of my hardware except an old P3 Vectra I had laying around some time ago... it booted there, but didn't do anything to impress me at the time. Of course, that was several major releases ago, so.... *shrug*
 
Anti-Trend said:
Yeah, I had the same experience. Slax kernel panicked on all of my hardware except an old P3 Vectra I had laying around some time ago... it booted there, but didn't do anything to impress me at the time. Of course, that was several major releases ago, so.... *shrug*
Click to expand...

I'll admit that it offers nothing new. But the fact that it is so fast from a USB drive and boots into KDE is just awesome. As for hardware detection, I've had no problems so far. I was using a computer from my college which has SATA, a gigabyte NIC and a few other bits. Give it another shot AT :)
 
I'm using it now Mega :cool:
Given that i'm un-familiar with Slackware, it's pretty good :thumbs:
It does have good hardware support, everythings works out of the box
except my Audigy :(
Damn this distro is fast.
 
pelvis_3 said:
everythings works out of the box
except my Audigy :(
Click to expand...

Well the Audigy is quite specialised, so I am not too suprised by the lack of support. Anyways, I am very impressed with the speed of hardware detection

pelvis_3 said:
Damn this distro is fast.
Click to expand...

Are you using USB1.1, 2.0 or CD?

Did you have to enter xconf to get the resolution right, or was it OK?
If you want to change the resolution simply look for the screen icon in the notifications area. Right click it and choose your desired resolution and frequency
 
Okay guys, WINE is included in SLAX (KillBill Version)! :good: If you want to run your Windows applications whilst using SLAX do the following:

Open up a terminal and type:

winecfg

Make any changes you feel nesscary and exit

Browse your Windows drive and find the executable of the program you want to run. Right click the executable and select 'Open With'. Then type 'wine' and press OK!
 
Are you familiar with DOSbox? It allows you to play old DOS games in Windows 2000/XP. Well you will be glad to know that it is included in SLAX!!

To open DOSbox, simply open up a terminal and type 'dosbox'.
 
megamaced said:
Well the Audigy is quite specialised, so I am not too suprised by the lack of support. Anyways, I am very impressed with the speed of hardware detection
Click to expand...
It's doesn't matter really. I enabled my onboard sound temporarily
and it worked ok.

Are you using USB1.1, 2.0 or CD?
Click to expand...
USB 2.0 512MB Drive.

Did you have to enter xconf to get the resolution right, or was it OK?
Click to expand...
Yes, i did, otherwise it sat on 10x7. I'd much prefer 12x10.
 
[ot]
Anti-Trend said:
Yeah, I had the same experience. Slax kernel panicked on all of my hardware except an old P3 Vectra I had laying around some time ago... it booted there, but didn't do anything to impress me at the time. Of course, that was several major releases ago, so.... *shrug*
Click to expand...

AT, is there a distribution that you haven't tried already? :P

Perhaps you should consider setting up a Linux review website, it would certainly be useful. Or perhaps you could make a new thread listing a load of Linux distributions and a brief summary/review of each :)[/ot]
 
I finally got SLAX to remember my programs and settings :good:
Downloaded Firefox and Xine etc.....
 
pelvis_3 said:
I finally got SLAX to remember my programs and settings :good:
Downloaded Firefox and Xine etc.....
Click to expand...

How on earth did you do that? I wasn't aware that it is possible to install programs on a live distribution! Where did you save Firefox and Xine - to your USB drive?
 
There is two ways.
The first is to use the MySLAX creator to add modules (the easiest),
so when you boot up SLAX, it has all the modules you installed ready to go.
The second is to install modules manually while in SLAX.
After you have them all installed, end your session and type:
Code: 
#configsave /mnt/sdb/slax/base/z-config.mo
If you are continuously adding modules after multiple reboots,
replace z-config.mo with z-config2.mo, z-config3.mo etc.....
Obviously, you replace /sdb with whatever you USB is mounted as.
This is normally /sda1 i believe, but that's taken by my SATA drive.

I installed Firefox, Xine, Xine-ui, MPlayer, Acroread, nVidia drivers, KDE Artwork,
libdvd libraries, Skype and Win32codecs. Now, wherever i go, i have all the necessary tools at hand :)
 
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