Currently, I am running Crunchbang 11 on my old Dell 3000 desktop computer. It works great but I am looking for a RAM based distro that I can use from a CD. Something along the lines of Puppy Linux so that hopefully it will run faster.

This is basically what I use the Dell 3000 for, aside from the usual surfing the net and checking email.

Audacity- I use this to record and edit my weekly radio shows
Gnome-Schedule. I use this for my cron jobs
Asunder to rip CD's
Soundconverter: I use this to convert audio files to different formats
fstab: I set up this file to mount the drives on my LAN
Samba: I also use this as well

Look forward to hearing back from Antix users with some advice. I need a distro that I can setup quickly with minimal fuss. Thanks!!

I did try out Antix before but not on my Dell 3000.

If I understand correctly, you are looking to boot from a liveCD (with the system loading into ram ala puppy). To get all the apps you need, you'll have to run with some form of persistence. there are a few ways to do this. the easist is with a liveUSB instead of a liveCD. There is a way, however, to use a persistence file with a liveCD, but I haven't tried it yet. Some of BitJam's posts on this board are about different persistence options.

as far as apps go, asunder is pre-installed on antix. audacity is available in the repos, and I assume gnome-schedule is as well. of course, fstab is in use, but I suggest checking out connectshares, which is installed by default, and simplifies connecting to samba and nfs shares. Samba is not installed by default, but is of course available. Unless you want to host a share on the antix box, samba isn't needed.

by the by, I've played with puppy linux (not as much as rokytnji, but some) and I've always found antiX more comfortable. Also, puppy runs as a root user all the time, and I've grown to like the fact that antiX (harking back to its debian parentage) runs as a standard user, even in live mode.

(not as much as rokytnji,

I approach computers and software and isos like I do wrenching on mechanical stuff.
I use the right tool for the right job.
Simple as that.

Brand loyalty does not make me blindly decide to stick with a square peg trying
to fit into a round hole. Even if I have a pocket knife to shave the square peg.
Hardware determines alot into these decisions.

All that said. I have ran Crunchbang and Semplice and Linux BBQ,
Nothing wrong with any of those distros.
AntiX just shines better to me and is the better tool for the job.

inxi,smxi,sgfxi,personal scripts and .sh files in /usr/local/bin
outshine these other distros. Kernels just work better also and
I always have my hotkeys work OOTB. Developer and Team
Feed back is instantaneous.

YMMV from mine though.

But choice is good. I have been doing this long enough now to where
I can make good choice decisions.

I'll give ya one guess on what will probably run as a frugal install with persistence.
on my Dual Core, 4 gig, Acer Chromebook that is a PITA to hack. It won't be
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. I might have to work harder and break my own rule because other choices are there. But being a team member here. I think it would be cool to post about running AntiX on a Chromebook C710 which are becoming the legacy gear of today.

So I am not even rigid in following my own rules. Semper Gumby. Always Flexible.

Also. I am quite comfy running applications as spot,fido,or rover in Puppy so I am not root all
the time.

I read a lot of your posts at murga forums

Look forward to hearing back from Antix users with some advice. I need a distro that I can setup quickly with minimal fuss. Thanks!!

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Funny a AntiX guy will point you back to a Puppy thread. But I am going by what I underlined since it seems to me that is what fits that statement.
If you want to put some effort in and learn something new
My other would be


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Which Anti mentioned in the beginning of this thread. I am leaving AntiX out through lack of my own experience of running a frugal install with persistence. Other members can cover that ground
better than I can. I'll be interested to see what is said.

Thanks for the quick reply. I can't boot my Dell from a USB stick. It doesn't support it but I will see what I come up with regarding a live CD option with a save file I can keep on one of my HD partitions.

I've been ninja'ed a couple of times but I will post this anyway since it might contain some new information.

IIUC, you want to boot off a CD, run everything from RAM but also be able to use applications you have installed. The best way to do this is with a frugal install which involves copying the linuxfs file (about 700 Meg) from the LiveCD to the hard drive or a usb stick. This would allow you to do a live remaster to update the linuxfs file with new applications you have installed.

A slight variation on this is a hybrid LiveCD/LiveUSB boot where the boot starts with the LiveCD but ends up using a LiveUSB you have created. In both cases (frugal and hybrid) the boot process starts with the LiveCD. You would have to manually type in a parameter when you boot to let us know you want to do a special kind of boot. In antiX-14, the hybrid option will be available in the"F4 Options" boot loader menu, otherwise you would need to enter"from=usb".

Another approach is to boot with the LiveCD and root persistence. In order to set this up you would have to boot the LiveCD and go to the Remaster control centre (RemasterCC) in the desktop menus and run the persist setup program to select a drive and create persistence files. To avoid having to type in an extra parameter on each boot you would also have to use gparted (or some other tool) to change the label on the partition you put the persistence files on. This has all be automated in a patch for antiX-14 alpha-1 which I plan to release today.

The downside of using root persistence only is that all the packages you install will be stored in RAM on every boot. If you want to install a lot of packages then this can eat into available RAM. A live remaster transfers those changes to the linuxfs file so they don't have to be stored in RAM. But since we can't write to a LiveCD, we need to have the linuxfs file on a read-write device, either a LiveUSB, or a hard drive (frugal install).

In the future we could offer a"frugal" boot option that would do an automated frugal installed from a LiveCD just like the automated LiveCD persistence outlined above. The first time it runs, you would select the device you want to put the linuxfs file on and we would copy it over (if it does not already exist) and offer to relabel that partition"antiX-Frugal". On future boots with the"frugal" parameter, the linuxfs file on that partition would be used.

Great post bitjam!

Now could you please post a step by step process of how I go about setting up a save file on my HD so I can boot off a CD and use the RAM based approach?

Thanks so much. Looking forward to trying it out and see if this is what I am looking for. As much as I love Puppy Linux, one of the things that attracted me to Antix was that I have access to the Debian wheezy repos so I know that the apps are tested and are reliable.

You asked about frugal before in this thread.

installing-a-frugal-install-of-antix-t4928.html

Near the end you posted

I think I got it! I was able to boot into the frugal install. How can I know for sure? Where do we go from here regarding persitent boots? Is this where all the fun starts? __{{emoticon}}__

rmcellig wrote:Now could you please post a step by step process of how I go about setting up a save file on my HD so I can boot off a CD and use the RAM based approach?

I'm not certain what you mean by"save file". I'm not familiar with the puppy lingo. For root persistence I thought I gave the instructions:

boot the LiveCD and go to the Remaster control centre (RemasterCC) in the desktop menus and run the persist setup program to select a drive and create persistence files. To avoid having to type in an extra parameter on each boot you would also have to use gparted (or some other tool) to change the label on the partition you put the persistence files on.

In the persist setup program create a rootfs file and perhaps also a homefs file. To run it from the command line use: For the linuxfs file, just create a LiveUSB from the same iso file that you created the LiveCD from. I recommend the Unetbootin program for this. Then have the LiveUSB plugged in when you boot from the LiveCD and add the"from=usb" boot parameter.

If you want to put the linuxfs file on a hard drive instead then boot the LiveCD. Mount the partition. If you're running antiX-13.2 you can have all partitions automatically mounted with"F4 Options" -->"mount all". Let's say it it is mounted at /media/sda1. Then, as root, run these commands:The"*" will also pick up the linuxfs.md5 file so the check md5 feature will work on your frugal install. Reboot and use"from=hd" or"bdev=sda1". Or if you have given that partition a label use"blab=$LABEL".

Thanks bitjam for the clarification. I'll give it a try.

I noticed as well that I have a previous post regarding Antix. I get so confused as to which distro forum I have posted to so I apologize for this duplicate post. Thanks again for your comments and suggestions!!

I'm glad you posted again. The timing was right to give me the idea of a"frugal" option which would automate the manual frugal install I explained above.

Now I don't feel so bad. I would hate to be seen as a pesky Linux user but one who loves to chat with other linux users about how I go about doing things when it comes to linux. Sure I can read online documentation which I do but I like the connection of communicating with people and discussing the issues at hand..

I forgot to mention what a Save file is. It's a file that is saved to a USB stick or HD that contains all the settings and apps when you first use Puppy Linux. You can have multiple save files and select the one you want to use upon system startup. Hope this makes sense. It sounds very similar to what bitjam mentioned above.

Big BTW: Recently, one of our valued users did some speed tests and discovered that his antiX LiveUSB was so darned fast there was little benefit from using the"toram" option. Of course, YMMV depending on the specs of your system and the device you are using for the 2nd part of the boot process.

I don't know how puppy does it but if you do a hybrid boot (LiveCD --> LiveUSB) or a frugal boot (LiveCD --> hard drive) with antIX, we are done using the cd device before the first"Welcome" message hits the screen at the very early stages of the boot process. In fact, the linux system does not even know a LiveCD was involved in the boot and therefore will not offer to eject it for you.

If you are using a usb-1.1 device then"toram" will probably still be useful because 1.1 is very slow. But if you are doing a frugal boot or a hybrid boot to a reasonably fast usb-2.0 device (on a usb-2.0 bus) then"toram" may not be needed.

Here is a screen shot of alpha code doing an automated frugal install. The user selects which partition to install to and answers a yes/no question about labeling that partition. This should work from a LiveUSB as well as a LiveCD and should be compatible with automatic persistence so if"frugal" and persistence are both specified then the frugal install and persistence file creation will both happen on the first boot.

Note that we put the linuxfs file in a directory that includes the kernel name (uname -r) so you can have multiple frugal installs on the same partition. If you try to do an automated frugal install with the same distro, with the same kernel, on the same partition then it will find the existing matching frugal install and use that. It will work fine because the kernels match! This was a key part of the design when we started down this path a few years ago.

I've also included a screen shot of what it looks like to boot after you've done the install. But you don't have to reboot. You get the full frugal system on the very first boot after the install happens.

Great work! I'm looking forward to trying this out!

After a few weeks without Antix, I installed some other distros to see how they behaved on my Dell 3000. I just reinstalled Antix 13.2 full install to my HD (entire HD). We'll see how things go. So far I set up some of my cronjobs and so far they work fine using /usr/bin/arecord. Once I get this going to my satisfaction, I'll setup my fstab file, file sharing and rsync.

I will also take a look at the Antix videos available to refresh my mind as to some of the basics regarding Antix. I would dearly love to keep one distro on this computer and just stop with the linux revolving door of distros. See what happens when you have choice __{{emoticon}}__

I will also attempt to make a boot CD of Antix like I have with Puppy Linux in case I get into trouble. I'll have to read up on how to do this so that I can have something along the lines of a save file on my HD that the CD can refer to on boot up. Fingers crossed.