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340Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionTable 11-3Boot Options to Fix Video ProblemsOptionResultknoppix noddcNo Display Data Channel (DDC) detection of monitor. knoppix screen=??Pick X screen resolution. Replace ??with 640 480,800 600, 1024 768, 1280 1024, or any other resolutionsupported by your video card. knoppix xvrefresh=60Set vertical refresh rate to 60 Hz for X (or other value asspecified by monitor s manual). knoppix xhrefresh=80Set horizontal refresh rate to 80 Hz for X (or other value asspecified by monitor s manual). knoppix xserver=??Replace ??with X-Server: XFree86or XF86_SVGA. knoppix xmodule=??Select the specific driver to use for your video card. Replace??with one of the following: ati, fbdev, i810, mga, nv, radeon, savage, s3radeon, svga, or i810. knoppix 2Runlevel 2, Textmode only. knoppix vga=normalNo-framebuffer mode, but X. knoppix fb1280×1024Use fixed framebuffer graphics (1). knoppix fb1024×768Use fixed framebuffer graphics (2). knoppix fb800×600Use fixed framebuffer graphics (3). Customize KNOPPIXSeveral boot options exist that tell KNOPPIX to look for a customized home directoryor configuration information on hard disk or floppy. See the Customize KNOPPIX section later in this chapter for information on how to both customize KNOPPIXand tell KNOPPIX where to look for customized information at boot time. (Unlessthey were created from KNOPPIX, most other Linux distributions will not use theseboot options.) Special Features and WorkaroundsOther boot options are described in the knoppix-cheatcodes.txtfile mentionedearlier. Things you can do with boot options include changing the splash screenwhen KNOPPIX boots, running in expert mode so you can load your own drivers, selecting to run either a 2.4 or 2.6 kernel, testing your computer s RAM, and tryingto overcome special problems with laptop computers.

339Chapter 11Running KNOPPIXIf there is hardware being improperly detected or configured, you can have KNOP- PIX skip over that hardware. Table 11-2 contains options for skipping or turning offvarious hardware features: Table 11-2Boot Options to Turn Off HardwareOptionResultknoppix atapicdNo SCSI-Emulation for IDE CD-ROMs. knoppix noagpNo detection of AGP graphics card. knoppix noapicDisable Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller(canovercome some problems on SMP computers). knoppix acpi=offDisable Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI). knoppix noapmNo Advanced Power Management support. (With a workingacpi, apmwill be off by default. Only one can be active atatime.) knoppix noaudioNo sound support. knoppix nodhcpDon t try to start your network connection automaticallyviaDHCP. knoppix fstabDon t read the fstabfile to find file systems to mountorcheck. knoppix firewireNo detection of Firewire devices. knoppix nopcmciaNo detection of PCMCIA card slots. knoppix noscsiNo detection of SCSI devices. knoppix noswapNo detection of swap partitions. knoppix nousbNo detection of USB devices. knoppix pnpbios=offDon t initialize plug-and-play (PnP) in the BIOS. knoppix failsafeDo almost no hardware detection. Table 11-3 lists options that may help if you are having trouble with your videocard. Several of these options are particularly useful if you are having trouble withX on a laptop.

338Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionSome boot options are available with which you can try to overcome differentissues at boot time. KNOPPIX refers to these options as cheat codes.For a morecomplete list, refer to the file knoppix-cheatcodes.txt, which you ll find in theKNOPPIXdirectory when you mount the CD or the DVD that comes with this bookon any operating system. Many boot options can be used with different Linux systems. So if you are havingtrouble installing or booting a different Linux distribution, you can try any of theseoptions to see if they work. Instead of the word knoppix, you will probably use adifferent word to launch the install or boot process for other distributions (such as linux for Red Hat Linux systems or morphix for Morphix Live-CD, depending onthe distribution). When KNOPPIX first begins the boot process, you see the boot screen, with theboot:prompt at the bottom. The following tables provide boot prompt optionsthat can help you get KNOPPIX running the way you like. Table 11-1 shows optionsto use when you want specific features turned on that may not be turned on bydefault when you boot. Table 11-1Boot Options to Select FeaturesOptionFeatureknoppix lang=??Choose a specific language/keyboard. Replace??with one of the following: cn, de, da, es, fr, it, nl, pl, ru, sk, tr, tw, or us. knoppix desktop=??Instead of using the KDE desktop (kde), replace??with one of the following window managers: fluxbox, icewm, larswm, twm, wmaker, or xfce. knoppix blindStart BrailleTerminal (running without X). knoppix brltty=type,port,tableAdd parameters to use for the Braille device. knoppix wheelmouseFor a wheel mouse, enable IMPS/2 protocol. knoppix nowheelmouseFor a regular PS/2 mouse, force PS/2 protocol. knoppix keyboard=us xkeyboard=usAssign different keyboard drivers to use withtext (shell) and graphical (X). knoppix dmaTurn on DMA acceleration for all IDE drives. knoppix alsaSelect either of these two notations to select knoppix alsa=es1938to use the ALSA driver (do at your own risk). Note18_

337Chapter 11Running KNOPPIXBooting KNOPPIXIf you have a PC in front of you that meets the requirements, you can get started byfollowing these steps: 1.Insert your KNOPPIX DVD or CD into the appropriate drive. 2.Reboot the computer. After a few moments, you will see the boot screen. Although the boot screens look different for the Linux Bible DVD and a regularKNOPPIX CD, you can proceed with the boot process the same way. 3.Press Enter. If all goes well, you should see the KNOPPIX desktop, and you canproceed to the Using KNOPPIX section. If KNOPPIX doesn t boot up properlyor if you want to tune it further before it boots, continue on to the next section. Correcting Boot ProblemsBy understanding a bit about the boot process you will, in most cases, be able toovercome any problems you might have installing KNOPPIX. Here are some thingsyou should know: .Check boot order Your computer s BIOS has a particular order in which itlooks for bootable operating systems. A typical order would be floppy, CD orDVD, and hard disk. If your computer skips over the KNOPPIX boot disk andboots right from hard disk, make sure that the boot order in the BIOS is set toboot from CD or DVD. To change the BIOS, restart the computer and as it firstboots the hardware enter Setup (quickly) as instructed (usually by pressingF1, F2, or DEL). Look for a selection to change the boot order so that your CDor DVD boots before the hard disk. .Make boot floppies If your computer still can t boot from CD or DVD, youcan create two floppy boot disks to start the boot process. To create thefloppy boot disks from a running KNOPPIX system, run the mkbootfloppycommand that is on the KNOPPIX disk (it automatically finds the floppyimages and tells you when to put in the floppy disks). To create KNOPPIXfloppy disks on other operating systems, refer to the KNOPPIX Boot FloppyHow To (www.knoppix.net/docs/index.php/BootFloppyHowTo). .Add boot options Instead of just letting the boot process autodetect andconfigure everything about your hardware, you can add options to the bootprompt that will override what KNOPPIX autoconfiguration might do. Press F2from the boot prompt to see additional boot options. Note18_

336Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionStarting KNOPPIXIt s supposed to be easy to start KNOPPIX. With KNOPPIX in hand, all you reallyneed is a PC that meets the minimum specifications. Getting a ComputerIf you are ready to start KNOPPIX, there are a few things I recommend. .A PC You need a PC that meets the minimal processor and memory require- ments I describe a bit later. There are no hard disk space requirements sinceyou don t need to touch the hard disk. However, to get better performance onlow-RAM systems, you might want to create a swap partition on hard disk toenable you to run more processes (as described later). .Permission to reboot KNOPPIX is going to take over operation of the PC, soyou need to be sure that it s okay to reboot it. Make sure that nobody else iscurrently using the computer or relying on it to be accessible over a network. .Internet connection (optional) It isn t necessary, but if your computer hasan Ethernet card and a connection to the Internet, you can immediately startusing KNOPPIX to browse the Web and otherwise take advantage of its commu- nications tools. KNOPPIX will try to detect a DHCP server (to get an IP addressand other information) and automatically configure itself to use the Internetor other network that is available. The system requirements for running KNOPPIX are much lower than you need formost of the latest Linux systems. According to Klaus Knopper, you need: .CPU Intel-compatible i486 or better. .RAM 20MB (for text mode), 82MB (for graphics mode with KDE), or 128MB(to also run most office applications). .Bootable Drive (DVD drive to use the DVD or CD to use a CD) KNOPPIX isable to boot from drives that are IDE/ATAPI, Firewire, USB, or SCSI (providedthat your computer can boot from those devices). Otherwise, you can createa boot floppy to start the process of booting KNOPPIX (described later). If youhave a DVD drive, you can boot KNOPPIX directly from the DVD that comeswith this book. .Graphics card Must be SVGA-compatible. .Mouse Supports any standard serial mouse, PS/2 mouse, or IMPS/ 2-compatible USB mouse.

335Chapter 11Running KNOPPIX .Your own, portable operating system You don t have to carry around a lap- top or whole PC to make sure you have the software you need. Instead, youcan use any PC that is available (with the exception of some unsupportedhardware) and boot your whole computing environment with a single CD orfloppy. By customizing your own KNOPPIX, you can add your own data andpick and choose applications as well. .A tool for managing data on any PC You can bypass the operating systemand other software on any computer and use the applications on your KNOPPIXdisk to manage the data on that computer. Of course, these concepts are not exclusive to KNOPPIX because you could concep- tually do the same thing with any boot floppy since the days of DOS (as well as anyother bootable Linux). The difference is that KNOPPIX does those things so well. Itlets you take over a computer, not just with a tiny rescue disk capable of running afew obtuse commands, but with at full-scale desktop, server, and administrativetool kit operating system. With that in mind, here are some ways people are usingKNOPPIX: .Showing off Linux A demo can lack some punch when you have to spendan hour installing before you can make your point. With KNOPPIX, it can takeabout five minutes from the time you tell your friend about Linux to the timeyou have a complete desktop system running on his PC. And in the process, youdon t have to worry about harming anything on his computer because you don teven need to touch his hard disk. .Testing a computer for Linux Instead of getting halfway through an install tosee if your PC is capable of running Linux, you can boot KNOPPIX. If it works, you can check to see what drivers were loaded to deal with your hardware(type lsmodfrom a shell) and then go ahead and install any Linux you like tothe hard disk. .Rescuing a computer or network Many tools for tracking down and fixingproblems on both Linux and Windows systems are included in KNOPPIX. Thereis also a Knoppix-STD edition that includes dozens more tools for rescuingbroken systems and tracing network problems (see www.knoppix-std.org). .Taking over a broken server If a Web server, file server, or firewall hasbeen hacked or otherwise broken, you might be able to use KNOPPIX to safelyserver the data from a KNOPPIX boot disk while you fix the problem. .Doing anything you want For those of us who have gotten used to usingLinux, it s a pain to go somewhere and have to do work or make a presenta- tion on a computer that doesn t have the tools you need. By bringing thewhole operating system, all your software tools and sometimes even yourdata (with a customized CD, separate floppy, or downloaded files), your computing environment can be the same wherever you go. Now that you have some idea of what to do with KNOPPIX, let s get started.

334Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionSeeing Where KNOPPIX Comes FromKNOPPIX was created by Klaus Knopper in Germany. Knopper follows in the greattradition of naming a distribution using a part of the creator s own name with ix or ux stuck on the end. While a groundswell of interest and support has appeared for KNOPPIX in the pastyear or so, Knopper himself thinks of KNOPPIX more as a collection of tools he needsthan as a full Linux distribution. Knopper works to provide only software that canbe distributed freely, for both noncommercial and commercial use. So he doesn teven include some free software (such as browser plug-ins) that might restrict freeredistribution, although he doesn t object to including non open source softwarethat can still be freely distributed. There is no big company behind KNOPPIX, and development efforts continue to beheaded up by Knopper himself. There are, however, many people who contributebug reports and enhancements requests (see www.knoppix.net/bugs), and thereare other developers who have helped create software specifically for KNOPPIX(inparticular, Fabian Franz who, among other things, has contributed significantwork to KNOPPIX installer-related features). The only official KNOPPIX Web site is Knopper s own personal site: www.knopper. net/knoppix. The closest thing to an official community is a mailing list (mailman. linuxtag.org/mailman/listinfo/debian-knoppix) set up at LinuxTag.org withKnopper s blessing. LinuxTag hosts the LinuxTag Conference and Expo, which isaleading Linux and free software conference in Europe. For the 2004 conference, LinuxTag produced a special edition of KNOPPIX on DVD that held more than 5GBof software. If you are looking for a way to get information and become involved with otherswho use and develop the system, the Knoppix.net site offers a very active forumand links to information about other KNOPPIX resources. It s a great place not onlyto get your questions answered, but also to find a wealth of links to FAQs, HOWTOs, and related projects. There is also an IRC channel (#knoppix on irc.freenode.net) and a Wiki used primarily to gather documentation (www.knoppix.net/docs/). If you are considering creating your own customized distribution, tools for that purpose are currently under development and may be included with versions ofKNOPPIX by the time you read this text. In the meantime, you can check out someremaster tools at http://debian.tu-bs.de/knoppix/remaster/. You can find outabout versions that have already been created from the KNOPPIX Customizationspage: www.knoppix.net/docs/index.php/KnoppixCustomizations. Exploring Uses for KNOPPIXBecause there is so much you can do with KNOPPIX, it s hard to narrow my mindenough to give a few specific examples. So, let s start with a few concepts to helpthink about what you can do with KNOPPIX:

333Chapter 11Running KNOPPIXSee Chapter 17 for information on using a bootable Linux as a firewall/router andChapter 18 for descriptions of many other bootable Linux distributions. Examining Challenges with KNOPPIXFor most people, KNOPPIX is a special-use Linux system. It s a great way to try Linuxor to access a computer that isn t set up the way you like. However, there are a fewchallenges with using KNOPPIX that you should keep in mind: .Reboot clears out KNOPPIX Unless you save your data to some other media(which you can do, as I describe later in this chapter), the entire KNOPPIXsystem goes away when you reboot. That means files on the desktop, installedsoftware, system configuration, and anything else you do during your KNOPPIXsession will be gone unless you explicitly save that information to a hard diskor some removable medium (floppy, CD, and so on). .Memory limitations KNOPPIX is made to be able to run without touchingyour hard disk, so when you save files to KNOPPIX, they are (by default) storedin your computer s memory (RAM). On my desktop system, which has 512MBof RAM, KNOPPIX assigned about 3MB to the root (/) partition and 396MB toramdisk (to provide space in the /var and /homedirectories, where data isnormally stored). So there is only about 100MB left to hold all the runningapplications. .Performance hits Even with today s faster CD and DVD drives, it s stillslower getting data from CDs and DVDs than it is getting them from a localhard disk. Almost every component needed to run KNOPPIX (commands, libraries, and so on) is grabbed from the CD or DVD and decompressed on- the-fly. So it can take a bit longer to run commands with KNOPPIX than itwould to run them from hard disk. (Watch the blinking light on your CD orDVD drive to see how often KNOPPIX goes there to get data.) .Uses your CD/DVD drive Because KNOPPIX relies so heavily on data fromthe CD or DVD, you can t remove it while you are using the system. So, if youhave only one drive for removable media, you can t use it to access a musicCD, install from another software disk, or burn data while you are using KNOPPIX. Tiny multimedia players such as GeeXboX and MoviX can run totally from memorybecause they have very limited, specific functions. So you can put in a music CD orvideo CD or DVD to play content after the bootable Linux is loaded. I must admit that the challenges described here are more of an explanation of howKNOPPIX works than they are problems with KNOPPIX itself. The idea that you canrun a full-blown desktop and server operating system from a single CD (with nearly2GB of available applications) is an awesome concept for someone who still remem- bers DOS and character terminals. NoteCross- Reference18_

332Part IIIChoosing and Installing a Linux DistributionFor hardware that can t be detected, there are many boot options you can addto properly identify (or skip over) selected hardware devices. Some of themdeal with particularly sticky issues related to video cards and running on lap- top computers. (See Tables 11-1 through 11-3.) .Automatic desktop startup Instead of just dropping you to a command line, KNOPPIX does its best to start up a complete KDE desktop environment. Alongthe way, it adds some nice features, such as desktop icons giving you accessto your computer s hard disk partitions. .Configuration tools Some hardware either can t be perfectly detected orrequires some extra setup. You can access KNOPPIX-specific configuration toolsfor configuring your printer, TV card, sound card, network connections, andother features by clicking the desktop icon that looks like a squished penguin. .Save setup You don t have to lose the configuration you have done forKNOPPIX every time you reboot. Click the configuration icon to save yourconfiguration including your personal desktop configuration, files on thedesktop, network settings, and graphics setup (X) to floppy disk. .Persistent desktop You also can use the configuration icon to create a per- sistent KNOPPIX home directory on your hard disk or other medium so thatyou can store and reuse your desktop setup information and any data yousave from session to session. (See the Creating a Persistent Home Directory section later in this chapter for details on setting up a persistent desktop.) .Add swap If you are using KNOPPIX from a computer with Linux installed, itautomatically uses a swap partition that is set up there. On DOS and Windowssystems, KNOPPIX enables you to create an extra swap area if you have spaceon an available DOS partition. (The mkdosswapfilecommand is used for thispurpose.) .Work with Windows files KNOPPIX cannot include Microsoft Windowsdrivers for using Windows file systems (NTFS), but it provides a utility thatenables you to install those drivers (providing you have legal rights to usethem). The drivers enable you to safely read and write files from your harddisk if you are booting KNOPPIX from a PC with Windows installed. For example, say that you have your entire music collection, images down- loaded from your digital camera, and personal Web pages on your hard diskon a computer that was set up to be booted by Microsoft Windows XP. Youboot KNOPPIX instead (notice that Microsoft Windows is not running at all). Suddenly your hard disk is just a place that holds a lot of files. You can now useapplications that come with KNOPPIX to open the files on your hard disk toplay the music, view or manipulate images, and display or change Web pages. A testament to how well KNOPPIX is respected is how many other bootable Linux dis- tributions are based on it. The KNOPPIX project even provides a KNOPPIX-customizepackage that lets anyone make his own customized KNOPPIX. There are specializedKNOPPIX derivatives that can be used to rescue a broken computer, play a range ofmultimedia content, or run a specific application.

331Chapter 11Running KNOPPIX .Administrative tools A nice set of system and network administration toolsthat enables you to do some pretty advanced setup, monitoring, and debuggingof your computer and network. (The Knoppix-STD distribution is configuredspecifically as a rescue CD to do almost anything you could imagine to checkand fix your computer and network.) .Servers A few of the powerful server projects available for Linux, many ofwhich don t require a lot of disk space: a Web server (Apache), FTP server(FTPd), file server (NFS), Window file/print server (Samba), proxy server(Squid), DNS server (bind9), login server (sshd), and DHCP server (dhcpd). Using KNOPPIX (or any other bootable server Linux systems described in Chapter 18) as a server opens some amazing possibilities for serving the data from a Windowsor other operating system to a network, while completely bypassing that operatingsystem on the computer s hard disk. .Programming tools A good set of tools for developing software across avariety of programming environments. KNOPPIX is based on Debian Linux, so a Debian user will be particularly comfort- able with the selection and organization of features. KNOPPIX software packagesare also done in deb package format, so you can use apt, dpkg, and related tools tolist and otherwise manage the packages. Refer to Chapter 9 for information on using apt and dpkg tools for managing soft- ware in Debian. Even if you don t install any new software, those tools provide anexcellent way to search, list, or even upgrade software packages that are runningin KNOPPIX. What s Cool About KNOPPIXThe features just described are ones that come with many different Linux distribu- tions. What makes them special with KNOPPIX is that you can often be up and usingthose features within a few minutes without having to repartition your disk, installsoftware, or do any configuration. For just trying out Linux or using it for some spe- cial, quick task you want to do, KNOPPIX is quite awesome. Some features, however, are specific to KNOPPIX (as compared to a Linux systemyou would run from a hard disk). Many of those special features are there to helpyou through issues that relate to the fact that you are not working in a permanentsetup. In particular, KNOPPIX includes the following: .Extraordinary hardware detection The capability to properly detect andconfigure hardware is one of the best features. During the boot-up procedure, KNOPPIX finds most common PC hardware components and loads the propermodules so it can use them. Its hwsetup tool relies on the Red Hat libkudzufacility to identify hardware, load appropriate modules, and create necessarydevice files. NoteNote18_