----- Original Message ----- From: "Kristian Kielhofner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2006 4:59 AM
> Tom Lynn wrote: >> Darick, >> I'm actually quite calm. Thank you for your concern. >> >> I'm waiting for 30-60 days to see what happens with .4 before I >> attempt an installation. Already though, people are assuming things >> like astup will work, while in reality, they're downgrading to .3 if >> they attempt it. >> >> I'll keep an open mind about the upgrade, but do realize that it's >> more pain that was expected. >> > > Tom, > > That is a very good point. However, astup is already fixed (for people > that already have 0.4). > > I am not happy about changing images. However, I am working on > something today (I have a basic version done) that should make you feel > much better. It will GUARANTEE smooth upgrades till... > > Here is how it works: > > - Your CF stays formatted as FAT16 as it is out of the box > > - You install the AstLinux Loader onto the CF (still FAT16 - it is based > on SYSLINUX) > > - You drop a raw AstLinux-ssdsd.img on the disk (in the FAT16 partition, > not on the disk itself) > > - Insert the CF/CD/USB etc and the AstLinux loader will automatically > find the most recent AstLinux image and boot it. > > Eventually I will work in SHA1 checksuming and other more advanced > features. I already have this running now, I just need to work out some > kinks with the keydisk, etc. > > To upgrade AstLinux, all you have to do is download a new .img on your > CF/USB/etc. The loader will detect the new image and boot it > automatically. If you want to boot a specific .img (version, etc) from > the CF, you can pass astimg= on the boot command line (or edit the > syslinux.cfg) file manually. Meanwhile, the .img is still bootable with > GRUB should you not feel comfortable with the whole new loader. > > I am still working on some of the subtle details, but I am getting > there. Input appreciated! Excellent! Staying with a FAT-16 BTW, have a look at how Puppy Linux achieves that same goal (in part, using unionfs): http://www.puppyos.com/flash-puppy.htm http://www.puppyos.com/development/howpuppyworks.html (section "How Puppy works, take 1") Puppy has an X-based GUI, but that's irrelevant to us. And here is a version for USB keydrives, with dual boot capability: native (full speed) for BIOSes who know how to boot FAT-16 partitions from "USB Removable FDD" drives, and QEMU-based (acceptable only on 1.5 GHz Pentium M, excruciatingly slow on 400 MHz Celeron) to run it inside a VM under Windows: http://www.erikveen.dds.nl/qemupuppy/ Cheers -- Enzo _______________________________________________ Astlinux-users mailing list [email protected] http://lists.kriscompanies.com/mailman/listinfo/astlinux-users Donations to support AstLinux are graciously accepted via PayPal to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
