Hi Steve, I have read your replies and am digesting. I will have to reread and digest some more and try the action items mentioned below.
I also have to work, so this will have to wait a little while ..... :-) Thanks again, Jim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Wille Padnos" <[email protected]> To: "Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC)" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 11:04 AM Subject: Re: [Emc-users] I was able to boot from the CD, thanks for all the information. > Jim Fleig - CNC Services wrote: > >>Hi Steve, >> >>Thank you for the reply and answers. >> >> > Sure. > >>Questions inserted into your reply below. >> >> > Answers inserted near the questions :) > >>>You can't save a configuration to the CD, >>> >>> >>I'm not arguing. This is a sincere question. If a CD is a R/W CD, would >>it >>be possible to erase some of the applications that are not needed for EMC >>like Games? Would it be possible to erase configuration files that are >>not >>needed and write a configuration to a R/W CD? >> >> > I think Gene had a good description of CDs vs. hard disks, so I'll leave > it there. > >>>but if you have a USB memory >>> >>> >>I do. >> >>>tick, you can make a copy of a config >>> >>> >>Does EMC have to be installed to create a config or can this be done while >>using the CD? >> >> > No, the USB stick is being used like a floppy in this case. You boot > from the liveCD, you do some stuff, and you then put some data files on > the USB stick. > >>>(in your home directory, which will be in ramdisk), >>> >>> >> >>I don't understand the statement about home directory and ramdisk. >> > The "home directory" on a Unix (or Windows) system is where your > personal files go. On Windows it's usually under "Documents and > Settings", then the user name (usually Administrator due to installation > issues :) ). On Ubuntu Linux it's /home/username. This is just a place > where files should be created for you by default, so they don't > interfere with other users. The liveCD is a multiuser system, even > though there will usually only be one person logged in. > > As for ramdisk - remember the days when floppies were really slow, and > some people wanted to use some memory (usually high memory, then later > extended and expanded) to store files, so they wouldn't have to wait for > often-used things to come from disk all the time? That's what I'm > talking about here. Ubuntu basically makes a RAMdisk so that you can > save some files using the liveCD. These will go away when you turn off > the computer, since they're in memory. > >> This is >>what I think I know: computer turns on, bios in a prom on the motherboard >>has a limited set of instructions that the computer follows to locate the >>OS >>that will run the computer, OS is found and takes over computer operation >>(example: XP). When the OS is up and running, then other programs can be >>selected which have commands of their own to use computer resources while >>the OS oversees all of the currently running programs. When a computer >>boots and the bios sees that there is a source of OS in the CD drive or on >>a >>USB channel, it allows that OS to run. >> > So far so good. > >>Here is where it gets fuzzy for me. >>While running the Ubuntu CD it was possible to open the Word Processor >>application. If a document was created while that application was open >>would it be possible to save the document? >> > Yes. > >> If yes, where? >> > If you save it to your home directory (should be the default directory > in the file save dialog), then it will end up in a ramdisk. I don't > know exactly how the ramdisk is set up, so I don't know where else you > can save files. > >> If the CD being >>used were a R/W CD then it would make sense to me (although it might not >>actually work) that the created document could be saved on the CD. It >>doesn't make sense to me (keep in mind that I don't know what I'm talking >>about, I'm just sharing my impression) that created data could be saved >>using the hard drive, a USB memory stick, a floppy drive (yes, I have one >>plugged into a USB port for old stuff I have to reference occassionally) >>or >>a second R/W CD drive. This doesn't make sense to me because I don't >>understand how the OS running on the CD would have the drivers to manage >>the >>USB ports, other CD drives, etc. >> >> > It's a liveCD. Linux is a little different from Windows in that it > actually includes drivers for nearly everything by default. When the CD > boots, it has full networking, USB, mouse, audio, most video, and other > device drivers already present. Only "proprietary" drivers won't be > immediately usable when booted from the CD (these are usually for high > end video cards and the like). > >>>then copy that to the USB stick. Later, when you >>>go to do the demo, you can boot from liveCD, and copy the config back to >>>your ramdisk home directory and select it from the config picker. >>> >>> >>Once I understand the directions above this will probably be as simple for >>me as the file copy and paste that I do so often now. At the moment, I >>don't understand the statement above. What is the ramdisk home directory? >> >> > If you go to the "Places" menu, the first item is "Home Folder". This > is your home folder (for whomever is logged in at the time). When you > plug in a USB stick, a window is likely to open automatically (if not, > it will be under the Places menu also, probably labeled "USB Disk" or > similar). You can drag and drop between them. One thing to note: > middle-drag on Linux is the equivalent of right-drag on Windows, the one > that lets you select copy/move/link/cancel. > >>>There are other ways to do this which are more transparent (things >>>written to the file system automatically end up on the USB stick), but >>>that's a bit harder to set up and is probably not needed for this >>>purpose. >>> >>>- Steve >>> >>> >>Thank you for all of the explanation above. Ideally (I don't know if this >>is possible) it would be possible to send someone a CD, they would boot >>from >>the CD, EMC would auto load, they would be able to follow hardcopy >>instructions that came with the CD and perform manual and MDI functions >>and >>load a program and run it with EMC. Am I dreaming? If no, what is needed >>to make this happen? >> >> > Weeeelll. You can do this, but it's not trivial. I don't know how to > do some of it, but I'm sure it's possible. > First, putting your config on the liveCD: > Under Linux, you can mount the ISO image which is on your hard disk, and > you can copy the new config there. This is done using the loopback > device: mount -o loop -t iso9660 /path/to/livecd.iso /mount/path > I'm not sure what happens to bootable CDs when you do that though, I've > never tried it on a liveCD. Putting your config under the > /etc/emc2/sample-configs/ directory (on the CD) will make it appear in > the config picker. You would of course need to burn the modified ISO > image to a CD. > The livdCD already does auto-login, so getting EMC2 to run should be as > simple as adding a line or two to a config file. I don't know which one > though :) > > As I said, I'm not sure what happens to a bootable ISO image when you > modify it using the loopback method. The more complex route is to do > the whole process of creating a liveCD, but that's a royal pain to get > going. > > You can also make a bootable USB stick, if the machines you want to demo > on are capable of booting from USB. There are instructions around for > installing to a USB stick, which makes your home directory persistent > across reboots (and across machines). Sam Sokolik used these at one > point > <http://www.ryancloke.com/ubuntu-804-hardy-heron-live-usb-how-to/>, > suitably modified to use the EMC2 liveCD. Les Newell recently > documented installation to a flash drive, which should be similar for > USB (maybe - I haven't read that one) > <http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl?Install_To_CompactFlash>. > >>Thanks again for all of the answers. This is an area where I obviously am >>uneducated but willing to learn. :-) >> >> > Aren't we all? > > Err - well, you know :) > > - Steve > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Create and Deploy Rich Internet Apps outside the browser with > Adobe(R)AIR(TM) > software. With Adobe AIR, Ajax developers can use existing skills and code > to > build responsive, highly engaging applications that combine the power of > local > resources and data with the reach of the web. Download the Adobe AIR SDK > and > Ajax docs to start building applications > today-http://p.sf.net/sfu/adobe-com > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Create and Deploy Rich Internet Apps outside the browser with Adobe(R)AIR(TM) software. 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