-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Table of Contents -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1. Introduction 2. Minimum Requirements 3. Installation 4. Alternative Installations 5. Notes about Kernels and Modules 6. Starting DragonLinux 7. Configuration Files 8. More Documenation 9. Frequently Asked Questions

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 1. Introduction -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The DragonLinux distribution is an alternative to the major distributions with a more focused purpose.

DragonLinux is not for everyone. It can be used on older machines that need internet access, it can be used for persons new to Linux, and many people find DragonLinux a great way to use Linux on an existing DOS partition for a variety of reasons.

DragonLinux is small and compact in nature. The total file size is around 20 megabytes. If you need more utilities or applications that are not included in the distribution, simply grab them from the nearest internet site and install them!

DragonLinux is a UMSDOS based installation of Linux. It has it's roots in the Slackware distibution. For many users, especially new users, Linux can be difficult to install, especially on an existing DOS partition.

DragonLinux makes it easy to have Linux up and running in no time. For most users it will run "out of the box". If you have SCSI drives, or multiple hard drives & partitions, it can take some minimal configuration.

DragonLinux comes with the standard Linux utilities found in the major distributions. It will support FAT32 partitions, as well as optional PCMCIA support for notebook users. Setting up your internet connection is made easy by the pppsetup configuration tool included with DragonLinux. Of course, the major network applications are included as well. (Telnet, ftp, finger, etc.) For browsing the web, the text mode web browser Lynx is included. If you still use local Bulletin Board Systems, or a dialup shell account with your ISP, you can use the terminal program Minicom. For getting started fast with DragonLinux, there is a built in help system called DragonHelp.

There are drawbacks to using UMSDOS as well. The biggest two are space utilization and preformance. Depending on the partition type (FAT16 or FAT32) and size, even through the total file size is less than 25 megabytes, it can take up to 40 megabytes or more. Using UMSDOS will also make file access slower than with the native Linux file system ext2. Still, depending on your needs, DragonLinux can still be a great option for many people.

Check the DragonLinux homepage for updates, newer versions, support, news, and interaction with other DragonLinux users.

http://members.tripod.com/~dragonlinux/

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 2. Minimum Requirements -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

386 with 4MB of RAM 30-40MB of free hard drive space The desire to run Linux on your system!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 3. Installation -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If you downloaded the Complete package for Windows installation, just run the install.exe from Wwindows, and be sure to decompress the archive in the LINUX directory. (i.e. C:\LINUX, D:\LINUX etc.)

If you are manually installing DragonLinux with the DOS split archive, follow the instructions below:

Make a directory called \LINUX C:\> mkdir LINUX

Change to that directory C:\> cd linux

Copy the archive files C:\> copy c:\temp\dl_iw060.* c:\linux

Run the self extracting EXE C:\LINUX> dl_iw060.exe .... wait while files uncompress...

You're done!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 4. Alternative Installations -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

By default, DragonLinux is setup to run from the first partition of the first ide drive.

If you run SCSI or want another partition you will need to configure some files before running DragonLinux for the first time.

If you need SCSI support, run the SCSI.EXE from the main \LINUX directory. (This file should be in the Optional directory) This will update the files you need to run DragonLinux from a SCSI drive.

A quick note for users with PCMCIA cards: Use the pkgtool utility to install the pcmcia package. Intructions for using the pkgtool are in DragonHelp.

DragonLinux is configured to be installed on the first partition of the first IDE hard drive. (For the vast majority of DragonLinux users, this will be drive C:) If you are installing DragonLinux on a SCSI drive or another DOS partition, you will need to know the Linux device name of the drive you have installed DragonLinux on. Once you know the correct device name, you will need to alter two files.

In \LINUX\LINUX.BAT: Change the /dev/hda1 on the LOADLIN line to the device name where DragonLinux is installed.

Example 1: DragonLinux is installed on the first partition of your primary slave IDE drive: \linux\boot\loadlin \linux\boot\vmlinuz root=/dev/hdb1 rw

Example 2: DragonLinux is installed on the first partition of your first SCSI drive: \linux\boot\loadlin \linux\boot\scsi root=/dev/sda1 rw

In \LINUX\ETC\FSTAB:

Change the /dev/hda1 to the device name where DragonLinux is installed. Take care not to erase the rest of the line and try to preserve its spacing. REMEMBER TO RUN THE 'LF.COM' UTILITY ON THE FSTAB FILE! (See below.) If you fail to do this, the DOS CR/LF sequences will confuse Linux when it reads this file. This may prevent your system from booting.

In the event that you need to edit any files from dos, you must convert your saved file back to UNIX format using the program lf.com. To do this, just issue the command:

lf \linux\etc\filename.{_1

where filename.{_1 is the filename as it appears under DOS.

If you fail to do this, Linux will become confused when it sees the DOS ^M's and will return errors.

You should be able to use any text editor to edit the files.

To use the editor included with DOS:

edit \linux\etc\filename.{_1

where filename.{_1 is the filename as it appears under DOS.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 5. Kernels and Modules -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

DragonLinux currently uses the prebuild kernels and modules available from the Slackware distribution. All standard tools for dealing with modules should be included with DragonLinux. If you think something is missing, please let me know.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 6. Starting DragonLinux -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

To start DragonLinux simply execute the batch file LINUX.BAT located in the \LINUX directory. LINUX.BAT will start the loadlin program which will load the kernel into memory and execute it.

Windows 95 Users:

You will need to be in DOS mode in order to load the kernel using LOADLIN. If you find yourself using DragonLinux frequently, just create a shortcut on your desktop that will run LINUX.BAT in DOS mode.

Windows 3.1 Users:

LOADLIN will not work under Windows 3.1. Quit Windows and start LOADLIN from the DOS prompt.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 8. More Documentaion -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Just type 'dragonhelp' at the prompt after you log in.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 9. Frequently Asked Questions -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

* What do I do at the login prompt?

First you will want to login as root. To do so, enter root as the username. By default, there is no password for root. Be sure to change it if you want to have a secure system.

There is also a default user I created for you. The user name is user. There is not password by default for user, however, even through the user has no special privilges, I would reccomend a passowrd for that account as well.

* Why DragonLinux?

Ever wanted to try Linux? Heard installation was difficult? Don't want to commit a lot of space to Linux? If so, DragonLinux is the answer. DragonLinux makes Linux easy to try. Installaltion is very easy. Fully installed it takes up just 25MB. Afraid it will be hard to uninstall? Just delete the directory. It's that easy.

* What's included?

DragonLinux is a complete Internet ready Linux operating system. Included are tools for netowrking with LANs, SLIP, and PPP. More information on which packages are included will be avaliable soon.

* What is UMSDOS?

DragonLinux is UMSDOS based. UMSDOS is a full-featured UNIX-like file system for Linux. UMSDOS is a way for Linux to co-exist with DOS/Win95 on the same partition. It actually stands for Unix in MS-DOS. With UMSDOS, installation of a functional version of Linux is very easy. More information can be obtained from the UMSDOS-HOWTO from ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs.

* What about a Graphical User Interface(GUI)?

A GUI is not included with DragonLinux. It is possibile to install XFree86 (the GUI for Linux, often referred to as X11, X Windows, or just X) on DragonLinux. There is a HOW-TO included with DragonHelp.

* Can ____ be included in DragonLinux?

In ther interests of keeping DragonLinux small, including everything is not possibile. However, any comments or suggestions as to packages to be included will be considered. Most software written for Linux may be installed on DragonLinux.

* What happened to IronWing and FireMyst?

Those that have used DragonLinux before, know that it was two seprate products: Ironwing and FireMyst. The original archives are still avaliable. DragonLinux 0.6 is actually the last release of IronWing. FireMyst will no longer be updated or maintained. Future releases will be based on IronWing and be known as DragonLinux. DragonLinux 0.7 was completely created from scratch, and newer versions are based on it.

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Obelisk - Karlis Loen - Obelisk@bigfoot.com - UIN: 1589097 DragonLinux Project Lead - http://members.tripod.com/~dragonlinux/

-- Pat Mannix (pmannix@idsi.net), April 01, 1999