LILO success, ALSA, wireless

[tempestuous]

Hi Puppy users,
I'm new to this distribution and have just started exploring its installation and customisation nuances.
I want to run a small Linux OS in ramdisk (my Pentium300 laptop has its maximum 128MB RAM) and Puppy seems to offer more full-featured applications than the other small distros I have tried.

In my adventure so far I have successfully installed Puppy to hard drive, both as option1-ramdisk-"PoorMansInstall" and option2-full install.
I see on the forums that LILO problems abound, so I had to work out LILO for myself. It now works, and I can boot both installs in this drive setup -

hda2 ext2 LILO+Debian
hda3 linux swap
hda5 ext2 Puppy option2 install
hda6 fat32 Puppy option1 install

Wow, the full install boots in less than 20 seconds.
The ramdisk install takes longer to boot, of course, and it's a little disconcerting that the display remains blank while the initial ramdisk loads.
My only problem is that Xvesa won't work properly on my laptop's Neomagic display.
Next I will try Puppy Unleashed, and hopefully replace Xvesa with Xfbdev or Xfree.

Eventually, there are 2 features I insist on having - ALSA, and Prism2 wireless support via linux-wlan-ng.

I have already installed these on various Linux distros (Fedora, Debian, DamnSmall) in a variety of ways (from source, from deb, or just copied from distro to distro) so I generally know what's involved. But rather than just "hack" my way around Puppy and end up with a result that helps only me, should I contribute some tips somewhere on this forum so that other more knowlegeable people can add these packages for the benefit of all Puppy users?

Craig S

[Ian]

Craig, that sounds like a good idea, you could also have a look at the Puppy Wiki and maybe post some things there.
All contributions help Puppy grow and are greatly appreciated.

[Lobster]

Craig you should post in the wiki as Ian says

(even the comments area is fine - as it will eventually be grabbed and stuck on the page or somewhere if of use)

Here on the forum Cutting edge is not only for Super Pups - even the ignorant like me are able to offer something . . . You seem to have useful knowledge - so would be very welcome. Barry has very wisely bought some new wifi equipment and would welcome tips I am sure.

Also ALSA is something that is (Barry has admitted) a mystery and so an intro to this and any specialised tips would we welcome.

Now that Puppy is using 1.0.3 my recording facility just worked again (it was buzzing before)

Welcome to the Kennel Club
Woof Woof

[tempestuous]

OK,
I just registered on the Wiki page.
I think I posted a comment about ALSA, but now I can't see it anywhere, and there's reference to different categories which I never saw before.
Sorry, I can't work out the Wiki process.
Any easy tips?
Craig

[Lobster]

OK,
Sorry, I can't work out the Wiki process.
Any easy tips?
Craig

Some people were unable to register - so well done
I have added this to your page (choose edit to see the code)

Code: Select all

[[ALSAPage ALSA]] 

If you click on the ALSA link you will have a blank Page
Write what you want then use highlight with the mouse and Bold and [[ALSAPage ALSA]] and indent if you want using the icons - just like a WP really . . .

- preview when you want
store when you are happy

Hope that gets you going . . .

[Guest]

have you had a play around with hostap for Prism2 chipsets.......It will allow you to run a linux box as a Acess Point, Wireless\Wired bridge

[tempestuous]

Thanks. I knew the Prism chipset had basic firmware support for Host AP mode, but I'm not interested in using my laptop as an access point. I have a Netgear wireless router for that purpose.