swap partition on new linux install

[brjames]

My work wants me to to set up Suse Linux on a computer (Suse because they have this IBM mainframe which can do Linux virtual machines that they would like to use and Suse is the brand of linux on it). The computer they want me to put it on is outrageously old. Only 32MB of memory and it doesnt even have a CD-ROM. I think I understand how to install off of an ftp server (I got the floppy images and all that), but when it comes time to actually install, since Suse needs 96 MB of memory, it says to enter the path to the Linux swap file (the example is /dev/sda).

How can I set one up? I cant find any options in the installer before I get to this point of where to set up partitions. If I did set up a partition, would i need to mount it? Currently the machine has windows 95 on it.

 

[Fencer128]

Originally posted by: brjames
My work wants me to to set up Suse Linux on a computer (Suse because they have this IBM mainframe which can do Linux virtual machines that they would like to use and Suse is the brand of linux on it). The computer they want me to put it on is outrageously old. Only 32MB of memory and it doesnt even have a CD-ROM. I think I understand how to install off of an ftp server (I got the floppy images and all that), but when it comes time to actually install, since Suse needs 96 MB of memory, it says to enter the path to the Linux swap file (the example is /dev/sda).

How can I set one up? I cant find any options in the installer before I get to this point of where to set up partitions. If I did set up a partition, would i need to mount it? Currently the machine has windows 95 on it.

I'm no expert - but if the swap is required pre-format, then can it be a remote swap on another machine? I don't know whether swap can be shared like that or whether you'd need to make an unused swap partition.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[brjames]

Originally posted by: Fencer128

Originally posted by: brjames
My work wants me to to set up Suse Linux on a computer (Suse because they have this IBM mainframe which can do Linux virtual machines that they would like to use and Suse is the brand of linux on it). The computer they want me to put it on is outrageously old. Only 32MB of memory and it doesnt even have a CD-ROM. I think I understand how to install off of an ftp server (I got the floppy images and all that), but when it comes time to actually install, since Suse needs 96 MB of memory, it says to enter the path to the Linux swap file (the example is /dev/sda).

How can I set one up? I cant find any options in the installer before I get to this point of where to set up partitions. If I did set up a partition, would i need to mount it? Currently the machine has windows 95 on it.

I'm no expert - but if the swap is required pre-format, then can it be a remote swap on another machine? I don't know whether swap can be shared like that or whether you'd need to make an unused swap partition.



Cheers,

Andy

I dont think that would work (mainly because there is no other linux system to store a swap drive on). If there was a network swap drive, woulid I have to configure the nfs server to accept anonymous connections?
For a non-network swap partition I'm guessing I'll have to boot to fdisk or something to create this swap partition beforehand, but I'm not sure how that would work.
I suppose I should have stated this in my previous post, but I am a complete Linux newb.

Thanks,
James

 

[Fencer128]

I dont think that would work (mainly because there is no other linux system to store a swap drive on). If there was a network swap drive, woulid I have to configure the nfs server to accept anonymous connections?
For a non-network swap partition I'm guessing I'll have to boot to fdisk or something to create this swap partition beforehand, but I'm not sure how that would work.
I suppose I should have stated this in my previous post, but I am a complete Linux newb.

Thanks,
James

Well, it seems the swap idea is out! (I'm not an NFS expert either!)

Good luck with it - I'll be watching your thread myself to learn if this can be done.

Cheers,

Andy

EDIT: Are you sure 96MB is required pre-install completion? Have you tried to install and seen what happens?

 

[lowtech1]

Mount a cdrom on the Win95-desktop and install, or do a network install.

Another thing that you have to do is install a lighter weight Windows manager instead of KDE/Gnome, or an older version of Linux due to ram constrain. take a look at Morphix LightGUI to give you some idea.

 

[brjames]

Yes, I have tried installing.
The sequence is
Start install
load Linux kernel
load necessary modules (like the network module for the nic)
IP configuration
ftp connect
then it asks for the path to the swap drive

 

[cleverhandle]

So you need to use fdisk to create the swap partition before you start. You might be able to get a prompt from the SuSe disk by hitting Ctrl-Alt-F2. Otherwise find some boot disks online. Run fdisk, create a 64 MB partition for swap, and set it to type 82 (Linux swap). Take note of the name of the swap partition (e.g. /dev/sda1), and enter that later in the installation. Possibly you should run mkswap /dev/sda1 manually, but the install will probably do that for you.

 

[brjames]

Originally posted by: cleverhandle
So you need to use fdisk to create the swap partition before you start. You might be able to get a prompt from the SuSe disk by hitting Ctrl-Alt-F2. Otherwise find some boot disks online. Run fdisk, create a 64 MB partition for swap, and set it to type 82 (Linux swap). Take note of the name of the swap partition (e.g. /dev/sda1), and enter that later in the installation. Possibly you should run mkswap /dev/sda1 manually, but the install will probably do that for you.

Sounds like good advice, Ill try it in the morning (when I go back to work)
Thanks

 

[brjames]

Haha! Thanks cleverhandle, your advice was the perfect answer to my problem. I got BasicLinux, booted that off of a floppy, and used fdisk to create the linux swap partition. I did in fact have to run the mkswap command (Suse installer off of floppies doesnt do it automatically).

Thanks so much,
I'll be back if I need more help

 

[Abzstrak]

you could just get them to buy $20 of RAM.... it'll make the machine alot faster too

 

[simonsky]

If this is your first experience with linux, you might not like it.

I just installed Mandrake 9.1 on an old NEC workstation (Pentium Pro 120, 96M RAM) last week and actually using it was a major pain.
Even windowmaker (wich is pretty lightweight compared to KDE/GNOME) was running like a slug. Loading the package list to add packages post-installs took upward of 5 minutes.

Copying the RPMs to hard disk on commandline (cp /mnt/cdrom/mandrak/RPMS/* /home/MDK/) took 10-15 minutes per CD.

 

[Nothinman]

If you want a GUI it's not even worth trying to install on a system like that.