How can I install PuppyLinux?

[Confused Computer User]

I came across a Compaq Presario 4402 with a Pentium 133MHz and 75MB RAM. It has about 1.6GB of memory but I want to put a 20GB drive in it. Also it has a floppy disk and CD player. I don’t care about the original OS and I want to format it and simply put Puppy Linux on it. However there is a problem. I can’t access the bios and I’ve tried every possible key combination possible as well as Esc, Del, F1 to F12 and nothing (F10 does work but it takes me a Compaq utility program but that program has doesn’t allow me to change anything in the bios, at least not the boot-up priority) . This is because the bios for older Compaq desktops was in a separate partition on the hard drive. So, if that partition is damaged or corrupted you can’t access it or so I think. Now I just want to install Puppy Linux and format anything that was there before. So the questions that I have to ask are:
Can I run Puppy Linux install given the resources listed above?
How can I format the hard drive and Install/run Puppy Linux without access to bios?
Any links would be very helpful. Thank you in advance.

PS. The other system that's on the hard disk doesn't load.

[bvw1705]

I believe that in order to change your Compaq bios you need a floppy disk with Compaq set up routine.
Search for it on the net or contact your local Compaq dealer. You should be able to get a copy, this machine being pretty old and hence not suitable for new fancy XP and Vista.
Also you said that hard disk does not load,see if you can access it via floppy with DOS or Win98 start up disk. You may be wasting your time if the HDD is crook, unless you are prepared to replace it. Win 98 starup disk Option "Without CD room support", loads in to RAM and if loaded gives you access to FDISK. routine to check and setup your DOS partitions.
If you can do this your system would be OK to set up Puppy.
Also you can configure and build your HDD on another, more friendly computer and then plug it back in the Compaq and most likely it would work.

Brian.

[oblivious]

You could try making a boot floppy as described here:
http://www.puppylinux.org/~whodo/wiki/h ... tingfromcd

[Confused Computer User]

Thank you Brian and Oblivious. i'll try what you sugested and see what hapens

[Confused Computer User]

Ok...I tried putting the hard disk in another computer that had a bios like oblivious said but I couldn’t figure out how to do it. The computer is kind of old and I’m still trying to get some files from it so I’m cautious about doing something too invasive. The Boot Puppy I did not try since it specifies that it works with PuppyLinux 1 or 2. Since I’m planning on installing Puppy Linux 4 (Dingo) I’m not sure how it could help. Keep in mind I’m not able to write program code. Also I wanted to create a boot floppy but I can’t find my Win98 CD. Is there a way of getting a boot floppy (start up disk) from the internet?

[chris667]

I'd start by taking the old hard disk out of your computer, and installing the new one. That way you can install it in another machine as a second disk and copy the files over at your leisure.
You can get software to reinstall your BIOS setup from http://www.compaq.com/. Click support, then enter your model number. They've got an excellent website.
I think puppy will be OK, but will be frustratingly slow for anything big like Seamonkey. Forget watching youtube videos. You could view web pages through Elinks or Netsurf OK though.
Where are you? I'll post you a boot floppy if you're local. PM me.

[Bruce B]

My advice is:

Keep the Compaq setup utility. Keep it as it is and where it is.

I uploaded a simple floppy disk utility called oldbios, which will allow you to make a floppy from DOS for booting the Compaq from the CD-ROM drive.

If you swap drives, put an exact copy of bios/setup partition on the new drive, in the same relative location as the original.

If the new drive is to be in addition to the existing Compaq drive, this step will not be required.

[Bruce B]

A (problem maybe) with oldbios is it is easier than any aforementioned methods.

* it doesn't require any boot managers or learning

* it doesn't care if or how the floppy disk is formatted

* it presumes that you don't have a way to convert a floppy image to a floppy disk

* it presumes DOS or Windows and an unzipping utility

* if Linux then the dd command is at your disposal for disk creation.

* it requires no decisions or user interaction

* when you want to boot from CD, simply insert the floppy

[urban soul]

here is what scroogle knows about old compaq computers and BIOS:

http://kb.iu.edu/data/aiui.html
http://kb.iu.edu/data/acbq.html

The required boot floppy can be found on compaqs website, i guess (or somewhere else / desk drawer?):
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/Te ... t/Home.jsp

You cant boot from CD if you unplug any HD, can you?

Urban

[Bruce B]

I was not joking when I implied easy may be a problem.

A (problem maybe) with oldbios is it is easier than any aforementioned methods.

What is easier? For that matter what is more practical? Leave the hard drive in and boot the CD-ROM Disc or remove the hard disk to do it? Not to mention that a removed hard drive is hard to work with.

[Confused Computer User]

I’ve been on the Compaq site more than once but there is no BIOS recovery or install program so I’m lost. If I have a start up diskette can I just install Puppy Linux without worrying about the BIOS. I say this since I have tried out a drive inside the computer that had win 98 on it and even though the Hard disk was not the original hard disk that came with the computer it still booted up without theoretically having a BIOS. So what am I not getting here? If I try to enter the BIOS in the second non original disk by pressing Esc, F1 to F12 or any other key it doesn’t work while for the original HD if I press F10 I'm taken to something that doesn't have any affect over the BIOS or at least I think so since there is no Boot option/tab. Why is it that I feel I'm wasting your time?

[urban soul]

in another thread you say:

So I got it to boot in the end.

does that mean you can boot a cd from this computer?

your bios is on your mainboard in a chip, so you 'have' it - although you can't access it without that floppy.

regarding waste of time: you seem to be interested. A waste of time would be if someone does not read the answers and does not reply to the questions which are meant to help him.

[cthisbear]

HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Installing or Replacing a Hard Drive

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docu ... duct=92715

Step 7: Configure the new hard drive

1. Turn on the PC. When the blue HP logo screen appears, press F1 to enter the BIOS.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docu ... 92715#N778


////////////////////

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/soft ... 715&dlc=en

Personal Computer Setup
Compaq Presario 4402 Desktop PC

escription

This SoftPaq creates one diskette that allows a user to upgrade to Version 1.51/C Revision A of Computer SETUP for Compaq Desktops/C, or to restore this utility to the Diagnostics Partition (if that partition has been destroyed).

////////////////////

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/soft ... duct=92715

Software & Driver downloads

Chris.

[Confused Computer User]

Ok…urban soul, just to understand, when you say thread do you mean a message posted in this particular topic (i.e. How can I install PuppyLinux?) or is it another topic like (How can I boot the PuppyLinux CD?).

Now I’ve made a couple of posts but some of them had to do with another computer. I have three comps in total. One that’s relatively new and that I don’t touch simply because it works well and since I’m a student I rely heavily on it for projects and school work so I’m not going to risk messing it up (I really won’t). The second is a Pentium II 400MHz with 128MB RAM and 6 GB memory. For the second I wanted to use a USB key to safe some older files on the new computer and then do a complete erase and install PuppyLinux on it. How ever since my parents need it for the time being I can’t really mess around with it. Also there are still some things that I did not get from it. I wanted to plug the 20GB hard disk into this one, install PuppyLinux and then pull the drive out and put it in the Compaq. This is not possible since I can’t pull the old drive out, and I can’t add the second one as a slave either because there’s no space.

Cthisbear, thank you for the links provided. Some of them where a bit of an over kill in terms of actually showing how to remove the hard disk (I didn’t have a problem with that issue).
I already knew about the link for the hardware drivers but this is where I’m a bit lost. Are the drivers specifically designed for Windows or can I use the same drivers for Puppylinux as well?
For the Computer SETUP diskette I’ll download it a bit later since at the moment I don’t have access to a floppy drive. Once I do, I’ll post whatever I get, be it a failure or a success. Hopefully it will be the later. Thank you for the support.

[Confused Computer User]

urban soul, my apologies. I got carried away with the explanation and forgot to answer your question. For the Compaq computer, the CD does not boot. I tried several times to enter the bios but I couldn’t do it. Hopefully with the links that cthisbear gave me, I`ll be able to get the BIOS (at least access it). Also, I’m sorry for the time gap between my posts. I kind of have a hectic week and I’m not used to bloging. This will sound corny, but is there a bloging etiquette one should follow?

[urban soul]

For the Compaq computer, the CD does not boot.

Ok, no prob, so chances are high that this BIOS can not boot at all from CD ROM. So it wont help if you got in.

One (amongst others) solution would be to put GRUB boot loader into the MBR (master boot record) of the drive before you plug it in.

Another one is to use a floppy to boot from.

This is just a clue. It will take some time though before you manage the necessary steps.. My guess is that chance of success (in th end) is high.

[d4p]

Hi, Confused Computer User

[/url]I have three comps in total Just full install Puppy on 20Gb Hd us ... ood luck!

[urban soul]

Installation of Puppy comes in two parts:

a) copying the system files
b) installing a bootloader - this is the important part here

Part a) can be option 2 ("full") or option 1 ("frugal")

I highly recommend option 1 for the ease of maintenance and/or system upgrade.

[Confused Computer User]

Well urban soul, in any case at this point I don’t have a boot up floppy. I’ve been trying to find one over the net and I ended up on this site:

http://www.onecomputerguy.com/software_download.htm

Now download shows me a Win98_img.exe which I presume is not too big (900Kb so small). However I’m usually distrustful of .exe files since some contain viruses. I scanned this one with Avast 4.7 last updated on June-09-08. I got no virus threat so it should be good. Now if I get this right using the Boot floppy I should be able to boot from the CD. But is there a menu I choose from i.e. similar to the bios or do I have to input a command. i.e. run D:/... If it’s the later can someone give me the exact command?

[Confused Computer User]

Sorry...I forgot to mention, I downloaded Win98_img.exe but I did not use it yet because I made the mistake of using my new computer which what do you know has no floppy drive.
I will transfer it to my other computer tomorrow morning and work with it then since tonight I have some work to catch up with. Again, many thanks for the support.