[908] in linux-announce channel archive
iX-Terminal: plug'n'play diskless Linux system
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Lars Wirzenius)
Sat Aug 12 13:09:44 1995
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 1995 17:47:29 +0300
From: Lars Wirzenius <wirzeniu@cc.helsinki.fi>
To: linux-announce@vger.rutgers.edu
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce
From: hm@ix.de (Harald Milz)
Subject: iX-Terminal: plug'n'play diskless Linux system
Summary: this package describes a diskless Linux system
Keywords: X terminal diskless NFS netboot
Organization: Verlag Heinz Heise GmbH & Co KG
Approved: linux-announce@news.ornl.gov (Lars Wirzenius)
Followup-to: comp.os.linux.x
Since there is still interest in diskless Linux setups,
I developed a plug-and-play package for an X terminal
based on Gero Kuhlmann's netboot-nfs package which can
be found on sunsite. It is available on tape (email me)
or via FTP (some more work is necessary to install the
stuff) on ftp://ftp.ix.de/ix/Linux/iX-Terminal/ or the
associated mirrors. The package was introduced to iX
readers in the August 1995 issue.
Here is a short description from the INSTALL file:
2. What is the iX-Terminal?
The iX-Terminal is a diskless Linux machine, equipped with a
SMC8013-compatible network card, a graphics adapter and at least one
serial port (or a bus mouse). The basic setup is described in iX 8/95,
pp. 36-42. This article, however, is written in German, and will not
be reproduced here at full extent.
The basic function of Gero Kuhlmann's (gero@gkminix.han.de) package
netboot-nfs is described in the file netboot/README, contained in
netboot-nfs.tar.gz which you can find at the same place you got this
INSTALL from. In short terms, a special boot ROM on the NIC gets its
IP address from a bootpd server. Then the ROM code fetches the Linux
kernel via TFTP. Gero Kuhlmann modified the kernel so that it is able
to mount its root (i.e. complete) file system via NFS.
File access, though, is kept at a minimum after the initial boot of
the iX-Terminal. Performance should thus not be a problem and can be
further enhanced by using an X11 font server instead of the supplied
fonts.
8 MBytes of RAM are sufficient for a system with 1024 * 768 pixel
resolution and 256 colors to avoid swapping (see section "Swapping").
If you want to display 1280 * 1024 pixels with 24 bit color
resolution, you should run the terminal with 16 MByte or more.
If there is major interest, I'll upload the package to sunsite too.
Although the iX article was written in German, the INSTALL file and
other associated stuff is not.
Have fun!
--
Harald Milz (hm@ix.de) WWW: http://www.ix.de/ix/editors/hm.html
iX Multiuser Multitasking Magazine phone +49 (511) 53 52-377
Helstorfer Str. 7, D-30625 Hannover fax +49 (511) 53 52-361
Opinions stated herein are my own, not necessarily my employer's.
--
Send comp.os.linux.announce submissions to: linux-announce@news.ornl.gov
PLEASE remember a short description of the software.
