Intro & pcmcia cdrom query

[mikebw at colossus.bilow.com (Mike Bilow)]

You have two options.  Personally, I would prefer to install Linux using a
3.5-to-2.5 disk adapter.  These are available for about $5-15 and allow
connecting a 2.5-inch notebook hard drive to a standard desktop IDE
controller designed to mate with 3.5-inch hard drives.

However, for regular installation of software and so forth, you really
need a PCMCIA CD-ROM drive.  The ideal type is one which uses an IDE
controller for the PCMCIA card, and most of the really cheap ones (such as
my I/O Magic MCD540) work this way.

Next best is one which uses a SCSI controller for the PCMCIA card, but
Linux support cannot be dicey if you are not a SCSI expert.  I have a
Panasonic KXL-783A comes with a KXLC-003 SCSI card based on the QLogic
chipset, so it works under Linux but not under Windows 2000.  I also have
an Adaptec AHA-1460 controller for it, which works under Windows 2000 but
not under Linux.

Parallel port CD-ROM drives are even more difficult to get working.

Probably my worst-ever Linux install on a laptop has been my Toshiba
Libretto.  It uses a non-standard PCMCIA floppy drive, support for which
requires editing source into the kernel and recompiling.  There is only
one PCMCIA slot, so you can choose any one, but not more, of: floppy, CD,
network, and modem.  In a situation like this, pulling the hard drive and
installing Linux using a 2.5-to-3.5 adapter was the right solution.  In
fact, my Libretto happily boots either Linux or Windows 2000, all selected
under the control of Lilo.  I like to watch people's faces when they see
Lilo booting Windows 2000 -- on a Libretto.

-- Mike


On 2000-07-16 at 12:54 -0400, Adam Price wrote:

> Specs:
>     Compaq Contura 430c.  
>     Processor:  Unknown
>     RAM: 16 meg
>     ROM: 6gig brand-new unformatted fujitsu internal drive.  Floppy drive. 
>         no CDROM.
>     Ports:  2 type II PCMCIA slots, 1 parallel, 1 docking port, 1 serial, 
>             1 external monitor.  
>         No SCSI, No ethernet.  
> 
> So the query is this:  How should I put linux on?  I do not have access to DSL
> or ISDN so a net install would be quite slow.
> 
> There are old 2X and 4X pcmcia cdrom's on ebay, ranging from $5 to $30, but I
> don't know what will be compatible, and what won't.
> 
> Parallel-port cdrom's exist, but I don't know where to find them.


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