Anyone know Knoppix?

[Preferred User]

I have a Knoppix 3.7 CD I use to boot up and get into the hard drive of sick computers. The other day I booted one up and Knoppix couldn’t see the hard drive. Finally took the thing out and noticed it was a SATA drive.

Does Knoppix 3.7 not see SATA drives? Do subsequent Distros detect SATA? Also, I see that the newer Distros of Knoppix are too big for a CD unless you download the CD-lite version. A DVD version is pretty useless on the average sick (usually means old) computer. Will the CD lite version do what I want to do? I just want to get into hard drives and pull off data…maybe replace a corrupted system file.

[Cman]

SATA is a completely different standard than IDE, so I wouldn't be surprised if it couldn't see it.

Its like trying to stick a floppy into a CD ROM or something lol

Anyway, I'm sure they probably have a SATA version, since its starting to catch on.

As far as "sick comps" not reading DVD disks, it would have to be a fairly old or cheap computer because haven't most people been getting combo drives for the last few years?

[Preferred User]

As far as "sick comps" not reading DVD disks, it would have to be a fairly old or cheap computer because haven't most people been getting combo drives for the last few years?

I was just on one the other day that didn't even have a CD burner and couldn't read the CD-R disk I carry around with all sorts of utilities. I get on some 6 year old computers owned by guys who think we ought to spend $200 to upgrade it. You can't believe the way some people think they're saving money. Then they pay me $100/hour to make it all work and brag about the money they've saved.

[Cman]

lol yeah, tech labour is pretty ridiculously priced. if i had actually a tech job right now, i would be ashamed haha

[Preferred User]

I am ashamed. I could probably charge more. It seems rediculous to charge for what you and I can do in our sleep. But the people paying the bills can't even make a shortcut on their desktop.

[mindido]

Hey Preferred,

Been wondering where you were.

"people paying the bills can't even make a shortcut on their desktop."

I'd say that describes about 90% of all computer users out there. At least in my experience.

But I do have a bit of a bone to pick. You're complaining about making $100 per hour? You should be thanking your lucky stars! I mean, thank heaven for those people that can't create a shortcut. :)

[Cman]

he's not making $100 an hour. thats only what the charge is. he's probably working for a company, so that money is actually going to the company. then there are the various expenses and bills that are associated with business that come out of that $100.

so i wouldn't expect that he is donald trump or anything hehe.

i know this because the store i worked at a couple years ago, charged $60 at the time, but lets just say I made considerably less than $60 an hour lol. truth be told, i make more off of exp0sed than i did there :lol:

[Preferred User]

so i wouldn't expect that he is donald trump or anything hehe.

I'm not, but I'd sure do his ex....not Ivana but the latest ex...ummmm that little blond from Georgia.

Well, so here’s the whole story. I work for myself. I get the whole $100. And I have very few expenses. But like most consultant types, for every hour I bill I work another hour that doesn’t get billed. In fact a lot of stuff you read about this kind of work will tell you that a 1 to 1 ratio of billable to non-billable isn’t too bad. I have to market it, but that gets to be a word-of-mouth steam roller after a couple years of treating people well.

And no Min, I’m not complaining….well maybe a little. A couple months ago I even had to show someone how to hold down the shift key to make a capital letter instead of hitting the Caps Lock, then the letter, then the Caps Lock again.

I focus on small business networks, but lately have done quite a few house calls. Lately I’m thankful for the Linksys wireless routers with the big orange SES button that resets the encryption every time they touch it. Don’t ask them to get into the router themselves. Plugging an IP address into a browser seems pretty intimidating for these people. Takes me 5 minutes to fix it, but I sit and fool around like it’s a big fight so I don’t feel so bad walking out with a check in just a few minutes.

[Cman]

Routers can be weird sometimes. Mine screws up for no reason. All the settings will be write and the lights will be blinking and everything and it just won't work.

Usually I just reset it and wait for a minute and it works itself out eventually.

[mindido]

Preferred,

I don't think I'd be complaining about that type of situation. I think its pretty much a given that the older the client (generally) the less they know about these infernal machines. I learned that lesson several years ago when I was teaching software apps to insurance company employees. Older employees with little or no experience had some real problems adapting.

But, they're the ones (more than likely) that will keep you in business. Just be nice to them and they'll send more business your way.

As far as router IP's are concerned, I've noticed that I have few problems with a Linksys connected to a cable modem but DSLs seem to lose their IP's quite often. I was told by a phone tech that this could be due to older phone lines from the pole to the house.

[Preferred User]

Min,

Sorry 'bout your Pack yesterday. At least the Badgers gave you something to cheer about Friday.

Yea I've always found DSL's to be more finicky...and for the reason you mention. The quality of the copper is always an issue, and it's hard to get it sorted out.

[mindido]

Preferred,

Yup, the Pack really suck this year. Its to the point now where I kinda hope they don't win any more games so they have a chance at Reggie Bush (Jeez, I really hate to say that). The Badgers have gone way beyond where anyone figured they would, so that is pretty darn good.

The quality of the copper? I would think they would have standardized that by now. The tech I talked to was saying that if the wires from the pole to the house are poor (or not well connected) they will short, thus losing the modems IP. I see that with my mom's DSL way too often. I think she finally has the procedure down to recover the IP but, as she's one of those older users, she doesn't always get it.

[Preferred User]

Actually that's what I meant by quality of the copper. The metal itself is what it is, but I was referring to the fragile nature of all the connections. All it takes is some weak insulation, a little condensation in a joint or a even a screwy squirel and ya got too weak a circuit for a good signal.

[mindido]

Preferred,

I was checking out the Knoppix site earlier and their current version is 4.0.2 so that may be some help. It appears, though, that you have to now DL two .iso's, each of which is about 711 mb. DL speed on the servers I tried (U of Wisconsin and Purdue) was really slow also.

[Preferred User]

Preferred,

I was checking out the Knoppix site earlier and their current version is 4.0.2 so that may be some help. It appears, though, that you have to now DL two .iso's, each of which is about 711 mb. DL speed on the servers I tried (U of Wisconsin and Purdue) was really slow also.

Yea I glanced at it one night. They also have a CD-lite version. All I want is a bootable CD so I can go into hard drives and remove data or replace corrupted system files. You must have something. Do you use that Bart PE thing?

[mindido]

Preferred,

"Do you use that Bart PE thing?"

No. I just play around with an old version of Knoppix (3.6). Your question got me to thinking that, since my roommate has her SATA as the bootable disk, I'd better look into this. I started DL from UW (just right down the street) but they were really slow (about 16 kbps) and then tried Purdue (a bit better at about 48 kbps). I think I'm still going to have to bit the bullet and DL them as that SATA drive is a potential problem.

[Preferred User]

I think I'm still going to have to bit the bullet and DL them as that SATA drive is a potential problem.

I'm going to do some work on it tonight too. Let's trade notes. Looks like an overnight DL to me. First I went to the Texas site....came down at about 32 KBs but then I noticed it was 3.9. Went to Purdue and got 4.0 but it's about 28 KBs right now. Should be down by the morning.....

[Preferred User]

So Min, here’s what I think. DL Knoppix 4.0 overnight. Burnt the CD this morning and booted it up. Detects both my partitions just fine. Plugged in a couple of flash drives and it finds them fine, just like Knoppix 3.7 but with a prettier picture. It seems to want to detect my ThinkPad’s a/b/g wireless card, but can’t find a wireless network. I didn’t fool with it much. For me this is just a tool to pull data off hard drives that won’t boot up. If I can plug storage devices into the USB’s and copy data from the hard drive, I’m pretty happy with it.

Now to find a SATA drive to try it on….

[mindido]

Hey Preferred,

OK. Looks like I'll go ahead and DL and I can test the SATA drive. By the way, did you DL both files or just one? And which one?

KNOPPIX_V4.0.2CD-2005-09-23-DE.iso

or

KNOPPIX_V4.0.2CD-2005-09-23-EN.iso

[Preferred User]

I just did KNOPPIX_V4.0.2CD-2005-09-23-EN.iso. I assumed that was the English version of the same thing. What's DE....Danish?

[mindido]

Preferred,

I guess it does help to read the README files once in a while. DE is Deutsch (German).

[Preferred User]

I guess it does help to read the README files once in a while. DE is Deutsch (German).

Real men don't ask directions: and they sure as hell don't download, much less read, the readme files. Come on Min!

[mindido]

Real men don't ask directions: and they sure as hell don't download, much less read, the readme files. Come on Min!

Heh, heh.

Your probably right but, when all else fails..... Or when you have a stupid question..... It, amazingly, sometimes helps.

Anyway, DL the file last night and will test it on the SATA shortly. Will let you know.

[Preferred User]

So Min what's the verdict? Can we mount a SATA drive now?

[mindido]

Preferred,

Having some problems. I'm not sure if the entire file downloaded. Mine wound up being 694 MB as an .iso. Burned it and tried to boot, nothing. Extracted it and burned those files and still nothing at bootup. Tried to make a bootable floppy but the file required (mkfloppy.bat,) doesn't seem to be there. And yes, I double checked that the first boot device is the CD and second is the floppy (I've had it set that way for years now).

I've also tried it on the machine with the SATA drive with the same results. Not sure where to go from here. Any suggestions? I had this same problem with the earlier version (3.2, I checked) and was able to get it running with the floppy boot disk.

[Preferred User]

No, I don't have an idea. I PM'd you. I could just mail you a copy of mine. That's weird.

[mindido]

This is really a message to no one, Just a test of Knoppix 4.0.2 with an older version of Firefox (1.0.6) that comes on the .iso. Trying to determine exactly what it will (and won't) do. Seems to be having some problems with the wireless card, or, more than likely, I just don't understand their processes.

OK, here's the wireless problem. I am able to lock on to several wireless networks in the neighborhood but I don't seem to be able to completely specify which one I want. I start with mine but, for no apparent reason, it seems to drift to another and lock on to it. Its done this twice in the few minutes I've been on here. Just kind of unusual.

Do we have anyone around here that regularly uses Knoppix (or some other version of Linux)?