HD Install :: Install On HD For Another System

If you attempt to boot this computer with DSL, make sure that you get rid of the desktop icons.

I believe that the boot command is:

dsl noicons

or something like that.

i thought it was something like dsl noenhance, but i am probably wrong.

press f2 at the boot screen to check.

If you can't get DSL up and running (search the forum for 486sx), you can take a look at http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/baslinux/.

that looks like a cool distro

I have something similar to yours: a Compaq Contura 486SX (33Mhz) with only 255Mb of RAM. After doing some research here, I figured the only way to run DSL would be with a recompiled kernel that emulated a math co-processor. Do a search for "486SX". Your biggest issue is still going to be RAM. Also, how much HD space do you have? Might not be enough for the full install, something like 150Mb.

Besides Basic Linux, I also found some really nice ones on my search to revive the old 486SX:
-muLinux (uses 2.0.3 kernel and has X Windows using less than 4Mb of RAM);
-Small Linux (also has X Windows but is really complicated to install);
-BlueFlops (my favorite, the only one with the latest 2.6.9 kernel, the catch is that it's only a web browser... nothing else).

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