coldDeath

Knoppix LiveCD for Beginners

In this short guide I will show you how to get Knoppix (Linux distro) up and running and the uses of this excellent distro.

You may be thinking, why would i want another Linux distro when i already have one?

The answer is simple, Knoppix is a LiveCD this means that you just boot from the CD and it doesn't modify anything on your hard-drive so it is completely safe!

OK I understand its a LiveCD, but why would i need it when i have a perfectly good distro already which can modify the hard-drive contents?

+Knoppix is very portable, you can just take the CD and boot into it from any computer, such as at a friends house or at a public terminal.
+Knoppix acts as an excellent rescue CD, imagine if your boot loader stops working, you can't boot at all! No worries, just stick in a Knoppix CD and repair it.
+Knoppix comes with a wide range of tools and utilities perfect for repairing problems with hard-drive installations of any other OS.



Getting Knoppix

Head over to http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html here you will find a list of mirrors. Select one that is close to you. On the next screen that comes up press Accept. You should see a list of different Knoppix releases. This may seem a little overwhelming at first, but its not that hard to find the right file!

The Knoppix releases take this syntax:


I speak English, and I'm going to burn onto a CD, so i would choose this file:


Download the appropriate file. It should be around 700MB in size.

Alternatively you can order the disk here: http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-vendors/index-en.php


From a file to a CD

You may skip this section if you ordered the disks.

So we have our Knoppix iso file on our hard-drives. Now we need to go from that to a CD.

We want to burn the iso to a disk. So get a blank CD out. Now we are not going to burn a normal data CD, that doesn't work, we need to burn what is known as an "image" of the disk. This will keep its directory format and other things. Burning an image is different for every CD burning software, so you must use Google I’m afraid.

If you don't want to use your CD burning software you can use the free ISO Recorder. There is a guide of how to use it here: http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm

Once you have burnt the CD label it like this: Knoppix <version> with a pen that can write on CDs. (You don't have to label it, but when your PC won't boot and you have a pile of 200 unlabeled CDs, your going to have a hell of a job finding Knoppix).



Setting up the BIOS

This may already be set up on most of your computers, but it is worth reading this anyway.
We are going to get your computer to boot from a CD if there is a bootable CD in the drive as opposed to booting from the hard drive. Don't be scared of BIOS because there are many options and settings, you will find it easy enough.

Boot up your computer, now it should say what key to press to get into BIOS somewhere, it is usually "Del" or "F1" but it varies. When you are in BIOS you will see a few options use the arrow keys to navigate and the enter key to pick a menu option. We will be looking under the heading "Advanced BIOS options" it could be different on your BIOS. You should see something similar to this:

First Boot Device: HDD 0
Second Boot Device: FLOPPY
Third Boot Device: HDD 1

If you select one and press enter you can change it, we want it like this:

First Boot Device: CD ROM
Second Boot Device: FLOPPY
Third Boot Device: HDD 0

This means that if a bootable CD is int he drive it will load that, if not it will look for a floppy disk, if there isn't a floppy disk it will boot from your hard drive.

Now save your changes (F10 on my BIOS) then exit it. Your computer will reboot into Windows.

Once in Windows, put your Knoppix CD in (which you so cunningly labeled so that you wouldn’t lose it). Then reboot your computer.



Loading Knoppix

If all goes to plan it will load up the CD, you will see a nice Knoppix logo and a prompt saying Boot:

Press enter here.

The CD loads up, it takes time as it has to sort out all of your hardware drivers etc. Once it has booted you'll find yourself at a pretty KDE desktop. Great! If you like you can play around a bit with the programs and settings.

You now have a working Knoppix LiveCD that you can use wherever you like!



Root access

OK, you've played with some programs, but a lot ask you for the root password, and we didn't set one *gasp*. No worries, there is a little tool called sudo.

Basically sudo lets you run a command as a root user (stands for Super User DO).

You can use it by putting it in front of a command.
Example: you can't use QTParted (partitioning program) without being root, never fear, sudo is here!


There ^_^

You can set a root password if you like. Use this command:




What now?

You can now use Knoppix to save your OSes when they go wrong! I cannot tell you everything to type in every situation.

+You can use Knoppix to recover your data
+You can use Knoppix for hacking
+You can use it at public terminals
+Can be used for an introduction to Linux
+Can be used for demonstrations of Linux
+You can use it to run a firewall / router
+Virus scan a Windows PC and remove the virus safely
+Bootstrap another Linux distro's installation

If you are really interested in learning more about the uses of Knoppix I suggest this book: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/knoppixhks/


The End

I hope you have learned something useful from this guide, please PM me with your feedback on the tutorial.

-ColdDeath

Extracts were taken from my Slackware Setup Guide, located here: http://www.programmingforums.org/for...ead.php?t=6643

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tempest

Nice tutorial, ColdDeath... you seem to write alot of good tutorials.

You could also do "sudo su" to get a root shell.

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coldDeath

Thank you, yeah there are many different ways to get root access in knoppix, but it is a great distro. If you fall in love with Knoppix you can install it to a harddrive, check out this link: http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=videos/knoppix1

I used it ages ago when i was new to Linux, it was my very first disro

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niichren

Nice tutorial.. With good information on the important topics. It is worth mentioning that you can use a USB HD Stick to store data on & that way turn any machine with a CD into your own Linux box without the need to change the host OS.

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It's a book about a Spanish guy called Manual, you should
read it.
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Dilbert

peace_of_mind

You tutorial writing fool...

Nice work once again.

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Amateurs built the ark
Professionals built the Titanic

InfoGeek

I tried ClusterKNOPPIX V3.6 release 2004-08-16-cl1.
It booted fine but it uses the wrong frequency for my monitor. My monitor displays that the Horizontal operating frequency should be 30-54 MHz, but it's trying to set it to 60.1 MHz which fails and my monitor turns off.
What can i do about that?

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PFO - My daily dose of technology.

Nebula

I have a Knoppix CD, it was my first distro as well. But smashing tutorial.

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Infinite Recursion

good work

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http://jasonpowers.net

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."

Rory

Cool, this could become a collection. ClusterKnoppix next?

coldDeath

Never used ClusterKnoppix before. I'll look into it

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