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FLOPPIX

Floppix - Download

System Requirements:

At least a 486DX with a 3.5" floppy and 16Mb RAM.
A network card is NOT required. The supported network cards are: 3c503, 3c509, 3c905, DEC21*4* (Tulip), NE2000 (PCI), SMC Ultra, Via-Rhine.

Instructions for making floppix from Windows 95:

Download floppix.exe and store it in a temporary directory (download links are at the end of this page).
Format 2 floppy diskettes - do a full format and make sure that there are no bad sectors. Do NOT skip this step even if your diskettes are preformatted.
Run floppix.exe to unpack the installation files.
Run install.bat to create floppix diskettes.

Creating floppix from linux:

Floppix wasn't designed for people who already know Linux. However, for those who requested it:

Loading floppix:

Method 1: For systems that will boot from the floppy (available starting with the current release)

Put disk 1 in the floppy drive and reboot the system. The linux kernel will be loaded into RAM. A screenful of messages will appear as the Linux kernel performs a set of hardware detection routines. Wait for the prompt:
"VFS: Insert root floppy disk to be loaded into ramdisk and press [Enter]"
Insert disk 2 and press [Enter]. Wait for the prompt:
"Please insert boot disk (disk 1); Press [enter] when ready"
Switch back to disk 1 and press [Enter].

Method 2: For systems in computer lab environments which have Win 95/98 loaded and are configured to boot only from the hard drive.

Shutdown Windows 95 and restart in ms-dos mode. Insert disk 1 and switch to the a: drive. Type: loadlin linux
Wait for the prompt:
"Insert the floppy disk for loading into RAMDISK"
Insert disk 2 and press [Enter]. A screenful of messages will appear as the Linux kernel performs a set of hardware detection routines. Wait for the prompt:
"Please insert boot disk (disk 1); Press [enter] when ready"
Switch back to disk 1 and press [Enter].

Potential problems:

CRC error messages during the boot process indicate that your diskettes are bad. Even if floppix appears to boot it will not work. Try formatting the diskettes again and re-installing floppix. If this doesn't work, start buying a different brand of diskettes.

If floppix boots and gives the error message:
"kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 02:00"
either disk 2 is bad or you didn't switch to disk 2 at the RAMDISK prompt.

Some BIOS's cannot correctly report the amount of installed memory on systems with more than 64M of RAM. On these systems, floppix will appear to boot and then fail. In this case, you must start floppix with the command: "loadlin linux mem=xxxM" where xxx is the actual number of megabytes of memory installed.

The linux kernel as compiled for floppix requires a math co-processor. Floppix will not work on older 486 laptops based on an SLC processor.

Download current version (2.1r4): April 12, 2000

For DOS/Windows users:

floppix.exe using http (with some browsers you will have to right-click on the link)

For linux users: