Frequently Asked Questions
From DSL Wiki
General
Will DSL ever get bigger than 50mb?
No!
The whole idea behind DSL is trying to fit a complete, fully functional desktop into a small footprint. If we were to raise the size, we would be becoming just another distro. And the fun of working more and more functionality out of 50mb would be gone. DSL will NEVER go over 50mb for the base iso. Stop asking.
Why the name?
It's really just a way to emphasize the incredible small size of the distro. If the name insults you, Just do what most people do. Call it "DSL".
Why doesn't DSL have Gnome or KDE?
Because DSL is meant to be fast and light on PC's with minimal resources.
Will DSL ever use the 2.6 kernel? Has it even been considered?
There are currently no plans to move to a 2.6.x kernel, for the following reasons.
- The 2.6.x kernel is significantly bigger than the 2.4.x kernel, so it would cramp DSL's functionality.
- The 2.6.x kernel drops a lot of support for legacy technologies, hardware, etc, and we want to keep DSL functional on as much hardware as possible
- All major improvements that have occured to the 2.6.x tree have been, and are being backported to the 2.4.x tree, by a very active backporting team. And even though Linus said he would not participate in the backporting process this time, the demand for 2.4.x kernel maintenence is about the same as the demand for updates and improvements to the 2.6.x kernel, so even he has helped in the process, though not as much as what he does toward 2.6 development. For evidence of this activity, take a look at kernel.org, where you can see, the 2.4.30 kernel was released, just a few days after 2.6.10.
Can you add XYZ?
Maybe!
If it's small, and would add value to the distro, post a suggestion in the "Ideas and Suggestions" area of the forums. If it gets a good reaction, we will consider it.
What File do I download?
A. dsl-x.x.x.iso B. dsl-x.x.x-syslinux.iso C. dsl-x.x.x-embedded.zip
Use <A> for most things. If your board supports booting from a cdrom, but <A> does not work for you, try <B>.
Use <C> to run DSL inside of a host OS (Winblows or Linux).
Longer description here
How can I help out?
Feedback and suggestions are always apprieciated, or you can...
- buy a CD,
- buy DSL on a BOOTABLE 128mb usb pendrive,
- buy DSL on a 128mb pendrive that you can run INSIDE Windows,
- buy something from the store, or even
- make a donation.
Using DSL
How can I be root in X?
Type "sudo [command]" or to stay root "sudo su".
How do I prevent the getting_started.html file from opening at boot time?
Open Emelfm and click on the 'H' in the upper left hand corner of the left pane showing the /home/dsl directory. Scroll down to the .xinitrc file and choose 'Edit' from the Emelfm button menu. Look for the dillo line that appears just before 'fluxbox' at the end of the file and place a '#' in front of the word dillo. Save and exit the file and you should be all set.
How do I save my settings?
When booting from the CD or a frugal install your application settings, bookmarks, etc can be saved to separate file on a hard drive partition/usb key/floppy called backup.tar.gz. To create this file choose on System, Backup/Restore in the desktop menu, type in the name of the device to save to (e.g. hda1/sda1/floppy) and hit backup. Then when you reboot your settings can be restored using the cheatcode restore={hda1/sda1/floppy}. To change which files are saved edit /home/dsl/.filetool.lst (list of files to backup) and /home/dsl/.xfiletool.lst (list of files to exclude from the backup process). Adding files to .filetool.lst can be easily done by choosing the file/dir in emelfm and clicking the 'Add2Filetool" button.
The default files/dir saved at backup are:
opt/ppp
opt/bootlocal.sh
opt/powerdown.sh
opt/.dslrc
opt/.mydsl_dir
home/dsl/
If you decide you only want to save certain files in home/dsl/ and not the entire directory, you would want to remove home/dsl/ from .filetool.lst but add .filetool.lst and .xfiletool.lst to the .filetool.lst file.
Here is how it might look in this situation adding just the /home/dsl/.fluxbox directory
opt/ppp
opt/bootlocal.sh
opt/powerdown.sh
opt/.dslrc
opt/.mydsl_dir
home/dsl/.fluxbox
home/dsl/.filetool.lst
home/dsl/.xfiletool.lst
How can I get the scroll wheel on my USB mouse working?
Follow this process.
- Quit X (ctrl+alt+backspace).
- Run xsetup.sh.
- Select your desired resolution, then select USB mouse.
- Run startx.
- Enjoy.
How Do I Install to a USB Pendrive?
First, boot up your computer from the DSL livecd, frugal, or USB-frugal. Note that it is not possible to do a USB install, or any other kind of install from a DSL Embedded system.
In the Fluxbox menu, go Apps >> Tools >> Install to USB Pendrive and choose either USB-ZIP emulation or USB-HDD emulation, depending on what is supported by your computer's bios.
What About the Winimage Method?
Because it requires non-free software, we do not endorse or support this method!
How can I enter and save my static IP settings?
To save static IP settings with backup/restore we need to make changes in two areas.
Boot the CD with the cheatcode dsl nodhcp or add nodhcp to the APPEND line in the Lilo or Grub bootloaders.
We need to add the static IP information to the /opt/bootlocal.sh file. This file is backed up in the /home/dsl/.filetool.lst file by default. For this step you will need to know the static IP, Default Gateway and DNS nameserver of your ISP. With this information your /opt/bootlocal.sh file should have the following entries.
ifconfig eth0 xxx.xxx.x.xx
route add default gw xxx.xxx.x.x
echo nameserver xx.xx.xxx.xx > /etc/resolv.conf
ifup eth0
With these two steps you should have your static connection up and running the next boot. Make sure you back them up!
How can have VNC start automatically at boot?
The first step is to download and install the VNC server extension (vnc4x-x.x.x.dsl) from the repository.
There are two options for starting VNC automatically. You can place the commands in /opt/bootlocal.sh or in /home/dsl/.xinitrc, a hidden file in /home/dsl. You can find the two commands you need in the /home/dsl/.fluxbox/menu file. If you place these files in the .xinitrc file they MUST be before the fluxbox entry and have the '&' sigh following each command to run it in the background. A .xinitrc file with vnc might look like this:
# put X windows programs that you want started here.
# Be sure to add at the end of each command the &
if egrep -qv noicons /proc/cmdline 2>/dev/null; then
xtdeskRestart.sh &
fluxter -w &>/dev/null &
mount.app &>/dev/null &
asmem -withdrawn -bg black -fg white -memory red &>/dev/null &
wmcpuload &>/dev/null &
wmnet -w &>/dev/null &
wmix &>/dev/null &
fi
dillo /usr/share/doc/dsl/getting_started.html &>/dev/null &
/usr/local/bin/vnc4x.sh &
/usr/local/bin/vnc4x0.sh &
exec fluxbox 2>/dev/null
Now you should have VNC autostarted when you boot into X. If you want it running with no X put the two VNC commands in /opt/bootlocal.sh
