Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Linux PC's, EMC, and BDI

Weyland wrote:

> What is BDI?

Paul Corner (with help from a few others) put together a CD with most
of Linux, the real time patches and EMC all on one CD, with a few
restrictions
on what hardware is supported. (No SCSI, minimal network, etc.)
BDI stands for "brain dead install", and it is MUCH easier to do than a
standard Linux install, not even taking into account the RT patch
procedure, which is a nightmare. Now that I have done it, I can say
it is a lot easier, especially if you don't have much familiarity with Linux

or other Unix derivatives.

> I checked *a* Linux site, and read that both
> of the old laptops I have are cleared for use without
> any problems, so I'm getting curiouser and curiouser...
>
> Also, how would one get to install Linux if a laptop doesn't have a CD?

That is a BIG problem. You DON'T want to try this from floppies!
The only way I can imagine it (without ripping the machines apart) is
to bring Linux up on a machine that DOES have a CD, and then make
a network connection (serial cable will work, too) between the two
machines. Being a Linux guru would be a big help here. The other
way is to move the laptop's hard drive into a machine with a CD, if
that is possible. Early laptops often used modified drives that would not
just plug into an IDE port on a standard PC. Later ones seem to have
gone more standard on the internals.

One other way is to use a PC-card to CD adaptor, if the laptop has
PC card slots.

Don't try to use a 486 laptop for EMC. The memory architecture is different

for a 486, and although it will run Linux fine, it may not run EMC without
modifications. (This restriction may no longer apply, as the newer EMC
does not use the old shared memory mechanism.)

You want a Pentium-class CPU with 16 MB memory absolute minimum, and
probably 32 MB.

Jon