Installing SLS Linux On Real Hardware Required Far More Effort Than Expected ... // (SLS Part 2)
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Linux 1.0 LBA Patch: https://github.com/NCommander/linux-1.0-lba
I said if we hit 250 subscribers, I'd do a special. You all have come above and beyond in that regard. To celebrate, I broke out my ThinkPad 380D and tried to install SLS Linux on it. What I found was that even for a slightly newer system, this process was fraught with pain and suffering. In the end, I had to write patches for the Linux 1.0 kernel on SLS, reimage the A1 floppy, suffer through multiple disk failures, and learn the difference between CHS and LBA addressing.
In the process, I also had to learn the internals of translation geometry, some of the screwball behavior of the original Linux hd.c driver, and then debug problems. Who knew that Minix and Linux ramdisks had anything in common?
It also shows that emulators like PCem tend to emulate a "perfect" PC, and not one fraught with bugs like EasySetup on the ThinkPad 380D. As such, for the truly authentic experience, installing on real hardware was valuable if exhausting.
Of course, no dive into ancient Linux is complete without suffering from X. You can see all the fun of X on a passive matrix display here.
This project was beyond draining, but getting it to put together I think has resulted in something I'm proud of. For 500 subscribers, maybe we'll break out more floppy disks, or I'll do something a bit more off the wall. Either way, I definately want to hear your suggestions