Lifebook 780Tx and dd

Norman Elliott · External Since: Jun 25, 2006 Posts: 27

Hi,
I have a Fuujitsu lifebook780Tx which has win98 on it at the moment.
I would like to put Linux on it as dual boot with windows.
I would also like to put a wireless card in it so I can connect it to my main Pc.

This Pc triple boots Mandriva/Suse/Slackware. It has an ethernet card in it and connects
to the internet through an adsl modem/router.

I believe I should be able to put a wireless PCI card in it and thus enable connection of
the lifebook to the internet.

I also want to run remote X sessions from this Pc to the lifebook so all it has to do is
display X apps, so harnessing the power of my main Pc which has 1Gig Ram and a Sempron
3000+ processor.

I bought the Lifebook cheap and it came without CD's. It just had win 98 on it. The
Fujitsu website does provide drivers but these are for win95.

I wish to do everything in stages.

Stage 1 back up the LB ( lifebook )
The LB has a 3.1Gig Hard disc Control Panel reports it as a ST310211A. I have a usb 10Gig
disc with 3 fat32 partitions on it.
What I propose is to boot the LB with DSL and use dd to copy the h/disc to the usb disc.
Problem - I don't know the correct parameters for dd to make sure I copy all of the disc.
I know it is dd if=?????( don't know of=???? (maybe /dev/hde1/lbimage)
I believe that this- with the correct syntax would give me a file which I could use to
restore the LB if everything fails.

Can anyone give me the syntax please?

After I have this done I would use some partitioning software to shrink the windows
partition. ( I have already run scandisc ans defragged it ).
Anyone have any recommendations. parted ranish etc?
tia
Norm

Bill Marcum · External Since: Jun 14, 2004 Posts: 689

On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 15:39:44 +0100, Norman Elliott
<nelliott.DeleteThis@uklinux.net> wrote:
> Hi, I have a Fuujitsu lifebook780Tx which has win98 on it at the
> moment. I would like to put Linux on it as dual boot with windows. I
> would also like to put a wireless card in it so I can connect it to my
> main Pc.
>
> This Pc triple boots Mandriva/Suse/Slackware. It has an ethernet card
> in it and connects to the internet through an adsl modem/router.
>
> I believe I should be able to put a wireless PCI card in it and thus
> enable connection of the lifebook to the internet.
>
> I also want to run remote X sessions from this Pc to the lifebook so
> all it has to do is display X apps, so harnessing the power of my main
> Pc which has 1Gig Ram and a Sempron 3000+ processor.
>
> I bought the Lifebook cheap and it came without CD's. It just had win
> 98 on it. The Fujitsu website does provide drivers but these are for
> win95.
>
> I wish to do everything in stages.
>
> Stage 1 back up the LB ( lifebook ) The LB has a 3.1Gig Hard disc
> Control Panel reports it as a ST310211A. I have a usb 10Gig disc with
> 3 fat32 partitions on it. What I propose is to boot the LB with DSL
> and use dd to copy the h/disc to the usb disc. Problem - I don't know
> the correct parameters for dd to make sure I copy all of the disc. I
> know it is dd if=?????( don't know of=???? (maybe /dev/hde1/lbimage)
> I believe that this- with the correct syntax would give me a file
> which I could use to restore the LB if everything fails.
>
> Can anyone give me the syntax please?
>
If it is an IDE drive,
if=/dev/hda (or hdb, c, d depending where you connect the drive)
For a SCSI, USB or SATA drive change "hd" to "sd".
of= a regular file or a block device of equal or larger size
conv=sync,noerror (just in case the drive has bad sectors. If it does,
you are just in time to make a backup!)

--
You worry too much about your job. Stop it. You are not paid enough to worry.

Jim · External Since: Apr 21, 2005 Posts: 996

Norman Elliott wrote:
> Hi,
> I have a Fuujitsu lifebook780Tx which has win98 on it at the moment.
> I would like to put Linux on it as dual boot with windows.
> I would also like to put a wireless card in it so I can connect it to my
> main Pc.
>
> This Pc triple boots Mandriva/Suse/Slackware. It has an ethernet card in
> it and connects to the internet through an adsl modem/router.
>
> I believe I should be able to put a wireless PCI card in it and thus
> enable connection of the lifebook to the internet.
>
> I also want to run remote X sessions from this Pc to the lifebook so all
> it has to do is display X apps, so harnessing the power of my main Pc
> which has 1Gig Ram and a Sempron 3000+ processor.
>
> I bought the Lifebook cheap and it came without CD's. It just had win 98
> on it. The Fujitsu website does provide drivers but these are for win95.
>
> I wish to do everything in stages.
>
> Stage 1 back up the LB ( lifebook )
> The LB has a 3.1Gig Hard disc Control Panel reports it as a ST310211A. I
> have a usb 10Gig disc with 3 fat32 partitions on it.

The internal drive is actually a 10GB unit. Refer to:
http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/ata/st310211a.html

> What I propose is to boot the LB with DSL and use dd to copy the h/disc
> to the usb disc.
> Problem - I don't know the correct parameters for dd to make sure I copy
> all of the disc.
> I know it is dd if=?????( don't know of=???? (maybe /dev/hde1/lbimage)
> I believe that this- with the correct syntax would give me a file which
> I could use to restore the LB if everything fails.
>
> Can anyone give me the syntax please?
>
> After I have this done I would use some partitioning software to shrink
> the windows partition. ( I have already run scandisc ans defragged it ).
> Anyone have any recommendations. parted ranish etc?
> tia
> Norm

GNU Parted would do the job nicely, having a partition resizer which is
capable of resizing FAT partitions (you might also find that missing 7GB).

Sorry it isn't much, but HTH.

--
When all else fails...
Use a hammer.

http://dotware.co.uk

Some people are like Slinkies
They serve no particular purpose
But they bring a smile to your face
When you push them down the stairs.

Norman Elliott · External Since: Jun 25, 2006 Posts: 27

Bill Marcum wrote:
> On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 15:39:44 +0100, Norman Elliott
> <nelliott.DeleteThis@uklinux.net> wrote:
>
>>Hi, I have a Fuujitsu lifebook780Tx which has win98 on it at the
>>moment. I would like to put Linux on it as dual boot with windows. I
>>would also like to put a wireless card in it so I can connect it to my
>>main Pc.
>>
>>This Pc triple boots Mandriva/Suse/Slackware. It has an ethernet card
>>in it and connects to the internet through an adsl modem/router.
>>
>>I believe I should be able to put a wireless PCI card in it and thus
>>enable connection of the lifebook to the internet.
>>
>>I also want to run remote X sessions from this Pc to the lifebook so
>>all it has to do is display X apps, so harnessing the power of my main
>>Pc which has 1Gig Ram and a Sempron 3000+ processor.
>>
>>I bought the Lifebook cheap and it came without CD's. It just had win
>>98 on it. The Fujitsu website does provide drivers but these are for
>>win95.
>>
>>I wish to do everything in stages.
>>
>>Stage 1 back up the LB ( lifebook ) The LB has a 3.1Gig Hard disc
>>Control Panel reports it as a ST310211A. I have a usb 10Gig disc with
>>3 fat32 partitions on it. What I propose is to boot the LB with DSL
>>and use dd to copy the h/disc to the usb disc. Problem - I don't know
>>the correct parameters for dd to make sure I copy all of the disc. I
>>know it is dd if=?????( don't know of=???? (maybe /dev/hde1/lbimage)
>>I believe that this- with the correct syntax would give me a file
>>which I could use to restore the LB if everything fails.
>>
>>Can anyone give me the syntax please?
>>
>
> If it is an IDE drive,
> if=/dev/hda (or hdb, c, d depending where you connect the drive)
> For a SCSI, USB or SATA drive change "hd" to "sd".
> of= a regular file or a block device of equal or larger size
> conv=sync,noerror (just in case the drive has bad sectors. If it does,
> you are just in time to make a backup!)
>
>
Thanks.
Update:
repartitioned usb hard disc. Now 3.0Gig and 6.7Gig
ran :
dd conv=sync,noerror if=/dev/hda of=/mnt/sda5/win98

This ran for about hour and half and failed with the following error:
File size limit exceeded
ls -l /mnt/sda5 gave
-rwx-r--r-- root root 21477483647 Jun 17 19:42 win98

So only part of disc copied.

Is there some over-ride for file size or do I need to change /dev/sda5 to ext3 or
something other than fat32?
tia
Norm

Norman Elliott · External Since: Jun 25, 2006 Posts: 27

Jim wrote:
> Norman Elliott wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> I have a Fuujitsu lifebook780Tx which has win98 on it at the moment.
>> I would like to put Linux on it as dual boot with windows.
>> I would also like to put a wireless card in it so I can connect it to
>> my main Pc.
>>
>> This Pc triple boots Mandriva/Suse/Slackware. It has an ethernet card
>> in it and connects to the internet through an adsl modem/router.
>>
>> I believe I should be able to put a wireless PCI card in it and thus
>> enable connection of the lifebook to the internet.
>>
>> I also want to run remote X sessions from this Pc to the lifebook so
>> all it has to do is display X apps, so harnessing the power of my main
>> Pc which has 1Gig Ram and a Sempron 3000+ processor.
>>
>> I bought the Lifebook cheap and it came without CD's. It just had win
>> 98 on it. The Fujitsu website does provide drivers but these are for
>> win95.
>>
>> I wish to do everything in stages.
>>
>> Stage 1 back up the LB ( lifebook )
>> The LB has a 3.1Gig Hard disc Control Panel reports it as a ST310211A.
>> I have a usb 10Gig disc with 3 fat32 partitions on it.
>
>
> The internal drive is actually a 10GB unit. Refer to:
> http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/ata/st310211a.html
>
>> What I propose is to boot the LB with DSL and use dd to copy the
>> h/disc to the usb disc.
>> Problem - I don't know the correct parameters for dd to make sure I
>> copy all of the disc.
>> I know it is dd if=?????( don't know of=???? (maybe
>> /dev/hde1/lbimage)
>> I believe that this- with the correct syntax would give me a file
>> which I could use to restore the LB if everything fails.
>>
>> Can anyone give me the syntax please?
>>
>> After I have this done I would use some partitioning software to
>> shrink the windows partition. ( I have already run scandisc ans
>> defragged it ).
>> Anyone have any recommendations. parted ranish etc?
>> tia
>> Norm
>
>
> GNU Parted would do the job nicely, having a partition resizer which is
> capable of resizing FAT partitions (you might also find that missing 7GB).
>
> Sorry it isn't much, but HTH.
>
>
I have tried to set this up. My main PC does not like parted. When I tried to install it
it started complaining about dependencies. I can't see how I could run this on the laptop
so I expect I will ned someting else. Even parted-static wants parted-devel etc.
tia
Norm

Norman Elliott · External Since: Jun 25, 2006 Posts: 27

Norman Elliott wrote:
> Jim wrote:
>
>> Norman Elliott wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>> I have a Fuujitsu lifebook780Tx which has win98 on it at the moment.
>>> I would like to put Linux on it as dual boot with windows.
>>> I would also like to put a wireless card in it so I can connect it to
>>> my main Pc.
>>>
>>> This Pc triple boots Mandriva/Suse/Slackware. It has an ethernet card
>>> in it and connects to the internet through an adsl modem/router.
>>>
>>> I believe I should be able to put a wireless PCI card in it and thus
>>> enable connection of the lifebook to the internet.
>>>
>>> I also want to run remote X sessions from this Pc to the lifebook so
>>> all it has to do is display X apps, so harnessing the power of my
>>> main Pc which has 1Gig Ram and a Sempron 3000+ processor.
>>>
>>> I bought the Lifebook cheap and it came without CD's. It just had win
>>> 98 on it. The Fujitsu website does provide drivers but these are for
>>> win95.
>>>
>>> I wish to do everything in stages.
>>>
>>> Stage 1 back up the LB ( lifebook )
>>> The LB has a 3.1Gig Hard disc Control Panel reports it as a
>>> ST310211A. I have a usb 10Gig disc with 3 fat32 partitions on it.
>>
>>
>>
>> The internal drive is actually a 10GB unit. Refer to:
>> http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/ata/st310211a.html
>>
>>> What I propose is to boot the LB with DSL and use dd to copy the
>>> h/disc to the usb disc.
>>> Problem - I don't know the correct parameters for dd to make sure I
>>> copy all of the disc.
>>> I know it is dd if=?????( don't know of=???? (maybe
>>> /dev/hde1/lbimage)
>>> I believe that this- with the correct syntax would give me a file
>>> which I could use to restore the LB if everything fails.
>>>
>>> Can anyone give me the syntax please?
>>>
>>> After I have this done I would use some partitioning software to
>>> shrink the windows partition. ( I have already run scandisc ans
>>> defragged it ).
>>> Anyone have any recommendations. parted ranish etc?
>>> tia
>>> Norm
>>
>>
>>
>> GNU Parted would do the job nicely, having a partition resizer which
>> is capable of resizing FAT partitions (you might also find that
>> missing 7GB).
>>
>> Sorry it isn't much, but HTH.
>>
>>
> I have tried to set this up. My main PC does not like parted. When I
> tried to install it it started complaining about dependencies. I can't
> see how I could run this on the laptop so I expect I will ned someting
> else. Even parted-static wants parted-devel etc.
> tia
> Norm
I have now found gparted-liveCd
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/documentation.php
This provides a bootable system so I am going to try that.
I'll let you know how I get on with it.
Norm

Norman Elliott · External Since: Jun 25, 2006 Posts: 27

> Norman Elliott wrote:
>
>>>
>>> GNU Parted would do the job nicely, having a partition resizer which
>>> is capable of resizing FAT partitions (you might also find that
>>> missing 7GB).
>>>
>>> Sorry it isn't much, but HTH.
>>>
Thanks,
gparted and fdisk say the disc is 3Gig
>>>
>> I have tried to set this up. My main PC does not like parted. When I
>> tried to install it it started complaining about dependencies. I can't
>> see how I could run this on the laptop so I expect I will ned someting
>> else. Even parted-static wants parted-devel etc.
>> tia
>> Norm
>
> I have now found gparted-liveCd
> http://gparted.sourceforge.net/documentation.php
> This provides a bootable system so I am going to try that.
> I'll let you know how I get on with it.
> Norm

Gparted did the business!!
When it booted the mouse pointer went wild. Totally uncontrolable until gparted had
scanned the discs and was waiting for me to use it. This took about 10 mins.
( I only found out because I had gone off to answer the phone!*!* )

Re-booted into windows, ran scandisc and defragged it again and all was well.

Jim · External Since: Apr 21, 2005 Posts: 996

Norman Elliott wrote:
>> Norman Elliott wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>>> GNU Parted would do the job nicely, having a partition resizer which
>>>> is capable of resizing FAT partitions (you might also find that
>>>> missing 7GB).
>>>>
>>>> Sorry it isn't much, but HTH.
>>>>
> Thanks,
> gparted and fdisk say the disc is 3Gig
>
>>>>
>>> I have tried to set this up. My main PC does not like parted. When I
>>> tried to install it it started complaining about dependencies. I
>>> can't see how I could run this on the laptop so I expect I will ned
>>> someting else. Even parted-static wants parted-devel etc.
>>> tia
>>> Norm
>>
>>
>> I have now found gparted-liveCd
>> http://gparted.sourceforge.net/documentation.php
>> This provides a bootable system so I am going to try that.
>> I'll let you know how I get on with it.
>> Norm
>
>
> Gparted did the business!!
> When it booted the mouse pointer went wild. Totally uncontrolable until
> gparted had scanned the discs and was waiting for me to use it. This
> took about 10 mins.
> ( I only found out because I had gone off to answer the phone!*!* )
>
> Re-booted into windows, ran scandisc and defragged it again and all was
> well.

but did you get your 7GB back?

--
When all else fails...
Use a hammer.

http://dotware.co.uk

Some people are like Slinkies
They serve no particular purpose
But they bring a smile to your face
When you push them down the stairs.

Norman Elliott · External Since: Jun 25, 2006 Posts: 27

Jim wrote:
> Norman Elliott wrote:
>
>>> Norman Elliott wrote:
>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> GNU Parted would do the job nicely, having a partition resizer
>>>>> which is capable of resizing FAT partitions (you might also find
>>>>> that missing 7GB).
>>>>>
>>>>> Sorry it isn't much, but HTH.
>>>>>
>> Thanks,
>> gparted and fdisk say the disc is 3Gig
>>
>>>>>
>>>> I have tried to set this up. My main PC does not like parted. When I
>>>> tried to install it it started complaining about dependencies. I
>>>> can't see how I could run this on the laptop so I expect I will ned
>>>> someting else. Even parted-static wants parted-devel etc.
>>>> tia
>>>> Norm
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I have now found gparted-liveCd
>>> http://gparted.sourceforge.net/documentation.php
>>> This provides a bootable system so I am going to try that.
>>> I'll let you know how I get on with it.
>>> Norm
>>
>>
>>
>> Gparted did the business!!
>> When it booted the mouse pointer went wild. Totally uncontrolable
>> until gparted had scanned the discs and was waiting for me to use it.
>> This took about 10 mins.
>> ( I only found out because I had gone off to answer the phone!*!* )
>>
>> Re-booted into windows, ran scandisc and defragged it again and all
>> was well.
>
>
> but did you get your 7GB back?
>
Well no. According to fdsik and gparted this is a 3Gig drive.
The seagate one you mentioned is a three & half inch drive so wouldn't fit in the PC.
A google search also showed an IBM drive with the same part number and
This site: http://www.itbrugtsalg.dk/shop/default.asp?ProductID=423
says the drive is 3.2Gig.
So I guess I have to accept that it is.
Very strange.

Since getting the partitions set up I have tried
Debiad Sarge, Slackware 10.2 Ubuntu-6.06 which all failed miserably.
I just could not get X configured. The display was off-set about a third to the right and
the mouse was uncontrollable.
I now have Vector linux working well.
ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/vectorlinux/

dual booting windows and using the sata-2.4.29 kernel and using icewm

Stage 3 will be getting wireless network cards for my 2 PC's and getting them working

Norman