Linux kiosk CDs not based on Knoppix? (I'm having NIC issues...) Harold Hoover 2007-07-20T20:19:11Z 2007-07-20T20:19:11Z

Some vendors do not provide Linux NIC drivers. Yet, there is a way to use the available Windows drivers from within Linux using ndiswrapper. I&#039;ve been successful enabling what Dell calls their &#034;Wireless 1370 WLAN Mini&#045;PCI Card&#034; &#040;which is a Broadcomm device&#041; using this method with a Dell Latitude D810.<br /><br />Here&#039;s the link...<br />http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/joomla/index.php

Harold Hoover 2007-07-20T20:19:11Z James Nickson 2007-06-05T15:01:24Z 2007-06-05T15:01:24Z

PCPAC is an open source project that supports easier, far more <br />cost efficient, more reliable and safer PACs. It is based on a full version of PCLinux2007 http://www.pclinuxos.com and so is easily modifiable, e.g. after changes to make a new CD of your changes, log on as root and enter<br /> ./mkcd<br /><br /> http://www.lccdigital.com/content/view/72/64/<br /><br />I&#039;m still coordinating the web stuff for<br /> &#045; my site above and http://www.lccdigital.com<br /> &#045; sourceforge http://www.sourceforge.dom/projects/pcpac<br /> &#045; Ibiblio.org for hosting downloads <br />http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/pcpac/<br /><br />PCLinuxOS is getting pretty popular and has pretty good documentation for use, customizing and remastering. <br /><br />If you give it a try I&#039;d appreciate feedback.

James Nickson 2007-06-05T15:01:24Z Wesley Rice 2006-09-21T22:31:33Z 2006-09-21T22:31:33Z

&gt;The problem is that these NICs seem notoriously<br />&gt; uncompliant with Knoppix &#045; which looks like the only<br />&gt; kernel that these kiosk CDs are based on.<br /><br />A small correction: Knoppix is merely the name of a particular GNU\Linux distribution built around the Linux kernel. Granted, each distro rolls their own unique Linux kernel, but support for most mass&#045;market NIC&#039;s, which would almost certainly include any recent Broadcom product, is usually part of any<br />major distro such as Knoppix or Fedora Core.<br /><br />I would suggest compiling in support for your NIC from the vanilla kernel, then rolling the bzImage back into Knoppix. The &#039;make config&#039; stage of a kernel compile will prompt you for inclusion\exclusion of various NIC drivers, and allows for fine tuning of networking parameters.

Wesley Rice 2006-09-21T22:31:33Z Lin Joiner 2006-09-07T15:51:16Z 2006-09-07T15:51:16Z

Tommy,<br /><br />Could you post a reply with info on the Kiosk cd you are using such as where to get it, how to configure it, etc?<br /><br />Thanks

Lin Joiner 2006-09-07T15:51:16Z Tom Edwards 2005-11-03T05:25:31Z 2005-11-03T05:25:31Z

Thanks very much for that, I looked on the knoppix forums and discovered that the general consensus is to buy a cheap, linux&#045;compliant NIC to get around it &#045; sounds like a cop&#045;out, but until I can get more clever with Linux it might have to do!<br /><br />Meanwhile those instructions on tailoring a CD look really good, I&#039;ll play around with them.

Tom Edwards 2005-11-03T05:25:31Z Chris Jowaisas 2005-10-30T17:59:57Z 2005-10-30T17:59:57Z

This might be what you are looking for if you are wanting to tackle bundling in the Broadcom drivers for those NICs &#045; <br />Building Your Own Live CD<br />http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7246<br /><br />The article comes recommended from none other than Dan Chudnov &#040;http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=11118313&#041;<br />&#034; Fyi, the latest linux journal has an article that demonstrates just how easy it is to customize knoppix... basically you can mount the compressed iso locally and chroot into it, then apt&#045;get install/remove and configure whatever packages you want &#040;it&#034;s debian, after all&#041;, and then write your new environment back out to a new iso for further copying and redistribution. Way cool. And, there are plenty of other <br /> approaches... boot off knoppix via usb drive, keep a writable /home partition, that kind of thing.&#034;

Chris Jowaisas 2005-10-30T17:59:57Z Chris Jowaisas 2005-10-30T17:55:48Z 2005-10-30T17:55:48Z

You could try here &#045; <br />http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php<br /><br />Broadcom makes a Linux driver for multiple platforms, including i386 &#045; <br />http://www.broadcom.com/drivers/downloaddrivers.php<br /><br />But it looks like they are fairly recently updated, so the latest kernel may not include them. If I understand it correctly though there is a way to &#034;roll your own&#034; Knoppix to include additional pieces if you want to. That is way beyond me, but that is what i have read other places. &#040;http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=6855430&amp;forum_id=4708 &#045; discussion of Knoppix from OSS4Lib&#041;

Chris Jowaisas 2005-10-30T17:55:48Z Tom Edwards 2005-10-28T01:45:05Z 2005-10-28T01:45:05Z

Hi folks,<br /><br />I&#039;m setting up some catalogues PCs to run off a linux kiosk CD, with the browser pointing to a fixed IP of our catalogue server.<br /><br />I&#039;ve run into problems however, as our IT department purchased a bunch of Dell PCs, with Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controllers as their onboard NIC. The problem is that these NICs seem notoriously uncompliant with Knoppix &#045; which looks like the only kernel that these kiosk CDs are based on.<br /><br />I&#039;m wondering if anyone&#039;s aware of an alternative kiosk CD, using a version of Linux that might be compatible with this hardware &#045; it&#039;s probably a long shot, but...<br /><br />My problem probably stems from the close relationship that Dell and Microsoft have, thereby making these network cards conveniently proprietary to Microsoft products!<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />Tom

Tom Edwards 2005-10-28T01:45:05Z