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Updating Knoppix On HDD (Hard Disk Drive)

Started by Donald Darden, November 12, 2007, 12:08:56 AM

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Donald Darden

Getting Knoppix installed on a Hard Disk Drive or other writable media is necessary before any modifications are possible.  And aside from the speed gain over trying to use a LiveCD, custom configuration and getting the latest upgrades are two of the most significant benefits.

For those that want their upgrades to happen automatically, Ubuntu might be the preferred distribution.  But there is a lot to like about Knoppix, so let's look at some of the methods that can be used with it.

First of all, there are two approaches.  One is to use the command line approach, and the other is to go at the process through a graphical interface.  Manually, you end up using apt-get, but you can interface to it through dselect, dpkg, aptitude, or synaptic.  Which tool to use, and when to use it, become a matter of conjecture.  In most cases, people look for some method outlined online and try it.  If it works, they just continue to use it.  Going deeped probably does not happen until they decide to build their own packages or create their own distribution.  With Linuxc, it is not always a question of one way or the right way, but alternate ways.

So let's suppose you just want to learn one way, and the more graphical it is, the better.  Less typing of cryptic commands and fewer typos to boot.  In knoppix, that probably means using the Kpackage Package Manager, which you will find under System in the Kmenu, which is displayed when you ckick on the lower left button on the tookbar.  Actually, this is just a link to the Synaptic Package Manager, and through it you can add or remove various packages, and check for updates.

The think about working with a package manager is that it not only simplifies things, but it creates and maintains its own history of what is installed,  If you use a package manager, it is best to be consistent with it, so that the history is complete and intact.

Using Kpackage/Synaptic Package Manager, you select all the packages that you are interested in, then select whether you want to install, ipgrade, or remove these.  Only one operation is allowed each time.  The next window that opens will say Installing and Removing Software.  There will be a process bar, a statement of Preparing Packages, then a tag saying Details with a expansion arrow to the right.  At the bottom there will be a Close button that will be grayed out.

What is not evident is that you probably need to click on the Details tag, because this opens a terminal console window, and you will probably have to make some decisions and respond to some questions about config files there.  Unfortunately, the terminal window is small and cannot be resized, it uses white on black (which looks like dark gray on black), and you probably cannot read it.  To fix this, you can can change the resolution for the monitor, or you can use the mouse and left button to highlight the text (reverse the colors for foreground and background) that might make it temporarily more readable.  Or just hit Enter to accept defaults that come up.