prime os

crash893 · 2003-02-17, 21:07

i was wondering if there was anysort of prime OS

and what i mean by that is i have some old computers ( 166) and such with no os but they do have all the hardware ( hdd cpu nic) to be productive on some level.

i was wondering if there was something simmalar to these os's on a floopy that i load with mabey a floppy or two and have it do nothing but crunch and mabey some simple stuff like track team stats and positions

delta_t · 2003-02-18, 21:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by crash893

i was wondering if there was anysort of prime OS

and what i mean by that is i have some old computers ( 166) and such with no os but they do have all the hardware ( hdd cpu nic) to be productive on some level.

i was wondering if there was something simmalar to these os's on a floopy that i load with mabey a floppy or two and have it do nothing but crunch and mabey some simple stuff like track team stats and positions

Check out the end of this thread for some information on boot ROMS.
http://www.teamprimerib.com/gimps/viewtopic.php?t=48

QuintLeo · 2003-02-19, 14:34

The prime save files are too large to fit on a floppy.

If you've got enough RAM for a big enough RAMdisk, though, a LINUX floppy-based distribution might work - or you could set up a Linux Terminal Project style diskless-boot setup and use a server for storing the work files on.

crash893 · 2003-02-19, 22:25

well i didnt mean for it to stay contained on a floppy

i ment get a floopy or two

have the os install on the hdd and install prime

then download wu and do its thing once on the hdd

willmore · 2003-02-23, 19:19

You could use one of the bootable linux CD distributions with the save dir an NFS mounted partition. Or were you thinking no network, either?

crash893 · 2003-02-24, 00:19

well im dont think a cd would work becuase some of these machines dont have a cdrom
( not anymore)

mabey like a os on one disk and the prime clent on another

QuintLeo · 2003-02-24, 01:43

If you have a HD in the machine, why are you looking at floppy-based distributions?

No CD? If you have a LAN card and 'Net access, do an install over the net.

Preferably, though, borrow a CD from another machine lone enough to do the install from - it's a LOT faster.

crash893 · 2003-02-25, 21:20

the hdd on the computer is only 500 mb

thats less that a cd im trying not to take up a lot of room on the computer

a cd isnt nesacarly out of the question but i would like the os to be under 50 mb if possible and then have prime on there also
just pop in the cd have it install on the hdd and start crunching away

mabey have it set up so that you can configure it or if you dont hit any buttons after 30 seconds it just installs a default settings

so if you have a comptuer with no keyboard and no monitor you can get them up and running.

QuintLeo · 2003-02-26, 16:10

I've got several LINUX dedicated cruncher machines running with 100 Meg *OR LESS* hard drives. I believe the smallest currently is a 40 Meg.

You don't need XWindows on a dedicated cruncher - that saves a LOT of HD space.

Unlike Windoze, LINUX doesn't HAVE to eat lotsa drive space, if you use a no-nonsense distribution like Slackware you can easily keep the bloat down.

crash893 · 2003-02-27, 19:18

well is there anyway we could get the whole os ( probably linux) and prime all set up in a package we could download and image to a bootable cd?

xenon · 2004-08-27, 01:51

No one seems to be interested in building a 'prime os' from scratch. From software engineering point of view, this is reinventing the wheel.
But I think concentrating the computing power of old computers can be useful. Windows does over a thousand context switches per second. It is a waste of time. (am I correct?)
A few timings to get an idea:
Prime95: normal 96ms, screen display off 92ms, safe mode (can't turn off display) 94ms.
mprime (bootable disk): 93ms

If we have bootable version of Prime95, would it be faster than 92ms? At the same time, switching off display card can save electrical energy. We need that function if a bootable version ever created.

2003-02-17, 21:07	#1
crash893 Sep 2002 100101000₂ Posts	prime os i was wondering if there was anysort of prime OS and what i mean by that is i have some old computers ( 166) and such with no os but they do have all the hardware ( hdd cpu nic) to be productive on some level. i was wondering if there was something simmalar to these os's on a floopy that i load with mabey a floppy or two and have it do nothing but crunch and mabey some simple stuff like track team stats and positions

2003-02-23, 19:19	#5
willmore Aug 2002 2²·3·5 Posts	try linux from cd... You could use one of the bootable linux CD distributions with the save dir an NFS mounted partition. Or were you thinking no network, either?

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2003-02-19, 14:34	#3
QuintLeo Oct 2002 Lost in the hills of Iowa 2⁶×7 Posts	The prime save files are too large to fit on a floppy. If you've got enough RAM for a big enough RAMdisk, though, a LINUX floppy-based distribution might work - or you could set up a Linux Terminal Project style diskless-boot setup and use a server for storing the work files on.

2003-02-19, 22:25	#4
crash893 Sep 2002 2³×37 Posts	well i didnt mean for it to stay contained on a floppy i ment get a floopy or two have the os install on the hdd and install prime then download wu and do its thing once on the hdd

2003-02-24, 00:19	#6
crash893 Sep 2002 2³·37 Posts	well im dont think a cd would work becuase some of these machines dont have a cdrom ( not anymore) mabey like a os on one disk and the prime clent on another

2003-02-24, 01:43	#7
QuintLeo Oct 2002 Lost in the hills of Iowa 2⁶×7 Posts	If you have a HD in the machine, why are you looking at floppy-based distributions? No CD? If you have a LAN card and 'Net access, do an install over the net. Preferably, though, borrow a CD from another machine lone enough to do the install from - it's a LOT faster.

2003-02-25, 21:20	#8
crash893 Sep 2002 2³·37 Posts	the hdd on the computer is only 500 mb thats less that a cd im trying not to take up a lot of room on the computer a cd isnt nesacarly out of the question but i would like the os to be under 50 mb if possible and then have prime on there also just pop in the cd have it install on the hdd and start crunching away mabey have it set up so that you can configure it or if you dont hit any buttons after 30 seconds it just installs a default settings so if you have a comptuer with no keyboard and no monitor you can get them up and running.

2003-02-26, 16:10	#9
QuintLeo Oct 2002 Lost in the hills of Iowa 700₈ Posts	I've got several LINUX dedicated cruncher machines running with 100 Meg OR LESS hard drives. I believe the smallest currently is a 40 Meg. You don't need XWindows on a dedicated cruncher - that saves a LOT of HD space. Unlike Windoze, LINUX doesn't HAVE to eat lotsa drive space, if you use a no-nonsense distribution like Slackware you can easily keep the bloat down.

2003-02-27, 19:18	#10
crash893 Sep 2002 100101000₂ Posts	well is there anyway we could get the whole os ( probably linux) and prime all set up in a package we could download and image to a bootable cd?

2004-08-27, 01:51	#11
xenon Jul 2004 100011₂ Posts	No one seems to be interested in building a 'prime os' from scratch. From software engineering point of view, this is reinventing the wheel. But I think concentrating the computing power of old computers can be useful. Windows does over a thousand context switches per second. It is a waste of time. (am I correct?) A few timings to get an idea: Prime95: normal 96ms, screen display off 92ms, safe mode (can't turn off display) 94ms. mprime (bootable disk): 93ms If we have bootable version of Prime95, would it be faster than 92ms? At the same time, switching off display card can save electrical energy. We need that function if a bootable version ever created.