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Welcome to the home of E-Minima - bring the Internet to the grassroots for better learning and governance.
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Support for using this miniCD may be requested from the eMinima Support Center - visit fellows to find support personnel (fellows) near you, or SMS/text "ebarangay (message)" to 2960. Register as fellow so you can get personalized tutorial and become the official service provider in your area.

Contents: Starting from the MiniCD | Common Routine | Starting from the Hard Disk | Loading EM | Saving and Propagating Your Creations | Working with Pictures and Documents | License

Starting from the MiniCD1

Using a Pentium PC, make sure it is configured to use the CD-ROM as the first boot device (If not, do this: enter CMOS setup at startup, change the Boot option to use CD-ROM/ATAPI device as the first boot device, and Save).

While the computer is starting, open the CD-ROM drive and insert the miniCD. If the computer has started to read from the hard disk before you have closed the CD-ROM drive, try pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL at the same time, or wait and then command Restart.

While the miniCD is being read by the computer, you will see the Linux boot prompt. Immediately command slax server or, if you are using a floppy, slax server floppy - make sure that there is a floppy diskette in the floppy drive. If you were unable to enter these commands, do another set of commands indicated in the second paragraph after "Start of Common Routine" below.

[START OF COMMON ROUTINE]
In the login (black) screen, enter root for username and toor for password.

If you were unable to command slax server earlier (or linux server if starting from the hard disk), command this now: apachectl start (it contains the small letter L). You are loading the Apache server.

Note: This black screen (called console) will always appear whenever you are not on the desktop. From here, you can command halt to end your session or reboot to restart the computer. However, you still have to load the desktop so keep reading.
Load the desktop (see the blue picture at right) via the command gui or, if this was unsuccessful, guisafe. The gui option will work for newer computers and monitors, while the guisafe option will work with older ones. Should there be problems, press these keys together: CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE. You will be returned to the black screen.

[END OF COMMON ROUTINE]

Proceed to load EM.

Remove the miniCD immediately at startup/reboot if you do not plan to load EM.

Starting EM from the miniCD has these advantages for you:

  • You can save files directly to your hard disk (look at /mnt/disc0part1 - this should be your hard disk 0, partition 1).

    Note: Hard disks formatted with NTFS would not be writable using this system (in whichever way you start it). The current version can write only on FAT-formatted hard disks (plus, of course, disks using the native Linux format). Anyway, you can use other devices like floppy disk (/mnt/floppy) or USB flash drive ( /mnt/disc1part1 [or higher numbers] - USB flash drive should be inserted before you start your PC).

  • Bring along the miniCD anywhere and continue working as long as there is a Pentium-class PC around. (To use its graphical user interface, the memory of your PC should be at least 64 MB.)

    Note: While in the console, you can work with files via the command mc - this is a pair of text-based windows for working with files. TAB transfers you to the other window.

Starting from the Hard Disk

Using the hard disk to start EM allows you to use the hard disk as a virtual CD (i.e., you can change its contents without burning a new CD). This is especially useful for people without a CD writer.

Many hard disks are formatted using Windows3. Using the hard disk for starting the system requires that you have a FAT-formatted disk (example, Windows98 or earlier). You should also be able to use a DOS screen (you can go to DOS by pressing F8 during Windows startup and choosing DOS prompt, or by exiting to MS-DOS when you are inside Windows).

Preparing the Hard Disk - Start Windows normally and create a subdirectory EM in the hard disk (drive C). Insert the miniCD to the CD-ROM drive and copy all its contents to the EM directory. (You will need at least 162 MB of free space in the hard disk for this.)

Booting the System:

Exit to MS-DOS (using the Windows shutdown sequence).

Go to \EM\DOS (Command cd \EM\dos).

While in \EM\DOS, command linux server, or if you are using a floppy disk, command linux server floppy.

Refer to the COMMON ROUTINE above for the next steps.

    Note: You can actually program DOS to start this system automatically by placing the commands above in the autoexec.bat file.

    From inside the new system, the EM subdirectory can be seen as /mnt/disc0part1/Em.

Loading EM2

While on the desktop (see the blue screen above), click on the globe icon at the status bar to start the Firefox browser. Type localhost in the browser's address space under the menu and press ENTER.

To get started with EM, click on the links. The front page banner and menu will look like this. You can find a link to help files at the bottom of every page.

    Note: Type localhost in the browser if the PC stands alone or is being used as a server. In a local network, clients/users must use the address 192.168.0.100. Only one instance of the miniCD should be deployed in a network.

Saving and Propagating Your Creations

While in console (black screen), command configsave. You will be asked for the name of the device to save your changes into. To save in your hard disk (if it is not NTFS), enter /dev/hda1. To save in a USB flash drive (which must have been inserted at boot time), enter /dev/sda1. (Saving to floppy is problematic, as its size is limited to 1.38 MB.)

All your changed files will be in confsave.tgz. Next time that you start the EM miniCD, whether from CD or from hard disk, all your files and settings will be restored!

However, before starting, make sure that the previously saved confsave.tgz is ready to be read, either from the hard disk or from the USB flash drive (already inserted at boot time).

Working with Pictures and Documents

Use of pictures simplifies not only your communication with clients but also your file storage, as the new formats, especially .png, can preserve image quality using small files. These commands at the console window will bring up image programs:

  • gqview - displays image files, much like a presentation
  • xpaint - easy image editor
  • tuxpaint - easy image editor with sounds - recommended for kids
  • xv - image editor (shareware - see the license)
  • inkscape - new software for vector graphics composing; can export .png images

If you have images in Microsoft Word, copy the image and paste in Paint, then Save as .png image file. If you have presentations, view the slide in just the right size then press the Alt-PrintScreen keys together and Paste then crop the new picture in Paint. Again Save as .png image file. You can then open and edit these new images using xpaint in the new system. Or if the images are ready for publishing, upload them to your server for use in Web pages (see Loading EM above).

For simple animation, try animator9 for Windows. The instructions are here.

To use text from Microsoft Word, do the following:

  • While in Windows, copy then paste the text in Notepad and Save As .txt file.
  • Or while in a console in the new system, command abiword and then open the .doc file in Abiword.
    Note: The .doc files opened with Abiword can be saved using the .abw file extension of Abiword.

1 Mini-CD as used here refers to the eMinima release of Slax Live mini-CD.

2 EM as used here refers to the E-Minima CD and scripts released by eMinima.org.

3 Windows, Windows98, Word and Paint as used here refer to software of Microsoft Corporation.

License: (For the full text, click here.)

April 1, 2005

If not otherwise specified, the software on this CD falls under the GNU
GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE (gnu.org). The source codes of all binaries and
libraries on the CD are available from their original
providers and for example at ftp.slackware.com.

Warranty:

This software is distributed with NO WARRANTY, use it at your own risk.

Authors:

Live CD - Tomas Matejicek (http://slax.linux-live.org, http://www.linux-live.org)

EM Scripts - Raffy Mananghaya (http://eminima.org)
IDMG, CPAf, U.P. Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines, Tel/Fax (63 49) 536 3382