[Bio-Linux] Re: (no subject) (Siddharth Ray)

[Milo Thurston]

Dear Siddharth,
I hope that you don't mind me responding to your comments.

>The main part is the X-window system
>configuration which needs very specific system information. 

Indeed it does.

>1. Machine independence - I think the X-windows can be configured on the fly.

In order to configure X for a new system, there are a couple of methods. One
could run Xconfigurator manually (but it is nasty), or run "xfree86 --configure".
This second method is probably what you are after, but it is not foolproof and often
requires editing of /etc/X11/XF86Config after it has been run.
I think that a far simpler solution to the problem of X not working on different
hardware is to buy the appropriate hardware in the first place, or, run the
above commands yourself.

>Some
>changes should be made so that the kernel properly mounts all the hard drives.

The kernel's involvement in the mounting of drives is that it must have appropriate
drivers for the filesystem on the drive. If the drive has no filesystem on it, then
the kernel will not recognise it and the mount command will not succeed. In order
to use a second drive on the machine when the image does not account for it,
one must follow these steps:

1. Partition the drive. Fdisk is the necessary tool.
2. Format the partitions. "mke2fs -j /dev/hdb[insert partition number here]" is the
command you need.
3. Edit /etc/fstab to contain appropriate entries for the new partitions.

It's not possible to automate this process unless we know:

1. How big your disk is.
2. How many partitions you want on it, and of what filesystem.
3. Where you want the partitions mounted.

...and then modify the install script used and the image.
Again, rather than write a custom script for each unusual machine, it is
easier for the user to run the commands above (or use the correct hardware).
Of course, any of your programming assistance would be gratefully received.

I hope that this helps.
'bye,
Milo.

--
Milo Thurston, CEH Oxford, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SR.
'phone 01865 281658,  fax 01865 281696.
http://www.bioinf.ceh.ac.uk/lab/