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General discussion

Need lightweight OS to fit on 512MB flash for network bridge

by MrKassner Oct 12, 2009 8:10AM PDT

Okay basically my friend has a desktop that needs internet but we have no ethernet cord to run from his parents bedroom where the router is to his bedroom, and he keeps breaking the USB WiFi cards he gets because people accidentally hit them while their in the USB port. He has this one really beat up laptop that isn't used anymore because the hard drive is failing and the laptop is literally falling apart so I was wondering if their was a Linux distro small enough to fit on his 512MB flash drive, like Puppy or DSL, and be able to create a network bridge? I would use Xubuntu since I'm more familiar with it but it won't fit on a 512MB flash drive and having it on a LiveCD would be a pain because if the laptop turns off the it won't remember settings so I'd have to come over to his house and set it up allover again.

--> Short and simple --> I just need a distro that can fit on a 512MB flash drive and provide a network bridge between the WiFi card and Ethernet, and help on how you set up the network bridge since it doesn't seem to be as easy as Windows XP. It will be used for *nothing* but that.

Discussion is locked

14 Posts
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The list.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 12, 2009 11:31AM PDT
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Wow thanks alot,
by MrKassner Oct 12, 2009 2:03PM PDT

I never even would of guessed they had Linux Router distros. I should of known better... Linux does all. I'm working on figuring out FREESCO but it's being a lil hard to set-up since it's not 64bit compatable. Will have to dig up the old computer in the kitchen that we use as a cookbook and install it from there, only 32bit computer left in the house.

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Does anyone have any recomendations
by MrKassner Oct 12, 2009 3:28PM PDT

as to which Linux Router distro to pick from the link R. Proffitt posted, or some other router distro you know and like that isn't in the list? I'm having a hard time picking one as most of their websites are poorly designed and/or distros are poorly documented. I'm simply looking for something to take the WiFi connection and bridge it with the Ethernet card and preferably be easy to set-up as I'm still new-ish to Linux.

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Short USB cable
by arochester Oct 12, 2009 7:55PM PDT
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He can't afford a new WiFi card for awhile,
by MrKassner Oct 12, 2009 9:55PM PDT

we just thought it'd be a fun project till he could get a new one, but after hours of looking through forums I'm now finding out the one thing Linux is incapable of doing... Network Bridging. Which I find weird. Windows can do it in two mouse clicks. I would think Linux would of took and improved it even more, yet all I can find is programs that claim (but fail) to create a network bridge, or very long lists of commands that I can't do because I can't find something that is "friendly" enough for me to understand. Though I guess the second one is my fault since the first day I tried Linux I was always trying stuff that was too advanced for me. Eh, I'll try more tomorrow once I get some rest.

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Not true. Try Google.
by Porch-a-Geese Oct 13, 2009 10:10AM PDT

You didn't try the mailing lists or IRC channels, did you?

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I did try Google,
by MrKassner Oct 13, 2009 11:59PM PDT

also looked through here and asked a few questions on ubuntuforums.com too. The only thing anyone could really suggest is a Linux router distro. I found one called "Untangle" that looks like it will work. I'm just having trouble installing it. It's too big for the 512GB flash drive but I found a bigger 8GB one and now it's showing an error when trying to install.

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(NT) 512MB, not GB. Wish I had a 512GB flash drive. Ha.
by MrKassner Oct 14, 2009 12:00AM PDT
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Mandriva offers
by GODhack Oct 15, 2009 5:44PM PDT

You can get almost anything inside 1 Gb flash drive. Just use Grub2 feature boot from iso file.

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Problem still unsolved but...
by MrKassner Oct 15, 2009 6:34PM PDT

as I am moving in a couple weeks I no longer have the time to deal with this problem and will be unable to solve this for my friend, he says he's going to try to buy a new hard drive for his laptop and I recommended he buy a cheap internal WiFi card for the desktop. Thanks for everyone that tried to help.
On another note, I really love Linux and want to get into it so I can stop relying on Windows, and I knew it wasn't a simple OS that "just works" like Windows does and I was looking forward to learning a lil about programing, but if a simple task like network bridging that can be done in 30seconds on Windows requires a week long research for Linux, that's just not acceptable. (I posted this question on multiple Linux forums, none were able to come to an answer of how to do it that worked, and I was researching this problem a few days before I even bothered making a forum post.)

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No!
by GODhack Oct 15, 2009 7:36PM PDT

Problem is very easy to solve on Linux but you add limitations what is impossible on windows at all! You can install windows into 512Mb flash drive?!

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I forgot to add in
by MrKassner Oct 15, 2009 8:39PM PDT

that I meant Linux in general seems to be near impossible to run a simple network bridge on, as I tried for days to get it to work in Xubuntu knowing that it'd be hard to find something that'd run on a 512MB or even 1GB flash drive. As I said I would work on this more but I'm moving in 2weeks and have to help pack an entire 3bedroom house in a few days to get it into a loading truck. Once we move to where we're going I'll be almost 2000miles across the country in Arizona way too far away to help my friend, and also like I said he will be buying a hard drive soon so he will just install Windows 7 on the laptop and run a network bridge for that.

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nonsence
by GODhack Oct 16, 2009 1:39AM PDT
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Why the limitation to 512 Mb?
by Kees Bakker Oct 15, 2009 7:39PM PDT

A 1 or 2 GB flash drive isn't that expensive, and should make live much easier (as long as you stick with Linux, XP can't be installed on a Flash drive without hacks).

Kees

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