If this is the wrong group to post to, I apologize.

I am trying to find a minimalist Linux distribution with some unusual
requirements. My aim is to build a toolkit for use in repairing
infected Windows systems, running in a lightweight Linux environment
bootable from the same partition as Windows. This means here are my
requirements:

1) The entire root filesystem must be running from the initrd
ramdrive. Preferably the distribution should be ~5 MB or smaller.
2) It must be able to auto-detect local hard drives and read/write
NTFS partitions.

Swandog46 at (no spam) gmail.com wrote:
If this is the wrong group to post to, I apologize.

It's wrong to multipost, if you have to post to more than one newsgroup,
select a handful relevant newsgroups and add those in a similar way as
you would mail to two or more of your friends.


I am trying to find a minimalist Linux distribution with some unusual
requirements. My aim is to build a toolkit for use in repairing
infected Windows systems, running in a lightweight Linux environment
bootable from the same partition as Windows. This means here are my
requirements:

1) The entire root filesystem must be running from the initrd ramdrive.
Preferably the distribution should be ~5 MB or smaller. 2) It must be
able to auto-detect local hard drives and read/write NTFS partitions.

1. there are plenty of howtows that you can use to make a USB/LiveCD,
just follow those.

2. I guess they use the new in kernel automount.

If this is the wrong group to post to, I apologize.

I am trying to find a minimalist Linux distribution with some unusual
requirements. My aim is to build a toolkit for use in repairing
infected Windows systems, running in a lightweight Linux environment
bootable from the same partition as Windows. This means here are my
requirements:

1) The entire root filesystem must be running from the initrd
ramdrive. Preferably the distribution should be ~5 MB or smaller.
2) It must be able to auto-detect local hard drives and read/write
NTFS partitions.

The distribution does not need very much functionality, as it will be
used only as an "outside-Windows" environment. So it doesn't need
much except basic libraries and an NTFS read/write driver. No
development or administration tools even.

I can satisfy each of these requirements individually, but have not
yet found a way to satisfy both at once.

For example, ttylinux:
http://www.minimalinux.org/ttylinux/
satisfies requirement #1. But it doesn't seem to detect my local hard
drives and getting an NTFS driver working with it has been
unsuccessful.

Any new Debian-based distro using kernel newer than 2.6.20 can satisfy
requirement #2, but I really want to strip it down further.

If I am going to build my own, how does Debian autodetect local hard
drives and NTFS partitions --- and what is the minimal configuration I
would need to accomplish this?

Any suggestions? I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

If this is the wrong group to post to, I apologize.

I am trying to find a minimalist Linux distribution with some unusual
requirements. My aim is to build a toolkit for use in repairing
infected Windows systems, running in a lightweight Linux environment
bootable from the same partition as Windows. This means here are my
requirements:

1) The entire root filesystem must be running from the initrd
ramdrive. Preferably the distribution should be ~5 MB or smaller.
2) It must be able to auto-detect local hard drives and read/write
NTFS partitions.

The distribution does not need very much functionality, as it will be
used only as an "outside-Windows" environment. So it doesn't need
much except basic libraries and an NTFS read/write driver. No
development or administration tools even.

I can satisfy each of these requirements individually, but have not
yet found a way to satisfy both at once.

For example, ttylinux:
http://www.minimalinux.org/ttylinux/
satisfies requirement #1. But it doesn't seem to detect my local hard
drives and getting an NTFS driver working with it has been
unsuccessful.

Any new Debian-based distro using kernel newer than 2.6.20 can satisfy
requirement #2, but I really want to strip it down further.

If I am going to build my own, how does Debian autodetect local hard
drives and NTFS partitions --- and what is the minimal configuration I
would need to accomplish this?

Any suggestions? I would really appreciate it. Thanks!