Knoppix (and using the Intel ipw2200 driver with it)
I've talked about a few LiveCD distributions recently. Dynebolic (aka Dyne:bolic) and Backtrack both have their strengths, but don't have the good general use qualities of well-known Knoppix.
I use one of my laptops to listen to live streaming media as I lounge in bed as a wake up or fall asleep. Instead of using a fully install OS, I started looking towards a LiveCD Linux distribution. A LiveCD could be lightweight and load to RAM without even bothering my hard disk. Theoretically, if the hard drive isn't spinning - the laptop is more quiet. Theoretically also, less heat would be generated from the hard drive (and perhaps fewer processes causing the CPU's power consumption to arise). With a LiveCD, it's not like your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive is spinning all the time either; it idles out when it's not needed. Yes, worrying about these metrics of performance do seem extreme - but I am looking for a quiet lightweight solution.
Knoppix, Backtrack, and Dynebolic each offer Firefox (and other web browsers) with XMMS. However, not all of them provide the hardware support to allow me to do what I need. With Backtrack, I could establish a network connection but was not able to use my sound capabilities (driver snd_intel8x0). Backtrack did not include the appropriate driver for my audio. Remember, Backtrack is a LiveCD loaded up with features to network security. Conversely, Dynebolic didn't provide the Intel ipw2200 drivers for my laptop's wireless.
Knoppix however focuses on having the best of everything. Recent version 5.0.1 offers Linux Kernel 2.6.17 with most of the typical device support, including my sound (snd_intel8x0) and wireless LAN (ipw2200).
Getting Knoppix to work wasn't without problems however. While it does include drivers for the ipw2200, it didn't include the firmware. This may puzzle someone new to Linux.
Getting devices to work (such as integrated wireless or PCMCIA Cards) on Linux often comes to a screeching halt for some when it comes to firmware. Very few people understand this aspect as familiarity with Windows causes ignorance of what's going on under the hood. Generally, the Windows drivers includes firmware which is loaded to the hardware when the driver is loaded also - this is done transparently to the user. It can also be transparent in Linux, after initial setup. Licensing concerns sometimes prohibit the wireless EEPROM firmware from being distributed with a general Linux driver.
Why is firmware needed? There are several reasons for this. As wireless standards change and security concerns arise, the card itself may need to change the way it does things internally. Some of the work is handled by the driver, but some is handled physically on the card. Also, it acts as a layer between the driver itself and physical features of the card - such as the LED activity or the radio's on/off state. As the vendor or developer updates the driver code, the firmware is sometimes updated also. In any case, the firmware needs to be available when the driver accesses the card.
How do you get the firmware? In my case, I have a Fedora Core 5 installation on this laptop's hard drive. In my case, I can simply use the Knoppix LiveCD OS to mount my hard drive temporarily and copy the firmware, as you may see illustrated below.
I copy the *.fw files from the Fedora /lib/firmware on my hard drive to the KNOPPIX /lib/firmware that exists in RAM. I'll then remove the module and then place it back in for the Kernel to see the newly located firmware. Since I've got my Fedora partition mounted, I can also access my wpa_supplicant.conf and use it with KNOPPIX. After that, it's just a matter of my typical wireless configurations and network settings (see images below).
Below I start wpa_supplicant and edit resolv.conf (inserting the address of my nameservers). I also tell the kernel my default gateway to route Internet traffic.
At this point, I'm able to browse the web and listen to my audio to my heart's content. Note however that not all plugins may be available for Firefox when using Knoppix.
Knoppix also comes with OpenOffice.org for productivity. Knoppix of course has enough candy to keep someone's interest also.
Knoppix not only deserves a place in your bin of tools for your PC, but you may also wish to burn extra discs for your friends or coworkers. If you give someone a Knoppix disc and tell them it's a way to get a taste of Linux without doing a major installation for all of Linux's features, who knows - maybe they'll switch.
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