(16 Meg of RAM on the motherboard is required)

Prerequisites:
(1) Install winzip and winimage on your Windows PC.
(2) You should be familiar with how to set up a LRP firewall using a boot floppy  and should already
have a functioning LRP firewall boot-floppy assembled from this Site.

Click here to return to the floppy-based LRP page.

Create a LRP firewall on IDE/SCSI hard-disk (lrp files takes up no more than 4 Meg) (1) If your HD is smaller than 400 Meg, format a small DOS partition on your hard disk. Follow this link. (2) If your HD is larger than 400 Meg but less than 2 G, format two DOS partitions on your hard disk. Follow this link. (2b) If your HD is larger than 2 G, you are wasting resources, use a smaller hard disk for this project. (3) Create a "boot record" on your hard disk. Here is how (4) Copy eleven (11) LRP files to your IDE/SCSI hard-disk. Here is how

Using Compact Flash

The advantages of Compact Flash are: (1) It boots up much faster than floppy. (2) You can load more modules and add functions to the LRP box. (3) CF does not have any mechanical moving parts to wear out. (4) CF consumes less power than IDE. (5) CF does not generate annoying mechanical bearing noise (CF is extremely quiet). The disadvantage of Compact Flash is (1) It has slightly higher cost compared to a floppy / an old surplus IDE hard disk. (2) You need to buy a Compact Flash to IDE adaptor.

I use a 8-Meg Kodak Compact Flash memory (made by Sandisk ) with an
IDE to Compact Flash adapter.

You can get 4-Meg Compact Flash memory from Plexys Int'll Components at http://www.plexys.net/

See peeweelinux (http://www.peeweelinux.org/#products)
A 4-Meg Compact Flash card is more than you need for the LRP project.
Many people purchase a new digital camera, immediately replace the 8 or 16 Meg CF with a 256 Meg CF,
they either throw away the 8/16 Meg CF, or store it somewhere, or give it to the sales clerk at the store.

Thanks to Jean-Roch Blais, Montréal, Québec, Canada for his tips on some of these places where you can
purchase Compact Flash memory.

Caution: Do not rely on the BIOS of the motherboard to correctly auto-detect the IDE parameters of CF !

Action:
Determine the CHS-IDE parameters for your Compact Flash
Use ideinfo.exe (by Thomas Newman) on this diskette image to determine the number of Cylinders,
number of Heads and number of Sectors per track of your IDE hard disk or Compact Flash.
Alternatively, use this table to determine the Cylinders, Heads and Sectors of your Compact Flash.

Note: ideinfo.exe does not detect ATAPI-ZIP or IDE-ZIP

Action:
Invoke the BIOS setup menu and enter the (CHS) IDE parameters into the BIOS settings.
While setting the BIOS parameters for the Compact Flash, use "Normal mode", do not use "LBA",
do not use "Large".
If you do not know how to tweak the BIOS of your motherboard, ask a computer technician
for help, or risk "damaging" your motherboard. [render it not usable]

Hints on how to invoke the BIOS setup menu:
Generic boards typically use Del or Ctrl-Alt-Esc.
Dell uses Ctrl-Alt-Enter after booting up using a bootable DOS disk, or hit F2 at boot time.
Compaq typically uses F10 or F12 or "a setup diskette".
Intel motherboards may use F2.
IBM may use a "system diskette" or F1 or F2 or just watch the on-screen instructions.

Create a LRP firewall using Compact Flash: (1) Boot up using the this diskette (2) debug  <  killdisk.txt    (erases the partition table on your Compact Flash) (3) fdisk        (creates a clean, factory-fresh Primary DOS partition) (4) reboot     (Ctrl-Alt-Del) (5) format  c: (6) Create a boot record using syslinux, follow this link (7) Copy eleven (11) LRP files to the compact flash, see this page (8) Copy 4 files: etc.lrp, modules.lrp, dhcpc.lrp and dhcpd.lrp from your working LRP boot floppy to the compact flash. (9) reboot     (Ctrl-Alt-Del)

After you are satisfied with installing the Compact Flash, you can make more copies of it by removing
the CF from the LRP box, insert it into another Windows machine (with the proper adapter)
(For laptop, use one of those PCMCIA/PC Card to CF adapter) and make a Ghost image of it.
The software to use can be either Norton's "Ghost" or PowerQuest's "Drive Image".

If you have no extra CF adapter, the usual Ghost options are also available using a Ghost floppy
(created on a Windows machine), and a temporarily connected spare hard disk
(old, small ones will do nicely). When setting up the hard disk, leave an appropriate DOS partition
for dumping the .gho file and a copy of ghost.exe/ghostpe.exe. Restoration can then be performed
without relying on a special Ghost floppy as ghost.exe/ghostpe.exe are always available.
Any DOS/Win9x floppy will do. Burning these files to a bootable CD per the classic Radified method
allows very convenient restoration and cloning, especially when finished installations with packages
exceed 1.44 floppy capacity.  (Thanks to Master Sergeant Mark LaSalle of Shaw AFB for his help).
(Also thanks to Rad of Laguna Beach, California for the Ghost / Radified link)

Create a LRP firewall using IDE/ATAPI ZIP drive: (zip disk in primary IDE, set the jumpers on the ZIP IDE to "master" or "factory") Your BIOS must be able to boot from ZIP. Set the BIOS to boot from "floppy" or "ZIP/ATAPI" as appropriate. (1) Boot up using the this floppy diskette (2) run guest.exe to give the ZIP disk a drive letter C. (3) format  c: (4) Create a boot record using syslinux, follow this link (5) Copy eleven (11) LRP files to the ZIP disk, see this page (6) Copy 4 files: etc.lrp, modules.lrp, dhcpc.lrp and dhcpd.lrp from your working LRP boot floppy to the ZIP disk, remove the floppy disk. (7) reboot     (Ctrl-Alt-Del)

IDE Compact Flash links

© 2001-2005 Nicholas Fong

Burnaby, B.C. Canada 

Last revision date: June 14, 2005
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