Multiboot Linux Cd And Automake Script Download

I have been asked numerous times about providing download links to some of my multiboot disks I have made. Unfortunately, they are all over 4 gigs as they contain 8 or more distros on them and my upload speeds make that type of upload almost impossible.

So I put together a small multiboot Cd that will provide you with Damn Small Linux, Puppy Linux and Memtest.
The total size is 136 megs and is split into 2 rar files (Using the script in my previous post) and is available via the 2 Rapidshare links.

MultiCd Part 1 75 Megs
http://rapidshare.com/files/161640669/multicd.iso-Split_RAR-75Megabyte_s_.part1.rar

MultiCd Part 2 61 Megs
http://rapidshare.com/files/161640671/multicd.iso-Split_RAR-75Megabyte_s_.part2.rar

Not only do you have a small Iso file but it contains 2 fully functional Linux systems and a utility to test your Ram! Also, both are very small and fast and will work on older, slower systems with minimal Ram and hardware.

It will also help you to see how a multiboot Cd is made although I have a confession to make.
Every other multiboot disk I have ever made was created by me from scratch. I did all the tedious editting and creating both the loader and menu.

But then I found a forum post that has a script to make multiboot disks.
It supports many distros and even a WinPE compilation.
There is a slight bug however that doesn't seem to affect the final Iso.
It has to do with the genisoimage version 1.1.6
I get an error that it expected a certain value but gets a different value.
No matter. I leave it run and it usually finishes with a working Iso.

But I have had the occasional tests where the script failed after getting that error.
It is a known bug when dealing with genisoimage version 1.1.6
If you use an older version you have no problems.
I must express the fact that the genisoimage bug is not due to itself but rather the way scripts are trying to use genisoimage.

Another con of this script is that it allows a limited choice of Linux distros.
The creator of the script has done a remarkable job of adding many distros but there are some good ones missing.
Also, because many distros use the same kernel you have to be careful of which versions you add into your compilation.

Examples would be Damn Small Linux and Knoppix. They both use the Knoppix kernel. Because the kernel of each Distro needs to be in the root path of the Cd and they are named the same you can't use both on a Cd unless you do custom editting of the files needed to boot up a renamed kernel.

But other then that it does a good job of creating multiboot Iso's.

The forum post can be found here;
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=718016

And the script file can be found on this page;
http://multicd.tuxfamily.org/

I strongly suggest you read all the pages in the forum post and the page at tuxfamily to understand how this script is used.

Enjoy!!

TaZMAn

P.S. I hope a few thank you's are in order.

Verizon Speed Test Lies

I decided to try Verizon's speed test found here;
http://www2.verizon.net/micro/speedtest/hsi/

They sure like to lie!
Why do I say that? Well the results are skewed to say the least.
Here's what I mean.

The results from Verizon's test page;







Download speeds seem a bit low considering I have a 5 Mbps connection.
The upload speed is way out of line. My ISP caps the max at 384 Kbps.


So I go to www.speedtest.net
This looks more like it should be;











To verify it, I go to www.testmy.net

Here are the results;

:::.. Download Stats ..:::
Download Connection is:: 4817 Kbps about 4.8 Mbps (tested with 6144 kB)
Download Speed is:: 588 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net/ (Main)
Test Time:: 2008/07/06 - 1:43pm
Bottom Line:: 84X faster than 56K 1MB Download in 1.74 sec
Tested from a 6144 kB file and took 10.448 seconds to complete
Download Diagnosis:: Looks Great : 9.53 % faster than the average for host
User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.8.1.15) Gecko/20080625 Ubuntu/7.10 (gutsy) Firefox/2.0.0.15 [!]

:::.. Upload Stats ..:::
Upload Connection is:: 356 Kbps about 0.4 Mbps (tested with 1013 kB)
Upload Speed is:: 43 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net/ (Main)
Test Time:: 2008/07/06 - 1:46pm
Bottom Line:: 6X faster than 56K 1MB Upload in 23.81 sec
Tested from a 1013 kB file and took 23.322 seconds to complete
Upload Diagnosis:: May need help : running at only 76.89 % of your hosts average
User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.8.1.15) Gecko/20080625 Ubuntu/7.10 (gutsy) Firefox/2.0.0.15 [!]


Let's verify it one more time from here;
http://myspeed.visualware.com/

The results are as follows;

Download speed 4668 Kbps
Upload speed 364 Kbps
QOS 96 %
RTT 22 ms
Max Delay 113 ms


From 3 other testing sites my download range is 4668 Kbps to 4817 Kbps
and my upload range is from 356 Kbps to to 367 Kbps yet Verizon says
my Download speed is 2861 Kbps (2.86 Mbps) and
my Upload speed is 476 Kbps.

So what's the deal?
Why does Verizon cook the speed test?
I think I know why.
The download speeds are different because Verizon's packages have a max download speed of 3 Mbps.
They probably use a random generator to pick out numbers when the speed is near or over 3 Mbps.
In the case of the upload speeds, it is considered a low speed for their
specs (768 Kbps) so they juice the upload numbers to make it look
like you are uploading files faster then you actually are.
In this case, they are saying my upload speed is about 25% higher
then the max allowed by my ISP.

You can bet that if you call them up with speed issues they will direct you to their speed test site.
And I will also bet you a cup of coffee from my company's cafeteria (It's free!) that they won't even listen to you should you quote speed test results from other sites.

Ah! The joys of manipulating numbers.
It makes the customer feel good while he's getting screwed.
LOL!


TaZMAn