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| ==== What is "nesting"? ==== | DynebolicFaq : [[http://dynebolic.org/|dyne:bolic homepage]] ---- |
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| From the dynebolic [http://dynebolic.org/manual-in-development/ manual-in-development]: ''"The concept is simple: you don't need to install the whole operating system and applications on your harddisk anymore; the tools you use are reside on the CD and are accessed from it. What you really need to be able to modify and save is just your home directory and your configuration settings! With dyne:bolic, you can simply store them in a nest and find them back at every boot."'' | === What is Nesting? === |
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| ==== Where can I "nest" dynebolic? ==== | From the [[http://dyne.org/~jaromil/dynebolic-man/html/dynebolic-x137.en.html|dyne:bolic manual]]: ''"The concept is simple: you cannot modify the operating system, you use it as it comes and you update it all in once with new versions, it is a whole compressed file, which is only readable. The writable part, where you store your data and settings, is stored in a separated way, inside another file of variable size which you can store on a usb key or an harddisk. This is a nest. If the nest you stored is found by dyne:bolic while booting, then you use its space for your /home and settings, which are then no longer lost in volatile RAM at the next boot."'' |
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| You can create a nest for dynebolic into hard disks or USB keys, retrieving the information from the nest each time a dynebolic CD runs on a compatible computer with a nest on hard disk or a USB key. | Actually, that was totally true for the 1.x series of dyne:bolic. For the 2.x series, it's not... |
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| ==== How can I "nest" dynebolic? ==== | ... meaning that you can now also modify the operating system, by adding your own applications! Go to DyneModules and DynebolicPackaging to find out more. You'll be very glad you did. :)) |
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| You can nest dynebolic through the initial splash screen (which can be brought up by left clicking on the desktop, then rightclicking on the first button on the menu), by selecting "Have More", then selecting "Nesting" and following the on-screen intructions. | ---- |
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| ==== Is there anywhere in particular I've got to place the nest files? ==== Nest files and their configuration should always be stored in the root of the filesystem where the nest is placed. That is the only place where dyne:bolic looks at boot. This behaviour may change in future versions. ==== Can I nest on xxx filesystem? ==== Although nesting doesn't present problems on either a FAT32 or (of course) on linux partitions, as long as they're IDE devices or USB keys, currently NTFS nesting is not supported, due to the unsafety or possible danger in writing to an NTFS filesystem with a gnu/linux OS; there seems to be capability in latest linux kernel versions to support NTFS, but there's always the "(EXPERIMENTAL)" or "(MAY BE DANGEROUS)" tag besides the "NTFS filesystem write" in the kernel's configuration, thus the decision to not support NTFS for the time beeing. Maybe in future versions of dynebolic? ==== Ok, so how do I make a filesystem on hard disk that can receive a dynebolic nest? ==== Great! So you have a hard disk, or partition to dedicate to dynebolic? You must first create a filesystem on it: '''Be SURE to NOT have important, not backed-up data on the device you want to create the filesystem, because the filesystem and all the data of the device you choose WILL BE OVERWRITTEN!''' It's the same thing as doing "format" in DOS machines or Windoze. First of all, you should choose your filesystem; to my knowledge, two filesystems are surely compatible with dynebolic (PLEASE UPDATE THIS): '''FAT32''' or '''DOSFS''' and '''ext2'''. The first ones are dos-windows filesystems, while the third one is a linux filesystem, and is surely recommended. Secondly, you must choose in what device will the filesystem reside; the hard disk device could be one of the following ones: *''/dev/hda'' *''/dev/hdb'' *''/dev/hdc'' *''/dev/hdd'' In UNIX-like systems, each device is listed under the subdirectory ''/dev/'', and each device of the IDE channels (which usually contain the cd-roms, dvd-roms, cd-rw drives and hard disks), is named after the scheme read from the bios-setup: *''hda'' is the first device on the first IDE chain, called Primary Master device *''hdb'' is the second device on the first IDE chain, called Primary Slave device *''hdc'' is the first device on the second IDE chain, called Secondary Master device *''hdd'' is the second device on the second IDE chain, called Secondary Slave device How this devices are setup, depends on how they are connected to the IDE chains, but don't worry to open up your pc yet, since you can do two things to identify them: '''First method''' (easier, but needs the pc to be rebooted): You'll just have to go to the bios setup menu, which can usually be accessed by pressing ''Delete'' or ''F1'' (PLEASE UPDATE) during the early stages of power-on of the pc, and then looking in "Standard CMOS Setup", "Standard CMOS features" or similar (PLEASE UPDATE) for how the bios recognizes the various devices; or you could be very concentrated and try to read how your devices are displayed by the bios, in that few milliseconds that they fly by your screen in the bios-boot-up sequence. For example, if your Primary Master device in the bios setup is your main hard disk, it will be named ''/dev/hda'', if your Primary Slave device is your cd-rom it will be named ''/dev/hdc'' and so on. |
=== What the Nest holds === |
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| '''Second method''' (easier if you know fairly good the names of the devices): | to be more precise, the nest holds: /etc <- system wide settings and configurations /home/luther /root <- default users home /usr/local <- user's installed software from source |
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| Type, in your terminal line (which can be brought up with Alt+Ctrl+Enter on dynebolic systems) the following: | === On what kind of devices can I nest dyne:bolic? === |
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| *''dmesg |grep hdX'' | You can create a nest for dyne:bolic on either PATA/SATA hard disks or USB keys. Dyne:bolic will retrieve the information from the nest on subsequent boots, i.e. each time a dynebolic CD runs on a compatible computer with a nest. Due to the minimum nest size of 32Mb, you cannot nest on a floppy... but, besides, they're slow, and who uses floppies nowadays?! ---- === On what kind of filesystems can I nest dyne:bolic? === |
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| where ''hdX'' is one of the four devices, either ''hda'', ''hdb'', ''hdc'', or ''hdd''. Among other things you should be able to recognize what ide channel is it on (''ide0'' for Primary, ''ide1'' for Secondary), and what device is it. For example: |
* '''For dyne:bolic 1.x''': Nesting can occur on either a FAT32/DOSFS or (of course) ext2/ext3 (GNU/Linux partitions) as long as they're not SCSI devices. NTFS nesting is not supported. * '''For dyne:bolic 2.x''': You can nest on either a FAT32/DOSFS, ext2/ext3 (GNU/Linux partitions) and now also on NTFS filesystem! Yes, you can use your Windoze XP partition for more creative stuff! (Although ext2/ext3 are always the recommended filesystems). ---- === How can I nest dyne:bolic? === |
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| ''dmesg |grep hda'' | * '''On dyne:bolic 1.x''': You can nest dyne:bolic through the initial splash screen (which can be brought up by left-clicking on the desktop, then right-clicking on the first button on the menu), by selecting "Have More", then selecting "Nesting" and following the on-screen instructions. * '''On dyne:bolic 2.x''': You can nest dyne:bolic either through the initial splash screen by selecting the "Getting Started" tab, clicking on "Config and Nest", then clicking on "Nest" and following the on-screen instructions, or by right clicking on the desktop, selecting "Configure", then "Nest". ---- === Where can I place the nest files? === |
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| ide0: BM-DMA at 0xd400-0xd407, BIOS settings: hda:DMA, hdb:DMA hda: IC35L080AVVA07-0, ATA DISK drive |
Nest files (''dyne.nst'') should always be stored inside the dyne directory placed in the root of the filesystem (for example ''C:\dyne\'' in Windows, not ''C:\Documents\dyne\'' nor ''C:\Program Files\dyne\''). That is the only place where dyne:bolic looks at boot. This behaviour may change in future versions. |
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| which means that on the Primary IDE channel I have an IC35... ATA DISK drive (which, in my case, is an IBM hard disk) | '''Be careful''', UNIX-like and GNU/Linux filenames and directories are case sensitive, so it's the ''"dyne"'' directory and the ''"dyne.nst"'' nesting file (all small letters), and not ''"Dyne"'', ''"DYNE"'', ''"dYnE"'' nor ''"dyn3"''! ---- === Ok, so how do I make a filesystem on hard disk that can receive a dynebolic nest? === |
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| The next step is to create the filesystem on the hard disk that you have chosen. | Great! So you have a hard disk or partition to dedicate to dyne:bolic? |
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| The command to use for creating a '''DOSFS''' filesystem is: ''mkdosfs /dev/hdX'' while the command to use for making an '''ext2''' filesystem is: ''mke2fs /dev/hdX'' where ''/dev/hdX'' is the hard disk that you want to use for nesting. Your hard disk should light up for some time, depending on how large the device or partition is; then, the device is ready to receive a dynebolic nest! |
* If you have an '''unformatted''' hard disk, you must first create a partition table with fdisk. If you already have a partitioned hard disk, then please go directly to the next subparagraph to create a filesystem. '''Be VERY careful on WHAT operations you do fdisk! Refer to paragraph 2 later on for information on which device corresponds to which drive letter! CONTINUE ON YOUR OWN RESPONSIBILITY AND DON'T COMPLAIN IF YOU BREAK THINGS! If you have EVEN THE SLIGHTEST DOUBT ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING stop immediately and read the Recommended Readings at the end of this paragraph!''' |
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| '''IMPORTANT!!! Please type ''man mkdosfs'' and ''man mke2fs'' on the command line and READ the manuals before doing this operation, especially if you never had experience of linux before'''. This could save you from a lot of frustration, errors and time badly-spent, for the mere cost of 20 minutes of reading. | Lets suppose you want to create a unique partition occupying the whole hard disk /dev/hda, execute, in a terminal: {{{fdisk /dev/hdX}}} ...where X is the hard disk you want to partition. Inside the fdisk console, press '''n''' and Enter for a '''n'''ew partition, press '''p''' and Enter for a '''p'''rimary partition, '''1''' and Enter for the '''1'''st partition number, twice Enter for choosing the whole hard disk size, then '''a''', Enter, '''1''' and Enter to toggle the bootable flag on the new partition, then '''w''' and Enter to commit your changes and exit the fdisk partition utility. |
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| If you want to read in-depth specification on filesystems in linux please read the following HOWTO: [http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Filesystems-HOWTO.html Here]. ...or the HOWTO on creating partitions inside hard disks: [http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/index.html Here]. |
* Create a filesystem: |
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| I know this FAQ isn't complete, it would be nice to have other things added to it, so please do. | '''Be SURE NOT to have important, not backed-up data on the device you want to create the filesystem, because the filesystem and all the data of the device you choose WILL BE OVERWRITTEN!''' It's the same thing as doing "format" in DOS or Windoze machines! Ready? Go! 1. Choose a filesystem: '''ext2'''/'''ext3''' are the recommended GNU/Linux filesystems, but you can also choose '''FAT32''' or '''DOSFS''', which are dos-windows filesystems. 2. Choose on what device the filesystem will reside; the hard disk device could be one of the following ones (first ones are parallel hard disks, second ones are SATA hard disks): *''/dev/hda'' or ''/dev/sda'' *''/dev/hdb'' or ''/dev/sdb'' *''/dev/hdc'' or ''/dev/sdc'' *''/dev/hdd'' or ''/dev/sdd'' In UNIX-like systems, each device is listed under the subdirectory ''/dev/'', and each device of the IDE or SATA channels (which usually contain the cd-roms, dvd-roms, cd-rw drives and hard disks), is named after the scheme read from the bios-setup: *''hda'' is the first device on the first IDE chain, called Primary Master device *''hdb'' is the second device on the first IDE chain, called Primary Slave device *''hdc'' is the first device on the second IDE chain, called Secondary Master device *''hdd'' is the second device on the second IDE chain, called Secondary Slave device *''sdX'' are SATA hard disks, where X could be a letter from a to z. How these devices are setup depends on how they are connected to the IDE chains, but don't worry about opening up your pc yet, since you can do either of two things to identify them: * '''First method''' (easier, but requires the pc to be rebooted): Go to the BIOS setup menu, which can usually be accessed by pressing ''Delete'',''F1'' or ''F2'' during the early stages of boot up of the pc, and then look in "Standard CMOS Setup", "Standard CMOS features" or similar for the order in which the BIOS recognizes the various devices; or you could, with some really good karma, try to read how your devices are displayed by the BIOS, in the few milliseconds when they fly by your screen in the BIOS boot up sequence. For example, if your Primary Master device in the BIOS setup is your main hard disk, it will be named ''/dev/hda'', if your Secondary Master device is your cd-rom it will be named ''/dev/hdc'' and so on. Accordingly, the first SATA channel will be /dev/sda, the second will be /dev/sdb and so on. * '''Second method''' (easier if you know well enough names of the connected devices): In your terminal line (which can be brought up with Alt+Ctrl+Enter on dynebolic 1.x or by right clicking on the desktop and selecting "Terminal" on dyne:bolic 2.x systems), type in the following: *{{{dmesg |grep hdX}}} (for parallel ATA/PATA devices) or *{{{dmesg |grep sdX}}} (for serial ATA/SATA devices) where ''hdX'' is one of the four devices, either ''hda'', ''hdb'', ''hdc'', or ''hdd'', and ''sdX'' is one of the SATA hard disks. Among other things you should be able to recognize what ide channel is it on (''ide0'' for Primary, ''ide1'' for Secondary), and what device is it. For example: *{{{dmesg |grep hda}}} {{{ide0: BM-DMA at 0xd400-0xd407, BIOS settings: hda:DMA, hdb:DMA hda: IC35L080AVVA07-0, ATA DISK drive}}} which means that on the Primary IDE channel I have an IC35... ATA DISK drive (which, in this case, is an IBM hard disk). 3. The next step is to create the filesystem on the hard disk that you have chosen. '''VERY IMPORTANT!!! Please type {{{man mkdosfs}}} or {{{man mke2fs}}} on the command line and READ the manuals before executing such operations, especially if you've never had experience on GNU/Linux systems before!'''This could save you from a lot of frustration, errors, wasted time and computers thrown out of windows, for the mere cost of 20 or less minutes of careful reading. The command to use for creating an '''ext3''' (journaled, recommended) filesystem is: {{{mke2fs -j /dev/hdXY}}} or {{{mke2fs -j /dev/sdXY}}} the command to use for creating an '''ext2''' (recommended) filesystem is {{{mke2fs /dev/hdXY}}} or {{{mke2fs /dev/sdXY}}} while the command to use for creating a '''DOSFS''' filesystem is: {{{mkdosfs /dev/hdXY}}} or {{{mkdosfs /dev/sdXY}}} where, of course, ''X'' is the hard disk and ''Y'' the partition that you want to use for Nesting. Your hard disk led should light up for some time, depending on how large the device or partition is; then, the device is ready to receive a dyne:bolic nest! Recommended reading for in-depth GNU/Linux filesystem and partition specifications are in the [[http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Filesystems-HOWTO.html|"Filesystems HOWTO"]] and the [[http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/index.html|"Linux Partition HOWTO"]]. ---- === How can I check a nest and troubleshoot it? (dyne:bolic 1.x) === There are several reports of people with trouble saving their configurations on a nest in dyne:bolic 1.x. The most common is when they try to save it on a NTFS partition (frequently found on WinXP, Win2k and WinNT). Remember: nesting on dyne:bolic 1.x only works on ext2 or FAT32/DOSFS partitions. If you're certain that your partition is ext2 or FAT32/DOSFS then check: *If the dynebol.cfg and dynebol.nst files are present in your hard disk partition or USB key. If not, the nest has been never created. *Look inside /boot/dynebolic.log after booting, to find out if anything happened during the autodetection phase. If the problem comes while doing the nesting, you should have a look in /var/log/setup/nidifica.log which is the log of "taschino", the software doing the nesting. If you can't figure out what your problem is, [[mailto:dynebolic-subscribe@dynebolic.org|subscribe]] to the mailing list and [[mailto:dynebolic@dynebolic.org|post]] a question; hopefully somebody will chime in with the respective solution, or at least with some suggestions that can get you closer to the solution. ---- === Are there any alternatives to nesting? === Yes! And neither of these alternatives require a dyne:bolic CD to run. Check out: * [[Docking]] - Copying the entirety of dyne to your harddrive * [[DyneOnUsb]] - Installing dyne to a USB drive ---- === I've never used GNU/Linux before and I'm using Win98... Can you give me a quickie? === * Boot from win98 CD. * Fdisk * Reboot * Boot from win98 CD. * Format * Reboot with [[http://dynebolic.org|dyne:bolic]] * Create a nest with the size of the entire disk. Not elegant, but effective. ;) |
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| Back to DynebolicFaq ---- Dynebolic [http://dynebolic.org homepage]. |
DynebolicFaq : [[http://dynebolic.org/|dyne:bolic homepage]] |
DynebolicFaq : dyne:bolic homepage
What is Nesting?
From the dyne:bolic manual:
"The concept is simple: you cannot modify the operating system, you use it as it comes and you update it all in once with new versions, it is a whole compressed file, which is only readable. The writable part, where you store your data and settings, is stored in a separated way, inside another file of variable size which you can store on a usb key or an harddisk. This is a nest. If the nest you stored is found by dyne:bolic while booting, then you use its space for your /home and settings, which are then no longer lost in volatile RAM at the next boot."
Actually, that was totally true for the 1.x series of dyne:bolic. For the 2.x series, it's not...
... meaning that you can now also modify the operating system, by adding your own applications! Go to DyneModules and DynebolicPackaging to find out more. You'll be very glad you did. 
What the Nest holds
to be more precise, the nest holds: /etc <- system wide settings and configurations /home/luther /root <- default users home /usr/local <- user's installed software from source
On what kind of devices can I nest dyne:bolic?
You can create a nest for dyne:bolic on either PATA/SATA hard disks or USB keys. Dyne:bolic will retrieve the information from the nest on subsequent boots, i.e. each time a dynebolic CD runs on a compatible computer with a nest. Due to the minimum nest size of 32Mb, you cannot nest on a floppy... but, besides, they're slow, and who uses floppies nowadays?!
On what kind of filesystems can I nest dyne:bolic?
For dyne:bolic 1.x: Nesting can occur on either a FAT32/DOSFS or (of course) ext2/ext3 (GNU/Linux partitions) as long as they're not SCSI devices. NTFS nesting is not supported.
For dyne:bolic 2.x: You can nest on either a FAT32/DOSFS, ext2/ext3 (GNU/Linux partitions) and now also on NTFS filesystem! Yes, you can use your Windoze XP partition for more creative stuff! (Although ext2/ext3 are always the recommended filesystems).
How can I nest dyne:bolic?
On dyne:bolic 1.x: You can nest dyne:bolic through the initial splash screen (which can be brought up by left-clicking on the desktop, then right-clicking on the first button on the menu), by selecting "Have More", then selecting "Nesting" and following the on-screen instructions.
On dyne:bolic 2.x: You can nest dyne:bolic either through the initial splash screen by selecting the "Getting Started" tab, clicking on "Config and Nest", then clicking on "Nest" and following the on-screen instructions, or by right clicking on the desktop, selecting "Configure", then "Nest".
Where can I place the nest files?
Nest files (dyne.nst) should always be stored inside the dyne directory placed in the root of the filesystem (for example C:\dyne\ in Windows, not C:\Documents\dyne\ nor C:\Program Files\dyne\). That is the only place where dyne:bolic looks at boot. This behaviour may change in future versions.
Be careful, UNIX-like and GNU/Linux filenames and directories are case sensitive, so it's the "dyne" directory and the "dyne.nst" nesting file (all small letters), and not "Dyne", "DYNE", "dYnE" nor "dyn3"!
Ok, so how do I make a filesystem on hard disk that can receive a dynebolic nest?
Great! So you have a hard disk or partition to dedicate to dyne:bolic?
If you have an unformatted hard disk, you must first create a partition table with fdisk. If you already have a partitioned hard disk, then please go directly to the next subparagraph to create a filesystem. Be VERY careful on WHAT operations you do fdisk! Refer to paragraph 2 later on for information on which device corresponds to which drive letter! CONTINUE ON YOUR OWN RESPONSIBILITY AND DON'T COMPLAIN IF YOU BREAK THINGS! If you have EVEN THE SLIGHTEST DOUBT ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING stop immediately and read the Recommended Readings at the end of this paragraph! Lets suppose you want to create a unique partition occupying the whole hard disk /dev/hda, execute, in a terminal:
fdisk /dev/hdX ...where X is the hard disk you want to partition. Inside the fdisk console, press n and Enter for a new partition, press p and Enter for a primary partition, 1 and Enter for the 1st partition number, twice Enter for choosing the whole hard disk size, then a, Enter, 1 and Enter to toggle the bootable flag on the new partition, then w and Enter to commit your changes and exit the fdisk partition utility.
- Create a filesystem:
Be SURE NOT to have important, not backed-up data on the device you want to create the filesystem, because the filesystem and all the data of the device you choose WILL BE OVERWRITTEN! It's the same thing as doing "format" in DOS or Windoze machines! Ready? Go!
- Choose a filesystem:
ext2/ext3 are the recommended GNU/Linux filesystems, but you can also choose FAT32 or DOSFS, which are dos-windows filesystems.
- Choose on what device the filesystem will reside; the hard disk device could be one of the following ones (first ones are parallel hard disks, second ones are SATA hard disks):
/dev/hda or /dev/sda
/dev/hdb or /dev/sdb
/dev/hdc or /dev/sdc
/dev/hdd or /dev/sdd
In UNIX-like systems, each device is listed under the subdirectory /dev/, and each device of the IDE or SATA channels (which usually contain the cd-roms, dvd-roms, cd-rw drives and hard disks), is named after the scheme read from the bios-setup:
hda is the first device on the first IDE chain, called Primary Master device
hdb is the second device on the first IDE chain, called Primary Slave device
hdc is the first device on the second IDE chain, called Secondary Master device
hdd is the second device on the second IDE chain, called Secondary Slave device
sdX are SATA hard disks, where X could be a letter from a to z.
First method (easier, but requires the pc to be rebooted):
Go to the BIOS setup menu, which can usually be accessed by pressing Delete,F1 or F2 during the early stages of boot up of the pc, and then look in "Standard CMOS Setup", "Standard CMOS features" or similar for the order in which the BIOS recognizes the various devices; or you could, with some really good karma, try to read how your devices are displayed by the BIOS, in the few milliseconds when they fly by your screen in the BIOS boot up sequence.
For example, if your Primary Master device in the BIOS setup is your main hard disk, it will be named /dev/hda, if your Secondary Master device is your cd-rom it will be named /dev/hdc and so on. Accordingly, the first SATA channel will be /dev/sda, the second will be /dev/sdb and so on.
Second method (easier if you know well enough names of the connected devices): In your terminal line (which can be brought up with Alt+Ctrl+Enter on dynebolic 1.x or by right clicking on the desktop and selecting "Terminal" on dyne:bolic 2.x systems), type in the following:
dmesg |grep hdX (for parallel ATA/PATA devices)
dmesg |grep sdX (for serial ATA/SATA devices)
where hdX is one of the four devices, either hda, hdb, hdc, or hdd, and sdX is one of the SATA hard disks. Among other things you should be able to recognize what ide channel is it on (ide0 for Primary, ide1 for Secondary), and what device is it. For example:
dmesg |grep hda {{{ide0: BM-DMA at 0xd400-0xd407, BIOS settings: hda:DMA, hdb:DMA hda: IC35L080AVVA07-0, ATA DISK drive}}}
- The next step is to create the filesystem on the hard disk that you have chosen.
VERY IMPORTANT!!! Please type man mkdosfs or man mke2fs on the command line and READ the manuals before executing such operations, especially if you've never had experience on GNU/Linux systems before!This could save you from a lot of frustration, errors, wasted time and computers thrown out of windows, for the mere cost of 20 or less minutes of careful reading.
The command to use for creating an ext3 (journaled, recommended) filesystem is:
mke2fs -j /dev/hdXY or mke2fs -j /dev/sdXY
the command to use for creating an ext2 (recommended) filesystem is
mke2fs /dev/hdXY or mke2fs /dev/sdXY
while the command to use for creating a DOSFS filesystem is:
mkdosfs /dev/hdXY or mkdosfs /dev/sdXY
where, of course, X is the hard disk and Y the partition that you want to use for Nesting. Your hard disk led should light up for some time, depending on how large the device or partition is; then, the device is ready to receive a dyne:bolic nest!
Recommended reading for in-depth GNU/Linux filesystem and partition specifications are in the "Filesystems HOWTO" and the "Linux Partition HOWTO".
How can I check a nest and troubleshoot it? (dyne:bolic 1.x)
There are several reports of people with trouble saving their configurations on a nest in dyne:bolic 1.x. The most common is when they try to save it on a NTFS partition (frequently found on WinXP, Win2k and WinNT). Remember: nesting on dyne:bolic 1.x only works on ext2 or FAT32/DOSFS partitions.
If you're certain that your partition is ext2 or FAT32/DOSFS then check:
- If the dynebol.cfg and dynebol.nst files are present in your hard disk partition or USB key. If not, the nest has been never created.
- Look inside /boot/dynebolic.log after booting, to find out if anything happened during the autodetection phase.
If the problem comes while doing the nesting, you should have a look in /var/log/setup/nidifica.log which is the log of "taschino", the software doing the nesting.
If you can't figure out what your problem is, subscribe to the mailing list and post a question; hopefully somebody will chime in with the respective solution, or at least with some suggestions that can get you closer to the solution.
Are there any alternatives to nesting?
Yes! And neither of these alternatives require a dyne:bolic CD to run. Check out:
I've never used GNU/Linux before and I'm using Win98... Can you give me a quickie?
- Boot from win98 CD.
- Fdisk
- Reboot
- Boot from win98 CD.
- Format
Reboot with dyne:bolic
- Create a nest with the size of the entire disk.
Not elegant, but effective. 
DynebolicFaq : dyne:bolic homepage
Nesting faq started on 28-10-2003 by Tommy Drum for the community, please update the info where needed!