How do these hacks stand up? Comment on a hack from the book by choosing the associated "Discuss" link below. You can also view the code from any of the hacks by clicking on the "Listing" or "Code" links. A number of hacks have been selected to be featured online in their entirety; you may view those hacks by clicking on the hack titles that are linked.
Boot Knoppix on a Desktop The common PC desktop is a great place to begin
experimenting with Knoppix
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #2
Get Knoppix Knoppix can be downloaded from the Knoppix
mirrors or purchased from an online site
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #3
Use Knoppix Cheat Codes Cheat codes are extra instructions you type at
boot time that change many of Knoppix's settings. On
some hardware, use of these codes may be necessary to get the most
out of Knoppix
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #4
Speak Different Languages One of the advantages of Linux is its native
language support. Knoppix is provided in English and German versions,
but other languages are supported
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Straighten Out Your X Settings Finely tune X to get the most out of your video
hardware, and work around hardware detection mistakes
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #7
Use Advanced Knoppix Cheat Codes Choose advanced options for system tweaking and
booting on exotic systems
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #8
Run Knoppix on a Laptop With laptops sales on the rise, it is
increasingly common that your desktop machine is actually a laptop.
Knoppix provides cheat codes and other options so it can boot on
laptop hardware
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #9
Explore Expert Mode Do-it-yourself types may not like all of the
automatic configuration and hardware detection that Knoppix does. For
people trying to troubleshoot and for the just plain curious, Knoppix
provides an expert mode
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Use Your Knoppix Desktop
HACK #10
Explore the Desktop After you have booted Knoppix, figure out what
these windows, icons, and strange panels are for
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #11
Customize the Desktop Look The look of Knoppix's default
desktop doesn't appeal to everyone. KDE has many
tools to change the look and feel of the desktop
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #12
Get Office Work Done You can't get much work done
in an office these days without an office suite. Use OpenOffice.org
and Kontact to turn any computer into your office
workstation
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #13
Configure Your Printer Even in an increasingly digital world,
sometimes you still need a hardcopy of your files. The KDE printer
manager has a lot of options, and this hack guides you through
them
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #14
Use Peripheral Devices Knoppix includes support for many popular
scanners, cameras, PDAs, and other peripherals—often with
little to no extra configuration
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #15
Have Fun and Play Some Games While you can get a lot of work done with
Knoppix, you can also have a lot of fun. Windows gives you Solitaire,
Freecell, and Minesweeper. Knoppix gives you a virtual arcade full of
games
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #16
Rock Out with Knoppix Multimedia Knoppix comes with a full suite of tools to
perform common multimedia tasks, such as listening to CDs or MP3s,
editing audio, and burning CDs
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Explore the Internet Browse the web, check your email, and chat with
your friends with Knoppix's Internet
applications
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #20
Get Help When you are lost or stuck, or you just have a
question on Knoppix, there are a number of places you can go to get
help
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Tweak Your Desktop
HACK #21
Create Persistent Knoppix Settings Knoppix has the capability of saving changes
you have made during your session to floppies, USB drives, or other
removable media. Use this ability to create a Knoppix setup that you
can take to any computer
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]
HACK #22
Use Your Linux Desktop Settings When you boot Knoppix on top of an existing
Linux desktop, it is relatively easy for Knoppix to use files and
settings on the system underneath
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #23
Use Your Windows Desktop Settings Believe it or not, your underlying Windows
system isn't completely useless while running
Knoppix. You can leverage your underlying Windows system for settings
and datafiles
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #24
Make a Kiosk Turn a regular Knoppix disc and a computer into
your own kiosk for a tradeshow, an Internet café, or even
a basic web terminal
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #25
Network Boot Knoppix Use the Knoppix Terminal Server to boot
multiple netboot-capable machines off of a single Knoppix CD
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #26
Develop Applications Use Kdevelop with all of the languages Knoppix
supports to rapidly create and manage software projects
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #27
Use the Knoppix Live Installer While Knoppix includes a lot of great software,
everything you need simply won't fit on one CD, but
with the live-software installer, you can install extra packages
directly to ramdisk
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #28
Install Nvidia 3D Drivers Get 3D acceleration under Knoppix for your
Nvidia graphics card
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #29
Live Install Your Own Programs Write your own live installer scripts to
install programs you need that aren't on Knoppix by
default
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #30
Point-and-Klik to Install Applications Install extra software on your Knoppix live CD
just by clicking a link on a web site
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #31
Create Your Own Klik Recipe might be of interest
to you even if the application you need is not on the Knoppix CD
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Install Linux with Knoppix
HACK #32
Explore the Knoppix Installer Learn the ins and outs of the Knoppix installer
before installing
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Install Knoppix on a Multiboot System A lot of people who use Linux also dual-boot
their computer to Windows. The two most worrisome parts of such a
setup are partitioning the drive and configuring the boot loader.
Here's how to install Knoppix in a multiboot
setup
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #35
Convert Knoppix to Debian Unstable Even though Knoppix is based on Debian, and the
installation instructions help you install Knoppix on your hard
drive, what you have installed is a hybrid Debian system.
Here's how to convert a Knoppix install to as close
to a standard Debian unstable branch distribution as you can
get
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #36
Install Gentoo with Knoppix Installing Gentoo can be an overwhelming and
uninviting task because you are limited to a shell interface, and the
computer is unavailable for tasks during the installation. That is,
of course, unless you use the Knoppix CD
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Put Knoppix in Your Toolbox
HACK #37
Run Remote Desktops Use a computer running Knoppix as a base for
remotely controlling other computers on the network via rdesktop or
xvncviewer
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #38
Run X Remotely with FreeNX Use FreeNX to connect to a remote desktop
that's responsive even over a slow dial-up
connection
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #39
Browse Windows Shares Tweak a few settings for the lisa daemon so you
can graphically browse Windows shares on your network
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Create an Emergency File Server When files need to be transferred quickly over
the network, Knoppix can serve as a quick makeshift file server
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #42
Create an Emergency Web Server When the web server goes down, use Knoppix to
pick up the slack
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]
HACK #43
Run Other Emergency Services It is easy to set up Knoppix as a DHCP, DNS, or
MySQL server. This ability could prove useful in an emergency
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #44
Wardrive with Knoppix Use Knoppix effectively as a wireless site
survey tool that captures GPS coordinates along with data
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #45
Audit Network Security Use the nessus tool under Knoppix to perform a
security audit on your network
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #46
Check for Root Kits Use your Knoppix CD as a safe "known good"
system for scanning your Linux install for root kits
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #47
Collect Forensics Data When your computer is broken into, use Knoppix
to collect all of the forensics data for later analysis
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #48
Clone Hard Drives Use dd and partimage on Knoppix to clone hard
drives even across the network
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #49
Wipe a Hard Drive Securely wipe a hard drive of file traces
before you get rid of it
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #50
Test Hardware Compatibility Knoppix's hardware
detection has a reputation for being just about as good as Linux. Use
your Knoppix disc to test the Linux-hardware compatibility of
desktops, laptops, and peripherals
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #51
Copy Settings to Other Distributions Knoppix's intelligent hardware
auto-detection can get all of a computer's hardware
working out of the box. You can copy and reference the system files
Knoppix creates to ease configuration of a new or existing
installation
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Kill and Resurrect the Master Boot Record How to (carefully) back up and restore the
Master Boot Record (MBR)
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #55
Find Lost Partitions If you have ever made a typo when deleting or
restoring the MBR, you probably also have trashed your partition
table. Use gpart, included on the Knoppix disc, to restore lost
partition tables
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #56
Resize Linux Partitions Use utilities, such as qtparted and parted, to
resize ext2, ext3, linux-swap, ReiserFS, and XFS partitions
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #57
Repair Damaged Filesystems Benefit from utilities included with Knoppix to
repair corrupted filesystems, including ext2, ext3, ReiserFS, and
XFS
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #58
Recover Deleted Files Recover accidentally deleted files with unrm
and lazarus
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #59
Rescue Files from Damaged Hard Drives When your hard drive is damaged or is on its
last leg, use Knoppix to recover what's left on the
drive and attempt to restore it
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #60
Backup and Restore Use the classic tar command with Knoppix to
quickly back up and restore important files
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Create Linux Software RAID Use Knoppix to create and reconfigure software
RAID 0, 1, and 5
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #63
Migrate to Software RAID Move your entire root partition to RAID 1 or
RAID 5 without a backup and restore
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #64
Migrate Software RAID 1 to RAID 5 Move an existing software RAID 1 system to RAID
5 without a backup and restore
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #65
Add an Extra Drive to a Software RAID 5 Array Add a fourth drive to a three-drive software
RAID 5 array without a backup and restore
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Fix Broken Init Services Errors in init scripts may prevent a system
from completely booting. Use Knoppix to disable the troublesome
scripts
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #68
Repair Debian Packages Knoppix is not only based on Debian; it also
comes with a full set of tools to manage and change Debian packages
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #69
Repair RPM Packages Knoppix not only comes with Debian packaging
tools; it also comes complete with support for creating and
installing RPMs
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #70
Copy a Working Kernel Use Knoppix to restore a working kernel to a
system that has had its kernel either deleted or overwritten
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Rescue Windows
HACK #71
Fix the Windows Boot Selector If a Windows boot.ini file gets corrupted, you
might find yourself unable to boot back into Windows. While the
Windows Recovery CD can restore a default boot file, unlike Knoppix,
it won't let you edit it directly
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #72
Back Up Files and Settings With all of the viruses, worms, and malware
running loose on the Internet, it is not uncommon for a Windows user
to find that her system has become unusable (some people argue that
Windows systems are unusable by default). Use
Knoppix's Windows filesystem support to back up
important files and settings when Windows can't
boot
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #73
Write to NTFS One thing that has been missing from Knoppix
(and Linux in general) is the ability to safely write to NTFS
partitions. Now with Knoppix 3.4, you can edit, delete, and move
files on your NTFS partition—jobs that are difficult with the
Windows Recovery CD!
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #74
Resize Windows Partitions Avoid spending money on Partition Magic or
other commercial partitioning tools by using Knoppix to easily resize
FAT, FAT32, and even NTFS partitions
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #75
Reset Lost NT Passwords If you forget a password for your
user on your Windows system (especially if the user is
administrator), your computer immediately becomes a paperweight.
It's like being locked out of your car without a
spare set of keys and without a way to contact a locksmith. Use
Knoppix as your locksmith to reset the password to a new value or
even completely erase it
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #76
Edit the Windows Registry The chntpw tool not only resets an
Administrator password, but it also comes with a full-fledged
registry editor. This makes it a useful tool for solving other types
of Windows problems (e.g., deleting the registry keys put in place by
a virus or worm) without booting into Windows
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #77
Restore Corrupted System Files Extract important drivers and other system
files from .cab files on your Windows system from within
Knoppix
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #78
Scan for Viruses Ridding a network of Windows computers of a
virus or worm can seem impossible. Viruses may cause computers to
reboot and infect new machines while you are in the process of
removing them. Through the use of the live-software installer,
Knoppix provides a solution to this catch-22
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #79
Download Windows Patches Securely Use Knoppix to download Microsoft Windows
patches onto a vulnerable Windows machine. Then boot to Windows, and
apply the patch while disconnected from the network
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Knoppix Reloaded
HACK #80
Master Morphix Morphix is a Knoppix-based distribution that
takes a modular approach to CD creation
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #81
Gnoppix Gnome Gnirvana Like Knoppix but dislike KDE? Before you
remaster Knoppix, try Gnoppix, a Knoppix-based distribution that
replaces the default KDE desktop with a Gnome desktop
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #82
Pump Up the Volume with Mediainlinux Mediainlinux is the live-CD Swiss Army knife
for multimedia. It's a free ready-to-go kit for the
multimedia professional to carry with him at all times
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #83
Educate Yourself with Freeduc Freeduc is a Knoppix-based distribution with a
focus on providing free software to schools. The Freeduc CD boots
into an XFCE environment configured with many tools suitable for
classroom use
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #84
Damn Small Linux Damn Small Linux is a business-card-sized (50
MB) bootable live CD Linux distribution. Despite its size, it strives
to have a functional and easy to use desktop
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #85
INSERT Security Here INSERT, or the INside SEcurity Rescue Tool, is
a small Knoppix-based distribution with a focus on security. It can
fit on a bootable business-card CD, but still includes many useful
tools for virus scanning, network analysis, computer forensics, and
disaster recovery
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #86
Download Local Area Security Similar to the scope of INSERT, Local Area
Security Linux (L.A.S. Linux) aims to put many great security tools
all on a single mini-CD
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #87
Full Protection with Knoppix-STD Knoppix-STD is a Knoppix-based distribution
with a focus on security. This disc includes many useful security
tools from packet sniffers to password crackers to
honeypots
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #88
Distribute Compiles with distccKNOPPIX This Damn Small Linux-based distribution is
aimed at making it easy to set up a cluster of machines running
distccd, which enables the user to leverage multiple machines for
compiling
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #89
Distribute the Load with ClusterKnoppix ClusterKnoppix is a live-CD distribution that
takes advantage of the openMosix cluster technology to turn any room
full of computers into a makeshift openMosix cluster
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #90
Analyze Quantian Quantian is an extension of Knoppix and
ClusterKnoppix tailored to numerical and quantitative
analysis
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #91
Find GIS Knoppix on the Map Cartographers of the world unite! Use GIS
Knoppix to view, edit, and create maps using free GIS
software
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #92
TiVo Your Computer Use KnoppMyth to quickly turn any computer into
a standalone TiVo-like PVR using MythTV
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Create a Customized Knoppix One reason there are so many different
Knoppix-based distributions is that they are so easy to create. With
these steps, you will be creating your own custom Knoppix CD in no
time
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #95
Trim the Fat Knoppix has been able to squeeze a lot of
useful tools on a single CD image. When you want to add your tools to
the mix, you must use some tricks to keep the total file size low
enough to fit on a CD
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #96
Personalize Knoppix Customizing Knoppix doesn't
just mean changing which packages get installed and what programs run
at boot. You can also completely change which the default desktop
environment looks and feels like
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #97
Keep Your Custom Disc Up to Date After you customize your Knoppix disc, make
sure it has the latest and greatest packages
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #98
Automate Knoppix Remastering Automate the remastering process by using one
of Klaus's scripts
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #99
Morph Morphix The modular nature of Morphix that has made it
so popular also makes it very easy for a user to create custom discs
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #100
Auto-Build Morphix Modules MapLab tutorial map Morphix is already easy to change due to its
modular nature, but you can make module creation even easier and more
powerful by using Module Maker to automate building Morphix
modules
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]