How to try out Debian GNU/Linux without installing it

From NewbieDOC

Chris Lale
chrislale AT users DOT berlios DOT de

Go to NewbieDOC index

Revision History


Version 0.1 14th February 2007 Revised by Chris Lale
Initial release.

Version 0.2 25th November 2007 Revised by Chris Lale
Adapted for newbiedoc package by adding Revision History and Abstract.

Version 0.3 26th September 2009 Revised by Chris Lale
Updated for Debian Squeeze.


Image:Newbiedoc-32.png Stable document
You can comment on this document by clicking on the discussion tab.

You can edit the live version of this document: How to try out Debian GNU/Linux without installing it


Abstract

Anyone new to Debian (Debian "newbie") might want help and advice about whether to choose Debian. This article describes how to obtain and use the LiveCD version of Debian - Debian Live.

Contents


1 About live distros

A live distro is a complete system that can be held on a medium such as a CDROM (Live CD), DVD (Live DVD) or a USB flash drive (Live USB). It contains an operating system which boots directly from the medium without any installation on a hard drive. In other words, a live distro does not modify your hard drive - it does not add anything, delete anything or reformat (erase) your hard drive. This makes a live distro the ideal way to try out Debian and see if you like it.

2 About the Debian Live project

The Debian Live system is a Debian live distro. It runs from media (such as a CDROM or a USB-stick) or over a network. Debian Live uses only official packages from the Debian repository - the "main" section (and possibly the "contrib" section). The "non-free" section is not used at all for the live system. What this means is that not all the software available to Debian users is provided in the live distro. You must install Debian on your hard drive if you want to have access to all the software available.

The Debian Live project does not change any packages. This means that it is the only live distro to be 100% Debian.

3 Create a Debian Live CD

3.1 Download and the CD image (ISO)

The Debian Live project maintains a number of live CD images for the i386 PC ("i386" refers to PCs with Intel processors). Each Debian Live CD ISO image is a single ".iso" file. The ISOs for Unstable (Sid) are updated weekly. You can download them from the "daily-builds/"directory at http://live.debian.net/cdimage/. The ISOs for Stable are in the directory named after the release. For example, when the current Stable version was called Lenny, the ISOs were in http://live.debian.net/cdimage/lenny-builds.

Debian uses the Gnome desktop by default, so the Gnome desktop ISO is a good choice. You can download the Stable version (eg Lenny) from http://live.debian.net/cdimage/lenny-builds/current/i386/iso-cd/debian-live-502-i386-gnome-desktop.iso The download is 691MB, or so, and may take around three hours on a 512 kb/s broadband connection. A 56k dialup modem will take 10 times as long. Save the ISO to your hard drive.

3.2 Burn the CD image (ISO) onto a CDROM

Do not burn the ISO to a CDROM as an ordinary file - the CDROM will not be able to boot the computer if you do. Use your software's special method for CDROM images.

Linux CDROM burning software has special options to burn an ISO image. In "GnomeBaker" or "K3B" choose "Burn CDROM Image from the "Tools" menu.

The procedure with Windows depends on the CDROM burning software you use. In "Nero", select the ISO file, enable the "Finalize CD" option and burn the CD. In "Roxio Easy CD Creator", select the ISO file, choose to "Create CD", make sure the Write Method is set to "Disc-At-Once" and "Close CD". Burn the CD. You can find more details about these, and other CDROM burning software for Windows, at http://iso.snoekonline.com/iso.htm.

4 Prepare the computer to boot from CD

Modern computers can boot directly from CDROM, but this feature may not be enabled on your computer. You must check that your BIOS is set to enable booting from CDROM. The BIOS starts you computer and connects it to the keyboard and screen. Then it looks for an operating system, such as Linux or Windows, to start the boot process. You must set CDROM as the "first boot device" so that the BIOS will look for a CDROM before it looks for a hard disc.

Make sure that your computer is switched off. Switch on the computer. Look at the text messages on the screen and find the BIOS "setup" key. In modern computers this is normally the "Del" key. The initial screen message may look something like this:

Press DEL to run Setup

You will only have a few seconds to press the setup key. If you miss it you may have to switch off and try again.

Navigate the BIOS setup menus with the arrow keys. Look for a menu involving the "boot" process. Change the boot device priority so that the CDROM appears as the first device. You should have something like this:

1st Boot Device	[CDROM]
2nd Boot Device	[Hard Drive]

Save the changes and exit setup. In many BIOSs you can do this by pressing the F10 key. Look for help at the top or bottom of the menu screen.


5 Running the computer from the live CD

Switch on the computer and immediately insert the live CD. If you take too long the computer will boot normally from the hard disc. If this happens, just reboot (restart) the computer normally with the disc still in the CDROM drive. Your computer will boot into Debian from the CDROM. Remember that a CDROM is much slower than a hard disc, so be patient. Enjoy the experience of Free software.

6 Appendix A: Licence

Copyright (c) 2007-2009 Chris Lale. chrislale AT users DOT berlios DOT de

GNU FDL Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License."

Go to NewbieDOC index

Content is available under GNU Free Documentation License 1.2, unless otherwise stated.