RUNT, or ResNet USB Network Tester, is a specialized Linux distribution based on Slackware. Its primary design intention is to function as a portable testing tool, capable of booting on any x86 computer equipped with a USB port and a floppy drive. The distribution’s compact size, fitting onto a 128MB USB pen drive, makes it highly versatile for system diagnostic purposes.
The RUNT distribution comprises two main components: a boot floppy image and a zip file. The boot floppy is derived from Slackware’s minimal kernel and includes an initial ramdisk that loads necessary USB storage modules. It pauses during startup to allow the USB drive to initialize, ensuring compatibility across different hardware setups.
An interesting feature of RUNT is the inclusion of Memtest86, a robust RAM testing utility. By typing ‘memtest’ at the boot prompt, users can instantly initiate this tool for testing the system’s memory, which is crucial for troubleshooting hardware-related issues.
The zip file within the distribution contains a UMSDOS filesystem. This can be easily installed onto a 128MB USB drive formatted with an MS-DOS filesystem using 2K clusters. Once extracted, this setup provides a complete, lightweight Linux environment right on your USB stick, ready for use in various testing scenarios without leaving traces on the host machine due to its read-write nature.
In summary, RUNT is more than just a Linux distribution; it’s a comprehensive toolkit tailored for system administrators and technicians needing a portable, self-contained solution for diagnostic and testing tasks. Its minimalistic yet feature-rich design makes it an excellent choice for on-the-go troubleshooting.
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