[srozzman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trains are bad /img/forum/go_quote.gif However I found out that in linux one can use hdparm -Y *device* to shut off the HDD, which should be all I need.

Why not just make a script that runs at boot that does just that?

 

[trains are bad]

Well the system will need the hard drive now and then, so if you put the drive in standby, it will spin back up whenever it needs accessed.

Now if you were able to make a ram-based install like a pendrivelinux 'persistant mode' install, or a DSL 'frugal' install, then you could indeed just run that command and the hard drive would stay off. However, the DSL frugal mode is useless because I can't write custom startup scripts and save them. And the pendrivelinux 'persistant mode' would work, but my machine won't boot off a flashdrive. So now that i CAN, I'm going to go with a CF card adapter ($2.50 at dealextreme) and a normal install.

Once I get my stuff in the mail, I'll probably do a normal vanilla install of Xubuntu on a 2GB CF card, since I'm familiar with *buntu. Then I want to write a startup script that, after boot, opens a convenient photo viewer in fullscreen mode, and plays a slideshow of all photos from /media/disk or whatever.

Code:

[left]gwenview -fullscreen -slideshow:speed=5 /media/disk/*.jpg[/left]

or something like that. Then, the only problem I can see is what happens when you remove the flash drive to put more/new photos on it. I don't want to have a keyboard or mouse hooked up to this thing.