Booting Linux from Compact Flash Pt.1

My first job was finding suitable hardware. I didn't want to sacrifice any of my existing setups so I decided to build a whole new computer based on Intel's Pentium III chip. The next step was chosing a suitable chipset. Since I wanted a system that would be as quiet as possible, I needed to passively cool the CPU with the help of Zalman CNPS-6000 copper heatsink. My other requirement was having at least 768MB of RAM. I actually had two Slot-1 440BX motherboards lying around and a number of DIMM modules sized 128MB and 256MB. Unfortunately both boards proved to be inadequate. If I went for Soyo 6BA-IV+ I would either have to buy 512MB modules or forget the passive cooling part as Zalman heatsink obstructed two DIMM slots out of four. Finally, after giving it lots of thought, I decided Via Apollo Pro 133T chipset was the way to go.

After several days of searching, I picked up a really cheap setup consisting of an Abit VH6T board, Pentium III 800MHz and three sticks of 512MB ECC RAM. This was to be my new platform.

- End of part 1 -

Trivia: CR2032

Most of us geeks eventually get to 'meet' this button cell battery that powers the RTC (real-time clock) and CMOS SDRAM. Funny how I only now, after many years of dealing with computers, found out what CR2032 actually stands for. It's very simple: 20 mm diameter, 3.2 mm height!