Last updated on 03 23 2004

1.  What is SETI@HOME?
SETI@home uses thousands of Internet-connected PCs to help in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
It uses data collected with the Arecibo Radio Telescope, in Puerto Rico, as part of Project SERENDIP.
The idea behind SETI@home is to take advantage of the unused processing cycles of personal computers.
First you download free software from SETI@home.
Once configured this software will download a 340 kilobyte chunk of SERENDIP data for analysis.
This downloaded data is called a Work Unit
When the computer is not being used, the screensaver will start and process the Work Unit
When the processing is done, the results are sent back to the SERENDIP team and another workunit is downloaded.
 

2.  What is LRP?
From lrp.steinkuehler.net
"LRP is a very small version of linux, designed to be able to boot off devices as small as a single 1440K floppy disk.
LRP makes building and maintaining firewalls, routers, access servers, thin servers, thin clients, network appliances, and embedded systems very easy, as most of the hard work has been done for you."

LRP can be booted from floppy and run in RAM.
No hard disk is required
LRP is FREE !!
 

3.  What is EZ SETI@HOME LRP?
SETI@HOME LRP is a FREE stripped down LRP distribution that has and runs the SETI@HOME application.
It is designed only to run the SETI@HOME application.
It is not to be used as a firewall or router  (Yet)
Serveral SETI@HOME LRP's are availble for download but they are only specific to 1 type network card.
I wanted to create a version that would work on several common network cards.  (Like Email.exe)
It is my intention to create a simple SETI@HOME LRP distribution that is as close to 'plug and play' as possible.
This way I can send it to my Grandma and with very little fuss, get her looking for ET!!
 

4.  Why did I create EZ SETI@HOME LRP?
First off I didnt really create EZ SETI@HOME LRP.
Rather, I just took components from other LRP distributions and made it a bit easier to use
I knew that both LRP and Linux  was pretty tough for the beginner.
I feel that sometimes, experienced Linux/Unix/LRP/Computer people often forget the new user (Newbie)
Some forget how to communicate to the newbie level
I wanted to learn LRP, apply it to SETI and learn Linux as I go
So I made this page with no assumptions and tried to take all in account.
I hope you find it a clear and simple introduction to the very huge world of Linux
 

5.  How does EZ SETI@HOME LRP currently connect to the internet?
EZ SETI@HOME LRP disk currently only works with computers connected to the internet through a company LAN or high speed internet (Cable or DSL modems)
I have not even begun to learn the dial up modem (PPP) side of things...yet
 

6.  What hardware is required to run EZ SETI@HOME LRP?
I have EZ SETI@HOME LRP currently setup to create a 32MB ramdisk.  (Like a hard disk made of only RAM)
SETI@home uses about 16 MB of RAM while it's running.
So...Any 386 or faster with 32 MB RAM will work
If you dont have as much RAM, it is easy to reconfigure EZ SETI@HOME LRP
 

7.  What software is required to run EZ SETI@HOME LRP?
You only need to download 1 file.
This one compressed file contains all the software you need
Once the file is decompressed to a 3.5 inch floppy disk, SETI is ready to go
 

8.  What network information do I need to provide EZ SETI@HOME LRP?
You will have to provide EZ SETI@HOME LRP with your TCP/IP information to connect to the internet
This is information like.  IP address, Subnet Mask, Gateway and DNS.
This information is normally provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP)
If you have a DHCP server, this may be automatic and will make things very easy
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a fancy way of getting TCP/IP addressing information automatically.
 

9.  What network interface cards (NICS) is the EZ SETI@HOME LRP setup for?
The EZ SETI@HOME LRP currently supports the following cards.  (I have a little space left on the floppy for perhaps a few more cards.)
 
 

(io=0x300)* means the NIC must be configured to use IO 0x300 also expressed as 300H
What this means to you is all you have to do is configure these types of cards to use 0x300 or 300H as the IO.
LRP will automatically find the IRQ of the card.
You may need to run the NIC's configuration utility to change the IO
The ISA NE2000 (ISA) NIC uses plusdiag
The 3C509 uses 3C5X9CFG.  I have a copy but cannot find a link.  Sorry
Intels EEPRO come in a few types can be searced here
I tested the 3C90x module on several 3C905B and C's.  Since the cards are PCI things are pretty automatic
I have not tried any of the other cards yet sorry
 
 

10.  I am interested, I want to download EZ SETI@HOME LRP 

I have three images available
Use right click save target as to prevent download corruption issues

Here is 1.72MB disk image file that works with Gilles Vollant's excellent Winimage from http://www.winimage.com/

As an alternative, here is a 1.72MB raw disk image.
You must use DD on a Linux/Unix box to get this file to floppy

Update - March 23 2004
I created a bootable CDROM based on a LEAF bering distribution http://leaf.sourceforge.net/
This 1.6MB zip image contains an ISO image.
Just burn it to CDROM and you're good to go
Boots real fast  :-)

11.  I have downloaded EZ SETI@HOME LRP.   What next?

12.  What should normally happen when I boot with the EZ SETI@HOME LRP disk.
http://master-www.linuxrouter.org:8080/docs.shtml  Has a great amount of detail regarding this
Here is the executive summary.  AKA Grandma summary;
1.  The disk will load a bunch of Linux stuff from the floppy and into RAM
2.  It will automatically try to find your network card
3.  It will try to find a DHCP server.
 

13.  My DHCP Server provides internet access.  What else is required?
If your DCHP server provides internet access (IP, Gateway and DNS) then SETI is ready to go.
See Step 15
 

14.  I do not have a DHCP Server or My DHCP Serverdoes not provide internet access.  What do I need to do?
In this case you will have to do two things
1.  Run a simple configuration utility to enter your TCP/IP information
2.  Disable DHCP

Here is how

Have all of your TCP/IP internet access information ready to go
In this example I have the following TCP/IP information I want to manually enter.
TCP/IP address    192.168.10.69
Subnet Mask        255.255.255.0
Gateway              192.168.10.1
DNS                    192.168.10.25
                            192.168.10.26

1.  Boot your system with the EZ SETI@HOME LRP disk
2.  If all goes well you should see a setiathome login:  Type root and hit enter
3.  Type lrcfg.  This will launch the Linux Router Configuration utility
4.  Type 1 for Network Settings and hit enter
5.  Type 1 for Network Configuration (auto) and hit enter
6.  You are looking at file called network.conf.  I cleaned it up to be less confusing.  (The old network.conf is renamed to networkconf.old for your reference)
6.  Use the arrow keys to scroll around.  Use Backspace and Enter as with any current text editor
7.  Place your TCP/IP information into the required spots

To simplify this for you, here is an example of my Network Configuration file (network.conf)
I have coloured and bolded the important areas

DIRECT_SETTINGS_ONLY=NO
VERBOSE=YES
MAX_LOOP=6
IPFWDING_KERNEL=YES
IPFWDING_FW=YES
CONFIG_HOSTNAME=YES
CONFIG_HOSTSFILE=YES
CONFIG_DNS=YES

IF0_IFNAME=eth0
IF0_IPADDR=192.168.100.69
IF0_NETMASK=255.255.255.0
IF0_BROADCAST=192.168.10.255
IF0_IP_SPOOF=YES

NET0_NETADDR=0.0.0.0
NET0_NETMASK=$IF0_NETMASK
NET0_GATEWAY_IF=$IF0_NAME
NET0_GATEWAY_IP=default
NET0_IPMASQ=NO
NET0_IPMASQ_IF=default

GW0_IPADDR=192.168.100.1
GW0_IFNAME=$IF0_NAME
GW0_METRIC=1

HOSTNAME=setiathome

# IP                                              FQDN                                            hostname alias1 alias2..
#HOSTS0="10.1.0.6                   dplinux.mtc.co.uk                              dplinux"

#DOMAINS="mtc.co.uk"

DNS0=192.168.10.25
DNS1=192.168.10.26
 

8.  Once you are done, save your changes by typing Ctrl and S together.  Then hit enter to Write the file
9.  Exit the editor by typing Ctrl and C together
10.  Type Q for quit and hit enter
11.  We must now backup the changes to the Ramdisk.  Remember everything is still in RAM!!
12.  Hit b and then enter
13.  Hit t enter and then c enter.  This will make things really speedy.
14.  Hit e and then enter.  This will backup everything back to floppy

A lot of steps eh.  That is why DHCP is so easy

Wait, we are not done.  Just one more thing!!

Now that we have configured our TCP/IP information, we have to reconfigure not to use DHCP or else our settings will be overwritten
We have to edit a file on the floppy called syslinux.cfg
It normally looks like this

display syslinux.dpy
timeout 0
default linux
append=load_ramdisk=1 initrd=root.lrp initrd_archive=minix ramdisk_size=32768 root=/dev/ram0 boot=/dev/fd0u1722,msdos LRP=etc,log,local,modules,dhclient,seti

All we have to do is remove the dhclient near the end
So instead of this
LRP=etc,log,local,modules,dhclient,seti

It shoud be
LRP=etc,log,local,modules,seti

You can easily do this from a Dos or Windows machine using any text editor.

If you are currently using your machine for LRP here is a way without having to reboot back to Windows

1.  Type mount -t msdos /dev/fd0 /mnt  (Mount the Dos floppy.)
2.  Type vi /mnt/syslinux.cfg  (Launch the text editor to edit syslinux.cfg)
3.  Make your changes (Use the arrow keys, backspace and enter to get around)
4.  Type Ctrl and S and then enter  (Save changes)
5.  Type Ctrl and C to quit  (Quit the editor)
6.  Type umount /mnt  (Unmounts the floppy)

Way to go!!
If things went well you have configured your EZ SETI@HOME LRP to connect to the internet manually

When you are ready, type reboot to restart your machine for the changes to take affect
 

15.  I have my EZ SETI@HOME LRP disk ready.  I have a connection to the internet.  What now
The hard part is done
If you already have not booted with your EZ SETI@HOME LRP disk do it now
The on-screen instruction tell you the following;
Type root at the login and hit enter
Type setiathome and hit enter to start the SETI program
You are given two registration choices.
(1) To setup a mew accounts (first-time users)
(2) To log into an existing account (returning users)

If you are a first time user, enter the required information to register with SETI@HOME
You will optionally be able to accumulate all your completed work units to one user name
If you are a returning user, simply enter your registered email address
If all goes well, the SETI progam should fetch a fresh work unit and begin processing
If you used the command setiathome you will not receive any feedback as to the status of the current work unit
 

16.  I want to see details as my EZ SETI@HOME LRP processes the work unit.
If you want to watch the process, you must use the command setiathome -verbose
If you started the SETI progam with only the setiathome command and you want to stop it and use setiathome -verbose just do this.
On the setiathome screen, hold the Ctrl and C button together.  This will stop the SETI program
Now type setiathome -verbose

You can also check the status of your work unit by checking the /state.sah file
Here is a simple command to get the state.sah info on your screen
cat /state.sah |more        The | symbol is called a pipe.  Get it by holding shift and typing a \ (The backslash key above the enter key)
Look for the line prog =
Multiply the prog = number by 100 to get the total percentage completed
IE prog = 0.23662233 represents 23.66% completed
 

17.  How fast can typical computers complete a Work Unit
Here is a chart of some of the boxes I have running
I have a few Unix command line machines but I have not yet clocked them
My overall average is about 18 hours per work unit so far
I'm looking forward to getting some real hardware like a Sun box  :-)
 

18.  I found some problems with EZ SETI@HOME LRP.  What should I do?
Sorry, I tried my best.
I'm really new to Unix/Linux/LRP and I certainly could learn more.
If you have an issue and cant figure it out, I'd like to help
If you have an issue and know much more than I do, lets fix it for the benefit of the rest of the world!!
Please feel free to contact me and lets work on it.
 

19.   I'd like to change to lrcfg Write to temp and confirm defaults.
To change the lrcfg backup defaults (Write to temp and Confirm writes) from On to OFF (For speedy backups)...
vi /usr/sbin/lrcfg.back.  Set CWRT and WTMP to off
 

20.  I get a DHCP TCP/IP address but no gateway or DNS.  Can I use another method to connect?
If you can get a DHCP TCP/IP address and Subnet mask but are not getting DNS and Gateway information there is a way around.
You can continue to use DHCP for an IP address, use a Hosts entry for the SETI server and manually enter a Gateway.

Adding the SETI server to hosts
Run lrcfg and look for
# IP                                               FQDN                                            hostname alias1 alias2..
#HOSTS0="$IF0_IPADDR         $HOSTNAME.somewhere.net        $HOSTNAME mr rtr"
Add this line
HOSTS0="128.32.18.166             shserver2.ssl.berkeley.edu               seti"
When the SETI software tries to find the SETI server it will reference this host entry to get the correct TCP/IP address

Manually setting the gateway
Use this command to assign your Gateway
route add default gw 192.168.10.1  (This command will add 192.168.10.1 as a gateway)
You can add this command to a startup file like /root/.profile to become automatic  (I know its ugly..help me if you know a cleaner way)

21.  I want to reconfigure EZ SETI@HOME LRP for more or less RAM and other things
Here is the EZ SETI@HOME LRP configuration file called syslinux.cfg.
You can edit it with any Dos or Linux box

display syslinux.dpy
timeout 0
default linux
append=load_ramdisk=1 initrd=root.lrp initrd_archive=minix ramdisk_size=32768 root=/dev/ram0 boot=/dev/fd0u1722,msdos LRP=etc,log,local,modules,dhclient,seti

ramdisk_size=32768                                     The Ramdisk size.  Make it a multiple of 1024.
LRP=etc,log,local,modules,dhclient,seti          This is the installed modules list.

1.  Download the module that is compatible with your kernel version.
(Check your current kernel version by typing uname -a on your Linux box)
2.  Pop the modules onto a Dos floppy
3.  Boot your LRP box
4.  Type mount  -t  msdos  /dev/fd0  /mnt  This will mount the Dos floppy
5.  Type cp  /mnt/tulip.o  /lib/modules  This will copy the module tulip.o to the /lib/modules folder
6.  Type umount /mnt  This will unmount the Dos floppy
7.  Run lrcfg
8.  Hit 3 (package settings) enter
9.  Hit 2 (modules) enter.   You may have hit 1 (modules) again after
10.  This is the list of modules that are to be loaded.  Put the name of your module in the list
11.  Hit Ctrl and S to save.
12.  Hit Ctrl and C to quit
13  Hit Q to quit two times
14.  We must backup the ramdisk to floppy remember!!
15.  Choose b (Back-up ramdisk)
16.  Hit t enter and c enter
17.  Finally hit e (Everything EXEPT log)

Woohoo, you have successfully downloaded, mounted, copied, configured and backed up your module
Now reboot your machine and see if it worked
 

23.  I need more information.  I need to see some other LRP references
 

24.  You say LRP is free.  I need more details
LRP is free and is distributed under the GNU General Public Licence