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LivePC Engine Startup Guide - Bare Metal

This Bare Metal startup guide contains instructions on how to quickly obtain and install the LivePC Engine™ software, run your first LivePC™, and subscribe to other LivePCs.

The methods described below require you to reboot your computer once after the installation is done. After your computer reboots, this guide should be accessible by clicking on ''Documentation' link in the LivePC Engine UI, if you would like to further refer to it. You may also print a copy of this guide for your reference.

Please read the README for the current beta release for any last minute changes and known defects.

Before You Start

  • Important: please back up your computer before installing this beta release of the LivePC Engine!

Hardware Requirements

  • 1GHz Pentium III processor or better
  • 512MB RAM minimum (1G RAM recommended)
  • Video display that support s a resolution of 1024x768 or higher
  • A network connection with DHCP and access to the Internet
  • An internal hard drive with at least 2 gigabytes of free space (at least 10 gigabytes recommended)

Installing LivePC Engine onto an internal hard drive with an Install CD

The moka5 LivePC Engine can be installed as either the primary operating system or alongside other existing operating systems on your computer. In this section, the former type of install is referred to as normal install and the latter is referred to as dual-boot install. The installation steps are as follows:

  • Download the install CD image: http://downloads.moka5.com/0.9.1/LivePCPlayer-install-0.9.1-4051.iso (or use Bittorrent) and burn it to a CD.
  • If you would like to do a dual-boot install, you would have to create three empty partitions of sizes 1 GB, 256 MB, and at least 10 GB on your hard disk. These partitions are referred to as the LivePC Engine's sysroot, swap, and cache partitions respectively. You might need to use partition manager software (such as PartitionMagic or GNU parted) to resize existing partitions on your disk and create these three partitions.
  • Insert the install CD into your computer's CD drive and reboot your computer.
  • Agree to the moka5 License agreement.
  • Choose the type of install and the install hard disk.
  • If you chose a dual boot install, the installer would list the partitions on the install hard disk for your reference and prompt you for the sysroot, swap and cache partitions.
  • CAUTION: If you selected normal install, all data on the install hard disk will be erased. If you selected dual boot install, all data on the install partitions will be erased, and your master boot record (MBR) will be overwritten. Please cancel the install process at this time if you do not wish this to happen.
  • After this, the moka5 LivePC Engine will be installed onto the hard disk partitions you selected.
  • If the installation fails for any reason, the installer will prompt you to try the install again.

After the installation is successful, remove the install CD and reboot the computer.

After installing LivePC Engine, you can use your first LivePC!

  1. On the first boot, LivePC Engine initializes its cache partition. This can take a few minutes.
  2. At the end of the boot process you will see the main LivePC Engine UI.
  3. The LivePC Engine comes up with an demonstration LivePC.
  4. Run the demo LivePC by clicking on the logo and the clicking on the Start command on the left side of the screen.
  5. Use the LivePC the same way you would use a normal PC. When you are done using it, shut it down like a normal PC. This will bring you back to the LivePC Engine menu.

Subscribing to another LivePC

Once you've gotten comfortable running the demo LivePC, you can subscribe to another LivePC from the moka5.com library.

  1. Click on "www.moka5.com" under My Places in the LivePC Engine UI's sidebar.
  2. This takes you to the moka5.com Library with the list of all the available LivePCs.
  3. Choose a LivePC that you want to access and click on its "Subscribe" link.
  4. This brings up a screen that asks 'Do you want to open or save this file?' Select Open.
  5. You will be returned to the LivePC Engine's main screen and you will see that the new LivePC has been added. To open the LivePC, click once on its logo.
  6. Click on My LivePCs and you will now see the newly subscribed LivePC in addition to the demo PC.
  7. Run this LivePC by clicking on its logo, and the click on the Start command on the left side of the screen.

Learn more about using LivePCs

For more detailed information on using moka5.com and LivePC Engine, see the LivePC Engine User Guide: Bare Metal Version.

For information on publishing your own LivePCs so that they can be accessed by other users, please refer to the LivePC Creator Guide