First download the recommended ISO and burn a bootable CD (instructions are here).

Next put the CD into the target machine and reboot it. Look around the new desktop and get a feel for how things work in DSL. In particular, check that your internet connection works ok.

Once you are happy that DSL is compatible with your hardware, it's time to take the plunge and install it to your harddrive.

To do this first open a terminal window as root (Right Click on the ATerminal icon and choose ATerm as Super User), type cfdisk and press enter. You will now see a listing of the partitions on you harddrive. We now want to delete any existing partitions (Again - YOU WILL LOSE ALL DATA CURRENTLY ON YOUR HARD DRIVE) use the up and down arrows to navigate to each partition and the left and right arrows to navigate the menu. Once you have deleted all existing partitions create a new partition hda1, this will be your swap partition as a rule it should be double the size of your ram and at least 128MB. Make it a Primary partition with a Type of 82. Next we will create hda2, the bootable partition that DSL will be installed on to. This should have a Type of 83. Next write these changes to disk and exit. Cfdisk will recommend that you reboot, so do this (right click on an empty part of the desktop and select Power Down/Reboot. Note when the machine tells you to remove the CD don't bother - we still need it to boot - just hit enter and wait for DSL to reboot again.

Once the system has rebooted open a terminal window as root again. Type mkswap /dev/hda1 press enter, type swapon /dev/hda1 press enter. You have now prepared your harddrive for the install. Right click on an empty part of the desktop and select Apps/Tools/Install to Hard Drive. Follow the prompts. This time when prompted to remove the CD remove it.

You are now running DSL from your harddrive. You will be prompted for a root password and also a user password. If you require unattended and/or headless bootups leave the user password blank.

Next we will prepare DSL for integration to your local network, remote administration and installation of BOINC.

The default hostname for your new DSL pc is box, this is fine until you have more than one host running DSL. To change your hostname you need to edit all references to box in the following files /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig     /etc/hostname     and      /etc/hosts

The easiest way to do this is right click on the Emelfm icon and select Emelfm as Super User. In the right hand pane next to the address bar click the H button - this makes hidden files viewable. Navigate to the first file by doubling clicking the etc/ directory then double clicking the init.d/ subdirectory scroll down to knoppix-autoconfig select it and choose edit from the central buttons between the two panes. This opens the file in Beaver (a text editor) scroll through the file until you see the line hostname box (should be line #360). Change box to what you want your new host to be called. Save and exit beaver. Next navigate back up to the /etc directory by clicking the updirectory button (right hand side of the address bar), scroll down to find hostname and edit the reference to box, and repeat for the file hosts. Close Emelfm.

Next we want to install some packages to make DSL more usable and also suitable for remote administration.

Right click on the desktop and choose Apps/Tools/Upgrade to GNU Utils and follow the prompts.

Next, right click on the desktop and choose Apps/Tools/Enable Apt and follow the prompts. This will download the apt package and install it. 

Click the MyDSL icon and then click the Net button. Scroll down the list to synaptic.dsl and select that entry. In the window that pops-up click Download, and then accept using the /tmp directory for the download by clicking Download. Once the program has been downloaded and installed  scroll down to vnc4x-1.4.6.dsl.info, select and follow the prompts. This downloads the VNC Server package which will enable you to log in to your DSL pc from a remote pc as if you were sitting in front of it.

Start Emelfm as a normal user this time - just click the icon - in the left hand pane select the H button to show hidden files scroll down to .xinitrc and choose edit. In Beaver scroll down to the line dillo /usr/share/doc/dsl/getting_started.html &>/dev/null & (it should be line #23) at the start of this line hit enter moving this line down one. In your newly created blank line type /usr/local/bin/x0vncserver -SecurityTypes=none &>/dev/null & this will ensure that the vnc server will automatically start on every bootup. Save and Exit, and Exit from EmelFM.

Finally we have to prepare the pc for installation of BOINC. All projects report everything in UTC so we need to set the timezone for our pc, unfortunately this is one area that DSL is very poor. For those in WA the timezone Asia/Taipei is acceptable. Our cousins in the central and eastern states will have to try something else (available timezones can be found in /usr/share/zoneinfo). To set the timezone fire up Emelfm as super user again and navigate back to /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig and choose edit. Scroll through till you find the section beginning LANGUAGE="us". Change the line TZ="US/Eastern"  to TZ="Asia/Taipei" save and exit (should be line #339).

The next step is to download BOINC (Note - Currently only BOINC version 5.4.11 is compatible with DSL* - Do Not Download A Newer Version) - start firefox by clicking the firefox icon with the BOINC download address being http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download_all.php

Run the install script by clicking on the Aterm icon (you just want to be a normal user so don't right click) type ls and you should see a directory listing with boinc_blah_blah_version. Type sh boinc<TAB Key> (push the TAB key don't type it - it automatically completes the rest of the file name)and press enter. Keep the terminal window open and start up Emelfm as a normal user again. Again navigate to .xinitrc and choose edit. Scroll back down to the line you entered last x0vncserver blah blah blah and create a newline between this and the next line (dillo blah blah blah) and type /home/dsl/BOINC/run_manager &>/dev/null & save and exit beaver but keep EmelFM open. This will ensure that BOINC starts automatically on every reboot. Go back to your terminal window and type /home/dsl/BOINC/run_manager this will start the BOINC gui and you will be prompted to attach to a project, at this point hit cancel and exit the BOINC Manager (file/exit). You can now close the terminal window. Go back to Emelfm and navigate to the BOINC subdirectory in the left pane. Scroll down to gui_rpc_auth.cfg and choose edit it will contain a gobbledygook password overwrite this with a password that is meaningful to you. Save the file but don't exit. Next if you want to view this pc with BOINCView overwrite your new password with the name (or IP Address) of the windows pc that will run BOINCView. Choose save as, and name the file remote_hosts.cfg. Now you can exit.

Phew, at this point your DSL pc has been set up, all that is left to do is reboot to make the new changes effective. You will now be able to access this pc via vnc, administer it from BOINCView once you set it up as a new location in BOINCView, and attach to new projects and account managers. Leave the mouse, keyboard and monitor connected for the first reboot to ensure everything is working, then remove the mouse and keyboard once you are happy its all running well and reboot (leave the monitor attached to confirm that this causes no problems) if all is well you can now remove the monitor.

The above works and has been tested with DSL 3.3. The current recommended version is 3.3.

* I have DSL running (thanks to this guide!) using BOINC version 5.10.28.