Tiny Core Linux
General TC => General TC Talk => Topic started by: MTCAT on February 21, 2021, 11:21:24 AM
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Hi everyone,
With a ton of help from Rich and curaga, I was able to get ethernet working and install a driver for an analog-digital-converter on TinyCore3 (2.6.33.3).
I'm now taking "baby-steps" towards automating the module insertion so I don't have to download all the packages every time (pciutlis.tcz, coreutils.tcz, compiletc, linux-headers-2.6.33.3-tinycore.tcz,, perl5, bash, etc., etc.)
I have a question regarding my ethernet though, it works fine every time I boot up, w/o me having to do anything, but, I'm not sure how this is working.....
The first thing Rich instructed me to do after we got the ethernet going was to look for a file in /opt called "bootlocal.sh", and in it there should be a line like "/opt/eth0.sh".
However, my bootlocal.sh file is completely empty, except for two comments.
#!/bin/sh
#put other system startup commands here
And there's no "eth0.sh" file in /opt either.
When Rich and I setup the ethernet, we "copied" the settings from Lubuntu which was 10.0.0.40 for my TinyCore SBC, and my router (Gateway) is 10.0.0.1, and applied these settings in the "Network" app, with "save configuration" marked as "yes", awesome, it worked.
But now, after many on-off cycles, my ethernet still works (great !), but it seems that TinyCOre is using a different IP address every time, it's almost as though dhcp is unknowingly running (even though it's turned off in Network app), for example, right now, ifconfig -a reveals an IP address of 10.0.0.151 for the VortexDX3 SBC ?
Sorry for all the questions, just trying to make sense of how things are retained/lost on boot/re-boot cycles..
Thanks,
David
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Hi MTCAT
When you shut down, you are supposed to use the Exit icon (all the way to the left). When the Exit app comes
up, Backup Options should be set to Backup. That will backup your /opt and /home directories so changes don't
get lost.
If you haven't already, I highly recommend you read the book found here:
http://tinycorelinux.net/book.html
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Hi Rich,
Thanks, I haven't been using the "Backup" option yet when I shut down, yet somehow/someway, my ethernet is still working !
Maybe I'll set it back to what we had before with the Network App, and then do the backup when I shut down.
Right now I don't have any .filetool.lst in /opt either.
Are you able to comment on this; this sounds really easy but I don't have a "Set" button in my Apps, is that because I'm using an old version of TinyCore ?
"In Appbrowser, simply use the Set button to tell tcl where you want to store your stuff, and automatically all your stuff becomes persistent."
"When you use Appbrowser to download extensions, the target location for downloaded extensions is shown in the Appbrowser's status bar, bottom right. When that location is the /tmp/tce/optional directory, there is also a Set button available, so that you can easily select a persistent location. When you specify a location for a /tce directory on a storage medium, then that directory will be created there (if it doesn't already exist) and all extensions will be stored there permanently, in a subdirectory called /tce/optional, instead of in the volatile /tmp/tce/optional. "
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Hi MTCAT
I want you to download the TCscan.sh script attached here:
http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,23936.msg150689.html#msg150689
Then:
chmod 775 TCscan.sh
./TCscan.sh
When it finishes, it will print Results written to TCscanDATETIME.txt. Attach that file to your next post.
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Hi Rich,
I copied the script into the / directory, hopefully that's okay to run it from there ?
I had to go super-user though for the following;
sudo chmod 775 TCscan.sh
sudo ./TCscan.sh
Hopefully that's okay ?, here's the .txt file.
After running chmod (to change permissions ?) I ran just "./TCscan.sh" and I got a bunch of errors, couldn't write out the file I think, so I ran "sudo ./TCscan.sh" and that seemed to work.
Hope that doesn't mess up the test.
Thanks,
David
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Hi Rich,
I notice that the .txt file I attached to previous post didn't have a lot of information in it, I re-looked in the directory where I ran the script and found a identically named file, except with a ".tmp" extension, attached that here, has a lot of information in it, hopefully this is what you were looking for.
Thanks,
David
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Hi MTCAT
... I copied the script into the / directory, hopefully that's okay to run it from there ? ...
No, you should have copied it to /home/tc. You don't use sudo for any of the steps.
... Right now I don't have any .filetool.lst in /opt either. ...
Sure you do. File names and directory names that begin with a period are hidden. Try this:
ls -la /opt
You do appear to be missing your /opt/bootsync.sh file. The last line in that file launches /opt/bootlocal.sh.
Click on the Control Panel icon at the bottom of the screen. Then click the Mount Tool button. When the Mount Tool
comes up, click each of the sdaX buttons. Provide me with a list of which sdaX buttons are present and which ones
did not turn green.
Then run TCscan.sh again (from /home/tc/).
Then click any buttons you turned green so they turn red again.
Post the new TCscanDATETIME.txt file.
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Hi Rich,
Sorry for the delay, I was having problems posting this morning....
Oh, hidden files, okay, thanks, the files are indeed there, as you said they would be, when using "ls -la"
I followed your instructions and mounted "sda5" (128 GByte CF-card I think), "sdb1" (16 GByte pen drive I boot from), "sdb3" (not sure), "sdb4" (not sure).
I ran ./TSscan.sh in my ~ directory and attached the results here.
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Hi MTCAT
It doesn't look like you actually installed Tinycore. So how exactly are you booting Tinycore.
Are you booting the .iso file?
Did you use some 3rd party installer?
What bootloader are you using?
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Hi Rich,
How embarrassing, I downloaded the ISO file from your "Downloads" section and then I used "YUMI" to copy the iso file onto a USB stick, when I power up my little board, I'm given the choice of a bunch of different distro's from which I can choose Tinycore_3. I'm not sure what bootloader is being used, I do have a choice on booting up TinyCore3 to enter boot options (F2 or F3), or just hit enter to continue on with defaults.
Sorry for the "drama", seems I did something oddball right from the "get-go".
Thanks,
David
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@MTCAT - I suggest a simplification because further support is aggravated by the use of not only 3rd-party burners, but ALSO because of non-standard directory structures that "multi-booters" like YUMI provide. And YUMI-UEFI also munges the boot directory config lines, which can catch unaware users off-guard just so you know.
Ie, if you use YUMI, or most any other "multibooter", which changes or adds unknown directory structures, and adds mistakes to configurations, you own it. Ie, it is best to already be familiar with how TC works in the first place to make the most use of it - and to be able to correct glaring mistakes in YUMI itself. Even as a YUMI user myself, I do NOT recommend it's use for those new to TC.
Simplification plan:
Generally, working with TC is best done as a *two part* process for the new user.
1) Get a downloadable iso to boot. Ok, you've done it already despite my warnings. :) (You could have also used the DD command from your other linux install too) These iso's are meant for actual read-only CD's, or read-only sticks emulating cd's, providing no inherent persistence by themselves.
2) Then use TC itself to download and install temporarily the TC-Install gui and make *another* bootable stick from that. This new burn using TC tools, rather than 3rd party burners or multibooters, easily provides the persistence and makes the necessary changes to the cd type of iso operation that often trips up the new user.
Can one handle only using the 1st step with 3rd party stuff and do persistence their own way?
Yes, but usually that is after one has already become familiar with how TC works in the first place, but then you wouldn't be asking questions. :)
It's just a matter of support of us all being on the same page together.
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Hi PDP-8,
Thanks for the advice, I will try that tomorrow, I'm really stumbling through this so I'm very happy to have the help of this forum. My next steps are to figure out "persistence" (installing my own packages I think - for my ADC driver), or, I was thinking, perhaps just install TC3 onto my CF-card (my hard-drive as it were) directly. But anyway, would be good to set things straight first with a proper installation/starting point.
I've enjoyed my "play time" with TinyCore3 (2.6.33.3), but, would you be able to offer an opinion as to whether or not you think it would be advantageous to use a newer kernel, what would I gain basically ? I tend to resist doing "updates" if I don't need too, it looks like TinyCore3 will do everything I need, so I'm not sure....
Thanks,
David
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Hi MTCAT
I recommend doing a proper install so you can have a persistent /home and /opt directory, as well as a tce directory
for storing extensions so you don't need to keep re-downloading them.
I suggest installing to a USB thumb drive.
I'm guessing you want to stick with TC3. Then you might as well use the latest which was 3.8.4:
http://tinycorelinux.net/3.x/release/tinycore_3.8.4.iso
Boot up your current TC3.
Follow the instructions in the attached file.
When you finished, try to boot the thumb drive. When it comes up, copy TCscan.sh to the home directory.
Click the Control Panel icon and select Backup/Restore. Select Action:Backup and click Go.
Then run TCscan.sh and attach the results.
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If that kernel version supports the hw you want to use, and it's not acting as an internet server for example or otherwise exposed, there is little point in upgrading to newer versions.
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Thanks everyone, I'll give that a try here this morning !
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Hi Rich,
I followed your instructions, thank you very much, everything went well, but, when installing the "new" TinyCore3 to the "new" USB drive, I used the default "waitusb=5", after install was complete and I tried booting up off this pen drive, my BIOS didn't catch it and instead booted up off the CF-card ?, which brought up Lubuntu.
I also re-did the install a couple more times, once with "waitusb=10", and another with no option entered at all, and still the same thing, booted off the CF-card, sorry for all the problems, what do you think ? Does the USB drive need to be made "bootable" somehow ?
The light flashes briefly on the USB drive on power-up, so its definitely getting power, yet it still wants to boot off the CF-card.
Thanks,
David
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Hi MTCAT
Did you leave the Install boot loader checked:
http://tinycorelinux.net/install.html#1_
I don't know if it's necessary, but you may also need to check the Mark Partition Active (bootable) option.
Does your machine offer a boot menu (maybe F8 or F10 when booting) ?
Possibly There is a BIOS option you need to set for it to boot off of a thumb drive. It might be a USB option and or
a Boot order option.
... I also re-did the install a couple more times, once with "waitusb=10", and another with no option entered at all, ...
You definitely want the waitusb=10 boot code.
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Hi Rich,
The "Mark Partition Active (bootable)" is "greyed-out", I can't select it for some reason. Could that be the issue ? Attached a screenshot here.
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Hi MTCAT
Never mind. That doesn't apply when installing to the whole disk.
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Hi Rich,
Sorry, I forgot to add, I don't even have the option to "Install Boot loader", all I get to work with is what you see in the attached screenshot ? No Boot loader selection is possible.
Thanks,
David
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Hi MTCAT
... all I get to work with is what you see in the attached screenshot ? No Boot loader selection is possible.
That version has extra buttons not used on any of the later versions, so when I wrote "Click the bottom right button ... "
I meant the one with the single arrow (3rd from the left).
Let's see what was installed to your thumb drive. Boot your current TC3. Then plug in your thumb drive. Use dmesg
like I described in the installation instructions to identify the device. Use the mount tool in the control panel to mount
that device. If the device was identified as sdd then click the sdd button. When it turns green it's mounted. Then
run this command:
sudo ls -laR /mnt/sdd 2>&1 > TC3DirTree.txt
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Hi Rich,
Here it is !
(By the way, not sure it helps, but I was able to boot up TinyCore 3.8.4 through my "YUMI" technique....)
Thanks,
David
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Hi MTCAT
Please post the contents of the /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf on your thumb drive.
I also want to point out that there is no guarantee your thumb drive will always be assigned sdc. Just something to keep
in mind when you are about to do something potentially destructive to a disk.
What kind of computer is this?
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Hi Rich,
Here's "extlinux.conf".
This is a VortexDX3 SBC (PC104 Plus form factor).
Thanks,
David
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Hi MTCAT
Is this basically what you have:
https://www.recabuk.com/manuals/pc104/dsc/Helix-User-Manual.pdf
It states on page 35:
The Boot device selection and priority are configured in the BIOS Bootmenu. Only devices which are connected to the SBC will appear in thelist of options. Therefore if user wants to select a hard drive or USB device as the boot device, the SBC should be connected first, then boot up,enter the BIOS, andselect the desired deviceas theboot device.
That means in order to boot your thumb drive, you would:
First plug the thumb drive into the computer.
Then power up the computer and enter the BIOS by hitting the delete key.
Go to the boot menu and select the thumb drive as the boot device.
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Hi Rich,
I'm using this board here.
https://www.winsystems.com/product/ppm-c412/
I already did quite some time ago set the Boot order as USB first (I think anyway), followed by the CF-card, so the PPM-C412 is set to boot from USB first, and if it doesn't find any USB boot devices, then boot from CF-card, I think anyway, I will check the BIOS again though to make sure.
I was also trying to boot up the PPM-C412 off an external USB hard drive with a Slackware image on it (obtained with Clonezilla), didn't work though, but I'm pretty sure the USB boot is already selected as priority one, but I'll check to make sure.
Thanks,
David
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Hi Rich,
Checked my BIOS, first boot device is USB, second is CD/DVD, third is removable device, fourth is hard drive (my CF-card).
There are a bunch of other settings, there is something called "Quick Boot" which is currently enabled, allows the computer to skip some tests when booting, to make boot up faster. There's also something called "Fast Boot" which wass set to "Enhanced 1", the default is "Disabled", so I changed it back to "Disabled", but the new pen drive we're trying to work with still won't boot TC3.8.4.
Is there a way to check if the USB drive I'm trying to boot TC3.8.4 to is indeed bootable ? I wonder if that's the problem ? TC uses syslinux as the boot loader ? I also found detailed wiki page here that seems promising maybe ?
http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/doku.php?id=wiki:install_usb_stepbystep
Would need to know which version of syslinux to use for TC3 though ?
Thanks,
David
Thanks,
David
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Hi MTCAT
Boy, they sure list a lot of BIOS settings in that manual. Too bad they don't bother to document any of them.
Page 49
USB Devices Enabled [None]
I think this is supposed to display which USB devices were detected. Does your thumb drive show up?
Legacy USB Support [Enabled]
I'm pretty sure you want this enabled
Page 51
Boot Menu Hot-Key [Enabled]
Would be nice if they mentioned which hot key they used. If you hit F11 when you power up, do you
get a boot menu? If you do, does your thumb drive show up?
Page 52
USB Device Interface [Disabled]
I don't know what this setting does, but you might want to try changing it.
... Is there a way to check if the USB drive I'm trying to boot TC3.8.4 to is indeed bootable ? ...
Do you have another machine you know will boot from a thumb drive, preferably non UEFI ?
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If you don't have another machine that can boot from usb, you can use Qemu on any Linux machine. "qemu -m 256 -hda /dev/sdX" where sdX is your usb stick.
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Hi Rich,
I tried booting up an old AMD desktop (dual boot with LILO, Win7/Slackware) and also an old Asus EEE netbook (running some form of Linux) and in both cases, they wouldn't boot off the pen-drive.
I can install the TC3.8.4 iso with YUMI, and boot that way, but I think somehow, the "DIY" pen-drive we're trying to build is not being made "bootable" ?
I could boot the YUMI version of 3.8.4 and then try to install to the pen-drive, assuming the tc-install program running in 3.8.4 has that "Make bootable" entry available ?
Or I could try the "manual" method as per the wiki page, but then I would need to know the right version of syslinux to use ?
Thanks,
David
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Hi Rich,
I did check to see if my USB drive shows in the BIOS, it does under the "USB Drives Enabled", just says "1 Drive".
I also tried changing my boot priority 1 from "USB", to "Removable Device", didn't do anything unfortunately.
I also tried hitting F11 on power up, unfortunately I do not get a Boot menu of any kind, it just goes right into Lubuntu off the CF-card.
Thanks,
David
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Hi Rich,
For the heck of it, I tried to make a boot-stick with Rufus, I thought for sure that would work, it did not, still just booted into Lubuntu, the plot thickens, maybe I'll try a different USB stick, the one I'm trying is an old 1 GByte stick....
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Hi Rich,
Holy moly, it was the bloody pen drive ! !, feels like two days wasted on an old 1Gbyte stick (now in the garbage), I followed your instructions with a new 16 GByte stick, and voila, TinyCore 3.8.4 boots up now no problem ! !
Sorry for all the hassle, should have just started with a new pen drive, wow.
I'll try and run the TCscan.sh now, I think you wanted me to do that still.
Thanks for your patience.
David
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Hi MTCAT
Good, I was about to recommend that you get in touch with WinSystems support staff:
https://www.winsystems.com/support/
And ask them:
Which BIOS settings effect whether a thumb drive will be recognized as a bootable device ?
Which "hot key" is used to call up the boot menu ?
You might still want to ask them the second question, and why they didn't document it.
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Hi Rich,
Here's the results of TCscan.sh on the "new" install of TinyCore3.8.4, as you instructed, I did a b/u to the pen drive (sdb1) before running TCscan.sh, hopefully everything is normal now.
Thanks,
David
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Hi Rich,
One catch regarding the latest TCscan.sh, I forgot to mount my 128 GByte CF-card before running TCscan.sh, hope that's alright.
Thanks, I will e-mail WinSystems about the BIOS "hot-key" hopefully they will know which key is supposed to be used for that.
Thanks,
David
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Hi MTCAT
One catch regarding the latest TCscan.sh, I forgot to mount my 128 GByte CF-card before running TCscan.sh, hope that's alright. ...
Yes, that's OK.
First lets install some extensions:
tce-load -wi compiletc perl5 bash ncursesw-dev bc-1.06.94 glibc_apps elfutils-dev
Now lets create persistent /home and /opt directories. Open your extlinux.conf file:
sudo editor /mnt/sdb1/boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf &
Change this:
APPEND initrd=/boot/tinycore.gz quiet waitusb=5 waitusb=5:UUID="18753acd-09c4-4d53-a924-9e7251dd57e7" tce=UUID="18753acd-09c4-4d53-a924-9e7251dd57e7"
To this:
APPEND initrd=/boot/tinycore.gz quiet waitusb=10:UUID="18753acd-09c4-4d53-a924-9e7251dd57e7" tce=UUID="18753acd-09c4-4d53-a924-9e7251dd57e7" home=UUID="18753acd-09c4-4d53-a924-9e7251dd57e7" opt=UUID="18753acd-09c4-4d53-a924-9e7251dd57e7"
Then File->Save. Then click the Exit icon, select Reboot, and OK.
When the system comes back up, run another scan for me.
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Thanks Rich, I'll try that later today, work as usual is in the way of my play-time ! I was happy to see already though that I was able to install pciutils.tcz, powered-down and then powered back up, and lspci still worked, awesome !, so that was nice, I do see a weird pci related error though during bootup of TC3.8.4, something about memory locations and a pci bridge...hopefully it's not related to my ADC card.
Thanks,
David
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Hi Rich,
Sorry for the delay, here's the output of ./TCscan.sh !
One thing, the UUID number in your post was different than what I saw in extlinux.conf so I just used the same UUID that was in my .conf file (copy and paste) for the home=UUID=..... and the opt=UUID=.... lines, hopefully that was the right thing to do ?
Thanks,
David
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Hi MTCAT
... I just used the same UUID that was in my .conf file (copy and paste) for the home=UUID=..... and the opt=UUID=....
Perfect. One more step. Now that you have persistent /home and /opt directories, there is no longer any reason to
run backups on them. I seem to remember older versions of Tinycore would balk if there was nothing listed in the
/opt/.filetool.lst file. So do this:
sudo touch /tmp/dummysudo echo "tmp/dummy" > /opt/.filetool.lst
* This will backup/restore an empty file which will be very quick.
* This will allow you to still add files to be backed up if needed.
Then click the Exit icon, select Reboot, and OK.
That last scan looks good.
[EDIT]: Added 2 sentences marked by asterisks. Rich
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Hi Rich,
Awesome, very exciting to finally have a proper install of TinyCore !, thanks so much for all the help....very nicely, I now retain all the packages that were installed (pciutils, coreutils, gcc, linux-headers, etc.), but, the built and installed ADC driver was lost on power-down.
In order to not have to build and install the ADC driver on every power-up, could I also make my /usr directory persistent by simply adding a "usr=UUD=...." line as well to extlinux.conf ?
Or I guess I could make my own "package" which could get auto installed at boot time ?
Thanks,
David
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Hi MTCAT
... could I also make my /usr directory persistent by simply adding a "usr=UUD=...." line as well to extlinux.conf ? ...
No. usr= is not a valid option and not meant to be persistent:
... At the reboot mtpaint is not on the pc, I have to do the tcz extension? ...
All files and links to files in /bin, /dev, /etc, /lib, /sbin, /tmp, /usr, /var are in RAM and get recreated every time you boot.
The contents for those directories come from the initrd (core.gz) and .tcz extensions. So if you want it to persist, you
need to create an extension. ...
... Or I guess I could make my own "package" which could get auto installed at boot time ?
That would be the way to go.
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Thanks Rich, I'll continue reading up on making my own extension then, thanks a lot for all the help.
Cheers,
David
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Hi MTCAT
Then read this:
http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,24795.msg157885.html#msg157885