Installation Problem -- no GUI, no startx.

[CypherPunkyBrewster]

Hi!

I am trying to get TinyCore 6.1 up and running.

The PC is a Dell Optiplex 740 that boots and runs the Tails operating system from a DVD or USB thumbdrive just fine, so I know that the BIOS is set properly.

TinyCore boots from a DVD (I tried both TinyCore and CorePlus ISOs -- both boot) but instead of a GUI I get the shell/command prompt.  Here is what I tried:

  tc@box: ls
  tc@box: pwd
  /home/tc
  tc@box: startx
  -sh: startx: not found
  tc@box: tci
  -sh: tci: not found
  tc@box: tc-install
  -sh: tc-install: not found

I can move around the file system and see the usual files in the usual places.

Somehow I just can't stop thinking that I am missing something blindingly obvious.

[Juanito]

It looks like tc booted too quickly for the cd/dvd drive - did you try the menu options for slow devices?

[nitram]

What Juanito said, plus some additional helpful information from a previous Misalf post.

If your GUI components aren't loaded, startx won't work:

Code: [Select]

tce-status -i

Make sure these extensions are loaded (via  tce-status -i  or look in  /tmp/tcloop/) :
Xvesa.tcz, Xlibs.tcz, Xprogs.tcz, aterm.tcz, flwm_topside.tcz, wbar.tcz

To start the GUI from CLI type  startx .

The boot code  waitusb=XX  might help (where XX is any number of seconds) in case your USB flash storage reacts too slow.

http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php?topic=18093.0

Not familiar with your hardware, if you're attempting to run TC 64-bit, then i believe you require Xorg components to load instead of Xvesa.

[CypherPunkyBrewster]

I found a workaround (see below) and have a working system that boots fine from a DVD thumb drive, but I am still interested in solving the DVD boot issue if I can.

To answer the questions above,  I am using the standard 32-bit Tinycore. I tried another computer (Dell 745,  Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM) but the results were the same.

Re: "It looks like tc booted too quickly for the cd/dvd drive - did you try the menu options for slow devices?",  my USB thumb drive with TinyCore shows that menu when it boots, but the DVD just dumps me to the command line as it boots -- no menu options shown. It seems to me that the boot process waits long enough for TinyCore to boot and give me a working kernel and shell, but for some reason isn't showing that menu that happens at the very start of the USB stick before it boots successfully into the GUI.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Here is the workaround I used to get it running.

[01] Prepare a formatted FAT32 USB thumb drive.

[02] Plug it into a computer running Windows (Spit!) XP, Vista, or 7 (I don't know about 8 or 10)

[03] Put a DVD made with the CorePlus-current.iso in the DVD drive.

[04] Download core2usb.exe from sourceforge.net

[05] Run core2usb.exe (it's a standalone -- no install)

[06] Follow the instructions for loading TinyCore Linux to the thumb drive.

[07] Boot from the thumb drive (it has to be before the DVD or HDD in the BIOS boot sequence)

[08] It should boot into the TinyCore GUI (it did for me)

[09] Follow the instructions in the corebook to load and run tc-install.

[10] Now you can install TinyCore on another thumb drive using ext4 or one of several other formats.

[11] If you want the new thumb drive to be able to install or remaster, It will get the files to do that
from the DVD.

So now I have a working system, but darn it, I want to do it without dragging out my old Windows box!

BTW, TinyCore does everything I want it to do, boots faster than any distro I have ever tried, and at 15MB it fits on those old, small thumb drives we all end up collecting along the way.  This one is definitely a keeper.

EDIT: I will try the suggestion from the other thread (using the 9MB CLI version to install the larger version) and report back.

[nitram]

CypherPunkyBrewster wrote:
Re: "It looks like tc booted too quickly for the cd/dvd drive - did you try the menu options for slow devices?",  my USB thumb drive with TinyCore shows that menu when it boots, but the DVD just dumps me to the command line as it boots -- no menu options shown. It seems to me that the boot process waits long enough for TinyCore to boot and give me a working kernel and shell, but for some reason isn't showing that menu that happens at the very start of the USB stick before it boots successfully into the GUI.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

You never confirmed trying the waitusb=XX boot code suggested above. At the Grub2 boot screen, for example, add waitusb=10 (wait 10 seconds before proceeding) at the end of the kernel line.

Glad you found a work-around, but neither core2usb or Windows is required to load or run TC. A boot loader is, however, desirable as TC utilizes numerous boot codes.

EDIT: I will try the suggestion from the other thread (using the 9MB CLI version to install the larger version) and report back.

For most use cases the TC version you utilize isn't critical as additional extensions can be downloaded afterward anyway.

[Misalf]

my USB thumb drive with TinyCore shows that menu when it boots, but the DVD just dumps me to the command line as it boots -- no menu options shown.

That makes it hard to add  waitusb=XX  boot code (will it even wait for CD/DVD?).
Anyway, I think the default bootloader used in Core is Syslinux? You could try pressing the TAB key while booting, at the point where usually the boot menu should appear. For Grub4DOS it might be another key. Or just take a seat on your keyboard. (;

[CypherPunkyBrewster]

You never confirmed trying the waitusb=XX boot code suggested above. At the Grub2 boot screen, for example, add waitusb=10 (wait 10 seconds before proceeding) at the end of the kernel line. [...] For most use cases the TC version you utilize isn't critical

As I explained already, there is no Grub2 boot screen and there is no opportunity to enter the waitusb=XX boot code or anything else. I believe that you are somehow missing a key point:

ON SOME HARDWARE (INCLUDING THE VERY COMMON DELL OPTIPLEX 745) DVDS MADE WITH THE TINYCORE (15 MB) OR COREPLUS (72 MB) ISOS STOP BOOTING EARLY ON WITHOUT ALLOWING THE USER TO ENTER ANYTHING AT ALL, PRESUMABLY BECAUSE OF INCOMPATIBLE VIDEO HARDWARE. ON THE SAME HARDWARE DVDS MADE WITH THE CORE (9 MB) ISO WORK PERFECTLY, AND YOU CAN DO ANYTHING THAT CAN BE DONE FROM THE COMMAND LINE.

So, I have shown how to use Windows as a workaround. I don't like doing it that way, but it proved an important point, which is that a standard TinyCore installation running from a USB thumb drive boots into the GUI just fine on this hardware. Something is different about the DVD boot and it cannot be changed by configuring anything or choosing any menu option because it happens before you get a chance to do either of those things. I don't know how I can possibly make this any clearer.

So, rather than repeatedly telling me to do things that are impossible to do, the obvious thing to do is to write the cause off as weird video hardware and discuss how to install TinyCore (15 MB) from a DVD boot of Core (9 MB) using only command line tools for those users who have the weird video hardware. The corebook explains how to use tce-ab and I had no problem finding and loading/running any package on the list using only the command line.

Alas, tc-install doesn't run from the command line. It give an error about not being able to open shared library libfltk.so.1.3, which I assume from the name means it wants to run under the GUI that the DVD boot of Core (9 MB) doesn't have.

So does anyone know how to install TinyCore (15 MB) with its GUI to a USB thumb drive using the command line tools available on a DVD boot of Core (9 MB) which has no GUI? I am sure someone has done this already.

EDIT:

my USB thumb drive with TinyCore shows that menu when it boots, but the DVD just dumps me to the command line as it boots -- no menu options shown.

That makes it hard to add  waitusb=XX  boot code (will it even wait for CD/DVD?).
Anyway, I think the default bootloader used in Core is Syslinux? You could try pressing the TAB key while booting, at the point where usually the boot menu should appear. For Grub4DOS it might be another key. Or just take a seat on your keyboard. (;

I will give that a try and report back. Being able to enter anything and getting any response could lead to being able to make booting from the GUI ISOs workable. Thanks!

BTW, the hardware doesn't need any wait for the USB or DVD. On this model all those things happen while the BIOS is deciding which device to boot and everything is ready long before before any OS boots. Nonetheless I will try the USB wait if I am ever given a chance to enter it in.

[coreplayer2]

I suspect the boot menu to add a waitusb delay is not available in your grub menu.  In this case you'll have to add the boot waitusb option into your grub stanza to make this happen, editing your ISO then burning a new cd should not be too difficult

It doesn't matter how long a delay you add because as soon as the drive has been detected boot will immediately continue

Core boots so fast that I add waitusb=5 to all installs, even hdd's. This saves on troubleshooting


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Juanito]

So does anyone know how to install TinyCore (15 MB) with its GUI to a USB thumb drive using the command line tools available on a DVD boot of Core (9 MB) which has no GUI? I am sure someone has done this already.

There are many posts in the forums and an explanation in the wiki.

You could use dd to copy the iso directly or fdisk/mke2fs to partition/format the usb stick, grub/grub2/syslinux (assuming you have a wired internet connection to download the extensions) to make the usb stick bootable and then copy the boot files.

[curaga]

You really do not get the isolinux boot menu when booting a TinyCore cd?

screenshot:


That would be the first I've heard of such.

[CypherPunkyBrewster]

So does anyone know how to install TinyCore (15 MB) with its GUI to a USB thumb drive using the command line tools available on a DVD boot of Core (9 MB) which has no GUI? I am sure someone has done this already.

There are many posts in the forums and an explanation in the wiki.

Indeed there are. One example:

http://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/Linux/CoreInstall.shtml

You really do not get the isolinux boot menu when booting a TinyCore cd?

Using the TinyCore or CorePlus DVDs, no.

Using the Core DVD or Core/TinyCore on a USB stick, yes.

Seems weird as hell to me as well. I have been assuming from the fact that it is the two GUI boot DVDs that fail that I have incompatible video, but just to make sure, after I finish posting this I am going to throw out those two DVDs and erase the ISOs I made them from, download new ISOs and burn new DVDs.  I am also going to try coreplayer2's idea of remastering with the USB wait already configured. I looked at the mastering docs and it seems straightforward.  In fact. everything I have tried is straightforward, once I got a running system.

[coreplayer2]

As I explained already, there is no Grub2 boot screen and there is no opportunity to enter the waitusb=XX boot code or anything else.

Sorry but this comment mistakenly lead me to believe you were expecting a grub menu??   normally you would expect to see a syslinux/isolinux based boot menu since that is the default Core bootloader.

...PRESUMABLY BECAUSE OF INCOMPATIBLE VIDEO HARDWARE

Extremely unlikely to be related to video hardware


Assuming an original unmodified standard tinycore.iso might be better to confirm which tools were used to burn this ISO to a cd, because something within this process has obviously gone astray, corrupted or has met with some other misfortune

editing the boot config to add waitusb=5 remains one way to go

[adam0509]

New Tiny Core User here

waitusb=10 worked for me

not sure what is the optimal value


this should be added by default at least put in the description


P.S : too much gatcha verification on this board, what a nightmare.

[adam0509]

I'm confirming :

waitusb=2 is definitely the minimum otherwise i'm blocked