post cli frugal install noob questions

[joejoe11]

Hi,

I just got tinycore on an old IBM thinkpad (P3, 64mb ram).  I've got a few noob questions.

I want this laptop to run one novel writing GUI app called scrivener.  But I don't want to install a window manager.  I really don't need it.  Can I do this?

I guess I've got to have X installed? 

As a test, I installed ace-of-penguins but it wouldn't launch.  I guess b/c I don't have X?? 

But nano installed and ran perfectly.

Thanks for any help here.

Regards,

Joejoe

[nitram]

Hi. Nano doesn't require Xvesa or Xorg, runs in TTY with ncurses. It's actually quite user friendly. Wouldn't be my first choice but if your hardware is limited...

Scrivener looks like Mac and/or Windows software, please confirm the link and sourcecode. Basically, if it's a GUI application you will need Xvesa or Xorg and will need to compile it from source as it's not in the Tiny Core repository.
https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

Xvesa is pretty light but with limited RAM you'll need to ensure a swap partition or swap file is set up. Try Xvesa and a lightweight WM, see how it runs.

[joejoe11]

Nitram,

thanks for the info.

can I boot into the cli and then launch a gui app, or do i have to install a window manager?

i installed Xvesa.tcz and got an error: "error while loading shared libraries: libXfont.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No suck file or directory"

joejoe

[Juanito]

You need to load the Xprogs extension as well

[nitram]

You need to install Xvesa plus a window manager. It's been a while since i set up a new Xvesa system. If you had downloaded and installed the 15mb Tiny Core from http://tinycorelinux.net/downloads.html it would essentially give you a basic Xvesa graphic system with flwm_topside window manager, one of the leanest available.

So if you're new to Tiny Core, it may be easier to start fresh and install the 15mb Tiny Core variant outlined. Otherwise use tce-load -wi (wget install) to download additional software for graphics, provided you have a working wired connection. This *should* work but it's been a while:

Code: [Select]

tce-load -wi Xvesa Xprogs Xlibs flwm_topside wbar aterm

Here's the entire default Tiny Core onboot.lst if above don't work and you need to install more. Not sure why it's so complicated now. Before i just had about half a dozen extensions loaded to get into barebones Xvesa. Many of these may already be dependencies of Xvesa, Xprogs and flwm_topside.

Code: [Select]

aterm.tcz
fltk-1.3.tcz
flwm_topside.tcz
freetype.tcz
imlib2-bin.tcz
imlib2.tcz
libfontenc.tcz
libICE.tcz
libjpeg-turbo.tcz
libpng.tcz
libSM.tcz
libX11.tcz
libXau.tcz
libxcb.tcz
libXdmcp.tcz
libXext.tcz
libXfont.tcz
libXi.tcz
libXmu.tcz
libXpm.tcz
libXrandr.tcz
libXrender.tcz
libXt.tcz
wbar.tcz
Xlibs.tcz
Xprogs.tcz
Xvesa.tcz

Then reboot, should get graphics. If not then at terminal:

Code: [Select]

desktop=flwm_topside
startx

...and i think running  setup.sh  will allow you to choose resolution:

Code: [Select]

setup.sh

If Xvesa doesn't give desired graphic resolution then upgrade to Xorg. There's also framebuffer, also lightweight, but i don't have experience with it and  always found Xvesa easiest.

Tiny Core can be complicated to set up initially. For example, if you don't have a persistent system then everything downloaded and modified will be lost on reboot. If you're serious about getting a TC system running review the Core book linked on the homepage.

[joejoe11]

Thanks so much for your help.  I'm determined to get this old IBM laptop going because the keyboard is fantastic.  First gotta get a lean tinycore going, then try to get scrivener in.  It'll be the ultimate writing machine (for me, at least!)

Will try what you guys (nitram and Jaunito) have suggested.  If that fails, then I'll try the CorePlus install.

joejoe

[gerald_clark]

64M really is not enough.
To save on RAM usage you will also need persistent opt and home.

To install X, from the command line:
tce-load -iw Xvesa Xprogs aterm flwm_topside
xsetup

Please read the book.
startx