TinyCore Boots to a DOS Prompt

[mikezuccaburg]

Hi all,

I successfully got the .iso file installed on a USB drive with core2usb version 1.6.

I cannot get it to boot to a GUI, no matter what option I select, though.  It goes through a couple of loading screens and then ends up at a DOS prompt lookalike that starts with "tc@box".  What is/are the next steps?  I can't find anything in the book.

[Rich]

Hi mikezuccaburg
What does this command return:

Code: [Select]

showbootcodes

[Misalf]

I'd

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format c:
and then make sure the tce directory was found.

If

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\ls -l /etc/sysconfig/tcedir
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 Okt 19 10:21 /etc/sysconfig/tcedir -> /mnt/sda4/boot/tce-7.x
would point to a directory in  /tmp  that would mean it wasn't found and you're in "cloud mode" without extensions for this session except those you download when needed.

[Rich]

Hi mikezuccaburg

I'd

Code: [Select]

format c:

Don't do that. I hope Misalf was just kidding.

and then make sure the tce directory was found.

If

Code: [Select]

\ls -l /etc/sysconfig/tcedir
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 22 Okt 19 10:21 /etc/sysconfig/tcedir -> /mnt/sda4/boot/tce-7.x
would point to a directory in  /tmp  that would mean it wasn't found and you're in "cloud mode" without extensions for this session except those you download when needed.

Definitely post the result of:

Code: [Select]

ls -l /etc/sysconfig/tcedir

[mikezuccaburg]

Thanks guys.

Hi mikezuccaburg
What does this command return:

Code: [Select]

showbootcodes

initrd=/boot/core.gz loglevel=3 cde showapps lst=xfbase.1st base desktop=flwm_topside BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz

Misalf, I typed in the second command (did not format my C drive, ha ha).  Rather than ending in

-> /mnt/sda4/boot/tce-7.x

it ended in /tmp/tce

And had a different date/time stamp of course.

[Rich]

Hi mikezuccaburg
Try changing  cde  to  tce waitusb=5  in your bootloaders config file and renaming your  cde  directory to  tce.
.

[mikezuccaburg]

Hi mikezuccaburg
Try changing  cde  to  tce waitusb=5  in your bootloaders config file and renaming your  cde  directory to  tce.
.

I've got two folders in the flash drive - one labeled "boot" and the other labeled "tce".

I found a .cfg file in the "boot" folder which I opened with notepad.  All the instances of "waitusb" I found were set equal to 5, but there were a couple of "cde"s - should I edit those to say tce?

[coreplayer2]

Hello

The boot config needs only one instance of “waitusb=5” and I believe you can simply remove all references of cde




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rich]

Hi coreplayer2

There needs only to be one instance of “waitusb=5” and I believe you can remove all references of cde

The reason he has multiple  waitusb  and  cde  codes is because his thumbdrive has the ISO with its various menu entries.

[coreplayer2]

That detail I missed..   

[coreplayer2]

Code: [Select]

showbootcodes
initrd=/boot/core.gz loglevel=3 cde showapps lst=xfbase.1st base desktop=flwm_topside BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz

initrd=/boot/core.gz loglevel=3 cde showapps lst=xfbase.1st base desktop=flwm_topside BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz

This can't be right...
"cde" is not required and
neither is "base" which prevents extensions from loading, also
lst=xfbase.1st  might not help??

and "BOOT_IMAGE=" is not a valid entry afaik ??

[mikezuccaburg]

Code: [Select]

showbootcodes
initrd=/boot/core.gz loglevel=3 cde showapps lst=xfbase.1st base desktop=flwm_topside BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz

initrd=/boot/core.gz loglevel=3 cde showapps lst=xfbase.1st base desktop=flwm_topside BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz

This can't be right...
"cde" is not required and
neither is "base" which prevents extensions from loading, also
lst=xfbase.1st  might not help??

and "BOOT_IMAGE=" is not a valid entry afaik ??

Yup, that is definitely what it returned!  If there is a way to make a bootable USB with a Linux program instead of Windows, I would be willing to try it.  Perhaps core2usb is made for the other (non-CorePlus) versions.  I had tried unetbootin as I mentioned in another thread, but the documentation on the website specifically says not to use that one.

Edit:  I've just tried to mount the ISO using a virtual drive in Windows 7, it hasn't popped up with any menus.  Same thing with the virtual drive program I downloaded on Linux...is there some difference with burning the CD versus mounting an ISO?

[coreplayer2]

...
If there is a way to make a bootable USB with a Linux program instead of Windows, I would be willing to try it.  Perhaps core2usb is made for the other (non-CorePlus) versions.  I had tried unetbootin as I mentioned in another thread, but the documentation on the website specifically says not to use that one.

tc-install-GUI is the official installer of TinyCore and is included in the CorePlus.iso, but it's not clear if you were able to boot the cd created from coreplus.ISO to run tc-install-GUI.   Although it appears you're very close to completion of this USB installation, maybe just a few minor edits required to correct a few entries

[core-user]

 

If there is a way to make a bootable USB with a Linux program instead of Windows, I would be willing to try it

I always use dd.

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sudo dd if=tc-iso of=/dev/your-usb bs=1M(Substitute the name of your .iso & USB  drive.)

There used to be a Windows version called dd.exe, but I don't know if it is still available.

[coreplayer2]

@mikezuccaburg
Instead of starting over, why not keep this simple and make a couple small edits to the boot.cfg file?  While it's not the most desirable scenario you should be able to boot to a Desktop with your current installation

Code: [Select]

showbootcodesinitrd=/boot/core.gz loglevel=3 cde showapps lst=xfbase.1st base desktop=flwm_topside BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz

remove "cde" from all boot menu options & if this menu option is your desired boot option then remove "base" also
add waitusb=5 to all boot menu options
as in this example:

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initrd=/boot/core.gz loglevel=3 waitusb=5 showapps lst=xfbase.1st desktop=flwm_topside
After making these edits be sure to select the same boot menu option on next boot
If you see names of extensions on screen as they are being loaded then all is good.  If not, check that this file exists

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/tce/xfbase.1st