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Author Topic: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?  (Read 36995 times)

Offline coreplayer2

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #30 on: June 10, 2019, 01:26:56 PM »
Probably the easiest method to find the current SecureBoot status is to boot into Windows, then from either the "Run" command or "CMD" command enter
Code: [Select]
msinfo32
look down the list for "Secure Boot State"

Likely on your machine Secure Boot State will be listed as "Unsupported" or possibly Off.  either of which is good.
If it's "On" or "Enabled" then we have a huge problem..

Offline Rich

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #31 on: June 10, 2019, 01:49:52 PM »
Hi coreplayer2
I suspect the combination of screen resolution and or browser led to word wrapping. ...
That may be, but if you use the  copy  and  paste  functions it would come out correctly. Word wrapping does not insert
a newline character.

Offline PDP-8

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #32 on: June 10, 2019, 07:41:17 PM »
I have one machine that appears to be a corner-case like Labeas Aptio box.

I know it sounds heretical, but from a simple diagnositic standpoint, I've had to resort to the eufi version of YUMI to get TC64 to boot properly.

There's no way to properly support a 3rd party installer like this, but perhaps a "what the heck" college try using this:

https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

Specifically, the YUMI-UEFI-0.0.1.6.exe

It knows about Tinycore.  It would be interesting to see if burning tcpure64 with this may provide Labeas with additional clues.  Make your windows10 box do something useful. :)

I'm not advocating this as the sole solution, nor is it possible to support 3rd party installers without going totally haywire in the forums, but it might serve as a band-aid until the solution is found.  That's what I'm doing with my one cranky box with TC64 until I figure out where the corner-case problem is.  Otherwise, all my other TC's do just fine.

That's a UNIX book! - cool  -- Garth

Offline coreplayer2

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #33 on: June 10, 2019, 09:04:01 PM »
I'm guessing that you don't [yet] know about the EFI-shell?
I tried to let this go but failed..   Again there appears to be some confusion here about the UEFI shell,  which has been around for years is merely an interface much like TC's ash shell or more closely to the Grub shell, but is only for basic command line operations and manual interaction with EFI  eg: loading of specific drivers and performing firmware updates etc etc., it is of little concern for the average user who will likely never need it's features.   The (optional) builtin shell is often accessed via the BIOS/Firmware Boot menu which maybe listed there as "Internal EFI Shell"  which you can boot too, but is of no consequence here.

It's possible that Connex left the Shell accessible for users to perform future BIOS/Firmware updates given the Beta status of the current firmware on your 2018 L1470 notebook.

The only prerequisite for a modern UEFI supported machine to boot is an EFI bootloader installed at
Code: [Select]
x:/EFI/BOOT/BOOTX64.EFI located on a readable GPT partition (typically 200MB GPT partition formatted with Fat32) and a config file which if grub is used then a config file will need to be created and installed at
Code: [Select]
x:/EFI/BOOT/grub/grub.cfg

the boot loader (BOOTX64.EFI) is normally installed with the Grub x86_64  UEFI commands found in grub-2multi.tcz.info file
Code: [Select]
sudo grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --boot-directory=/mnt/sdx1/EFI/BOOT --efi-directory=/mnt/sdx1 --removableAs per instructed here (don't forget to change the USB paths as necessary)
tinycorelinux.net/10.x/x86_64/tcz/grub2-multi.tcz.info

You can install the 64bit (or 32bit) kernel, modules and rootfs on the same Fat32 partition adjust the grub.cfg path as necessary
Code: [Select]
x:/BOOT/vmlinuz64
x:/BOOT/rootfs64.gz
x:/BOOT/modules64.gz

the remainder of TC extensions can be installed on a second Linux ext2 partition behind the boot partition particularly if you want to enjoy Home Persistence and regular Linux file permissions.  Remember these need to be correctly specified in the grub config file
   

Not too difficult right?
« Last Edit: June 10, 2019, 09:31:51 PM by coreplayer2 »

Offline labeas

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #34 on: June 12, 2019, 12:34:14 PM »
Project status:-
Boot security blocking is no problem.

 .../EFI/BOOT/grub/grub.cfg first entry:
    menuentry "core" {...
runs in laptop <2015 Aptio>;
and behaves the same AFAIK in laptop <2018 Aptio>,
up to the stage of prompting for kybrdInput with:
 tc@box: $ <flashing cursor prompting for input>.
With the previous line-overflow problem giving
invalid synax, now fixed, it even shows the 10 second
counting-down.
---
Obviously/simplistically the kybrd-input is disabled.
---
The other 3 grub.cfg entries are complicated in that I
don't even know how to get the vmlinuz version that
matches the modules64.gz ..etc.
Let's just first fix the simplest entry.
Or did someone write that this has problems with other
that 64bit?  Or was that the secure-boot, which is no
problem?

Offline coreplayer2

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #35 on: June 12, 2019, 05:07:48 PM »
Project status:-
Boot security blocking is no problem.
Great

Quote

.../EFI/BOOT/grub/grub.cfg first entry:
    menuentry "core" {...
runs in laptop <2015 Aptio>;
and behaves the same AFAIK in laptop <2018 Aptio>,
up to the stage of prompting for kybrdInput with:
 tc@box: $ <flashing cursor prompting for input>.
With the previous line-overflow problem giving
invalid synax, now fixed, it even shows the 10 second
counting-down.
Then all is good because the first entry has the bootcode "Text"  therefore will stop at the command line prompt. 
like so
Code: [Select]
tc@box $:
Quote
The other 3 grub.cfg entries are complicated in that I
don't even know how to get the vmlinuz version that
matches the modules64.gz ..etc.
You mean 4 other entries?
So you couldn't find kernel, rootfs.gz and modules.gz files either from these previously supplied links?
Quote
You don't mention which version so here are links for TC10:
http://tinycorelinux.net/10.x/x86/release/distribution_files/
http://tinycorelinux.net/10.x/x86_64/release/distribution_files/

Quote
Let's just first fix the simplest entry.
You mean the 4th entry?   Ok I fixed the whole grub.cfg file (tested OK on my machine) 
You may need to make adjustments for the x86 entries when those files are installed.
Meanwhile I assumed you have installed all TCZ extensions from the corepure64 ISO so I added the video bootcodes to help load Xfbdev (for corepure64 video)
You might need a different VGA Bootcode as I used the one for my screen, try vga=789 or vga=788
Or read here for more options
http://tinycorelinux.net/faq.html


Make a backup of existing grub cfg file and use the attached grub config file, make adjustments as necessary for your system

« Last Edit: June 12, 2019, 05:38:00 PM by coreplayer2 »

Offline labeas

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #36 on: June 12, 2019, 06:50:21 PM »
I'll try to use Win10 to make [paste in] this "reply".
----
I omitted to AGAIN write:
for 1st grub.cfg entry: "core"
 laptop <Aptio 2015> completes the boot process and
 starts with a PROMPT and FLASHINGcursor
 WAITING for the CLI keybrd-input,
 which it ECHOS one key at a time,
 as is the standard behaviuor of all *nix systems.

!!!! but <Aptio 2018> does NOT react to any kybrd input
after the boot process, which ends with the count-down-trace
and the CLI:Prompt with flashing-cursor.

I.e. as if the kybrd driver was disabled.
----------------
I'll search for V10 matching kernel, initrd, etc, files
 for the *64* grub.cfg entries.
Meanwhile what about the <core entry> which seems much
closer to success?!!
I.e. without multiple error messages during the failed boot process.

Offline coreplayer2

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #37 on: June 12, 2019, 10:34:34 PM »
labeas
Most likely you need to start over with your tinycore installations of x86 and x86_64  modules, rootfs and kernels.  I say this because of all the conflicting information provided so far.

You said previously
Quote
Meanwhile I'll start with these:
http://tinycorelinux.net/10.x/x86_64/release/distribution_files/

Then in the same post declared this:
Quote
How do I quickly see which TC64 version I'm currently running?
-> uname -a == Linux box 4.2.9-tinycore64 #1999 SMP
           Mon Jan 18 19:59:34 UTC 2016 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Which incidentally is from a much older tinycore64 kernel
So i'm saying here that things appear mixed up, especially considering the lack of keyboard control.  It's imperative you maintain some consistency here in architecture and versions.
 
Since I've already tried and tested the 4th menu item of the provided grub config file I sugest you start with corepure64 installation.
Please use these links for TC10 files like you said you were going to do
http://tinycorelinux.net/10.x/x86_64/release/distribution_files/vmlinuz64
http://tinycorelinux.net/10.x/x86_64/release/distribution_files/modules64.gz
http://tinycorelinux.net/10.x/x86_64/release/distribution_files/rootfs64.gz


Next use the grub.cfg file from my last post which should boot the 4th menu item; corepure64   and take you to the tinycorepure64 desktop.   If not then recheck your work and we'll have to find a way of reviewing the DMESG output

I recommend performing all the above operations from Linux (ie Not windows) particularly do not open any file (like grub.cfg) in windows.

I believe I've covered all the bases off the top of my head and I hope will assure installation consistency

« Last Edit: June 12, 2019, 10:38:07 PM by coreplayer2 »

Offline coreplayer2

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #38 on: June 13, 2019, 04:25:17 PM »
To eliminate any doubt of the Grub UEFI install process,  I grabbed an old 7GB USB thumb drive and plugged it in to a PC running TinyCorePure64 (this step is important)
Given that both your notebooks have UEFI I recommend starting over creating an EFI bootable USB
This EFI only method doesn't require CSM mode within the BIOS/Firmware.

Step 2.  Open APPS utility
Install extensions
dosfstools.tcz
e2fsprogs.tcz
gparted.tcz
grub2-multi.tcz 

Step 3. open gparted
sudo gparted
delete old partition structure and data on old USB thumbdrive, Apply
Go to Device > Create Partition Table > Select new partition type = GPT, Apply
Create two partitions
1.  200MB (approx) partition  formatted with FAT32 & name it Boot
2.  new partition of remaining empty space formatted with ext2, name it ext   (name it whatever)
Apply.

Step 4.   Install Grub2
Code: [Select]
sudo grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --boot-directory=/mnt/sdc1/EFI/BOOT --efi-directory=/mnt/sdc1 --removable
Step 5.  get UUID's for grub config
EFI Boot partition
Code: [Select]
tc@box:~$ blkid -s UUID /dev/sdc1
/dev/sdc1: UUID="964B-11FB"
TCE Partition
Code: [Select]
tc@box:~$ blkid -s UUID /dev/sdc2
/dev/sdc2: UUID="d09990c6-390b-4bcc-a494-4d7e65f6ea78"

Copy attached grub.cfg file to /mnt/sdc1/EFI/BOOT/grub/grub.cfg
Edit the UUID's as necessary for your system (I provided examples)


Step 6. Download, mount tinycorepure64.iso and copy files
http://tinycorelinux.net/10.x/x86_64/release/TinyCorePure64-10.1.iso

navigate to your downloads directory
Code: [Select]
sudo mkdir /mnt/iso
sudo mount -o loop TinyCorePure64-10.1.iso /mnt/iso

Copy TCE directory from mounted ISO
Code: [Select]
sudo cp -R /mnt/iso/cde /mnt/sdc2/tc10-x86_64
Create Linux directory
Code: [Select]
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/sdc1/Linux
Copy corepure64.gz and vmlinuz64 to /mnt/sdc1/Linux
Code: [Select]
sudo cp /mnt/iso/boot/corepure64.gz /mnt/sdc1/Linux/corepure64.gz
sudo cp /mnt/iso/boot/vmlinuz64 /mnt/sdc1/Linux/vmlinuz64


It took way longer to document that process than the 10 minutes to actually create boot and test the USB

Note: remember to adjust the (mnt/sd?1/2) path as needed in all commands
« Last Edit: June 13, 2019, 04:29:09 PM by coreplayer2 »

Offline coreplayer2

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #39 on: June 13, 2019, 10:41:09 PM »
Sorry, I forget to add one thing

After copying CDE contents to the new USB/tc10-x86_64 location don't forget to delete  copy2fs.lst file that was copied from the ISO
Code: [Select]
sudo cp -R /mnt/iso/cde /mnt/sdc2/tc10-x86_64
sudo rm /mnt/sdc2/tc10-x86_64/copy2fs.lst

Offline coreplayer2

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #40 on: June 16, 2019, 05:21:30 PM »
Labeas, com’n get with the program here and give us the outcome of starting from scratch with a pure EFI bootable USB stick??
Takes 10 ok maybe 15 minutes to make..

From: December 23, 2015; relating to the Topic:
> Howto make a legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick with grub2

> In case you need to boot tinycore from a usb stick on
> legacy bios and uefi machines.
...
Problem 2 is to get this <HOWto dual boot> working.
...
Please help me to:
1. setup Win10 to boot my existing TC64 USBstiks.
2. make a legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick per December 23, 2015 article.

I’ve read this first post many time to see where the confusion is..    I suspect you’re going about this all wrong.   
First, you have two machines which run EFI firmware so why attempt to make a legacy BIOS bootable USB in the first place when EFI USB would work fine on both machines? 

I believe that either this new laptop manufacturer didn’t provide a Compatibility Mode option for you to boot a legacy USB stick or you didn’t enable CSM in the BIOS/Firmware

You can check for CSM and enable it but I doubt you’ll find it since it’s a beta BIIS and Connex didn’t provide SecureBoot either.

On an EFI PC
1. To boot an unsigned OS, Secure boot must be disabled.  It appears that SecureBoot is disabled so that’s step 1 accomplished.
2. Also if you created a Legacy MBR USB and trying to boot it on an EFI machine then depending on the firmware implementation you may need to enable CSM (as it does on my EFI test notebook).  At least that’s the only workaround I’m aware of to boot a Legacy MBR Partition Table on an EFI Machine if the firmware doesn’t specifically support that (and few pc’s do from the 2017-2018 era)

When I attempt to boot an MBR partitioned USB stick without CSM enabled, the boot process hangs somewhere between the kernel and a graphic desktop loading.  does that sound familiar?

Frankly we don’t know the history or even the current Status of your installation or USB.  Therefore in the event you’ve created a Legacy MBR Compatible USB and there’s no support for that scenario in your new notebook’s firmware start afresh with a pure EFI USB Stick with GPT and FAT32 (fat32 for the boot loader and kernel partition) as described in my last couple of posts..

If your old notebook’s EFI BIIS/firmware supports CSM then disable it to boot either machine with your new UEFI only USB Stick

Good luck




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Offline labeas

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #41 on: June 17, 2019, 11:31:06 PM »
I temporarily lost my Wifi access AFTER I got <grub2EFI> working.
What helped was trimming of the cosmetic-fluff from the grub.cfg entry,
 which allowed the vital error mesg: <KERNEL TOO OLD> to be read,
 instead of flashing-past.   ….. I'll post details tomorrow.
 

Offline labeas

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #42 on: June 20, 2019, 12:37:34 AM »
2019-June-20 I'm writing this from Win10. Reportedly some posts are <pending>?
Compared to proper protocols eg. NNTP, this web-based forum, like gmail,
 is problematic.
I still must read/follow the June 13 post; only now seen.
---
Removing the <cosmetic parameters> from grub-entries allowed me to read
 <Kernel too old> and focus on MY ERROR of commenting out the <wget kernel10>
  from the script which wgot the other V10-files.
Probably I wanted to avoid the additional problems of upgrading;
 from the main concern of how to handle the secure-boot-lock.
---
Current status of <Aptio 2018> Laptop:
 Power off / on & F7 = list of Bootable USBstiks  & partitions.
 Select <the one> Partn 2 = GRUB selection menu.
I don't now remember the details of my newly added grub.cfg entry.
In nonroot VT do 7 times: sudo openvt
Can do: fdisk, df, mount, …..
Locate my dir on old TC64-stik which installs my Ver7 & 8 apps.
=> mc & gpm are alive
=> startx runs except no <bottom bar App list>
=> opera-12 <better rendering than old laptop> !!
----
Can I hope to activate the 4 wifi *.tcz by following my logs,
from Ver7 & 8 days?

Offline Juanito

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #43 on: June 20, 2019, 02:52:47 AM »
=> startx runs except no <bottom bar App list>
That probably means that you did not load the wbar extension or, if you did, then one of the deps is missing.

Quote
Can I hope to activate the 4 wifi *.tcz by following my logs, from Ver7 & 8 days?
Nothing changed with wifi since then, so it should work - you may need to update your wifi firmware extension if you use one.

Offline Rich

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Re: legacy bios/uefi dual boot usb stick ?
« Reply #44 on: June 20, 2019, 12:08:38 PM »
Hi labeas
This forum is a place for communicating questions, answers, and ideas. You come here seeking assistance and proceed to
make your posts difficult to follow by cluttering them with irrelevant information, unrelated opinions, and syntax like => and <>,
which makes it difficult to follow what you are trying to say, i.e the  communicating  part I mentioned earlier.

2019-June-20 I'm writing this from Win10.
Irrelevant. You can post to this forum using any Operating System you wish.

Quote
Reportedly some posts are <pending>?
I have no idea what you mean by that.

Quote
Compared to proper protocols eg. NNTP, this web-based forum, like gmail,  is problematic.
Unrelated opinion. To the best of my knowledge, you are the only one here who finds this  "web-based"   forum problematic
Nobody cares what you think of Gmail since it's unrelated to this threads topic. More clutter on your part.

Quote
I still must read/follow the June 13 post; only now seen.
You should probably read all replies in a thread prior to posting again. They might address some issue you are about to post about.


You have a 64 bit machine so I know it's up to the task of running an HTML capable browser. Install a proper browser and then:
1. Learn how to wrap terminal commands and responses in  Code Tags  (see below).
2. Learn the proper use of  Quote Tags  so others can find where the quote came from (see below).
3. When referring to another thread, provide a link to that thread (see http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,22848.msg142805.html#msg142805)
4. Understand that the individuals trying to help you do not work for you. They are volunteers giving up their own time. Yet for
   some reason you seem to feel this forum and its members need to learn to conform to your way of thinking and doing things.
   That type of self centered behavior likely discourages some individuals from responding to your requests for help.


Please use  Code Tags  when posting commands and responses seen in a terminal. To use  Code Tags  click on the  #  icon
above the reply box and paste your text between the  Code Tags

Code Tags  serve as visual markers between what you are trying to say and the information you are posting. They also preserve
spacing so column aligned data displays properly.