Tiny Core Extensions > TCE Tips & Tricks

YUMI and TinyCore usb creator guide

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PDP-8:
Who this is for:
Anyone who seemingly has trouble getting TinyCore to boot despite using all normal means.  Especially those that *may* be fighting UEFI hardware quirks and manufacturer deviations.

What is YUMI / YUMI-UEFI?
It is a bootloader that uses Syslinux initially, and then relies on grub 2.x to finish the job.  Designed primarily for booting multiple o/s' and utilies in a convenient menu structure, however I use it solely to boot just ONE system - TinyCore.  Specifically tinycorepure64 on uefi-only machines.

The combinations of bootloaders seems to get around a number of quirks my uefi-only hardware is presenting to TinyCorepure64 in this environment.

Consider it "training wheels", or perhaps a time-saving utility that lets you get to Tinycore itself without becoming a boot-guru if you run into problems - especially on low end consumer Windows hardware.  Your choice.

Where to get it:
I'm specifically interested in the UEFI version.  I have not tested the legacy non-uefi version.  Be sure to download the right one.

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

The UEFI version (0.0.16) as of this writing, is down the page past the legacy.

I'll discuss some installations, and pros and cons of using this utility to burn a bootable TinyCore stick in a followup...

PDP-8:
Quick install for the impatient:

1) Start off on the right foot.  Have a properly formatted fat32 usb stick on hand.  There are many utilities to accomplish this, all I am saying is not to pull out some piece of junk from the bottom of your desk drawer 10 years ago.

2) Manually download your desired tinycore iso.  Do NOT use the YUMI download feature.  The hardcoded links in the utility are stale, even though the utility itself is up to date.

3) Fire up Yumi (or yumi-uefi for 64 bit), and basically follow instructions and point it to your downloaded tinycore iso.  Basically two steps - use the pull-down to tell YUMI you are choosing TinyCore as the distro, and then point the utility to your local tc iso.

4) *NICELY* eject the drive to finish the job when done.  Don't just yank it out before doing this.

5) With "Secure-boot" disabled in your bios/setup routing, and also perhaps changing your option of which o/s to support (changing it from Windows to say Linux, or Ubuntu, or whatever other o/s choice you have), reboot with this new stick.

YES!  It boots.  Tap through the multiple menus and tada!

Uh-oh.  Bummer - doesn't look like I have anything going on now other than a commandline.

Now we'll tackle some YUMI-specific configurations to get back to normal.  But hey, at least it boots!...

PDP-8:
Fix the location of the cde to tce directory:

Get back into windows with drive inserted.  Open up the file manager and mount the drive.  If it is not automatically mounted so that you can see the drives contents, double or right click or do what you have to do to be able to see the contents inside.

Wow - that's a lot of grub and syslinux going on.  Don't worry.  Shield your eyes for now. :)

In YUMI, it places most of the distro configurations in the multiboot directory.

Copy and paste the cde directory from

D:\multiboot\TinyCorePure64-10.1\cde

to the root directory of the D: drive.  (or whatever windows drive designator your stick actually is.)

Next, RENAME this new cde directory in the root of the drive to tce

Now when you reboot, and choose tcw as the last menu choice, TinyCorepure64 should come up graphically.

Note that this is just the *easiest*, and perhaps not the most ideal way to handle TC depending on need and skill level.

Next we'll talk about some refinements and pros and cons.

PDP-8:
Changing bootcodes and other things:

Where the grub.cfg configuration file for TinyCore lives in the YUMI-UEFI environment can be found at:

/mnt/sda1/multiboot/TinyCorePure64-10.1/EFI/BOOT/grub/grub.cfg

(Your intial path may differ from /mnt/sda1 depending on your setup.)

THIS is the grub.cfg you can edit for any permanent bootcode changes.  Don't muck-around with any other grub or syslinux configs you may see when trawling through the files on the drive.

PDP-8:
WARNING:

Unlike other burning methods that may produce a "read-only" filesystem, YUMI by nature creates an entirely *writeable* installation.

For some, unlike emulating a read-only CD type of install, this may be a security issue.  Or at the very least a way to blow out your install of TC with fat-fingers.

I operate TC in a secure environment, and am willing to learn from fat-fingering something.  You may not be.

Just wanted to let you know up front.

Is YUMI the best solution?  Depends on who and what your needs are.  It is however a quick way to get up and running from the Windows environment.  Later, if your hardware issues are fixed, or learning skill has improved, you may not need it.

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