Booting 32bit TC from 64bit efi boots to blank screen with underscore

[jimmyjohn]

I am trying to boot the standard Tiny Core 10.1 image from my mini-PC which only has 64bit UEFI available as a boot option.  I am able to get it to boot, but once booting is complete I only see a blank/black screen with an underscore in the top left corner.  From this screen I am not able to input any commands or take any actions except that by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice I am able to begin and then watch the text based shutdown process.

Is it possible to correctly boot the 32bit version from a 64bit EFI?  If so, what should I try next to get it to work correctly?

[coreplayer2]

...
Is it possible to correctly boot the 32bit version from a 64bit EFI?  If so, what should I try next to get it to work correctly?

Hello jimmyjohn
Of course it is!!

64 bit EFI is the correct way to install EFI regardless of what OS the boot manager is booting



This screenshot shows the 64bit EFI and TC 10.1 32 bit system I’m currently booted to

You should create a new installation as in the code below, not copy a bootx64.efi bootloader from another system and expect it to work.
I never have any problems with EFI installations because I use this command to ensure a correct creation and installation of bootx64.efi bootloader

Code: [Select]

sudo grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --boot-directory=/mnt/sdc2/EFI/BOOT --efi-directory=/mnt/sdc2 --removable
Here's a basic grub2 config file with Home, OPT and TCE persistance

Code: [Select]

insmod part_gpt
insmod part_msdos
insmod fat
insmod ext2
loadfont unicode
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod font
insmod gfxterm
set gfxmode=auto
set gfxterm_font=unicode
set gfxpayload=keep
terminal_output gfxterm

#Timeout for menu
set default=0
set timeout=5


menuentry "*** TC-10-Tinycore (on USB)" {
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root B854-8FE0
linux /boot/vmlinuz noswap tz=GMT loglevel=3 waitusb=5:UUID="b313c2c4-fedf-4c44-bf42-6a6fca54b311" tce=UUID="b313c2c4-fedf-4c44-bf42-6a6fca54b311"/tc10-x86 opt=UUID="b313c2c4-fedf-4c44-bf42-6a6fca54b311" home=UUID="b313c2c4-fedf-4c44-bf42-6a6fca54b311"
initrd /boot/rootfs.gz /boot/modules.gz
}

menuentry "Windows 10" --class windows --class os {
search --fs-uuid --no-floppy --set=root DE2F-EF34
chainloader (${root})/EFI/Microsoft/Boot/bootmgfw.efi
}



Additionally, are you attempting to boot from an ISO or a real installation?

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[jimmyjohn]

I 'burned' the ISO to a USB and am booting from that.  It works when I burn and boot CorePure64, but it does not work when I do the same with the standard TC image.  However, even with the CorePure64 image, I have been using the bootx64.efi from the most recent Ubuntu Puppy Linux (bionic) - (EDIT:  because the bootx64.efi from the CorePure64 image does not work for me on any of my machines).  I have not tried installing it manually yet, I suppose I will give it a try.

[curaga]

That sounds like an incompatibility with Xvesa. When you get to that underscore, see if ctrl-alt-backspace helps. Alternatively boot with the "text" bootcode.

Corepure64 uses Xfbdev, and you can also install Xorg as the X server.

[jimmyjohn]

ctrl-alt-backspace didn't work.  I am, however able to boot into the textbased terminal.

[coreplayer2]

In my mind this “burn to a usb” installation is not valid. 
But putting that aside because you can boot to a command line..

What is the output of “showbootcodes” ?

And what is the result of
tce-load-i Xvesa ?

Assuming a network connection, try installing
Xorg
tce-ab search Xorg-7.7

or
tce-load -wi Xorg-7.7

And let us know results


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[jimmyjohn]

Since @curaga suggested an xvesa incompatability, I swapped it out for xfbdev and updated onboot.lst accordingly.  That fix worked!  I now have a gui TC desktop with the 32bit variant.

My next issue is to get WiFi working since I do not have Ethernet on this device.  I had it working in CorePure64, but I think I must have missed one or more of the dependencies when getting them for the 32bit version.  ** EDIT:  I just confirmed, I am not missing any dependencies from the .tree file and made sure that the firmware is loaded first in the order of things**

Then my last issue before I will be able to frugal install to the Mini-PC is to figure out what I need to get TC to see and be able to mount both the onboard eMMC as well as the built in memory card reader; right now it isn't detecting either!

Thanks for your help so far!  I suppose I may need to start a separate thread on the eMMC issue, but if not, any additional help would be greatly appreciated.  The only thing I have tried on that so far was to boot with the waitusb=5 option

BTW, in case you still want it the output of showbootcodes is:  "BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz loglevel=3 cde vga=791"
That output matches what I have in grub.cfg

[coreplayer2]

...
BTW, in case you still want it the output of showbootcodes is:  "BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz loglevel=3 cde vga=791"
That output matches what I have in grub.cfg

We still need to know how you
“burned the image to usb”
That is not a normal installation.

More importantly the only reason to use a CDE bootcode is if you’re booting from a CD or an ISO

Also missing is waitusb bootcode

In a typical frugal installation to a USB the extensions directory must be tce not cde and the bootcodes will reflect this along with waitusb=

My view is that almost all problems result from  the method of installation. 




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[jimmyjohn]

I haven't actually installed anything yet, I am just booting from a live USB and am trying to get things to work before I proceed with an installation.  I basically just copied and pasted the contents of the ISO to the USB and have been booting it.

[coreplayer2]

Copying the contents of the ISO is in fact one method of installing.  But know that when you copy the contents of cde directory you must change the name to tce otherwise TC will not find or load your extensions




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[jimmyjohn]

Okay.  Well, now I am learning!  Thanks.

Any ideas on the WiFi issue?  I can't find any differences between the functioning 64bit and non-functioning 32bit installs.  They both have wifi.tcz with all dependencies as well as firmware-iwlwifi.tcz, and yet the x64 version instantly finds wlan0 where 32bit says it can't find a wlan device.

The specific wlan chip I have is the intel 7265, I know there is a separate firmware for the 7260, but that one didn't work when I tried it, just the normal iwlwifi did.

[coreplayer2]

You would probably find the CoreBook http://tinycorelinux.net/corebook.pdf valuable reading..

Look up "Mount Mode" section 1.8 in particular

[coreplayer2]

Okay.  Well, now I am learning!  Thanks.

Any ideas on the WiFi issue?  I can't find any differences between the functioning 64bit and non-functioning 32bit installs.  They both have wifi.tcz with all dependencies as well as firmware-iwlwifi.tcz, and yet the x64 version instantly finds wlan0 where 32bit says it can't find a wlan device.

The specific wlan chip I have is the intel 7265, I know there is a separate firmware for the 7260, but that one didn't work when I tried it, just the normal iwlwifi did.

First you have to sort out the installation.

When extensions and their dependencies can be reliably saved and found when needed then you can install required extensions and know that they will be available on every reboot.


When troubleshooting Wifi installations it's best to review the output of " dmesg " command.    You can upload the output file here   

Code: [Select]

dmesg > ~/dmesg.txt
This will create a file dmesg.txt in your home directory which you can upload here

[coreplayer2]

jimmyjohn,

In most cases you must install Grub2 EFI from the 64bit version

An important tip when installing Grug2;  boot to the corepure64 installation, mount the grub2 install partition and load the grub2-multi.tcz extension.  Then install via this command

Code: [Select]

sudo grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --boot-directory=/mnt/sdc1/EFI/BOOT --efi-directory=/mnt/sdc1 --removableObviously change the paths (sdx1) as appropriate to your system.

[jimmyjohn]

Here is the file you requested kind sir  :-)  In the meantime, I have attempted the adjustments you recommended in regards to proper installation, but have thus far been unsuccessful in booting beyond the command line and now I have it up and running properly with the tce directory.  the issues with wifi not working and eMMC not showing remain.  I will keep looking over the documentation and working on it while I wait for further assistance.

Thanks again!