KernelPanic (new non!-user help please)

[thl04]

Hello,
I have tried to run TinyCorePlus (CorePlus-current.iso using core2usb via Windows7) from a 16GB USBstick but getting a boot failure, lots of white gobbldygook on a black background ending with something about a  'Kernel  panic', 'sync' something and a 'kill' .

The m/c locks up and needs a power down to reset, fortunately, without the USBstick, it boots back into Windows. Phew!
Help ! Any ideas where to start testing/checking ?

I have googled 'kernel panic' and got lots of hits. Most seem to be for installed linux's and Mac, but one suggested too little ram or a ram fault. I used Windows Memory Diagnostic (mdsched.exe) which reports no errors.

Recently I have been playing with RaspberryPi desktop live on this stick and thought (because of many re-flashings to get back to sq.one, ) that it may have become faulty, but no, I reflashed RPi back over and it boots ok.

I will continue searching through google, but hope someone here can offer a quicker fix !

Info :
64bit Pentium dual core E5300 2.6GHz
4GB ram

Thanks.

[jazzbiker]

Hi, thl04!
In your place i would burn the cd and try to boot using it, not flash drive. But before i would examine bios setup for something unusual. Your situation looks strange. Maybe you should try http://tinycorelinux.net/10.x/x86_64/release/TinyCorePure64-10.1.iso
simply for an attempt for normal boot.

[thl04]

Hi, thl04!
In your place i would burn the cd and try to boot using it, not flash drive. But before i would examine bios setup for something unusual. Your situation looks strange. Maybe you should try http://tinycorelinux.net/10.x/x86_64/release/TinyCorePure64-10.1.iso
simply for an attempt for normal boot.

Thanks good ideas.
 I've tried cds with Puppy, Knoppix etc in the past so I know that drive worked (but I didnt know what I was doing and no persistence didnt help !)

I have just realised I have posted in the wrong Q&A section, ooops sorry, mods please move !

[core-user]

Also, check that you got a good download, sounds as if it may have been corrupted.

(I regularly put it on a pendrive, so I doubt that is your problem.)

[thl04]

The puzzle continues !

files are md5 ok

TinyCorePure on USB or on DVD does not boot either, but this time after the menu, just a blank screen of death - no gobbldygook text.

When I said in first post that the m/c locks up I may have been premature. This time, with TCP and a longish wait it times out and tries to re-boot. Extracting the dvd at this time then allows a boot into Windows on the C:

all very strange

I have two USB hdd and a 4-port hub on it, I'll try again without those {later, when I can get at the back of the m/c ! time for a re-think and a coffee} in case they are causing a conflict.

thanks.

EDIT and thanks mods for the move, sorry for that - I blame my sleepless night and too much head scratching
 

[jazzbiker]

TinyCorePure on USB or on DVD does not boot either, but this time after the menu, just a blank screen of death - no gobbldygook text.

When I said in first post that the m/c locks up I may have been premature. This time, with TCP and a longish wait it times out and tries to re-boot. Extracting the dvd at this time then allows a boot into Windows on the C:

all very strange

I have two USB hdd and a 4-port hub on it, I'll try again without those {later, when I can get at the back of the m/c ! time for a re-think and a coffee} in case they are causing a conflict.

Hi, thl04!
If you see boot menu, means that boot device is recognized and bootloader started. You didn't mention what boot menu item you choosed. Try the "base" one.
What you name "black screen of death" may be delay, programmed in the bootloader config. Its purpose is to allow slow USB devices to enumerate and mount properly. This delay usually is 10 seconds, but there were reports for some system hardware configs, when it takes more time for the system to start. If you will see  the black screen, try to be patient, and wait not longer than for a minute, maybe kernel will start.
Is it possible to disconnect all your external USB devices and try to load TinyCore? TinyCore is scanning all mounted partitions for some files during start.
And i highly recommend the book about TinyCore, names "Into the Core", which you can download from the project site. It answers a lot of questions and make system structure clear and explain very toroughly some aspects of its functioning, the boot process too.

[jazzbiker]

And you are booting in legacy mode, not UEFI?

[Rich]

Hi thl04

... but one suggested too little ram or a ram fault. ...

I think a  kernel panic  can also be caused if the  initrd  can't be found or loaded.

[jazzbiker]

HI, thl04!
I took a look on TinyCorePure64.iso, it is trying to start 1024*768 VESA video mode with fbdev. What is your video card hardware and monitor?

[thl04]

You didn't mention what boot menu item you choosed. Try the "base" one.

Hi @jazzbiker, thanks for your help,,
All 4 of them in turn ! All produced the same result  :- a blank screen,

After waiting a while, it would shut down and try to reboot (after the menu count down or after I pressed return) After a couple of cycles of this was when I determined I could pull the DVD (or USBstick) and allow it to boot into the Windows on C:

Is it possible to disconnect all your external USB devices and try to load TinyCore?

Yes, all now disconnected. Still no boot.

And you are booting in legacy mode, not UEFI?

Errr, pass, what is that ? I am a dumb refugee from Windows, sorry !
It is a very old HP miniDesktop

Hi thl04

... but one suggested too little ram or a ram fault. ...

I think a  kernel panic  can also be caused if the  initrd  can't be found or loaded.

Thanks @Rich  the kernel panic text screen only appears in the TinyCorePlus variant.
Since jazz has directed me to TinyCorePure64-10.1 I dont get that text, just a blank screen which eventually times out and starts the re-boot squence.
I'll have to read the books to see what initrd is !

[jazzbiker]

And you are booting in legacy mode, not UEFI?

Errr, pass, what is that ? I am a dumb refugee from Windows, sorry !
It is a very old HP miniDesktop

You can enter BIOS setup and check, are there some entries concerning UEFI.
TinyCorePure64 iso is hybrid, both legacy and UEFI compatible, but if you will need to install TinyCore at some partition, you need to know exactly what to do, and UEFI persistence makes your way a little longer.

[thl04]

No UEFI seen in the bios pages.

If you see boot menu, means that boot device is recognized and bootloader started.

Yes confirmed, I have dug out my very old Knoppix cd and a Mint dvd from a few years ago and both run ok, but without persistence.
also,
"Debian Jessie with PIXEL" from RaspberryPi
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/pixel-pc-mac/
which is persistent, will run from USB.

So I dont know ,,,, ,,, what is it that Tinycore needs that they do not ? I am at a loss.

[jazzbiker]

It's almost impossible, but you emphasize that PC is very old... What screen resolution you have on your running OSes?

[jazzbiker]

As your pc has no UEFI, then you have syslinux boot menu after start. Entries can be edited simply pressing Tab key on selected menu entry. I can propose to choose the last entry (named corew), press Tab to edit it, and delete term "vga=791" in it. Then press Enter to boot.

[thl04]

What screen resolution you have on your running OSes?

On win7 I can set up to 1920x1200 but it is hard on my aged eyes so generally leave it at 1600x1200 or thereabouts
and
I have gone into Jessie on my USBstick for this post and it says :-
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ xdpyinfo | grep 'dimensions:'
  dimensions:    1024x768 pixels (270x203 millimeters)
the ability to adjust it seems not to be in this PC_desktop_version (which is meant for windows newbies to familiarise themselves before attacking  inflicting the hardware ! )

I'll try "vga=791" next
thanks.]

EDIT :- removed vga=791 and I am now back to a screen full of gobbldygook ending with
Kernel panic ,,, not syncing ,,,kill init! ,,, exit code 0x00000009
Rebooting in 60sec.

also waitusb=5,,  so I tried editing that to =20 and booting again but no better