Complete 'noob' to Tiny Core Linux seeking some info

[ZaphodB]

Hello all!

First post so please be kind!

New to Linux in general and only came across Tiny Core today (7th Feb 2020).

Short background follows (please bear with me).

My wife's Windows 10 laptop's hard disk has, I fear, failed.  Being a Seagate drive, I downloaded a copy of Seatools from Seagate's website and created a bootable USB drive to check the hard disk.  This is where Tiny Core comes into the picture (!)

When machine boots from the USB stick, it launches Tiny Core which, I suspect, is a cut-down Linux OS (I'm curently testing out Mint MATE 19.3 to replace Windows 7).

I don't get a list of hard drives in the machine, further confirming my suspicion of HDD failure, but eventually the machine arrives at a monochrome screen with flashing cursor which says tc@box:~$ _

I have no idea where I can go from here, what commands Tiny Core accepts nor their syntax.  For example, how do I change drive - like DOS's cd command - or list the contents of a directory (folder?) like DOS's DIR command.

I have a rudimentary knowledge of DOS and even less knowledge of Linux so please, spell out in full and steps/commands etc to help me establish whether the hard drive is really dead and the pc (still under warranty) needs to go back to the seller for repair/replacement.

Thanks in advance,

Zaph

[Juanito]

I tried to use seatools a while ago to update the firmware on a hd - it didn't work.

If the pc is still under warranty, I suggest you pursue a repair/replacement.

[ZaphodB]

I tried to use seatools a while ago to update the firmware on a hd - it didn't work.

If the pc is still under warranty, I suggest you pursue a repair/replacement.

Went back to the retailer this morning.

An update to the thread.  The pc has a small (16Gb) m.2 SSD Intel Optane as the boot drive (which contains Windows 10) and a large 1TB Seagate Barracuda Pro for data storage.  I have deduced, by removing in turn, first one drive and then the other, that it is the 16Gb Optane drive that seems to have failed.  I was able to read-back data from the 1TB drive when connected to another pc as an external USB drive, and hence make sure that any 'sensitive' data was removed before it went in for repair.

Still love some info on Tiny Core commands and their syntax.

Zaph

[Juanito]

To check which drives tinycore has discovered, you can use the following command:

Code: [Select]

$ cat /etc/fstab
To check which drives might be discoverable, you can use this command:

Code: [Select]

$ fdisk -l
All versions of linux share the same basic commands so reading a newcomers guide to linux would be helpful.

I deleted your other post since you are in effect double-posting and it would be better to keep the answers in the same thread.

[ZaphodB]

Hi Juanito,

Thanks for the reply and info.

I posted in another section because my initial query hadn't generated a response about the commands and their syntax.

The only reply was from you suggesting the pc went back to the retailer (which I did this morning) after sanitizing the 1TB hard drive.

Regards,

Zaph