tinycore on ibm thinkpad t20

[pugliese]

installed plop so I could boot tinycore on the IBM thinkpad t20 with a usb stick  The base os is foresight linux with extlinux for the boot loader.  Tinycore installed but I have no wired network support.  I am able to make a network connection with foresight only. 

Anyone experience with plop/extlinux/tinycore  or ideas that could help.

Tony

[maro]

It is highly likely that the build-in ethernet adapter of your T20 is an "Intel e100" (at least from what I can find out via thinkwiki.org). This device is well known for the fact that it requires a firmware file that is contained in the 'firmware.tcz' extension. To confirm my assumption I'd suggest to execute:
    dmesg | grep -iE 'eth|firmware'
and share the result here with us.

If my assumption is correct then you could install said extension to the USB stick you are using to boot from. I guess you could use your Foresight Linux to:
(a) download the extension file (e.g. via wget http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/tinycorelinux/3.x/tcz/firmware.tcz),
(b) create a 'tce/optional' directory on your USB stick (if the stick is mount as '/mnt/sda1' you could use mkdir -p /mnt/sda1/tce/optional, otherwise adjust this an all following commands accordingly and pay attention to ownership and permissions for files and directories),
(c) copy the file into the newly created directory (e.g. via cp -p firmware.tcz /mnt/sda1/tce/optional) and
(d) make sure that the extensions gets loaded at boot time (e.g. via echo firmware >> /mnt/sda1/tce/onboot.lst)

As I find it rather "wasteful" to install a whole extension for a single, rather small file I've suggested alternatives either using backup or a private extension.

[dufus]

The  T20 is the exact box I use as a "plug-and-play" terminal with tinycore. The first thing I'd do is confirm which model NIC is installed. If it's made by anyone other than IBM; you probably have a firmware/config  issue. If it's the combo modem/nic mini pci card it's probably heat stressed and needs to be replaced. ($6 for a 3COM repalcement on ebay). The 3COM card has a functional eeprom chip on it which can be reprogrammed. Not so with the IBM, its programmed before it's soldered onto the card and can't be re-programmed (so why do the call it an eeprom right ?)  Don't have $6, welcome to the club. You can work around the eeprom issue but it's a leeeeeeeeeengthy process. I have plpbt/extlinux/gpxe etc functional but it's a royal pain to do without a good NIC. Keep your fingers crossed that you don't have one. Check back here if you do.

[pugliese]

maro,

here is the output of the
   dmesg | grep -iE 'eth|firmware'

   IBM TrackPoint firmware: 0x0e, buttons: 3/3
   e100: eth0: e100probe: addr 0xe8120000, irq 11, MAC addr  00:90:27:bf:08
   e100 0000:00:03.0: firmware: requesting e100/d101s_ucode.bin
   e100:eth0: e100_request_firmware: Failed to load firmware "e100/d101s_ucode.bin": -2

I obtained the firmware successfully with:
   wget http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/tinycorelinux/3.x/tcz/firmware.tcz),

Used the foresight gui to create tce/optional on the usb pen

Then I copied the firmware.tcz into ..../optional/

I created a file in tinycore:   /mnt/hda1/tce/onboot.lst;

I then included in ..../tce/onboot.lst:   echo firmware.tcz >> /mnt/hda1/tce/onboot.lst

restarted

checked onboot.lst file for any errors.  None were found

connected network cable
tried Apps -> Conect and got " Conection error, check network or mirror";

re-ran dmesg and got the same message.

Thanks,
tony

[Rich]

Hi pugliese

I created a file in tinycore:   /mnt/hda1/tce/onboot.lst;

hda1 is your USB stick?? If not, you might want to re-read maro's instructions.

[maro]

In addition to the need for you to use the correct device name for all operations explained in my reply #1 you'll also need to pay attention to the relevant part of the FAQ.

In a nutshell: slow devices (like USB sticks) need to be given a bit of time so that they can be recognized to hold a 'tce' directory (with extensions to be loaded as part of the boot process). Therefore if you use boot codes like 'waitusb=10:UUID=...' and 'tce=UUID=...' you should expect to have a different outcome.

And to repeat was by now must be mentioned more than 100 times across this forum here: those boot codes have to be integrated in the relevant stanza of the boot loader configuration.

[pugliese]

Replying from my IBM Thinkpad T20.

Still had difficulty loading firmware.tcz from the usb stick.  Finally, I altered the approach a little for now to get Tinycore to install with wired support.  Briefly :

1. using waitusb=10 and tce=UUID=  (id obtained from  the blkid tool)
I was able to  mount the usb consistently

2. made a directory /tce/optional in the first partition hda1 :

              mkdir -p /mnt/hda1/tce/optional

3. copied firmware.tcz  from the usb  to  /mnt/hda1/tce/optional :

              mount  /dev/sda1
              cp /mnt/sda1/......firmware.tcz  /mnt/hda1/tce/optional 
     
4. clicked  AppsAudit -> OnBoot -> Maintenance   then selected firmware.tcz under Select to move it to On Boot Items

5. re-booted Tinycore and the driver I needed was loaded and a connection was made

Not the most efficient solution but a functional starting point for my ultimate goal to convert my T20  to Tinycore.

BTW - even at this stage my T20 is faster and now usable as a net book -

Thank you all for your support,

Tony



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[OldAdamUser2]

Congratulations, pugliese! Tiny Core is a remarkable little OS. I'm pleased that you have become a convert.