Tiny Core Linux
Tiny Core Extensions => TCE Bugs => Topic started by: avalon on April 20, 2012, 03:43:53 PM
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Hello,
trying to install an old pentium 100MHz machine as an LPT print server after failing to find a usb to parallel cable that actually works. Started with mini core and successfully installed some apps manually. The tc-install, app browser, ssh, etc. so I'm positive it's gonna work. Before continuing with hplip and cups setup though I'd like to ins tall on HDD. The boot from CD is very unreliable and using HDD is much faster.
The problem is that extlinux -i dies with SIGILL. Anybody seen that or knows the reason? Any way to install grub2 and use it instead of this?
btw another bug I see is with the app browser-cli. the search option does not work. Also I couldn't install strace with it. Manually downloading with wget and then tce-load -i worked without any flaws.
Thanks for your help. After failing to fit debian on the machine, TC looks very slick and there is some hope. It's just that I can't do the frugal installation.
P.S. This is the most captcha protected forum I've ever seen. I could hardly register :)
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http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/wiki:start#bootloaders
Luckily, it seems to be even harder for the spammers.
We no longer spend half our forum time deleting spam.
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Search bug in appbrowser-cli fixed. Could not reproduce the strace issue.
On the illegal instruction, looks like extlinux was compiled for a higher cpu. But any other bootloader can be used.
edit: see the manual install instructions here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/install_manual.html
to avoid using the install script, which only supports extlinux/syslinux.
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Thank you, I'll try this method if I manage to have python running because hplip requires it. And I do the whole thing for a print server. I've opened a thread in tce bugs. btw why not compile extlinux for i486?
Thanks again.
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It should be for 486, please open a thread in tce bugs.
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syslinux (extlinux) was compiled for i486 - quite some time was spent editing the code specifically for tinycore cflags, but I suppose something might have been missed - without an i486 to test on it's difficult to tell.
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syslinux (extlinux) was compiled for i486 - quite some time was spent editing the code specifically for tinycore cflags, but I suppose something might have been missed - without an i486 to test on it's difficult to tell.
I'm running on a pentium. If I can run something and send you result I can do that. It would be hard to give you access to the machine because it's too noisy to run all the time (at least for now before I find out how to spin down primary hard disk permanently after boot).
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Hi avalon
You can use the hdparm utility to set the spin down time to some short interval. As long as nothing tries to access
it (like the mount applet for example) it will stay spun down.
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thanks, hdparm does really spin it down. I am wondering though what version of TC is considered stable. I donwloaded the "current" 4.x and I see a lot of things that don't work as expected (extlinux, python, hplip, cups, appbrowser-cli). Or maybe it's because if the machine I don't know.
just tested and cups also dies with SIGILL, illegal instruction :(
/usr/local/sbin/cupsd -f
Illegal instruction
I am wondering what are others using sol old machines for and they work for it because I struggle to find anything that works. What I found working is:
1. kernel
2. text console
3. ne and parport_pc modules module
4. init.d/dhcp.sh (udhcp)
4. the ab (cli application browser app)
5. python 2.6
6. sshd
I'm trying to find a way to make the the printer on the parport0 available to other machines. Any suggestions welcome.
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Maybe you could try a rebuilt syslinux extension from here to see if extlinux works:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/4.x/x86/tcz/src/syslinux/
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Hi avalon
I am wondering what are others using sol old machines for and they work ....
I started a new thread for this so as not to take this one off topic:
http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php/topic,13110.msg72299.html#new
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Maybe you could try a rebuilt syslinux extension from here to see if extlinux works:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/4.x/x86/tcz/src/syslinux/
Thank you very much Juanito! This build works. What did you change? Any chances the other packages can be fixed the same way? Especially cups/libcups because it fails the same for me :D
btw I had to use the mbr_f.bin instead of the default, otherwise I couldn't boot. Perhaps worth making an option in the tc-install
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What did you change?
It was a case of somewhat labouriously looking at the output of "make" and adding the tinycore cflags to the appropriate Makefile each time gcc was executed without cflags...
Any chances the other packages can be fixed the same way? Especially cups/libcups because it fails the same for me
I suspect that will not be nearly so easy...
Updated syslinux extension posted
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Interesting... Don't believe this will help syslinux boot one of my systems but will give it a shot.
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Any chances the other packages can be fixed the same way? Especially cups/libcups because it fails the same for me
Maybe you could try the rebuilt cups/libcups extensions at: http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/4.x/x86/tcz/src/cups
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I am wondering though what version of TC is considered stable. I donwloaded the "current" 4.x and I see a lot of things that don't work as expected (extlinux, python, hplip, cups, appbrowser-cli). Or maybe it's because if the machine I don't know.
Not counting the search issue, all the other things you mention were something needing a newer cpu than your 586. While we do target 486, you can imagine that it's not that often we actually get to test on one ;)
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Maybe you could try the rebuilt cups/libcups extensions at: http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/4.x/x86/tcz/src/cups
Wow, got it working. At least partially but works for me. I could only setup a raw queue but it's enough. I identified a few issues. There are more with the foomatic/hplip/cups/perl but at least what I know is below.
I see these dependencies not defined for cups but should be:
Xlibs (libjpeg)
libpng
libcups
dbus
Actually for a raw queue libcups and dbus are enough. But the picture libraries are needed for cups filters.
foomatic seems to require require python so needs to be in deps (2.6 seems to be working , 2.7 throws errors like with hplip).
If you try starting hplip, for example run hp-setup and see them you will see errors from python. I have a thread in TCE bugs about it. As I said I don't rely on python so not really care but for your information.
Thank you again for the assistance! Perhaps I will bug you with a few more questions until I have some other details sorted out.
P.S. cups tinycore raw queue mini howto:
1. install tinycore, setup network
2. modprobe parport_pc; modprobe lp
2. install libcups, cups, dbus and start them on boot (/usr/local/etc/init.d/dbus start , ...)
3. open localhost:631
4. add printer -> raw -> raw queue
5. allow sharing from admin page
on client:
1. add printer in local cups
2. choose IPP URI: ipp://<tinycore machine>:port/printers/<whatever you used as printer name>
3. choose printer make and model or use some other means like hplip
4. print a test page from the client machine
on tinycore again:
1. restrict IPs that can print on the printer queue
2. setup cups config to be persisted with back-up or however you like (see http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/wiki:printer_setup_using_cups (http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/wiki:printer_setup_using_cups))
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Wow, got it working.
Good :)
I see these dependencies not defined for cups but should be:
Xlibs (libjpeg)
libpng
libcups
dbus
cups.tcz.dep contains libcups and dbus, but I did not consider cups would be run without a gui (libpng, libjpeg).
Rebuilt cups extension posted.
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foomatic seems to require require python so needs to be in deps (2.6 seems to be working , 2.7 throws errors like with hplip).
I'm not sure that foomatic requires python - it used to require perl, but the latest versions did away with that.
hplip-2.7 is working for me with the previous version of the python (v2.7) extension, it will not work with the python-2.6 extension since it looks for files under /usr/local/lib/python2.7.
I think hp-setup requires a gui (qt as I recall) and hplip was compiled without gui
Anyway, once python (v2.7) is sorted, it's probably better to start a new thread for any hplip problems that might remain.
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hplip-2.7 is working for me with the previous version of the python (v2.7) extension, it will not work with the python-2.6 extension since it looks for files under /usr/local/lib/python2.7.
yeah, I had to copy these files to /usr/local/lib/python2.6 and change the python2 symlink so I can test with python 2.6
Anyway, once python (v2.7) is sorted, it's probably better to start a new thread for any hplip problems that might remain.
I'm not going to use hplip so I can't tell much about its problems. Somehow indicative is 'hp-check -t' that returned a lot of warnings and errors for me. As I said earlier, I'm not sure recent versions of hplip still support my printer at all (HP Laserjet 4), as well I'm now a happy user of the gutenprint ppd so don't really care. But hplip appears to need a lot of love.