TC installation procedure

[Yleisajattelija]

Tried again to install TC. With Ubuntu workstation (Ubuntu is current distro, transition to Debian is going...) need DVD setup disk for USB, too.

I found documentation (yes, I make docs...) and bunch of non-working USB-boot sticks from my previous attempt to make bootable USB-stick. I have some experience with embedded environments with Uboot and linux  static drivers, but same methods are not working with Legacy BIOS, extlinux, static kernel drivers and udev -system. There is some mystical bug on USB-bridge setup, which terminate boot process. USB-boot is known to work with win and grub2, so there must be solution for that.

But there is lot of other isssues: I think boot process and driver installation should be totally different. TC is pro system, and pro's want to control things, especially drivers which are serious security problem (=runs at system level permissions).

I will try this kind of system:

1) Debian, network connection and 2 USB sticks. One stick (INS-stick) for installation and drivers database and one stick (OU-stick) for "operative use". On OU-stick is only those drivers, which are actually needed.

2) Both sticks: Formatting and partitioning with standard tools fdisk/cdisk. File format for current PC-BIOS boot (typically Win95 FAT32 LBA)). Create small boot partition for grub2 code.

3) Both sticks: Mrb.bin/GPT settings (boot bit, jump vector to boot partition (=Grub2 code), etc.),  and file copy (=dd) for grub2 code to boot partition)

4) Both sticks: Stand alone grub2 boot to test boot USB-stick boot (if, succeed, you have limited kernel, drivers and command set to work with). I'm not (yet) familiar with Grub2, but seems to me that available disks and other boot media is visible, and you can boot Grub at "/boot" directory at boot partition, at leas temporary. Typically system crashes when trying to start kernel at new permanent filesystem location. No single message is available if crash, so it it impossible to find out what was wrong. It is lot easier ot try-and-error just Grub2 boot than whole system.

5) INS-stick: load TC-command line version to main partition "/"
 
6) Boot on TC with INS-stick, put OP-stick on other USP-port

7) Load full TC with drivers, GUI, Xorg, etc, to OP-stick on several phases and try boot on OP-stick on every phase

8)If OP-stick is working, set INS-stick for system rescue stick (drivers etc.)

[Yleisajattelija]

I think, this will be nice systems with dCore, drivers and applications can be fetched from .deb database in systematic manner, modified and packaked for TC use. INS-USB is working as "pure" TC environment without pollution. Several OP-USB stics can be made for driver testing etc. Practical problem is that I have large 4k display, and VESA formats are very ugly wiht it, but I think I can manage INS-USB without GUI.

[Yleisajattelija]

I think this is it:

"GRUB 2 has more reliable ways to find its own files and those of target kernels on multiple-disk systems, and has commands (see search) to find devices using file system labels or Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs)."

https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/grub.html

[Yleisajattelija]

At first fast read of those grub2 documents, grub2 installation should be very straightforvard and UUID handling on boot is very flexible -> USB boot should be routine.

Is there some hidden problems, why it is not used on current TC version? 

[Juanito]

See: https://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php?topic=19364.0

I recently installed fedora to a laptop hard drive and then added tinycorelinux.

Fedora (and I presume other linux distros) has a complicated script driven grub setup and it took me ages to get it to dual boot with CorePure64 - I have still not managed to get it to dual boot Core. The fedora boot is not even consistent, some times it (correctly) uses hd0 and sometimes it fails trying to use hd1.

The fedora grub setup is such a pain that I've gone back to using a usb stick to boot Core/Corepure64 on the laptop.

[Yleisajattelija]

The Grub scripts are problematic, because there is endless variations of HW and BIOS combinations.

Especially automatic USB booting is difficult, because of USB devices have dynamic mounting point.

There must be a script, of course, but it have to build interactive manner. I think Grub must be installed stand-alone first, and carefully tested to find installation media and /boot -directory correctly.