HD Install :: HD Install on 390E ThinkPad



I recently installed DSL (full install w/ lilo) on an IBM 390E laptop.  It installed like a charm and worked beautifully except that the system would freeze solid after about 10 minutes of inactivity.  After spending hours on the net searching for the cause and trying every cheatcode combination that seemed even remotely relevant, I (temporarily) gave up and wiped the drive clean.  

Fortunately, after searching the forums here, I found the answer/solution - at least for booting from the CD or a USB drive (thanks to RayRoko):

It requires using the cheatcode:

dsl dma fb1024x768 xsetup

When the xserver setup comes up, you have to choose the  framebuffer xserver.

I know it works, because I tried it, but I have a few questions:

If I re-install, what steps will I need to take after installing so that DSL will boot from the HD using frambuffer mode automatically?  
-Can I run the xserver setup from a terminal as root?
-What from the above would I need to include in the command to invoke the setup?
-And what part does DMA play in this?  As I see it, this is an option to enable DMA for all drives, but does it have anything to do with the xserver setup?

I know these are probably simple questions to somebody, but I am still fumbling around.   really would like to get DSL installed and working so that I can actually learn a bit about linux, so I would appreciate any help I can get.

Thanks in advance!

Norman
That's a wrong use of the fb code... probably gets ignored anyways.

You can run xsetup from DSLPanel or in console with xsetup.sh
dma probably doesn't have anything to do with xsetup, but it's better if you can use it.

If you plan on using a frugal/livecd, a simple backup/restore should keep your x settings.
Re: "full install"

Both installations are "full." Frugal installs the actual image (ISO) on its own partition (55MB just to be safe) and the "hard drive install" option installs in a more standard Debian-style layout on a much larger partition.
Thanks for the info, guys.  

To clarify, my last install was a Debian-style using the script.  I played with it for a couple of weeks while trying to fix the display problem (and that was the ONLY problem I encountered).  I also installed a couple of programs using apt, and generally had a great time learning from it.  However, allowing it to lock up and then have to endure the nag that I didn't shut down properly was something of a pain, so I wiped the drive and decided to start over as soon as I could get some more solid info.

I will do the reinstall this weekend and have a go at the xsetup afterwards.  I'll let you know how it goes.  As for DMA, if it is a good idea to use it, is there an easy way to make that a default option once I install?

Also, thanks for the info on the boot commands.  Beyond the basics, I have not found anything that is really good as far as spelling out what these commands do - at least not in a way that really makes sense to a novice.  Also, in the course of my experimenting, I noticed that the Knoppix cheatcodes and the DSL cheatcodes are apparently not all the same.  Same thing for the lilo boot options.  Also, some of the DSL cheatcodes apparently work when you enter "dsl xxx" while others only work without the "dsl" prefix.

I started on computers in the dos age, and I know that a number of the bash commands are similar or actually the same as some of the old dos commands.  I am comfortable around that environment, and my objective is to actually lean about linux at that level.  DSL seems to fit the bill since it works so well on such an old and expendable machine.

That being said, it looks like this thing can do a lot more than it would appear at first glance.  Like I said, I've got a lot to learn, but thanks for your help!

Norman
You can edit the boot options in /boot/lilo.conf or /boot/grub/menu.lst, depending which one you chose. If you chose lilo, remember to run "sudo lilo" after editing the file, or it won't boot..
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