No luck booting DSL
Forum: User Feedback
Topic: No luck booting DSL
started by: drewlane
Posted by drewlane on Sep. 27 2004,00:22
I spent all day trying to get DSL running from my CF>IDE adapter. I was finally able to run frugal_instal after I partitioned the CF with ext2 and I thought I was home free.I tried booting from the CF card, but after the "LILO loading" message, it says "BIOS data check successful" and then hangs indefinetly.
FYI, I am installing this on a hacked websurfer box which is hooked up to a TV.
Any ideas? Could it be a video problem?
Regards,
Drew
Posted by ke4nt1 on Sep. 27 2004,03:33
TV Cards are notorious for causing boot issues in DSL..Try pulling the TV card for a test.. see if it boots then ..
Once you find out if it is the problem ,
you can try excluding some addresses during bootup..
73
ke4nt
Posted by drewlane on Sep. 27 2004,03:45
The TV support is built into the motherboard so not much I can do there unless I can disable it in the BIOS. I did just try hooking up an external monitor, but got the same error message.Drew
Posted by drewlane on Sep. 27 2004,17:40
I found this thread searching google:< http://www.ussg.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/0408.2/0434.html >
Is this what I'm up against? If so, how can I tweak this in DSL?
Drew
Posted by cbagger01 on Sep. 27 2004,22:52
The kernel in DSL version 0.8.x is kernel 2.4.26 so that shouldn't be a problem.If you want to use a different method to boot DSL, you can boot into DOS and then use loadlin.
Search the forums for "loadlin", search all forums, from the beginning and newer.
Posted by drewlane on Sep. 28 2004,00:11
OK, so what's the difference between using loadlin and syslinux?I was able to get another mini linux distro called Flash Puppy to install and boot on this machine with my CF adapter and for that I used syslinux.
Could I also use syslinux for DSL if I wanted to?
Drew
Posted by cbagger01 on Sep. 28 2004,03:47
Yes.In fact DSL versions prior to 0.8.x used SYSLINUX as the bootloader for the livecd and for the boot floppy.
You may be able to use SYSLINUX to "sys" your CF "hard drive" and then copy over some of the files from the DSL 0.8 boot floppy. The floppy image is located in the download section.
See this thread for more details:
< http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....0;st=10 >
The syslinux part is a little bit different than it is for building a new livecd, though.
Maybe some of the recent USB bootable USB flash threads would be a better fit for your situation:
< http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....ux+0.8% >
As for SYSLINUX vs. LoadLin, SYSLINUX is a floppy-disk compatible bootloader for Linux. It works in a similar way to creating a "bootable floppy disk" in MSDOS or Win95/98. Loadlin is an MSDOS program that boots up linux. It is run from a true MSDOS prompt, IE: MSDOS/Win9x boot floppy, MSDOS/Win9x hard drive bootup (command prompt only, no loading of any DOS drivers).
So SYSLINUX is a bootloader, while Loadlin is a MSDOS program that boots up linux. Which means that if you can create a bootable MSDOS system, then you can load up linux by running an MSDOS command long after MSDOS has finished booting up.
Posted by drewlane on Sep. 28 2004,04:03
Well, I just reconfigured my CF card with MSDOS and put loadlin on it with the kernel, etc. and setup a bat file for it.when I type 'linux' from the command line, I can see it start:
Loading...................................................................................
...
but then the screen just go black, similar to what it was doing previously with the frugal install.
Maybe it is loading, but I just can't see it because the screen is blanked out?
Are there some video params I can pass to force it to use the most basic configuration for my cheesy onboard video?
Drew
Posted by cbagger01 on Sep. 28 2004,12:17
Try vga=normal instead of the default vga=791
Posted by drewlane on Sep. 28 2004,19:47
| Quote (cbagger01 @ Sep. 28 2004,08:17) |
| Try vga=normal instead of the default vga=791 |
Sweet. That was it - thanks!
I wonder if that was the problem with the frugal install as well?
Should I go back to the frugal install since I'm running from Compact Flash and don't want to write excessively to the CF?
Also, since I'm using a standard TV for display, the desktop is actually a little bigger than the screen and my mouse goes off screen at the edges. Is this possible to adjust through software?
Drew
Posted by cbagger01 on Sep. 28 2004,22:16
In order to adjust for overscan, you need a video driver that is specific to your video card instead of the generic VESA driver that comes with DSL. This would require installing the entire X Window system.Even so, there is no guarantee that the custom driver for your video card has some settings that you can change to eliminate overscan. You might be able to do it manually by tweaking a modeline in your XF86Config-4 file but this is not for the faint-hearted because you could damage a monitor. And I doubt that a modeline would work with a TV-out port but you never know.