HD Install on 390E ThinkPad
Forum: HD Install
Topic: HD Install on 390E ThinkPad
started by: normany
Posted by normany on Aug. 03 2007,00:51
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
Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on Aug. 03 2007,03:52
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.
Posted by lucky13 on Aug. 03 2007,12:31
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.
Posted by normany on Aug. 03 2007,20:57
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
Posted by curaga on Aug. 04 2007,17:05
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..
Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on Aug. 04 2007,20:08
You can use the same cheatcode for dma.re: lilo: afaik the default conf file is in /etc, so if you edit one in /boot or whatever, you should use `lilo -C /path/to/lilo.conf`
Posted by normany on Aug. 07 2007,00:32
Just an update on what I have done so far, and what I perhaps should have done...The right cheatcode...
Based on "thehatsrule"'s advice, I shortened the cheatcode to boot off the CD to "dsl dma xsetup" and that worked fine. No need for the other stuff that I found here in the forums at:
< http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....8;st=20 >
In doing the HHD install, I followed the instructions at:
< http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Installing_to_the_Hard_Disk >
I did the disk partitions using the fdisk and went ahead with the install. I inadvertently hit "g" instead of "l" when I was prompted for the bootloader install, so I ended up with a Grub install which would have been OK except I wanted Lilo.
Here was the first place I encountered something unexpected. I attempted a reinstall several times specifying Lilo as the loader, but when I would reboot, Grub insisted on attempting to do the boot and returned an error code - I believe it was 15. I am not sure what I did differently from the first install, but on that one, Lilo booted the system with no problems. It was almost as if Grub never completely went away once it was installed. I even went back and reformatted the entire disk using Win 98 SE install, and Grub still insisted on showing up.
OK, I didn't want to keep beating my head against a brick wall, so I went with the flow. I installed and specified Grub as Ye Olde Bootloader, and everything worked fine. I'd still like to know why Lilo didn't work though.
On rebooting I immediately did the xserver config, and that resulted in the display working as it should. No more freezes.
I also edited the Grub menu.lst file to add dma and commented out every other option but the 1024x768 config. If I decide I need any other option, I can edit that at a later time.
I edited the .xinitrc file to get rid of the Dillo startup as per the FAQ.
< http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/FAQ >
Now I was up to a working system and just itching to mess something up... and I did.
I wanted to get a word processor with a little more horsepower than Ted or Beaver, so I decided to install Abiword through MyDSL. (Actually, I wanted something that I could use to read e-texts using the whole screen and allow these 54 year old eyes to adjust the font size.) Abiword was installed easily enough, but for some reason could not open a simple text file on the pen drive.
I then used MyDSL to install OpenOffice. I knew if that could not read a text file then I was definitely doing something wrong. OO Writer read it with no problems.
OK, that works... now it was time to get rid of Abiword. It was only then that I learned that getting rid of a MyDSL program with a Debian-type install can apparently be tedious and you may delete something important.
< http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Removing_A_MyDSL_Extension >
OK, I needed more practice, so I did another install, repeating the tweaks mentioned above. I then used MyDSL to add OpenOffice, the KJV Bible, and the Gimp.
I also learned a valuable lesson. If you want to see whether you want something installed using MyDSL, try it on the CD first, and if you like it, go ahead and install it for real. That's what I did when I used MyDSL to check out the nature backgrounds for Fluxbox and JWM. The windows managers look really slick now with the new backgrounds.
I later began reviewing the MyDSL packages online...
< http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/damnsmall/mydsl/ >
... and discovered that by using the GTk utilities, I could have gotten a more current version of Gimp, but my need for it on that machine is not as great, so I won't bother trying to upgrade or get rid of the old one unless I need to start from scratch again.
All in all, I like using MyDSL over apt since what's there has been tested and found to work on DSL. Still, it would be nice to have an easy way to uninstall the MyDSL stuff with the Debian-type install, short of just starting over, as you apparently can do with the frugal install.
I am hedging my bets until I get everything right by storing all my personal files on the pen drive. If I decide I need to do things better, I will not lose anything I have created.
Next up, I intend to do a test run with the ham radio PSK package, and if that works OK with the CD, I'll go ahead and do the a MyDSL install of that one.
I also want to find out exactly where that FluxBox slit is supposed to be, and what the DocApps thing is supposed to be:
(See < http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Fluxbox) >
This is in connection with the need to see how much audio volume I can get. I maxed out the mixer volume and the XMMS volume to get about what I had under Win 98, but I want to make certain I have configured everything properly since volume may be an issue with PSK.
I hope my experiences here will help someone else.
So far, I have concluded that this DSL install really has given new life to an old machine. It has much to commend it over Win 98 SE, which was on it before, but like every other Linux I have played with, it is not really user-friendly to get going. Unlike Windows, if you hit the wrong key and need to back up in the install process, that's too bad. You'll just have to start over. Still, it has been great fun so far!
Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on Aug. 07 2007,04:28
Grub error 15 means that file not found. I have experienced problems before where the partition would not be mounted correctly, resulting the in the data not written properly... A common problem is not restarting after partitioning.Reformatting does not get rid of the disk's boot part of the mbr. But why did you want lilo? Easier to edit menu.lst like how you did
Using .uci's from mydsl are the easiest since they are unmountable. You could also test things using virtualization or emulation of some sort.
The dockapps section on that fluxbox wiki page applies to around pre-2.x versions. However, a volume app is still located in the same area -- bottom right on your desktop.
Posted by curaga on Aug. 07 2007,15:52
There are other volume settings than just Master (one in the mount box) and Pcm (in Xmms).. By clicking on the volume button in mount app and clicking on the channel name you can change channels. Tune them all to max, well 'xcept for input ones of course! (mic, line in, stereo mix..)