next »

[mavrothal]

I'm curious about a couple of things. How quickly does it boot? in the desktop terminal what is the output of "free -m"? with opera running?

Booting time is not fast because by default is scanning all partitions for relevant files and swap and then reads and  loads the specified extensions (sfs directories). Also is set up to wait 10 sec for all devs and USB specifically, to load.

So in my current setup with 30 extensions takes 70 secs from press to connected desktop. You can  go down to 55-60secs with the minimum 15-17 extensions and less USB waiting but not much lower.
All these without any overclocking. Going to 500/200 has an additional 10-15% gain in boot and performance.

Memory wise though is super. With just connection and desktop has 150MB free! Running Opera with 10MB ram cache still has 90 MB free and 11MB buffers. Running on top, a file manager, text editor, pdf viewer, mc (perl) and a couple of terminals still has 70MB free and 15MB of buffers. No swap (though available)! And everything loads in the RAM!!
So is slow (?) to start and fast to work on.

If I (or anybody else) ever gets sound to work on it, will be really a good OS for the XO-1.

[quickboot]

metal.lunchbox, thank you again for sharing the dev team's work and Mavrothal for tweaking it for the masses.

The small footprint and RAM speed of it makes it really attractive!

I've tried about 6 olpc.fth variations and have copied all the Micro Core folders onto my NAND, with no booting success so far.

My NAND had no /versions/alt folder (since I had done a clean install of 802) so created the folder and copied ALL my Micro Core USB folders into it. I also duplicated the /versions/alt/home/tc folder to /home/tc .

in most of the olpc.fth versions I changed all references to "home=LABEL=USB_name" to "home=LABEL=mtd0", however the last version I eliminated all of these paths and left the original Sugar path. All to no avail. In all of them I also eliminated the first 3 or 4 sections dedicated to upgrading Sugar. I've upload the 5th version of my olpc.fth file for those interested since I think it's the most promising.

[XOIOWA]

Hi all!

I just wanted to report that I followed quickboot's suggestion to add "xset m 7/4 N" in the "/opt/bootlocal.sh" file.  And, that has helped my touchpad quite a bit.  I still get the erratic behavior sometimes, but it is much less often, and a 4-finger salute always seems to fix it.

Secondly, I have noticed that Opera is quite slow to find a web page.  In my experience with other low-resource machines, this has usually been because of ipv6.  The browser receives an address, and tries to resolve it using ipv6 several times before failing, and reverting to ipv4.  So, my usual habit is to disable ipv6 within Firefox on any low-resource machines I install it on.   I suspect this is the same problem with Opera on Tinycore. 

I have searched the internet, and tried all kinds of things to disable ipv6 for Opera, but I think I've given up.  I did finally find out how to make my changes persistent in Tinycore, by adding 'backup' file names in /opt/.filetool.lst. 

So, two questions:  Does anyone else think I'm on the right track with the ipv6 vs ipv4 issue?  If so, do you have any ideas on how to actually disable ipv6 in Tinycore?

Thanks...

[mavrothal]

do you have any ideas on how to actually disable ipv6 in Tinycore?

try adding this in your bootlocal.sh before the connection parameters

Code:

sudo -s
echo "blacklist ipv6" >> /etc/modprobe.conf
modprobe -a

Did you really add "xset -m 7/4 N" where N is NOT a number but the letter 'N" in your bootlocal.sh ?

[quickboot]

I admit, in my excitement to stabilize the mouse,I initially did as well!    Nothing bad happened, then I realized what I'd done.

Anyone with hints/insights on my olpc.fth challenge? Can GRUB launch different OSs from the same partition?

[mavrothal]

Anyone with hints/insights on my olpc.fth challenge? Can GRUB launch different OSs from the same partition?

OK first let me repeat that this is not a good idea.
Also clarify that I do not know if any of these is going to work since I did not tried it, and I'm not sure tinycore is compatible with the jffs2 file system in the NAND.

First make sure that you know what OS is in the NAND, if the /boot-alt folder exists and if you have disable security altogether or you have it enabled but you have a developer's key. Finally what is the olpc.fth file in your /boot folder.

As "su" generate the /boot-tc folder and transfer the contents TC_XO /boot folder except olpc.fth. Also copy (cp -aR) the /opt and  and /tce folders from your stck  to the root of the NAND and the /home/tc to the /home folder of the NAND  (so now /home should have both the "olpc" and the "tc" folders)

Code:

su
cd /
cp -aR /media/stick_with_TC/boot /boot-tc
rm boot-tc/olpc.fth
cp -aR /media/stick_with_TC/tce .
cp -aR /media/stick_with_TC/opt .
cp -aR /media/stick_with_TC/home/tc /home

Go to /boot folder while an "su"and  

Code:

cd boot
cp olpc.fth olpc.fth.original
nano olpc.fth

to edit the olpc.fth file wit nano or your favored editor to something like that (careful nano introduces lane brakes in long lines make sure that it does not. Long lines should run off the screen with "$" as the last or first visible character). Delete the original content and copy/paste the code below.

Code:

\ Boot script
\
\ boot option
\
game-key-mask h# 80 and if
.( -- Tiny Core Linux boot script for OpenFirmware    ) cr
.(    by [email protected], 2010-01-29              -- ) cr cr
    setup-smbios
    unfreeze
    dcon-unfreeze
    visible
    " fbcon=font:SUN12x22 waitusb=10 tce=/dev/mtdblock0 restore=/dev/mtdblock0 home=/dev/mtdblock0 opt=/dev/mtdblock0 vga=788 settime tz=GMT-2" to boot-file
    " nand:\boot-tc\vmlinuz" to boot-device
    " nand:\boot-tc\tinycore.gz" to ramdisk
else
\
\ Uncomment the lines below (remove "\")if you use os767/802 for Sugar  
\
\    " ro root=mtd0 rootfstype=jffs2 console=tty0 fbcon=font:SUN12x22" to boot-file
\    " nand:\boot\vmlinuz" to boot-device
\    " nand:\boot\olpcrd.img" to ramdisk
\
\ up to here
\
\ Uncomment the lines below if you use f11-xo1/osNN vesion for Sugar
\
\    " root=/dev/mtdblock0 rootfstype=jffs2 console=ttyS0,115200 console=tty0 fbcon=font:SUN12x22 selinux=0" to boot-file
\    " nand:\boot\vmlinuz" to boot-device
\    " nand:\boot\initrd.img" to ramdisk
\    setup-smbios
\    unfreeze
\    dcon-unfreeze
\    visible
\
\ up to here
\
then
boot

Make SURE that you uncomment the proper of the 2 options so in case something goes wrong your XO will boot to Sugar. Other wise you are in trouble and you'll need to reflash the NAND (or boot from SD and change the file.
If you are lucky pressing the "O" (top) gamekey during startup should get you to the tinycore. If not. Try adding also these lines in the beginning TC command line option "root=/dev/mtdblock0 rootfstype=jffs2"

If this also fails try to setup the device with UUID eg

Code:

" fbcon=font:SUN12x22 waitusb=10 tce=UUID=xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx restore=UUID=xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx home=UUID=xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx opt=UUID=xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx vga=788 settime tz=GMT-2" to boot-file

where xxxx-xxxx is a 32 digit hexadecimal number!

Finding the UUID of your XO is not simple either .

If you did not disable security or you have a clean install of os802 the UUID can be found in the 17th line of the /home/.devkey.html file. The line will be "uuid VALUE=..." and then the number.
If you have permanently inactivated security you can set any UUID you want! During boot get to the OFW prompt (pressing the escape key) and type

Code:

change-tag U# XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXX

where X are hexadecimal digits (0-9 A-F)
Use this number in the UUID version of the boot.fth file above. If this does not work try also adding "root=/dev/mtdblock0 rootfstype=jffs2" in the begining of the line.
If this does not work. I have no idea

PS: If by any chance get ti to start loading tinycore but does not go all the way because does not find one folder or another, you may need to further tinker with command line arguments of the olpc.fth. Check what messages you get during boot for clues where the problem lies or type "dmesg" if you get into a console prompt.

[XOIOWA]

Did you really add "xset -m 7/4 N" where N is NOT a number but the letter 'N" in your bootlocal.sh ?

Okay, this is funny.  Yes!  In my haste to fix things, I really did use the letter N instead of a number.  Even funnier is that I thought I saw some improvement.  It must be the placebo effect!

Also, I had already added the "blacklist ipv6" line to my /etc/modprobe.d file.  But Opera seems to still be very slow in resolving an address.  Is this unique to me, or are others experiencing slowness in Opera too?  My best comparison is Firefox under teapot's Ubuntu.  Firefox runs fairly quickly there, so I expected Opera to be even faster in Tinycore.

[mavrothal]

Okay, this is funny.  Yes!  In my haste to fix things, I really did use the letter N instead of a number.  Even funnier is that I thought I saw some improvement.  It must be the placebo effect!

No is not placebo you just changes one of the two parameters. The N denotes the pixel change before the mouse starts responding. So minimal jumps (1-3 pixels) are ignored. Unfortunately touchpad jumps are usually quite big (>20 pixels)

Also, I had already added the "blacklist ipv6" line to my /etc/modprobe.d file

How did you do that? Usually all the changes in tcz files are discarded after reboot and there is no /etc/modprobe.d/ folder in TC. You also need to "modprobe -a' to blacklist the module so the iwconfig knows there are no IPv6 tables. With the setup described above you can actually see that iwconfig output is "no IPv6 tables found"

But Opera seems to still be very slow in resolving an address.  Is this unique to me, or are others experiencing slowness in Opera too?  My best comparison is Firefox under teapot's Ubuntu.  Firefox runs fairly quickly there, so I expected Opera to be even faster in Tinycore

Although tinycore has opera 9.6 is  faster than Firefox 3.6 and Opera10 in teapot's ubuntu, in my setting . Are you using a different (external) DNS in Ubuntu or the wireless modem default DNS?
You may also wand to compare loading sites after the cache is emptied (which is done in TC in the current setting). Finally you want to make sure that the the Opera preference->advanced->browsing does not have any strange redraw setting

[XOIOWA]

Also, I had already added the "blacklist ipv6" line to my /etc/modprobe.d file

How did you do that? Usually all the changes in tcz files are discarded after reboot

To edit the file, I used "sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d".  But, you're right.  Saving it was a problem.  I found that Tinycore can save any file you want by editing /opt/.xfiletool.lst  So, I also edited that file to include "etc/modprobe.d"  Then, it will save if you shutdown Tinycore with the "backup" option.

I'll keep looking to see if I can discover the cause of Opera's slowness.

[mavrothal]

If I (or anybody else) ever gets sound to work on it, will be really a good OS for the XO-1.

OK, here is how you can have sound on your TC-XO end enjoy your music while working on it
From the Appbowser get alsa.tcz with all its dependencies as "Optional" NOT "Install"
Since you are there also get xmms (a lightweight audio player) as optional too, and VLC! (mplayers are not working properly in this build).

After it finishes as "sudo" edit the file /tce/optional/alsa.tcz.dep and delete the first 2 lines that read:
"alsa-modules-2.6.29.1-tinycore.tcz
input-2.6.29.1-tinycore.tcz"

Then edit /opt/bootlocal.sh and add this line directly after the end of the comments

Code:

sudo mv /etc/udev/rules.d/25-alsa.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/92-alsa.rules

This step is paramount. if you reboot without it your entire TC-XO installation will crash!!!

Now open panel -> Apps Audit > Maintenance -> OnBoot
and click alsa.tcz and xmms on the left column so will load after reboot.

Reboot open a terminal and type "alsamixer -V all"
In the graphical interface that opens un-mute (type M)   Master, Master Mono, PCM, CD and external. Give some value to the first 4 (use the arrows to move across and increase/dicrease the values). (not needed anymore but educational )

Now open xmmx (should be in the panel) and first type ctrl+D to make it bigger so you can see it , then right-click and from the options -> preferences pick asla,  instead of the default oss,  from the panel that opens.
Navigate to your music and enjoy

However there is a problem. The alsamixer settings will not persist during reboot. eg will return back to defaults and be all muted (xmms is OK). So you must go through the "alsamixer -V all" step all over again .   
The solution was simple. Just add this line at the end of your /opt/bootlocal.sh file

Code:

sudo sh /usr/local/etc/init.d/alsasound start

Now alsa is ready for your enjoyment

If anybody has any idea pls come forward.
With this fixed we could have a tinycore_xo_multimedia_special  
(the build is ready. Just looking for a more permanent hosting site)

PS If somehow   you get your system ruined and you do not get to your desktop, just poweroff pressing the power button for ~5sec. Take your stick to another computer and delete the alsa.tcz and xmms at the bottom of /tce/onboot file. Reboot and start over. Check if the deletion to /tce/optional/alsa.tcz.deb is done and the addition to the /opt/bootlocal.sh is as it should and try again (no need to download the files).

[mavrothal]

I finally found a more stable home for these TinyCore Linux XO-1 builds.

So I build a new "multimedia"   version of tiny core named tc_xo_mm_tar.bz2
The build includes Opera, the XMMS audio player the VLC video player, xpdf abd Xfi, v, w, e apps for documents images and file management, mc (midnight commander) for file searches and directory viewing/management, the ALSA sound infrastructure and qt-4.5-base so other qt-based apps can be installed.
The overall size increased to 60MB but with all the apps and the 35 extensions loaded in RAM there is is still 50MB free!

Detailed instructions (including USB stick formatting) is here
Details regarding the making of the build here

Again, this build is missing power management, suspend, battery monitor, screen rotation, game keys, volume keys and screen dimming keys, so is "experimental"

Please improve it

[mavrothal]

The Xorg-7.4.tcz  extension available in the repository includes the geode driver 2.11.2!
However, despite my (poor) efforts I did not manage to get it going on TC-XO.

If there are any interested "xserver-hackers" out there, please take a look and see if you can have it run on TC-XO.

Having Xorg running is important for getting gamekeys and F-keys functioning properly since Xfbdev support for these is really minimal if any.
Screen rotation is another Xorg-only function that could benefit from it.

[mavrothal]

So I got rocker-pad keys working by adding this to the /opt/bootlocal.sh file

Code:

setkeycodes 65 103 # up
setkeycodes 66 108 # down
setkeycodes 67 105 # left
setkeycodes 68 106 # right

Xfbdev does not support keycodes above 127 that the game keys have, so they need Xorg.
The good news is that I have Xorg working in Tiny Core-XO   but needs some more work

[mavrothal]

As I said I was making a tinycore-XO-1 version with the full Xorg and tc_xo_X.tar.bz2 is now available here
It supports game keys in X and rocker pad keys in both X and Xfbdev.
Look at the changelog for additional changes

Xfbdev is still included and can be setup to run by adding it back and removing Xorg-7.4 in App Audit -> Maintenance -> On boot. Quite frankly I prefer it to Xorg. Let me know what you think.

There are and still missing functions but the good news is that teapot's script for screen brightness, and battery work as, is as well as amixer commands  for sound level. So it should be possible to set them up for X (maybe in tc_xo-0.1 ). Power management is a different story...

Can someone test if the camera is working? Mine is broken again.
Is seen by the kernel and VLC should be able to capture from it but it may need additional libraries. I haven't checked.

Help is always welcome!

[Sam J.]

I had to install wpa_supplicant in order to connect to a wireless network which uses wpa encryption. Is this normal, or should I be able to connect using only iwconfig as outlined in the instructions?