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I have a Tashiba Satallite Widnows 7 64-bit computer, using the CSM booting option, with Windows 8.1 currently installed. I use an 8G SanDisk Cruzer Glide Flash Drive and my preferred medium is to install a live version of a stable Slitaz 4.0 iso on this simple flash drive. I have tried formatting the flash drive using NTSF, Fat32, and exFAT. No matter what I do, I can't get Slitaz to boot up and work for me. I've been trying to install Slitaz on this flash drive for more than a year with no luck at all. (Peppermint OS, and Ubuntu do install on the flash drive -- and I know, reading over and over again, that Slitaz is not Ubuntu. I get that. I just want to install this very clever distro live on my uncorrupted flash drive without issue.) Also, it did not work in Windows 7 for me before installing 8.1 either.
I've read what I could on the subject. Everything seems to be a no-no that I'm doing so I see, but I can't think of any other way to install the 4.0 distro. I just want the thing to boot up and work like it did at one time for me with my old and retired HP Vista 64 bit computer.
Also I've checked all MD5 checksums, and all match perfectly.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. No hurry. I can't wait longer if need be, but I'd like to work and learn more about Linux and Slitaz if my computer will permit it.
Thank you, anybody and all, for any help or suggestions at all.
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Hi perknh,
Let me ask to you a few questions.
[*]What ISO do you use : slitaz-4.0.iso or slitaz-4.0-core ?
[*]How did you try to install the files on your flash disk?
[*]Does a LiveCD of SliTaz start on your computer?
[*]Are there several partitions on your flash disk?
[*]You say "No matter what I do, I can't get Slitaz to boot up"; what happens? Does windows start or is there an error message, black screen... ?
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Ceel, thank you very much for answering me. Here are the answers to your questions:
1. SliTaz GNU/Linux 4.0 (35 Mb) - slitaz-4.0.iso [ md5 ]
2. I used UUI (Universal USB Installer).
3. I've never tried a CD, since I'm more comfortable using flash drives more than CDs, and the flash drive I haves are suited for Windows 7, not 8.1 which I am currenly running.
4. No partitions -- none.
5. With SliTaz GNU/Linux 4.0 installed on the flash drive I end up with dark grey screen. When I do not have a flash drive installed in my computer, Windows always boots up fine.
Another observation that might be helpful:
When I try SliTaz' rolling release, it does boot up and give me an graphical user interface, but I then I have no Internet connection.
Thank you.
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I don't know UUI, I'll have a look at it in the next days. May be your problem comes from the iso: slitaz-4.0.iso is a multi rootfs image; this causes problem with Lili Creator and UNetbootin when creating Lives USB from windows.
Can you try to do your live with the slitaz-4.0-core.iso and tell me? This iso always boot on the "core version", you won't have choice at boot between core or GTK only or justX or base.
By the way, can you tell me what bootloader UUI uses, please?
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I learned about UUI from Ubuntu. Ubuntu recommends the use of UUI. Here's a link to it: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/
I tried again, choosing only core live and I got the same results -- a plain black or dark grey screen.
To be honest, I don't still understand some of the terms Linux uses, and I looked at the properties of UUI, and all I could see of use was that the type of file was an Application (.exe). I hope that's what you mean when you're asking me what bootloader UUI uses.
I hope this limited information I can provide is helpful, and I thank you for taking the time to look into this.
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Ref:
SD Card - How to install SliTaz to a MMC/SD flash memory card
http://doc.slitaz.org/en:guides:sdcard
Installing SliTaz to a MMC/SD-card
LiveUSB-type installation
Regular "hard-drive"-type installation
Example as used on my own Asus Eee-PC
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Hi perknh
you said that you never tried a Live-CD.Try it now.It has two advantages:
1.you will see if Slitaz4 is supporting your Hardware and working flawlessly.
2.It is really easy to install Slitaz to your flash-drive,
within a running Slitaz environment, using TazPanel.
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@perknh
Well, I suspect your problem coming from the hardware; using a CDrom will go probably to the same result.
I have problem too to boot SliTaz 4.0 on my Fujitsu Lifebook S752 and have to modify the configuration file of the bootloader (the program that launchs linux from your flash drive).
If you can access to the files of your flash drive, you should find a folder named /boot/grub or /boot/syslinux or /boot/extlinux. The configuration file is in this folder; its name is respectively menu.lst or syslinux.cnf or extlinux.conf. It is a text file you can edit. You'll find in it a line similar to one of these:[c]
kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/null vga=normal autologin
[/c]
or[c]
append initrd=/boot/rootfs.gz rw root=/dev/null vga=normal autologin
[/c]
Whatever the case, replace [c]autologin[/c] with [c]nomodeset[/c] and add [c]screen=text[/c] at the end of the line.
You should be able to boot in mode text. If yes, we'll see how to start SliTaz then.
EDIT: May be simpler:
When the orange screens with the menu, is displayed, select the core option and press [Tab]. You'll be able to modify the line and boot.
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Sorry for the delay getting back to everyone -- a bad winter blizzard here put everone behind with their normal activities. So thank you everyone for your patience with me here, as well as your ideas, and new insights, as to how to approach this problem I've had here.
First to alanyih, I just purchased a microSDHC Card with Adapter for a new Android phone. This is all completely new to me so I need to see how it will go for the phone first.
And, sixofeight, what I have here are secure DVDs for Windows 7, and I've now bumped myself up to Windows 8.1 and they don't work for me any longer. Believe, me I've tried, and I believe the problem here is with 8.1. I'm not eager to buy new DVDs because I just may go back to Windows 7. I haven't made up my mind if I'm going to keep 8.1 or not. 8.1 seems to be both good and bad, and I just don't know which way to go with it yet.
And finally Ceel, I agree that my problem is hardware related. I shouldn't be having so many difficulties. When I hit the Tab key as you suggest, I do get a boot command which is blinking. You'd like me to type in one or the other of the two commands you've given me, right? No sudo or yum, or anything like that before writing the command, right? So far nothing has worked.
Ceel, I'm trying to learn command lines for Linux, but every Linux distribution seems to have a different set of commands. Maybe here I need to type "root" first -- I don't know.
It's also possible, my SliTaz Friends, that I am on a fools errand here -- and nothing is going to work for me until SliTAZ 5 comes out! I'm using a new Toshiba laptop (Satallite edition) computer that was made for Windows 7. I had had no problem with SliTaz booting from a flash drive on my old HP laptop that had come with Vista installed. I just may be having a hardware problems beyond my abilities to resolve.
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These are not linux commands. If you get the orange screen
[*]select SliTaz core Live
[*]hit [Tab] key
[*]with [Backspace] key erase autologin and type nomodeset screen=text
Then hit [Enter]
You should obtain a message like this at the end of boot:
[c]Welcome to your box.[/c]
[c]SliTaz boot time: 8s
login:[/c]
Type [c]startx[/c] to try to start SliTaz; tell me then what happens (if error message, post it)
[attachment=27564,1293]
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Hello Ceel. Here are my results:
I got no error message! I got a Lui which simply asked me for a password. I tried these two passwords "root" and "slitaz", as well as nothing at all. I didn't know the right password to enter, but all you told me to do worked as you suspected.
Thank you.
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Sorry, I forgot to tell you. After[c]
slitaz login:[/c]
just type [c]tux[/c] (no password) and hit [Enter]
Then you can try [c]startx[/c]
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Tnank you, Ceel.
Here's what I get after typing in "tux":
Welcome to the Open Source World!
...ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY
tux@slitaz:~$
Then I type in "startx" and after that I get:
/home/tux/.xsession: .: line 3 can't open'...(and it goes on and on and on with code...)
Hopefully, Ceel, this is giving you some sort of a clue as to what kind of problem we're dealing with here, and I do thank you very much for your patience with this.
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Hi perknh,
This is not bad news, you should be able to start SliTaz. After you log-in as tux, type
[c]mkdir /home/tux/.config/slitaz/[/c] don't forget the point before [c]config[/c]
then
[c]cp /etc/slitaz/applications.conf /home/tux/.config/slitaz/[/c]
then
[c]su[/c]
You'll be prompt for a password ([c]root[/c]). Nothing displays when typing the password.
Then type [c]slim[/c]. The login box will open with the username tux. Hit [Enter] twice.
The bad news is that you have to do it each time you'll boot your live. I think you shouldn't have any problem if you do a full install later.
EDIT
Forgot to mention that after SliTaz starts, your keyboard will probably return to QWERTY configuration.
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Hello Ceel,
I see 3 important spaces, yes?
I see a space after "mkdir", then after "cp", and then after "applications.config" -- am I correct here?
My problem is I can't write this entire code in without SliTaz not allowing me to finish. I'm putting in the points ".s" as you say, but I can never finish the entire code without SliTaz taking off on me with a flurry of its own code. I can never complete my task.
I'm just checking in with you. I know we're very close, but I'm not quite hitting it yet.
And thank you very, very much. I know this is not easy.
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Hi perknh,
I see a space after "mkdir", then after "cp", and then after "applications.config" -- am I correct here?
Yes, you are. But I don't understand what you mean by "I can't write this entire code in without SliTaz not allowing me to finish"
There are 3 commands:
[*][c]mkdir /home/tux/.config/slitaz/[/c]
hit [Enter]; this command creates the directory slitaz/ in /home/tux/.config/
[*][c]cp /etc/slitaz/applications.conf /home/tux/.config/slitaz/[/c]
hit [Enter]; this command copy the file applications.conf from the directory /etc/slitaz/ in /home/tux/.config/slitaz/
[*][c]su[/c]
hit [Enter]; this command allows you to become super user and launch the slitaz login manager.
What command fails? 1, 2 or 3?
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I'm sorry, Ceel, I was trying to run the commands all together. I should have seperated each of them with [Enter]. I just got your message, and since it is very late here, I will work on this tomorrow. It was my mistake. Sorry.
I did purchace more flash drives today so we'll be able to make a permanent install to a flash drive once I get this process right.
I will report in as soon as I can.
Thank you.
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Don't worry perknh,
Everyone can be wrong and we all needed to learn one day :-)
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Hello Ceel,
I have a strange report.
First of all it is like my live flash drive install is remembering the commands I'm entering. What I can say for sure is that the command definitely fails after the 2nd command, and sometimes it shows me I'm wrong after the 1st!
I can put: mkdir /home/tux/cconfig/slitaz/ -- that I can do!
One time I got tux@slitaz:~$cpu 2-1.1: USB disconnect, address ... after I entered the 2nd command.
Another time, it lauched right into this code immediately after I had written the 1st command:
mkdir /home/tux/cconfig/slitaz/ -- as if it had remembered what I had entered the time before. So I've had 2 different experiences with the same code, as if there was memory in the flash drive that had anticipated what I was going to write.
Does this information help you? Or does this make any sense to you what I am saying?
I know I can write line 1, but then things start acting funny, and without any consistency that I can make any sense of.
Thank you.
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Hello perknh,
SliTaz is a really nice distro but cannot yet anticipate what you want to do ;-)
I suppose you accidentaly press on the [Up] key that recalls the previous command you type.
I suggest you try again.
Is it a typo? the right path is /home/tux/.config/slitaz/ not /home/tux/cconfig/slitaz/
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It must be a typo.
Yes, SliTaz is a really nice distro.
I would like to have SliTaz running on a flash drive. I believe the way to do this install it live on one flash drive in order to permanently install it to another. I believe that's how it's done. My problem is I can't get it up and running live on the first flash drive -- even though you have been a great deal of help in making this possible for me to do so.
I'd be just has happy with the rolling release if I could get the distro to connect to the Internet.
I'll try again.
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Yes, the first step is to run SliTaz from your live and I think you can do it. The message concerning the USB disconnect has no relation with the commands you used.
Strange you cannot connect to the internet with rolling. Did you try through ethernet or wifi?
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Hi Ceel,
I tried through ethernet, and within the last hour I just tried the rolling release again, as well as one of the SliTaz flavors (I don't remember its name) from the old SliTaz 3 days. (There was an update today for more USB support in Windows 8 and 8.1). Still, again, no Internet connection.
Here's what I'm thinking:
I went back, and you were right I must have had a typo in what I had written, but I still couldn't do anything after cp /.
Now, on a slightly different subject, but possibly related to our problems here, I tried to place an iso of Linux Lite live on a flash drive, and I found out through one of Linux Lite's pages that my hardware wasn't supported. I suspect that's the problem I'm having here with SliTaz. Some distros work for me -- Peppermint, Cruchbang, Manjaro, and some don't -- Linux Lite, SliTaz, and maybe Bridge Linux is iffy too.
This is my best guess as to why I'm stuck here. I really do have hardware issues.
Although I do have a modem and a router (TP-Link) and I have Wi-Fi turned on for an Android tablet, I don't use Wi-Fi myself. It's just on, and lightly password protected. Also its firewall is enabled, of course.
SliTaz to me is very interesting, and I like Midori browser a lot. I'm also facinated with the size, lightness, and speed of SliTaz, but with this new computer of mine, I can't get SliTaz working. I'm just remembering SliTaz from the days of my last computer -- an HP Pavillion which had come with Vista installed.
I'm also a newbie to the Linux world although I've learned quite a bit on my own -- with help from people in the forums, and with what I've read on the Web, and with what I've watched on YouTube.
In general, I'm just facinated with Linux. I do have my share of frustration at times playing around with this stuff also. Linux seems to be hit or miss with me, but when it works well, it's a great experience, and hell of a lot of fun. I also think pound for pound, it's a safer OS than Windows.
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Hi perknh,
I'm always persuaded it's possible to run SliTaz 4 on your machine.
cp is a basic command of linux and you shouldn't have any error message till you hit [Enter].
I never asked you, but how many Mo RAM your computer has?
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Hi Ceel,
I have either 4 or 6 gigs of RAM. But I don't know how to check it, Ceel.
Ceel, I made a mistake last night while trying put #! (CrunchBang) onto a flash drive. I accidentally put GRUB on my primary hard drive for CrunchBang instead of putting GRUB on the flash drive as I should have. After that I could never get my native Windows 7 (with my 8 and 8.1 installations) back. Even after trying an emergency system reset, Windows was gone! I was up all night with this, and by 4 am this morning I had, believe it or not, Manjaro Linux on my computer instead of CruchBang! This, again, was by a mistake with my flash drive -- but a welcomed one this time because of the aesthetics of Manjaro.
Now I don't know how to check my system for you. Now I need two Windows items, Hotmail and Skype and I don't know to add WINE yet, or use the terminal to get them. Also, I don't know how to transfer the SliTaz iso I downloaded today to a flash drive either, since I had always used Windows USB tools before, and Unetbootin doesn't seem to working for me yet. I've tried using it twice.
But my computer does have either 4 or 6 gigs of memory, but I don't know how to check it for you. I'm not sure how perfect my installation was with Manjaro either, since I wasn't trying install it at the time.
The good news is, I finally got what I always wanted -- a Linux disto on my computer -- even if it was all by accident!
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