[syslinux] 10 year old question

[Daryl Kuchay]

Is there a non pae version of this repack available? I like the .dat file approach... got to the end of loading the RAM disk image and it said pae not available on cpu and quit

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> On May 13, 2020, at 4:31 PM, Daryl Kuchay <daryl.kuchay at icloud.com> wrote:
> 
> Thank you for your information. I did look at this last week on the murga forum and saw archive.org mirroring, clever! I just tried the last 4 releases of tinycore to find .... pae kernels. Cant use those. I just watched dcore xenial (16.04) load for 20 minutes and cause reboot once ram was filled up. 
> 
> Let me try this as I really want. to provide relevant information. BTW is this mistfire? I didnt want to approach on other site. I admire your work if it is. 
> 
> Daryl
> 
>> On May 13, 2020, at 4:26 PM, Jane Todoroski via Syslinux <syslinux at syslinux.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> Sorry to butt in like this, but (for once) I starter reading a syslinux
>> related "thread" and I thought I might help.
>> 
>> I've been working on a AIO boot USB and looking into various lightweight
>> live Linux distros. Of course, Puppy was at the top of the list, but
>> lately... it's become kinda bloated and with too much make up... at least
>> for my taste. So, I started looking for alternatives and I ran into a
>> Puppy/Slitaz "mix" (fork): TazPuppy.
>> 
>> http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=113255
>> 
>> It's still in beta, but I believe it might be just what the OP is looking
>> for. It's small, lightweight, has a variety of tools and it's being
>> regularly updated by the author (even though it's still in beta).
>> 
>> I would recommend the Beta 46 version since after Beta 46, the author
>> changed some of the drivers to support newer hardware and, well... that
>> messed up booting to X on old hardware :-\. I've been meaning to write in
>> the thread on the Puppy Linux forum about this problem, just never got to
>> it.
>> 
>> Here's a link to the ISO for the Beta 46.
>> 
>> https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LzSoDegRJpeY9wc2VROKGZKmEdpT-sf0
>> 
>> I believe the author uses an older syslinux version for the ISO, can't
>> remember which one though.
>> 
>> I've also made a repack of the ISO because of the protected vs. real mode
>> problem regarding distros using SquashFS as a deployment method. The repack
>> contains all of the sqfs files into the initrd, so the init doesn't have to
>> look for the required files further than it's own back yard :). Here's a
>> link to my repack.
>> 
>> https://drive.google.com/open?id=19p_v3cgyvcbiUFe0HOAT2aLfJSsqk-Q_
>> 
>> My repack is built with the latest stable syslinux release, 6.03. See if it
>> boots as it should from a CD/DVD. If it does, you could try installing the
>> bootloader to the internal drive, copy the required files and make your own
>> cfg file to boot to TazPuppy. You could take the cfg file from the ISO as
>> an example of how a custom made cfg for syslinux should look like. Don't
>> forget the kernel boot parameters, most of them are required in order for
>> TazPuppy to boot properly on (almost) all hardware.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Jane Todoroski
>> 
>> On Wed, May 13, 2020 at 7:26 PM Ady via Syslinux <syslinux at syslinux.org>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>>> Syslinux is used to boot many distributions of linux however on this
>>> hardware
>>>> the most recent version of syslinux that I have seen work is version
>>> 3.82 or
>>>> version 3.83. If I try a distribution on v4 or newer of syslinux I see
>>> the boot
>>>> hang on the first line indicating what version of syslinux is being
>>> used.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Are you saying that official Syslinux 3.86 (the last in the 3.xx) fails to
>>> boot
>>> this system while 3.82 succeeds?
>>> 
>>> How _exactly_ do you install the bootloader to the destination media?
>>> Which
>>> _exact_ version of v4.xx have you tried? Is it from some package or from
>>> built-in binaries from upstream Syslinux?
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> webdt.org has been read only for years now and mostly due to the fact
>>> that
>>>> owners of the hardware are limited to old versions of puppy linux, the
>>> last to
>>>> support the aging hardware in the world. This is largely due to the fact
>>> that
>>>> syslinux has updated to the point of no longer supporting the hardware.
>>>> Grub-0.97 is also the last version of grub that supports the hardware so
>>> this is
>>>> not singular.
>>>> 
>>>> The irony of the packaging timelines with regard to this hardware are
>>> humorous.
>>>> At the point in time that linux console tools, and namely inputattach,
>>> started
>>>> to support this hardware (penmount serial touchscreen being able to
>>> attach to
>>>> evdev) was about one version behind the point that syslinux started to
>>> not
>>>> support the hardware. Accidental I am sure however it is very hard to
>>> make a
>>>> version fo linux to support this hardware due to these timelines.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> You could install whichever version of SYSLINUX as bootloader,
>>> independently of
>>> which Linux OS you are booting. IOW, you don't really have to use the
>>> package
>>> from the OS you are installing. Some binaries of some upstream versions
>>> might
>>> fail under some circumstances (e.g. some library / dependency
>>> incompatibility
>>> or so), but, generally speaking, it is worth trying them.
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> My questions are:
>>>> 
>>>> Was this by design? I well understand dropping legacy to advance code
>>> but with
>>>> so many of these in the wild.....   ebay dt research or webdt. I see
>>> over a
>>>> thousand of them today in lot quantities.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Is it possible that the only real problem here is that you need to specify
>>> a
>>> number of sectors and/or a number of heads when executing the SYSLINUX
>>> installer, for the resulting code to be able to boot this hardware in this
>>> BIOS?
>>> 
>>> Have you tried using the "-s" slow, stupid, safe option of the SYSLINUX
>>> installer?
>>> 
>>> In the Syslinux wiki, I would suggest searching for the "Install" wiki
>>> page.
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> Is there anything I can do to get more modern versions of syslinux to
>>> boot on
>>>> the hardware in question?  IE workarounds or modifications to boot lines
>>> being
>>>> used?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Read my prior questions / hints/ suggestions.
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> We are supported by linux kernel up to version 5 on the hardware. It
>>> would be
>>>> nice if other areas of linux followed suit. I have leaned on distribution
>>>> maintainers to possibly make an iso with older syslinux on it so that
>>> owners of
>>>> the hardware would be supported however many indicate they would not be
>>> sure
>>>> they could support it.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I'm confused; please clarify. Are you looking for an ISO image, or for a
>>> way to
>>> install SYSLINUX (whichever version you would need) as bootloader to/of
>>> the
>>> storage media?
>>> 
>>> If you are looking for an ISO image, do you mean that you need for it to
>>> use
>>> SYSLINUX as bootloader (either as floppy emulation or as HDD emulation),
>>> instead of using ISOLINUX (no emulation)?
>>> 
>>> Since, of course :), you already tried with Slitaz (and Puppy), I am
>>> wondering
>>> whether the problem is in Slitaz itself, or rather in the bootloader
>>> package.
>>> The Syslinux-related tools in Slitaz are great (and in fact, I wish they
>>> were
>>> in upstream too), but it is worth noting that they are made in-house, and
>>> thus,
>>> upstream Syslinux binaries might behave differently (i.e. the results
>>> might
>>> vary).
>>> 
>>> FWIW, older Puppy variants used to use SYSLINUX 3.xx for a very long time.
>>> You
>>> might be able to use a SYSLINUX installer from one of those older versions
>>> in
>>> order to install SYSLINUX 3.xx, just to be able to boot with it, and from
>>> it
>>> you should be able to start a newer Linux kernel by editing syslinux.cfg.
>>> 
>>> Regards,
>>> Ady.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Syslinux mailing list
>>> Submissions to Syslinux at syslinux.org
>>> Unsubscribe or set options at:
>>> https://lists.syslinux.org/syslinux
>>> 
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>