KLV-Airedale-rc6 with Void Linux Kernel is Available!

[Phil_54]

@wiak
Thanks for this update. No rush for fix but obviously may be of use to other users of sdcards.

@rockedge
For interest I am trying KLV_Boxer. Launched ok, and via libinput codes got touchpad working (I've no mouse). It is fast and low ram (718M with firefox browser one tab - typing from there now). If you need a tester of anything, I'll happily comply. Could use JWM gui for settings of various basics as an early input.
Update (Boxer): tried xbps-install -Syu. This ran fine, downloaded all new files, but froze up during installation. Twice. Probably too many files in RAM for my meagre 2GB. I may try later just updating browser, if that is possible.

[Clarity]

... KLV-Airedale has no chance ...

It was just an initial test. I suspect a contributer to the issue was the video used in the VM. Changing it along with add'l RAM gave a completely different experience.

NOte: That test is NOT a request for any efforts in any design changes. The info is ONLY for showing behavior...not for any changes. If problems are found, they will be listed as problems/bugs.

Other tests will be posted soon on the findings of booting the Ventoy USB; within the VM and on bare-metal. The stanzas will be posted for replication by members.

Any and all comments/recommendations will be accepted.

Again these test intend to be helpful to significantly speeding member use of these forum distros such that they can run and provide feedback with as little effort as is needed. Thereby, they can concentrate on the distro's behavior rather than ANY setup needs. This help them, helps developers, help member support, and speeds their individual knowledge to become sustaining member of this forum by making it so easy for everyone.

Merely, Download and Boot forum offerings!

[wiak]

@wiak
Thanks for this update. No rush for fix but obviously may be of use to other users of sdcards.

Been a difficult job tracking this one down since the subroutine used to trim kernel modules for the initrd was not written by myself, but I may have tracked down the current issue with it; enough to fix sdcard support at least, hopefully...

@Phil_54: It would be great if you could test a new initrd.gz in a frugal install of the current KLV-Airedale-rc6. I have made one, to hopefully work with the rc6 Void Linux kernel/modules, that I think may fix sdcard boot support, but I can't test it on my own machine right now since don't have sdcard available... also would be better to know if works on your machine since it had the problem with rc6 booting.

All you need to test this is a pristine frugal install of KLV-Airedale-rc6 and simply replace the rc6-provided initrd.gz with the one provided by the following download link:

https://mega.nz/file/LmICiCqa#qHy6_YT8W ... Q1mTxbXlYg

You need to either delete or rename the old initrd.gz and then rename this downloaded one simply to initrd.gz and see if your computer will then boot.

If it works I can then pass on the modified related FRmake_initrd_deps.sh script to rockedge for correct future builds.
Please let me know if it works for you or if you have problems trying it.

[Phil_54]

Thanks @wiak. It will have to be tomorrow or Monday, but I will get back to you very soon.
Interesting. Palemoon wouldn't download from your link. Opened portable Chrome, download no problem.

[rockedge]

Here is the link to KLV-Airedale-rc6.1 which is using the newest initrd.gz with improved SD card support.
KLV-Airedale-rc6.1.iso

[Phil_54]

@wiak @rockedge
.
Downloaded wiak last initrd.gz that I said I´d try. Replaced it in pristine rc 6.0 .iso. Reboot hung.
Downloaded rockedge updated rc 6.1 .iso. Reboot hung.
Tried some variations, which I now can´t remember details, but no joy.

I am willing to try anything else, at your request (I owe you that), but I think others need to confirm sdcard booting possible, because my laptop may be faltering, and being an old chromebook, is not typical.

As a point of preference, I find the void kernel which I used with wiak´s original modified initrd.gz and following his other advice with beta25, that on my setup, void kernel is bigger and slower to boot, and may be too much for my ram.
If I can use a smaller kernel, but keep up with the improvements, that might work for me.

Thanks to all devs for this distro.

[rockedge]

@Phil_54 I also have experienced certain machines hanging up at boot with some versions of KLV. At the time it seems like the kernel combination I was using in some KLV's. Sometimes after 10-15 minutes it would finish the boot. Then trying a different KLV same computer boots in 30 seconds.
It seems like there was a problem finding the root_fs or some other part.

I found one item that is in the versions that hang and what is not in beta25. The file grub_config.txt which is created by wd_grubconfig script. Is this behind the hangup somehow? The other factor is beta25 has a Debian derivative kernel and the rc6 and rc6.1 use a Void Linux kernel.

In the boot stanza's the grub_config.txt is referenced but is it enough to cause the boot delays? What if you delete this file and try to boot rc6.1 with the same boot stanza as beta25 is using?

Might be reaching into the dark here but looking for something halfway obvious. I could create another Debian kernel for rc6.1 to see if that boots on the ChromeBook.

[wiak]

In the boot stanza's the grub_config.txt is referenced but is it enough to cause the boot delays? What if you delete this file and try to boot rc6.1 with the same boot stanza as beta25 is using?

No, grub_config.txt is simply a txt file for the user, it isn't used by the system at all. It is generated as a convenience during build_firstrib_rootfs build script and can be regenerated using wd_grubconfig use utility, but it is not used by the initrd itself - it just provides accurate and convenent grub.conf menu stranzas that a user could use to boot the system.

I have found my stash of SD cards and will try one to see if my old HP elitebook can now be booted. I'm afraid I don't think I can help Phil_54 further unless SD card booting fails to work - rather, his machine may simply not be compatible with Void Linux current upstream kernel (I wouldn't know). But it has been a good report because definitely there was a problem with modules missing for SD booting that shoudn't have been, and that is fixed now. Whether SD cards can now be used for booting I will determine - if not then I'll find out why (and that would help Phil's machine of course).

[rockedge]

@wiak That's what I mean, the grub_config.txt couldn't be a problem and is very convenient for getting the boot stanza's. It is a kernel problem I also believe.

Going to try out a Debian kernel built now for KLV using @fredx181 's script, then create an arrangement with other rc6.1 components in the way beta25 is put together. This is really to see how it runs. I personally am having good results using the Void Linux kernel but other than a bunch of testing in virtual machines, I have booted KLV on 3 different types of laptop, 2 different commercial grade servers and 3 desktops all with good performance.

Now I just booted a KLV-Airedale-rc6.1 from a 4 gb micro-SD through USB3.0 adapter from a USB3.0 port on the DELL PowerEdge R210 II blade server. I used wd_grubconfig to generate boot stanza's that I pasted into the Grub4Dos menu on the server's internal HDD. The system booted to the desktop in under 40 seconds maybe even quicker.

the micro-SD is formatted as ext4, labeled as klvsys and has the boot flag set and also has had Grub4Dos setup an MBR and the menu.lst is edited to contain the wd_grubconfig generated boot stanza's

[Phil_54]

@rockedge
@wiak
Thanks for responses.
I re-downloaded rc6.1. I put contents in SDcard folder and iso in Ventoy.

In sdcard folder I ran wd_grubconfig, copied appropriate stanza into menu.lst. Boot hung on initrd line. Waited 5 minutes, nothing.

In ventoy usb stick I tried ventoy selection, which got me to the klv boot selection screen (small success). Tried a couple of the options. In each case I get a memory insufficent error, so I edit kernel line with mem=1952M. ( I have to do this for some distros and puppies both in ventoy and menu.lst. I don´t know why some manage without this). Anyway, waited 2 minutes and blank screen only.
I also tried to find it in the SG2D iso on ventoy usb but couldn´t see it.

I then reformatted my now empty SSD 16Gb (ext4). I put the extracted rc 6.1 folder there, ran wd_grubconfig and put stanza into sdcard menu.lst.
Boot hung as before.

Therefore, as suspected, my rig is saying get a new laptop. My heart says, hey, this baby still has a battery capacity of 3 hours after 10 years daily use. Get a minimal low ram distro and be happy. Don´t produce laptop waste unnecessarily.

@wiak gave me instructions to use a hybrid on this link viewtopic.php?p=77743#p77743, which uses debian kernel beta25. So If I can continue with this until RC.6.1 evolves into full release, then I may request a new bespoke initrd.gz for that release if I still can´t launch it anywhere.
Thank you so much for your time. Will do any more test variations if requested.

[wiak]

@rockedge
@wiak
Thanks for responses.
I re-downloaded rc6.1. I put contents in SDcard folder and iso in Ventoy.

In sdcard folder I ran wd_grubconfig, copied appropriate stanza into menu.lst. Boot hung on initrd line. Waited 5 minutes, nothing.

In ventoy usb stick I tried ventoy selection, which got me to the klv boot selection screen (small success). Tried a couple of the options. In each case I get a memory insufficent error, so I edit kernel line with mem=1952M. ( I have to do this for some distros and puppies both in ventoy and menu.lst. I don´t know why some manage without this). Anyway, waited 2 minutes and blank screen only.
I also tried to find it in the SG2D iso on ventoy usb but couldn´t see it.

I then reformatted my now empty SSD 16Gb (ext4). I put the extracted rc 6.1 folder there, ran wd_grubconfig and put stanza into sdcard menu.lst.
Boot hung as before.

Therefore, as suspected, my rig is saying get a new laptop. My heart says, hey, this baby still has a battery capacity of 3 hours after 10 years daily use. Get a minimal low ram distro and be happy. Don´t produce laptop waste unnecessarily.

@wiak gave me instructions to use a hybrid on this link viewtopic.php?p=77743#p77743, which uses debian kernel beta25. So If I can continue with this until RC.6.1 evolves into full release, then I may request a new bespoke initrd.gz for that release if I still can´t launch it anywhere.
Thank you so much for your time. Will do any more test variations if requested.

Could you please post your menu.lst stanza, Phil (or check with below in case you see a difference that might work for you). For some reason I think wd_grubconfig gets it wrong when I tried doing it on sdcard. Neither wd_grubconfig (nor grubconfig.txt) is part of the boot process actual though - it is just a 'helper' script... or supposed to be...

After a lot of fluffing about, having forgotten how to install onto sdcards... I finally have KLV rc6.1 booting successfully from an sdcard plugged into my old 2008 HP Elitebook 2530p (which has no hard drive and a pretty fussy, ancient SD card slot interface).

I created the install in a very roundabout way. Having been a DebianDog user for years I remembered it was pretty easy to get grub4dos bootloader onto any device using FossaDog's frugal installer, so to save my brain further what I did was to download FossaDog and put it in the BOOTISOS folder of my Ventoy usb stick, booted it that way on my main daily laptop and then plugged in the sdcard via a usb card reader (so acting like a usb stick for install purposes).

Thus, from Fossadog frugal install program I installed grub4dos bootloader to the MBR of the sdcard, which automatically generated a menu.lst (albeit for FossaDog booting, which I wasn't going to also put on the sdcard).

Still in Fossadog frugal install program I selected to use ext4 without a journal and pressed the button to start up gparted, from which I deleted the existing partition, and chose ext4 format before recreating it, gave it a LABEL "sdcard" and then set the boot flag on. At least that's what I remember I did. Of course you don't need Fossadog for all this; just that I was familiar with it...

I then copied all the KLV rc6.1 contents onto / of the sdcard

(EDIT: By the way, at that stage I am very careful to copy the vmlinuz first and sync;sync to make sure definitely written to the sdcard, and then I individually copy initrd.gz and w_init similarly followed by sync;sync before copying all the larger files involved in the install. May not be relevant or important - bit of black magic, but I've had strange result in the past with even some usb stick installs having file unfound type errors, certainly on the old machines I used back then, unless vmlinuz copied early like that immediately after partitioning and format; I wanted success so didn't risk just copying all files over in one go).

and put the following into the grub4dos menu.lst:

Code: Select all

title sda1 UUID
  find --set-root uuid () 193601b7-5241-4f12-9233-bd5349964009
  kernel /vmlinuz w_bootfrom=UUID=193601b7-5241-4f12-9233-bd5349964009=/ w_changes=RAM2
  initrd /initrd.gz

title sda1 LABEL sdcard
  find --set-root --ignore-floppies /grub_config.txt
  kernel /vmlinuz w_bootfrom=LABEL=sdcard=/ w_changes=RAM2
  initrd /initrd.gz

Finally, I took the sdcard out of the card reader and plugged it into the SD card slot interface on my old HP 2530p and pressed the ON switch, and it booted fine!!! (Note there was a longish delay of around 30 seconds between it finding vmlinuz and loading the initrd and then a black screen of around 20 seconds prior to desktop finally appearing - that happens with some kernels, on some machines - not all, for reasons unknown to me - but patience and it moved on and continued the successful boot thereafter...). So at least I know rc6 does indeed have the necessary sdcard driver modules now and works on my old machine at least (with the default supplied Void Linux kernel/modules).

I'll have to check the wd_grubconfig script to see why it gave me wrong stanzas (it included /sda1 in all the entries, which it shouldn't have).

I'm now going to try putting the KLV files into a subdirectory (/KLV) and adjust my menu.lst accordingly. I didn't do that for my first try because I remember this old machine sd card slot not working when I tried using installs in subdirectory back in the past, but I may simply have made errors back then (or the old sd driver interface driver simply doesn't work with lower level subdirectory usage). I will report back in an EDIT shortly.

EDIT: No, it did indeed not work when I instead put all the files in a subdirectory when using an sdcard slot interface on this old machine (I get an Error 2: Bad file or directory type). Might on the machines of others - could just be my sdcard interface BIOS code is pretty simplistic. Boots fine if all the KLV files put on / directory of the sdcard though (I don't copy the boot/ directory just in case some grub configs in there mess things up - though that's unlikely I think).

Your original post @Phil_54 certainly proved essential since sdcard booting would not have worked on any machine with original rc6 release since the necessary modules were definitely missing. Pity if rc6.1 continues not to boot from sdcard for you - it is now capable in terms of sdcard driver support so if not working then probably a different issue. However, my approach when something doesn't work on a computer is to suspect a simple error on my own part or suchlike - one simple mistake and nothing works of course; that is the frustration of computing. Hence I keep trying and trying again until I have exhausted any chance of ever succeeding; strangely enough it is just as I am definitely about to finally give up that my last attempt might work... luck involved for sure.

[wiak]

I mentioned what some might think my superstitious use of a 'little bit of black magic' to achieve booting success with SD card slot interface. However, just to show its further importance, I have since (on purpose) rebuilt the grub4dos sdcard from scratch per my immediately above post but this time used a /KLV subdirectory on the sdcard, but still did the 'little bit of black magic' in that I took special care to copy vmlinuz first (this time into the already created /KLV subdir) followed by sync;sync per described in above post. The end organization was exactly like the second attempt above (using subdirectory KLV, which above failed to boot), but this time, via this black magic careful rebuild it booted successfully...

Code: Select all

title sda1 UUID
  find --set-root uuid () 193601b7-5241-4f12-9233-bd5349964009
  kernel /KLV/vmlinuz w_bootfrom=UUID=193601b7-5241-4f12-9233-bd5349964009=/KLV w_changes=RAM2
  initrd /KLV/initrd.gz

title sda1 LABEL sdcard
  find --set-root --ignore-floppies /KLV/grub_config.txt
  kernel /KLV/vmlinuz w_bootfrom=LABEL=sdcard=/KLV w_changes=RAM2
  initrd /KLV/initrd.gz

Do you imagine I would waste my time repeating the build in this manner - the fact is NO - I believed the 'black magic' ingredient might well fix the boot issue... Funny I never see this result/weirdness posted on Internet by others.

NOTE WELL: All this sdcard boot of KLV does not work with this older rc6 distro (this thread). Make sure you don't read this thread and then download the wrong iso. You need the latest, which is currently rc6.1, the thread for which is here:

viewtopic.php?p=77845#p77845

Best therefore, NOT to post further in this thread. Use the latest for any further discussions on this, since it is actually about rc6.1 (and future releases).