Blackrhino USB install with Kernelloader

[deba5er]

@dlanor - The FAT32 partition and its contents survive. I think 256MB is minimum to hold the kernel/initrd and two .bz2 distro files. FAT32 is tested now, and is the way to go. Unfortunately I am still trying to get the "parted" command to compile. It has more than the usual errors, and is requiring many code mods... I still think it is possible to compile, so I will continue, but it may not be done for an evening or two due to the amount of troubleshooting involved. After it works I will consider examining user entry of sizes, but for now fixed is simple and is my goal.

[dlanor]

@dlanor - The FAT32 partition and its contents survive.

Good. That's what I was hoping for.

I think 256MB is minimum to hold the kernel/initrd and two .bz2 distro files.

Really ?
Here the two distro files of yours that I downloaded plus the kernel and initrd files I mentioned before only take up 150 MB altogether, but I guess it won't hurt to have a safety margin, and 256 is a nice 'rounding size'. That FAT32 partition is probably what most people will use for transporting new packages from the PC to the PS2 linux system, so it should have sufficient size for such uses.

FAT32 is tested now, and is the way to go.

I assume you mean that for the first partition, with the distro files etc, but still using ext2 for the main linux partition (to avoid casing problems etc).

Unfortunately I am still trying to get the "parted" command to compile. It has more than the usual errors, and is requiring many code mods... I still think it is possible to compile, so I will continue, but it may not be done for an evening or two due to the amount of troubleshooting involved.

Yeah, I never expected this to be solved in a hurry anyway. I agree that it definitely can be done and should be done. But it needs to be done right, which is far more important than doing it quickly.

After it works I will consider examining user entry of sizes, but for now fixed is simple and is my goal.

Fixed size is acceptable for me too, at an initial stage, assuming the size itself is not too outrageous.
IMO it should be possible to use a pendrive with a total size of 1GB.

Just remember that a retail size claim of 1GB always means something far less than 2^30 (the proper binary GB size), and usually even less than 10^9 (the decimal GB size). So some flexibility in the size of the last 'fixed' partition may be needed.

Theoretically you could probably press the requirement down much further, to 512 MB or even less, but I don't see that as necessary.

The main problem with this approach is that it will not be possible for people to combine this PS2 Linux usage with use of USBAdvance on the same USB device. So the docs must be very clear on this, so people don't destroy their USBA game collections by mistake.

Best regards: dlanor

[dwegiel]

Ok, I've got the PS2 portion down, but what about the partitioning in ubuntu? I don't know how to do it :b

Also, I can now use my HDD! I got a 40 GB dissected from an old PC i never use. I'll attempt the install of it TODAY, and post a proggy. Sorry for not responding so long, but it is one busy summer for me.

So if you can help me iin partitioning in Linux/Windows (I have Paragon Partition Manager 8.0), I will be happy.

[Northbear]

You should get GParted it's free and it's linux so all formats that will be used by linux are implemented.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/





Best regards
Northbear

[deba5er]

You should get GParted it's free and it's linux so all formats that will be used by linux are implemented.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

Best regards
Northbear

Gparted is a Gnome frontend for parted, and requires libparted. Since I have to compile libparted as the majority part of getting parted to work it would be harder to go straight to gparted in compilation terms. I found that I could after much effort in code change compile the latest version of parted - 1.9.0 but it would not recognize any disk/usb labels. So it contains some logic errors either through the use of the old compiler or my changes to make it compile (probably the latter). I wanted this version because it handled other filesystem types, which would have made it useful outside of the installer I am working on. However, I won't work on this version further because...

Good news however is that after wasting many hours on the 1.9.0 dead end, I easily compiled version 1.6.25.1 and it works on FAT, linux-swap, and ext2 partitions, which is enough to continue with the installer. It passed the manual command tests, and I was able to do everything from ps2-linux command prompt that I expect to script and work from initrd.

The initrd has to be compact so I used strip on the libraries, executables within and I believe I can get this to work as well but haven't tested it yet.

Thanks for the tip though!

[deba5er]

Ok, I've got the PS2 portion down, but what about the partitioning in ubuntu? I don't know how to do it :b

Also, I can now use my HDD! I got a 40 GB dissected from an old PC i never use. I'll attempt the install of it TODAY, and post a proggy. Sorry for not responding so long, but it is one busy summer for me.

So if you can help me iin partitioning in Linux/Windows (I have Paragon Partition Manager 8.0), I will be happy.

Glad to hear you can use the hdd - it is quicker and should be easier. I am working on an installer now (for USB first, then can easily change initrd to allow hdd), but in the meanwhile you can manually use these instructions - http://kernelloader.sourceforge.net/...talllinux.html

[Northbear]

So if you can help me iin partitioning in Linux/Windows (I have Paragon Partition Manager 8.0), I will be happy.

Gparted is for use on pc side to prepare hdd for linux or windows. So it wasn't directly meant to be used for PS2 linux.

But im glad to hear that the effort to get PS2 linux on usb device is constantly moving towards it's goal.

I hope i will see a noobie-proof package in near future

Best regards
Northbear

[dwegiel]

Ok, well can I install the distro from 4 shared on my internal HDD? I've got it installed after nearly 4 hours of hard labor. And yet, when I boot up the root is screwed =/. I gave up on the entire USB Linux project, when I realized it has no real point. If I don't get this running by tomorrow, Ill just get a refurbished xbox from gamestop and do the same s**t withou the complications (50 bucks is freaking worth it!).

Well on to the point. I get this error (along with a few before):
--------------------------------------------------
fsck failed. Please repair manually and reboot. Please note that the root filesystem is currently mounted read-only. To remount it read-write:

# mount -n -o remount,rw /

CONTROL-D will exit from this shell and reboot the system.
-------------------------------------------------
That is the error.

Also did anyone see brgagaeloel's custom distro? Googgle brgagaeloel and you will find it. It worked before, but on 2.2.1 kernel. On 2.4.11, it throws a bunch of errors about the mouse when starting X.

Thanks for all your help. I'm a nerd in just about everything except for Linux/unix. What seems like the simplest command to you, is like a senseless word to me. Please explain everything in detail, but in simple terms. I want some other people to accomplish the goal of installig Linux on their slims.

Typed on a damn iPod touch, thNks to whch my thugs hurb lie heell
^^ lol spell check fail =P

[deba5er]

@dweigel - The fsck error means that the filesystem on the Linux partition is corrupt and that the normally automatic fsck couldn't fix the problems. If the device is /dev/hda1 I would recommend that you boot using the initrd.gz instead of trying to boot off of the hard drive. When you get the # prompt, you can enter "fsck -y /dev/hda1" where hda1 is representative of whatever your root PS2-Linux filesystem is called. After the filesystem is fixed, try to boot from the hard drive (not using the initrd.gz in kernelloader). If you are following the steps from http://kernelloader.sourceforge.net/...talllinux.html note which steps didn't work as supposed to (with errors) and I'll see if I can work through it with you. If you made it to step 23 with no errors other than the one noted above, what is the kernelloader kernel parameter configuration from step 21.

As far as better automated installation goes, I am working on the USB version at the moment, and as until recently a hdd-only PS2-Linux user, I'm still finding problems to fix before the automated install will work. I have to modify my distro to work for USB. I did get the single partition FAT USB flash drive to auto-resize (reduce) the FAT partition, create the swap and Linux partitions based on user-selected sizes, then load my distro. I used Mega Man's 2.4 kernel throughout, with a modified version of his initrd.usb.gz for usb_install and usb_run. I coincidentally am still fixing the shutdown scripts to properly unmount the filesystem so that it won't corrupt. Kind of a show-stopper, but I know I can fix it.

[dwegiel]

Wow you are trying to make this fully automatic? Damn, that is a huge effort, and I give you all the thanks and hope possible.

As for the install, I have any error messages printed that the date is in the future. It ends on the second package with error: exit delayed due to previous errors (or something like that). I read up on the net, and it is sai that it is no big deal and it should work. The parameters for the kernel are as stated in Megaman's tut.

Please excuse the spelling errors, typing on an iPod touch is quite hard, and I can't use my pc since it is running around 10 "bots" in different online games.