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unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 23 Aug 2013, 21:34
by rmcellig
I have installed the latest Porteus to my USB stick. It works great on my HP DV6. When I boot up on my HP DV 2000 laptop, I can boot into a terminal fine but not the GUI interface I am accustomed to. What should I do to get this working?

I have had issues with this with other distros. I always had to update/install the nvidia driver. I am totally new to Porteus and am hoping I can use this instead of Puppy Linux.

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 23 Aug 2013, 21:44
by wread
Welcome an board rmcellig!

As root, type xconf to configure your x-server and then type startx.....

You mean the same usb runs ok in one machine and not on the other?? Is it an old vintage laptop or has the laptop little ram?

Good luck!

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 23 Aug 2013, 22:03
by rmcellig
The DV2000 laptop is not that old. Maybe 5 years. It has 3GB of RAM.

So you are saying when I boot up the USB stick on the DV2000 boot using the terminal option and then type xconf, and then check out what I can modify in there and then use startx to start the X server?

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 23 Aug 2013, 22:16
by rmcellig
I got it to work. After typing xconf, instead of selecting xstart, I chose the one next to it. Can't remember the name of it or what it does. I think it was init 4 or something like that. What does this option do?

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 23 Aug 2013, 22:20
by wread
init 4 starts the gui :Yahoo!:

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 23 Aug 2013, 22:23
by rmcellig
So I should be OK now? Do I have to do this every time I boot from the usb stick?

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 23 Aug 2013, 23:12
by donald
rmcellig wrote:I always had to update/install the nvidia driver.
If you need the nvidia-driver, you can download them here:
for Porteus 32-bit-version
http://ponce.cc/porteus/i486/current/drivers/
for Porteus 64-bit-version
http://ponce.cc/porteus/x86_64/current/drivers/

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 24 Aug 2013, 01:11
by francois
This is because you work with the change= cheatcode. Look in the /boot/syslinux folder, there is a file porteus.cfg

Your xorg.conf is set for the first computer and then saved in the /porteus/change folder. This is why the setting does not suit the second computer. :)

In this case

1) you could use the always fresh mode for the second computer or

2) you could insert the cheatcode:

Code: Select all

cliexec=xconf;telinit~4
in the porteus.cfg file as in:

Code: Select all

# Old menu
# LABEL xfce
# MENU LABEL Graphics mode (XFCE)
# KERNEL vmlinuz
# APPEND initrd=initrd.xz autoexec=xconf;telinit~4 changes=/porteus

# New menu with autostart to refresh with xconf
LABEL xfce
MENU LABEL Graphics mode (XFCE)
KERNEL vmlinuz
APPEND initrd=initrd.xz cliexec=xconf;telinit~4 changes=/porteus

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 24 Aug 2013, 01:40
by rmcellig
I don't know what a cheatcode is....yet. I'm still getting familiar with how Proteus works. I have to say that so far I have installed it to DVD, USB stick, and hard drive.

I am familiar with puppy Linux and was wondering what are the similarities. Are modules like . Pet files in puppy? Is the cheatcode similar to pfix=ram for example?

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 24 Aug 2013, 01:49
by francois
Look at my precedent post, I have modified it.

And google is my friend and could be yours. Thus googe with keywords cheatcode porteus yields:
http://www.porteus.org/tutorials/26-gen ... them.html

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 24 Aug 2013, 01:55
by rmcellig
Thanks for the info. I just read about cheatcodes and they are similar to what I use in puppy Linux on startup if need be. It seems to me that Porteus goes beyond what puppy Linux does. Am I correct.

Tomorrow I will attempt to try Porteus on my old Dell 3000 which is 32bit. I like the idea of customizing your ISO file before downloading it.

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 24 Aug 2013, 02:00
by francois
With porteus you really get in the Alice's wonderfull world of cheatcodes, which brings a lot of functionality to the system. I am sure you will like it. :)

Porteus comes with syslinux when it is setup with the guy on usb, but we are many to use grub legacy instead, when it comes to install porteus in frugal or hdd mode. I use slackware grubconfig to do that:
http://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=946

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 24 Aug 2013, 07:27
by fanthom
@francois
in Porteus-2.1 'autoexec=' cheatcode is not valid anymore. it has been split into 'cliexec=' (for executing commands in console) and 'guiexec=' (for executing commands when xorg is started).

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 24 Aug 2013, 10:12
by rmcellig
I'm sure I will have a lot of questions. I will look through the tutorials as well. Are there any good videos you would recomend I look at?

Re: unable to access X from USB stick

Posted: 24 Aug 2013, 10:34
by francois
@fanthom:
Thanks for the update on this one.
Precedent post edited to change autoexec to cliexec.
We will need an update to the faq:
http://www.porteus.org/tutorials/26-gen ... -them.html