unable to access X from USB stick

[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.

[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!

[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?

[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?

[wread]

init 4 starts the gui

[rmcellig]

So I should be OK now? Do I have to do this every time I boot from the usb stick?

[donald]

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/

[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

[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?

[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

[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.

[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

[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).

[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?

[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