Frugal Install Tiny Core Linux

0. Introduction
1. Obtaining cfdisk and GRUB via Appbrowser
2. Open a root shell
3. Partitioning
4. Formatting
5. Copy over TC system files
6. Installing GRUB
7. Testing



0. Introduction

Before making the commitment to perform a frugal install you should consider our Quick and Easy Overview. It covers the basics of running Tiny Core from CDROM and/or USB pendrive. Most will find learning Tiny Core the quick and easy way a better starting point.

But for those who are ready to take the plunge to frugal, this guide shows step by step information on how to partition a blank IDE hard drive using cfdisk, copy over the TC operating system files, and install the GRUB bootloader on that drive.

It assumes that TC was booted from a liveCD and is already running on the target system with Internet access.

Keep in mind that this guide is basic and that the user may choose to adapt, remove and/or add parts as desired.

The result: a standard TC PPR installation.

Note: If you already have a Linux System booting via Grub, then you do not need to make a partition for Tiny Core! Tiny Core can run in a couple of directories in your existing Linux Grub installation. Skip to Step 5. You will only need to do Step 5 and add a Grub menu item (title, kernel, and initrd lines) as shown in Step 6.


1. Obtaining cfdisk and GRUB via Appbrowser

Click on the wbar icon Apps (or access the right-click menu on the desktop and selecting SystemTools/Appbrowser)

wbar_apps

Click on Connect

appbrowser

The list on the left side should now be populated. Select cfdisk.tcz from the list.

cfdisk

Then click the Go button located in the bottom left corner. It should report that it was installed successfully.

cfdisk


Note: For microcore users, the command-line version of Appbrowser is ab, so you could use ab cfdisk, or to directly download and install, use tce-load -wi cfdisk.tcz


Now repeat this process, by selecting and installing grub-0.97-splash.tcz.

grub


Note: For microcore users, the commnand line version of Appbrowser is ab, so you could use ab grub and select grub-0.97-splash.tcz, or to directly download and install, use tce-load -wi grub-0.97-splash.tcz


2. Open a root shell

Start a terminal, and type sudo su to make it a root shell:

root shell

root shell



3. Partitioning

Find a disk you want to install on. The following command will list your disks and their current partitions.

fdisk -l

Remember which disk will be used for installation. For the purposes of this guide, /dev/hda will be used.

fdisk list

The cfdisk command will be used to partition the hard drives.

cfdisk /dev/hda

Use the left and right arrow keys to navigate the bottom menu, and press Enter to select an option.

Navigate and select [ New ]

cfdisk new

Select [ Primary ]

cfdisk primary

Input the size by entering the numbers you want, or accept the default. Press enter to accept. This demonstration will use 100 MB.

cfdisk size

If prompted, choose where to put the new partition.

cfdisk where

Set the boot flag on the new partition by selecting [ Bootable ]. Remember this partition as it will be used for installation. This guide will use hda1.

cfdisk bootable

Setup the rest of the disk if preferred, when completed. Adding a swap partition is recommended.

Select [ Write ]

cfdisk write

Confirm the write by entering "yes":

cfdisk write_confirm

Select [ Quit ]

cfdisk quit



4. Formatting

Format the new partition. This demonstration will use ext3. You may format other partitions here as preferred.

mkfs.ext3 /dev/hda1

After formatting rebuild the fstab file

rebuildfstab

Note that if you wish to migrate to ext4, or use grub 2, enable 256-byte inodes by adding -I 256 to the mkfs command above. (capital i)



5. Copy over TC system files and prepare for PPR mode.

Mount the new install partition:

mount /mnt/hda1

Create directories for TC files and GRUB:

mkdir -p /mnt/hda1/boot/grub

Mount the original boot media. For this guide, TC was booted from an IDE cd-rom drive on the second channel:

mount /mnt/hdc

Copy over the file:

cp -p /mnt/hdc/boot/* /mnt/hda1/boot/

This will copy over bzImage and tinycore.gz. Ignore any "omitting directory" warnings.

Next setup the tce directory to store application extensions:

mkdir -p /mnt/hda1/tce

Prepare file for backup & restore

touch /mnt/hda1/tce/mydata.tgz



6. Installing GRUB

Copy over GRUB files (please note that the grub-0.97-splash.tcz extension will need to be installed as mentioned in step 1):

cp -p /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/* /mnt/hda1/boot/grub/

The following assumes vi, a console text editor. You can use any other editor instead, for example the "editor" in TC.

Create menu.lst: (note that "lst" contains a lower case 'L')

vi /mnt/hda1/boot/grub/menu.lst

Presss i (enters insert mode)

Enter the following:

default 0
timeout 10
title tinycore
kernel /boot/bzImage quiet
initrd /boot/tinycore.gz

If unsure, copy and paste the above. Note there's a capital i in bzImage.

Optionally, add other bootcodes now on the kernel line separated by spaces.
Note: If you are using a pendrive or other Flash device, be sure to add the boot code of waitusb=5

Press <esc> when done. Enter :x (saves and quits)

Run GRUB:

grub

Note that grub uses hd numbers in the form of (hdM,n) and (hdM), instead of hdXy and hdX.

M corresponds to a number from '0', which represents 'a' for X.
For every letter after that, add one.
'b' is '1', 'c' is '2', 'd' is '3', etc.

n corresponds to a number from '0', which represents '1' for y.
Subtract 1 from y to get n.
'1' becomes '0', '2' becomes '1', '3' becomes '2', etc.

Since this guide is using hda1 for hdXy, this means that (hdM,n) is (hd0,0)
and that the use of hda for hdX means (hdM) is (hd0)

In the grub prompt,
root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)
quit

Note: you can use tab to auto-complete.

grub installed



7. Testing

TC and GRUB are now installed!

Remove the original CD boot media:

umount /mnt/hdc
eject /dev/hdc

To test, reboot the system.

reboot

Note: the system may need to be configured to boot hdX first in the BIOS.