1 CHEATCODES AND HINTS FOR GRML V0.8
2 ==============================================================================
4 These options (can be combined) work from the isolinux bootprompt:
6 grml Use default settings (same as just pressing return)
7 memtest Run Memtest86+ instead of Linux
8 expert [options...] Interactive setup for experts
9 fb1280x1024 Use fixed framebuffer graphics and X resolution (1)
10 fb1024x768 Use fixed framebuffer graphics and X resolution (2)
11 fb800x600 Use fixed framebuffer graphics and X resolution (3)
12 nofb Disable framebuffer
13 floppy Boot from floppydisk
14 hd / hd1 / hd2 / hd3 Boot from (local) primary / secondary /... harddisk
15 failsafe Boot with (almost) no HW-detection
16 debug Get shells during process of booting for debugging
17 bootchart Create chart of booting sequence in /var/log/bootchart.tgz
18 forensic Do not touch any harddisks during hardware recognition
19 splash Text based bootsplash
20 serial Activate ttyS0 and start mgetty
22 Important: if you notice any problems with one of the
23 following options please report it to the grml-team:
28 grml lang=at|de|cn|da|es|fr|it Specify language ($LANG, $LC_ALL, $LANGUAGE) + keyboard
29 grml lang=nl|pl|ru|sk|tr|tw|us Specify language ($LANG, $LC_ALL, $LANGUAGE) + keyboard
30 grml gmt Use GMT-based time
31 grml tz=Europe/Vienna Use this timezone for TZ
32 grml keyboard=us xkeyboard=us Use different keyboard layout (text-console/X)
33 grml setkeycodes Set some special function keys for MS/HP keyboards
35 Configuration settings:
36 -----------------------
37 grml myconfig=/dev/fd0 Execute "grml.sh" and extract config.tbz from a partition:
38 /dev/fd0 for floppy disk
39 /dev/sda1 for USB-stick/first SCSI-device
40 grml netconfig=server/config.tbz Download file and extract configuration archive
41 grml partconf=/dev/hda2 Copy files specified in /etc/grml/partconf from /dev/hda2
42 to booting grml system
43 grml file=foobar.tbz Use specified file as name for configuration archive
44 instead of the default one (config.tbz)
45 grml extract=/etc Extract only /etc from configuration archive,
46 use it in combination with myconfig or netconfig
47 grml home=/dev/hda2 Mount specified partition as grml homedir
48 grml home=/dev/sda1/grml.img Mount loopback file as /home/grml
49 grml home=scan Automatic search for grml homedir (using file grml.img)
50 grml hostname=... Set hostname
51 grml debnet Search through local partitions for file /etc/network/interfaces,
52 copy /etc/network to local system and restart networking then
54 Notice: Take a look at http://grml.org/config/ and
55 /usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html
56 for more information regarding the configuration
59 Booting related options:
60 ------------------------
61 grml toram Copy CD to RAM and run from there
62 grml tohd=/dev/hda1 Copy CD to HD partition and run from there
63 grml fromhd Skip checking for grml on CD-ROM
64 grml fromhd=/dev/hda1 Boot from previously copied CD-Image
65 grml bootfrom=/dev/hda1 Access Image then boot from previously
67 grml bootfrom=/dev/hda1/GRML.iso Access image, boot from ISO-Image.
68 grml grml_dir=GRML Directory to search for on the CD.
69 grml grml_name=GRML SquashFS-File to search for on the CD.
71 Debugging related settings:
72 ---------------------------
73 debug Get shells during process of booting
74 grml nocolor Disable colorized output while booting
75 grml log Log error messages while booting and
76 grml testcd Check CD data integrity and md5sums
78 Service related settings:
79 -------------------------
80 grml ssh=password Set password for user grml and start ssh-server
81 grml nosyslog Do not start syslog-ng
82 grml nogpm Disable GPM daemon
83 grml noblank Disable console blanking
84 grml small Do not start that many consoles
85 grml wondershaper=eth0,1000,500 Set up basic traffic shaping
86 grml services={postfix,mysql,...} Start service(s) which have an init-script (/etc/init.d/)
87 grml welcome Welcome message via soundoutput
88 grml noeject Do NOT eject CD after halt/reboot
89 grml noprompt Do NOT prompt to remove the CD when halting/rebooting the system
90 grml distcc=$NETWORK,$INTERFACE Activate distcc-daemon to listen on specified network
91 and interface, usage example:
92 distcc=192.168.0.1/24,eth0
93 grml gcc=3.4 gpp=3.4 Link /usr/bin/gcc, /usr/bin/cpp and /usr/bin/c++ to specified version
94 grml startx{=windowmanager} Start X window system automatically.
95 Default window manager (if not provided): wm-ng (wrapper around fluxbox)
97 Accessibility related settings:
98 -------------------------------
99 grml blind Start Braille-Terminal (no X)
100 grml swspeak Prepare system for use with software synthesizer through speakup
101 Run 'swspeak' after booting up to activate sound output.
102 grml brltty=type,port,table Parameters for Braille device (e.g.: brltty=al,/dev/ttyS0,text.de.tbl)
103 grml speakup_synth=... Use speakup kernel module with given hardware type
105 Hardware related settings:
106 --------------------------
107 grml scandelay[=seconds] Delay accessing ISO-device (useful for booting via usb/firewire)
108 grml xmodule=ati|fbdev|i810|mga Use specified X.org-Module (1)
109 grml xmodule=nv|radeon|savage|s3 Use specified X.org-Module (2)
110 grml xmodule=radeon|svga|i810 Use specified X.org-Module (3)
111 grml no{acpi,agp,apm,cpu,dhcp} Skip parts of HW-detection (1)
112 grml no{dma,fstab,modem} Skip parts of HW-detection (2)
113 grml no{pcmcia,scsi,swap,usb} Skip parts of HW-detection (3)
114 grml 915resolution=... Start resolution modify tool for Intel graphic chipset
115 usage: $MODE,$XRESO,$YRESO
116 grml blacklist=modulename Completely disable loading of specified module via
117 blacklisting through /etc/modprobe.d/grml
118 grml fwtimeout=50 Set firmware timeout via /sys/class/firmware/timeout to specified value
119 grml nosound Mute sound devices (notice: this does not deactivate loading of sound drivers!)
120 grml vol=number Set mixer volumes to level $number
121 grml pnpbios=off No PnP Bios initialization
122 grml acpi=off Disable ACPI Bios completely
123 grml nousb2 Disable initialization of USB 2.x controller(s)
124 grml nousb Disable initialization of USB in booting sequence
125 grml nofirewire Disable initialization of firewire devices in booting sequence
126 grml pci=irqmask=0x0e98 Try this, if PS/2 mouse doesn't work *)
127 grml pci=bios Workaround for bad PCI controllers
128 grml ide2=0x180 nopcmcia Boot from PCMCIA-CD-ROM (some notebooks)
129 grml mem=128M Specify Memory size in MByte
130 grml dma Enable DMA accelleration for ALL IDE-Drives
131 grml nodma ide=nodma Disable DMA accelleration for ALL IDE-Drives
132 grml vga=normal [video=ofonly] No-framebuffer mode (does not influence X)
133 grml vga=ask [video=ofonly] Display menu for framebuffer mode
139 *) Try "grml pci=irqmask=0x0e98" if (you have a notebook and) your
140 PS/2 mouse doesn't work. (Possibly caused by a BIOS-flaw on your board,
141 BIOS updates can help.) Sometimes, switching to the text console with
142 Control-Alt-F1 and back to the X-screen with Control-Alt-F7 solves the
143 problem without rebooting, since the X server reinitializes the mouse
144 driver during that procedure.
146 *) Bootfrom needs access to a running grml-System with the same Kernel
147 as the Bootkernel, before it is able to mount the partition / ISO-Image.
148 This should allow a poor mans install from NTFS-Partitions and makes it
149 also possible to boot an ISO-Image directly. You can also use wildcards
150 in the ISO-Filename, but it must be unique. So: If you have just one
151 grml.iso on /dev/hda1 you can access it as: bootfrom=/dev/hda1/G*.iso,
152 but if there are several, you need to make clear, which one you want.
153 (Feature added by Fabian Franz.)
155 *) If your grml-CD makes strange noises during boot, or you see frequent
156 errors like "squashfs: read error", or programs are crashing randomly,
157 then your CD image is probably defective or incomplete, or your CD-burner
158 created a defective CD due to wrong writing speed or bad media. This is
159 the most common error reported. Please boot with "grml testcd" to check
160 if the CD is OK, and/or even better, verify the MD5 checksums that are
161 present on the mirrors before writing the CD. Check your CD low-level
162 via running 'readcd -c2scan dev=/dev/cdrom'. In some cases, defective
163 IDE controllers cause this error if you have DMA enabled. Also, please
166 *) In case of a failing hardware autodetection, try booting with any of
167 the "no-" options as shown in the table above, like in
168 grml noagp noapm noapic acpi=off nodma
169 to skip some critical parts of the autodetection system.
171 *) Some boards apparently don't pass the proper memory size to the
172 linux-kernel. It may cause the message "Panic: cannot mount root file
173 system" and the system hangs. Use "grml mem=128M" to solve that
174 problem if your system has 128MByte memory for example (caution:
175 you MUST use a capital "M" here).
177 *) The "expert" mode provides a very simple interface to loading additional
178 Kernel modules from floppy disks (ext2 or vfat), plus interactive
179 configuration of mouse/keyboard/xserver. "expert" mode supports
180 the same boot options as "grml".
182 *) The "myconfig=/dev/partition" option allows you to reconfigure the
183 system after autoconfiguration by running a bourne shell script called
184 "grml.sh" and/or extracting configuration files from a file named
185 config.tbz from the root directory on the given device (or floppy).
186 Take a look at http://grml.org/config/ for more information regarding
187 the configuration framework of grml.
189 *) If you wish to remaster the CD, please don't forget to specify
191 -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
192 -b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin -c boot/isolinux/boot.cat
194 as option to mkisofs. Otherwise your CD won't be bootable. The
195 directory GRML, containig the compressed filesystem file "GRML",
196 must be located in the top level directory of the CD.
198 *) Caution: screensavers: Don't start xlock/vlock or any other screensaver
199 that requires a password. There are no default passwords on grml,
200 i.e. all accounts are LOCKED unless you explicitly set a password.
201 See also README_Security.txt about this issue.
202 Hint: If you accidentially started a screensaver switch to one of the
203 textconsoles by Control-Alt-F1 and kill the screensaver (or just set a
204 password for the grml user). Take a look at the script grml-lock.