1 CHEATCODES AND HINTS FOR GRML V1.0 / GRML-SMALL V0.4 / GRML64 V0.1
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 grub Boot into the Grub bootloader
23 qemu Boot with special options for use in Qemu
24 vmware Boot with special options for use in VMware
26 Important: if you notice any problems with one of the
27 following options please report it to the grml-team:
30 Notice: not all of the following cheatcodes are available on all the grml flavours.
31 For example the X window system is not part of grml-small.
35 grml lang=at|de|cn|da|es|fr|it Specify language ($LANG, $LC_ALL, $LANGUAGE - utf8) + keyboard
36 grml lang=nl|pl|ru|sk|tr|tw|us Specify language ($LANG, $LC_ALL, $LANGUAGE - utf8) + keyboard
37 grml lang=$LANG-iso Activate $LANG (use like in lines above) with iso-mode instead of utf8
38 grml gmt Use GMT-based time
39 grml tz=Europe/Vienna Use this timezone for TZ
40 grml keyboard=us xkeyboard=us Use different keyboard layout (text-console/X)
41 grml setkeycodes Set some special function keys for MS/HP keyboards
43 Configuration settings:
44 -----------------------
45 grml myconfig=/dev/fd0 Execute "grml.sh" and extract config.tbz from a partition:
46 /dev/fd0 for floppy disk
47 /dev/sda1 for USB-stick/first SCSI-device
48 grml netconfig=server/config.tbz Download file and extract configuration archive
49 grml partconf=/dev/hda2 Copy files specified in /etc/grml/partconf from /dev/hda2
50 to booting grml system
51 grml file=foobar.tbz Use specified file as name for configuration archive
52 instead of the default one (config.tbz)
53 grml extract=/etc Extract only /etc from configuration archive,
54 use it in combination with myconfig or netconfig
55 grml home=/dev/hda2 Mount specified partition as grml homedir
56 grml home=/dev/sda1/grml.img Mount loopback file as /home/grml
57 grml home=scan Automatic search for grml homedir (using file grml.img)
58 grml hostname=... Set hostname
59 grml debnet Search through local partitions for file /etc/network/interfaces,
60 copy /etc/network to local system and restart networking then
61 grml distri=... Set distribution name to given argument. If a jpg file named like the
62 given distri name can be found in directory desktop on the ISO
63 (/cdrom/desktop/"$DISTRI") it will be taken as wallpaper for grml
64 grml unionfs Use unionfs instead of aufs as overlay filesystem
66 Notice: Take a look at http://grml.org/config/ and
67 /usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html
68 for more information regarding the configuration
71 Booting related options:
72 ------------------------
73 grml toram Copy CD to RAM and run from there
74 grml tohd=/dev/hda1 Copy CD to HD partition and run from there
75 grml fromhd Skip checking for grml on CD-ROM
76 grml fromhd=/dev/hda1 Boot from previously copied CD-Image
77 grml bootfrom=/dev/hda1 Access Image then boot from previously
79 grml bootfrom=/dev/hda1/GRML.iso Access image, boot from ISO-Image
80 grml grml_dir=GRML Directory to search for on the CD
81 grml grml_name=GRML SquashFS-File to search for on the CD
83 Debugging related settings:
84 ---------------------------
85 debug Get shells during process of booting
86 grml nocolor Disable colorized output while booting
87 grml log Log error messages while booting and
88 grml testcd Check CD data integrity and md5sums
90 Service related settings:
91 -------------------------
92 grml ssh=password Set password for user grml and start ssh-server
93 grml nosyslog Do not start syslog-ng
94 grml nogpm Disable GPM daemon
95 grml noblank Disable console blanking
96 grml small Do not start that many consoles
97 grml wondershaper=eth0,1000,500 Set up basic traffic shaping
98 grml services={postfix,mysql,...} Start service(s) which have an init-script (/etc/init.d/)
99 grml welcome Welcome message via soundoutput
100 grml noeject Do NOT eject CD after halt/reboot
101 grml noprompt Do NOT prompt to remove the CD when halting/rebooting the system
102 grml distcc=$NETWORK,$INTERFACE Activate distcc-daemon to listen on specified network
103 and interface, usage example:
104 distcc=192.168.0.1/24,eth0
105 grml gcc=3.4 gpp=3.4 Link /usr/bin/gcc, /usr/bin/cpp and /usr/bin/c++ to specified version
106 grml startx{=windowmanager} Start X window system automatically
107 Default window manager (if not provided): wm-ng (wrapper around fluxbox)
109 Accessibility related settings:
110 -------------------------------
111 grml blind Start Braille-Terminal (no X)
112 grml swspeak Prepare system for use with software synthesizer through speakup
113 Run 'swspeak' after booting up to activate sound output
114 grml brltty=type,port,table Parameters for Braille device (e.g.: brltty=al,/dev/ttyS0,text.de.tbl)
115 grml speakup_synth=... Use speakup kernel module with given hardware type
117 Hardware related settings:
118 --------------------------
119 grml swap Activate present/detected swap partitions
120 grml noswraid Disable scanning for software raid arrays (creates /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf)
121 grml swraid Enable automatic assembling of software raid arrays
122 grml scandelay[=seconds] Delay accessing ISO-device (useful for booting via usb/firewire)
123 grml cdrom=/dev/... Use specifed device as CD-ROM device (used for mounting the grml-ISO)
124 grml xmodule=ati|fbdev|i810|mga Use specified X.org-Module (1)
125 grml xmodule=nv|radeon|savage|s3 Use specified X.org-Module (2)
126 grml xmodule=radeon|svga|i810 Use specified X.org-Module (3)
127 grml no{acpi,agp,apm,cpu,dhcp} Skip parts of HW-detection (1)
128 grml no{dma,fstab,modem} Skip parts of HW-detection (2)
129 grml no{pcmcia,scsi,swap,usb} Skip parts of HW-detection (3)
130 grml 915resolution=... Start resolution modify tool for Intel graphic chipset
131 usage: $MODE,$XRESO,$YRESO
132 grml blacklist=modulename Completely disable loading of specified module via
133 blacklisting through /etc/modprobe.d/grml
134 grml fwtimeout=50 Set firmware timeout via /sys/class/firmware/timeout to specified value
135 grml nosound Mute sound devices (notice: this does not deactivate loading of sound drivers!)
136 grml vol=number Set mixer volumes to level $number
137 grml pnpbios=off No PnP Bios initialization
138 grml acpi=off Disable ACPI Bios completely
139 grml nousb2 Disable initialization of USB 2.x controller(s)
140 grml nousb Disable initialization of USB in booting sequence
141 grml nofirewire Disable initialization of firewire devices in booting sequence
142 grml pci=irqmask=0x0e98 Try this, if PS/2 mouse doesn't work *)
143 grml pci=bios Workaround for bad PCI controllers
144 grml ide2=0x180 nopcmcia Boot from PCMCIA-CD-ROM (some notebooks)
145 grml mem=128M Specify Memory size in MByte
146 grml dma Enable DMA accelleration for ALL IDE-Drives
147 grml nodma ide=nodma Disable DMA accelleration for ALL IDE-Drives
148 grml vga=normal [video=ofonly] No-framebuffer mode (does not influence X)
149 grml vga=ask [video=ofonly] Display menu for framebuffer mode
151 Installation related settings:
152 ------------------------------
154 Caution: do *not* use the grml2hd and/or debian2hd bootoption if you do not know what you are doing!
156 Install plain Debian via debian2hd bootoption (which runs grml-debootstrap in non-interactive mode):
158 debian2hd <options> ... whereas valid options for debian2hd are:
160 target= target partition/directory of the new Debian system, e.g.: target=/dev/hda1
161 grub= where to install grub to? Use grub syntax for specifying, e.g.: grub=hd0
162 groot= specify root device for usage in grub (use grub syntax), e.g.: groot=hd0,0
163 release= specify release of new Debian system (default is stable), e.g.: release=sid
164 mirror= specify mirror for apt-get/aptitude, e,g.: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
165 password= set passwort of user root without prompting for it, e.g.: password=AiTh5ahn
167 Usage example for automatic installation:
168 debian2hd target=/dev/hda1 grub=hd0 groot=hd0,0 mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
170 See http://grml.org/grml-debootstrap/ for more information.
172 Install grml via grml2hd bootoption (which runs grml2hd in non-interactive mode):
174 grml2hd <options> ... whereas valid options for grml2hd are:
176 user= user name for user which should be used at hd-install
177 filesystem={ext2|ext3|reiserfs|reiser4|jfs|xfs} filesystem to be used
178 mbr=/dev/... partition where MBR should be installed (default:=partition)
179 partition=/dev/... partition where grml should be installed
181 Usage example for booting:
182 grml2hd partition=/dev/hda4 mbr=/dev/hda filesystem=ext3 user=mika
184 Passwords of user root and user are "grml" - please adjust after hd-install!
186 See http://grml.org/grml2hd/ for more information.
191 *) Try "grml pci=irqmask=0x0e98" if (you have a notebook and) your
192 PS/2 mouse doesn't work. (Possibly caused by a BIOS-flaw on your board,
193 BIOS updates can help.) Sometimes, switching to the text console with
194 Control-Alt-F1 and back to the X-screen with Control-Alt-F7 solves the
195 problem without rebooting, since the X server reinitializes the mouse
196 driver during that procedure.
198 *) Bootfrom needs access to a running grml-System with the same Kernel
199 as the Bootkernel, before it is able to mount the partition / ISO-Image.
200 This should allow a poor mans install from NTFS-Partitions and makes it
201 also possible to boot an ISO-Image directly. You can also use wildcards
202 in the ISO-Filename, but it must be unique. So: If you have just one
203 grml.iso on /dev/hda1 you can access it as: bootfrom=/dev/hda1/G*.iso,
204 but if there are several, you need to make clear, which one you want.
205 (Feature added by Fabian Franz.)
207 *) If your grml-CD makes strange noises during boot, or you see frequent
208 errors like "squashfs: read error", or programs are crashing randomly,
209 then your CD image is probably defective or incomplete, or your CD-burner
210 created a defective CD due to wrong writing speed or bad media. This is
211 the most common error reported. Please boot with "grml testcd" to check
212 if the CD is OK, and/or even better, verify the MD5 checksums that are
213 present on the mirrors before writing the CD. Check your CD low-level
214 via running 'readcd -c2scan dev=/dev/cdrom'. In some cases, defective
215 IDE controllers cause this error if you have DMA enabled. Also, please
218 *) In case of a failing hardware autodetection, try booting with any of
219 the "no-" options as shown in the table above, like in
220 grml noagp noapm noapic acpi=off nodma
221 to skip some critical parts of the autodetection system.
223 *) Some boards apparently don't pass the proper memory size to the
224 linux-kernel. It may cause the message "Panic: cannot mount root file
225 system" and the system hangs. Use "grml mem=128M" to solve that
226 problem if your system has 128MByte memory for example (caution:
227 you MUST use a capital "M" here).
229 *) The "expert" mode provides a very simple interface to loading additional
230 Kernel modules from floppy disks (ext2 or vfat), plus interactive
231 configuration of mouse/keyboard/xserver. "expert" mode supports
232 the same boot options as "grml".
234 *) The "myconfig=/dev/partition" option allows you to reconfigure the
235 system after autoconfiguration by running a bourne shell script called
236 "grml.sh" and/or extracting configuration files from a file named
237 config.tbz from the root directory on the given device (or floppy).
238 Take a look at http://grml.org/config/ for more information regarding
239 the configuration framework of grml.
241 *) If you wish to remaster the CD, please don't forget to specify
243 -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
244 -b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin -c boot/isolinux/boot.cat
246 as option to mkisofs. Otherwise your CD won't be bootable. The
247 directory GRML, containig the compressed filesystem file "GRML",
248 must be located in the top level directory of the CD.
250 *) Caution: screensavers: Don't start xlock/vlock or any other screensaver
251 that requires a password. There are no default passwords on grml,
252 i.e. all accounts are LOCKED unless you explicitly set a password.
253 See also README_Security.txt about this issue.
254 Hint: If you accidentially started a screensaver switch to one of the
255 textconsoles by Control-Alt-F1 and kill the screensaver (or just set a
256 password for the grml user). Take a look at the script grml-lock.