1 CHEATCODES AND HINTS FOR GRML
2 ==============================================================================
4 These options work from the (isolinux/grub) bootprompt of grml based (live) systems.
6 The following kernel options are available (do NOT use them as 'grml $OPTION',
7 use them as '$OPTION'!):
9 grml Use default settings (same as just pressing return)
10 grml2ram Copy grml's squashfs file to RAM and
11 run from there (compare with 'grml toram')
12 memtest Run Memtest86+ instead of Linux
13 fb1280x1024 Use fixed framebuffer graphics (1)
14 fb1024x768 Use fixed framebuffer graphics (2) [notice: grml's default]
15 fb800x600 Use fixed framebuffer graphics (3)
16 nofb Disable framebuffer
17 floppy Boot from floppydisk
18 hd / hd1 / hd2 / hd3 Boot from (local) primary / secondary /... harddisk
19 failsafe Boot with (almost) no HW-detection
20 debug Get shells during process of booting for debugging
21 bootchart Create chart of booting sequence in /var/log/bootchart.tgz
22 forensic Do not touch any harddisks during hardware recognition
23 serial Activate ttyS0 and start mgetty
24 grub Boot Grub bootloader (special all-in-one-image)
27 hdt Boot Hardware Detection Tool (from syslinux project)
28 qemu Boot with special options for use in Qemu
29 vmware Boot with special options for use in VMware
31 The following boot options can be combined.
32 Notice: not all of the them are available on all the grml flavours.
33 For example the X window system is not part of grml-small.
37 grml lang=at|de|cn|da|es|fr|it Specify language ($LANG, $LC_ALL, $LANGUAGE - utf8) + keyboard
38 grml lang=nl|pl|ru|sk|tr|tw|us Specify language ($LANG, $LC_ALL, $LANGUAGE - utf8) + keyboard
39 grml lang=$LANG-iso Activate $LANG (use like in lines above) with iso-mode instead of utf8
40 grml gmt Use GMT-based time
41 grml tz=Europe/Vienna Use this timezone for TZ
42 grml keyboard=us xkeyboard=us Use different keyboard layout (text-console/X)
43 grml setkeycodes Set some special function keys for MS/HP keyboards
45 Configuration settings:
46 -----------------------
47 grml myconfig=/dev/fd0 Execute "grml.sh" and extract config.tbz from a partition:
48 /dev/fd0 for floppy disk
49 /dev/sda1 for USB-stick/first SCSI-device
50 grml netconfig=server/config.tbz Download file and extract configuration archive
51 grml partconf=/dev/hda2 Copy files specified in /etc/grml/partconf from /dev/hda2
52 to booting grml system
53 grml file=foobar.tbz Use specified file as name for configuration archive
54 instead of the default one (config.tbz)
55 grml extract=/etc Extract only /etc from configuration archive,
56 use it in combination with myconfig or netconfig
57 grml home=/dev/hda2 Mount specified partition as grml homedir
58 grml home=/dev/sda1/grml.img Mount loopback file as /home/grml
59 grml home=scan Automatic search for grml homedir (using file grml.img)
60 grml hostname=... Set hostname
61 grml distri=... Set distribution name to given argument. If a jpg file named like the
62 given distri name can be found in directory desktop on the ISO
63 (/cdrom/desktop/"$DISTRI") it will be taken as wallpaper for grml
64 grml debnet Search through local partitions for file /etc/network/interfaces,
65 copy /etc/network to local system and restart networking then
66 grml mypath=... Add specified option into $PATH of Zsh.
67 For example when using "grml mypath=/foobar" then /foobar
68 will be added to the end of $PATH inside Zsh.
69 grml noautoconfig Disable searching for device labeled GRMLCFG.
71 Notice: Take a look at http://grml.org/config/ and /usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html
72 for more information regarding the configuration framework of grml.
74 Booting related options:
75 ------------------------
76 grml2ram Copy grml's squashfs file to RAM and run from there
77 grml toram Copy the whole CD/medium to RAM and run from there
78 grml toram=filename.squashfs Copy the specified file to RAM and run from there
79 Usage example: grml toram=grml-medium.squashfs
80 Notice: grml2ram is an alias for this option which
81 corresponds with the grml flavour settings by default.
83 grml tohd=/dev/sda1 Copy grml's squashfs file to harddisk partition for later
84 use via "grml bootfrom=/dev/sda1"
85 grml bootfrom=/dev/sda1 Use the squashfs file from directory 'live' of the specified device.
86 Setup can be done booting 'grml tohd=/dev/sda1' or
87 running 'rsync -a --progress /live/image/live /mnt/sda1/'.
88 grml isofrom=/dev/sda1/grml.iso Use specified ISO image for booting.
89 Useful when booting as a rescue system from harddisk - just boot
90 the according grml kernel and initrd using the bootoptions
91 "boot=live isofrom=/dev/sda1/grml.iso".
92 Notice: "fromiso" does the same as "isofrom", it's just there
93 to prevent any typing errors.
94 grml findiso=/grml_2009.05.iso Look for the specified ISO file on all disks where it usually
95 looks for the .squashfs file (so you don't have to know the device name
96 as in isofrom=....). [Available since grml 2009.05]
97 grml live-media-path=live Sets the path to the live filesystem on the medium.
98 By default, it is set to /live.
99 grml module=grml Instead of using the default "$name.module" another file can
100 be specified without the extension ".module"; it should be placed
101 on "/live" directory of the live medium.
102 Useful for Multiboot USB pen, see
103 http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=tips#multiboot_usb_pen
105 Debugging related settings:
106 ---------------------------
107 debug Get shells during process of booting, using GNU screen, most verbose
108 grml debug Get shells during process of booting, using GNU screen, verbose
109 grml debug=noscreen Get shells during process of booting, verbose, but without using GNU screen
110 grml nocolor Disable colorized output while booting
111 grml log Log error messages while booting to /tmp/grml.log.`date +%Y%m%d`"
113 grml testcd Check CD data integrity and md5sums
115 Service related settings:
116 -------------------------
117 grml ssh=password Set password for user grml and start ssh-server
118 grml startup=script Start $script instead of grml-quickconfig on startup
119 grml nosyslog Do not start syslog daemon
120 grml nogpm Disable GPM daemon
121 grml noconsolefont Disable setting of console font (using consolechars)
122 grml noblank Disable console blanking
123 grml tsplash Text based bootsplash
124 grml noquick Disable grml-quickconfig startup script
125 grml small Do not start that many consoles
126 grml wondershaper=eth0,1000,500 Set up basic traffic shaping
127 grml services={postfix,mysql,...} Start service(s) which have an init-script (/etc/init.d/)
128 grml welcome Welcome message via soundoutput
129 grml noeject Do NOT eject CD after halt/reboot
130 grml noprompt Do NOT prompt to remove the CD when halting/rebooting the system
131 grml distcc=$NETWORK,$INTERFACE Activate distcc-daemon to listen on specified network
132 and interface, usage example:
133 distcc=192.168.0.1/24,eth0
134 grml gcc=3.4 gpp=3.4 Link /usr/bin/gcc, /usr/bin/cpp and /usr/bin/c++ to specified version
135 grml startx{=windowmanager} Start X window system automatically
136 Default window manager (if not provided): wm-ng (wrapper around fluxbox)
138 Accessibility related settings:
139 -------------------------------
140 grml blind Start Braille-Terminal (no X)
141 grml swspeak Prepare system for use with software synthesizer through speakup
142 Run 'swspeak' after booting up to activate sound output
143 grml swspeak=espeak Use espeakup (if available) as connector to speakup.
144 Run 'swspeak' after booting up to activate sound output
145 grml swspeak=speechd Use speech-dispatcher / speechd-up (if available) as connector to speakup.
146 Run 'swspeak' after booting up to activate sound output
147 grml brltty=type,port,table Parameters for Braille device (e.g.: brltty=al,/dev/ttyS0,text.de.tbl)
148 grml speakup_synth=... Use speakup kernel module with given hardware type
150 Hardware related settings:
151 --------------------------
152 grml swap Activate present/detected swap partitions
153 grml noswraid Disable scanning for software raid arrays (creates /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf)
154 grml swraid Enable automatic assembling of software raid arrays
155 grml nolvm Disable scanning for Logical Volumes (LVM)
156 grml lvm Automatically activate Logival Volumes (LVM) during boot
157 grml readonly Make sure all harddisk devices (/dev/hd* /dev/sd*) are forced to read-only mode
158 grml xmodule=ati|fbdev|i810|mga Use specified X.org-Module (1)
159 grml xmodule=nv|radeon|savage|s3 Use specified X.org-Module (2)
160 grml xmodule=radeon|svga|i810 Use specified X.org-Module (3)
161 grml no{acpi,agp,apm,cpu,dhcp} Skip parts of HW-detection (1)
162 grml no{dma,fstab,modem} Skip parts of HW-detection (2)
163 grml no{pcmcia,scsi,swap,usb} Skip parts of HW-detection (3)
164 grml 915resolution=... Start resolution modify tool for Intel graphic chipset
165 usage: $MODE,$XRESO,$YRESO
166 grml blacklist=modulename[,module2] Completely disable loading of specified module(s) via
167 blacklisting through udev's /etc/modprobe.d/grml
168 grml fwtimeout=50 Set firmware timeout via /sys/class/firmware/timeout to specified value
169 grml nosound Mute sound devices (notice: this does not deactivate loading of sound drivers!)
170 grml vol=number Set mixer volumes to level $number
171 grml micvol=number Set mixer volume of microphone to level $number (default: 0)
172 grml pnpbios=off No PnP Bios initialization
173 grml acpi=off Disable ACPI Bios completely
174 grml nousb2 Disable initialization of USB 2.x controller(s)
175 grml nousb Disable initialization of USB in booting sequence
176 grml nofirewire Disable initialization of firewire devices in booting sequence
177 grml pci=irqmask=0x0e98 Try this, if PS/2 mouse doesn't work *)
178 grml pci=bios Workaround for bad PCI controllers
179 grml ide2=0x180 nopcmcia Boot from PCMCIA-CD-ROM (some notebooks)
180 grml mem=128M Specify Memory size in MByte
181 grml dma Enable DMA accelleration for ALL IDE-Drives
182 grml nodma ide=nodma Disable DMA accelleration for ALL IDE-Drives
183 grml vga=normal [video=ofonly] No-framebuffer mode (does not influence X)
184 grml vga=ask [video=ofonly] Display menu for framebuffer mode
186 Installation related settings:
187 ------------------------------
189 Caution: do *not* use the grml2hd and/or debian2hd bootoption if you do not know what you are doing!
191 Install plain Debian via debian2hd bootoption (which runs grml-debootstrap in non-interactive mode):
193 debian2hd <options> ... whereas valid options for debian2hd are:
195 target= target partition/directory of the new Debian system, e.g.: target=/dev/hda1
196 grub= where to install grub to? Use grub syntax for specifying, e.g.: grub=hd0
197 groot= specify root device for usage in grub (use grub syntax), e.g.: groot=hd0,0
198 release= specify release of new Debian system (default is stable), e.g.: release=sid
199 mirror= specify mirror for apt-get/aptitude, e,g.: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
200 password= set passwort of user root without prompting for it, e.g.: password=AiTh5ahn
202 Usage example for automatic installation:
204 debian2hd target=/dev/hda1 grub=hd0 groot=hd0,0 mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
206 See http://grml.org/grml-debootstrap/ for more information.
208 Install grml via grml2hd bootoption (which runs grml2hd in non-interactive mode):
210 grml2hd <options> ... whereas valid options for grml2hd are:
212 user= user name for user which should be used at hd-install
213 filesystem={ext2|ext3|reiserfs|reiser4|jfs|xfs} filesystem to be used
214 mbr=/dev/... partition where MBR should be installed (default:=partition)
215 partition=/dev/... partition where grml should be installed
217 Usage example for booting:
218 grml2hd partition=/dev/hda4 mbr=/dev/hda filesystem=ext3 user=mika
220 Passwords of user root and user are "grml" - please adjust after hd-install!
222 See http://grml.org/grml2hd/ for more information.
227 *) Try "grml pci=irqmask=0x0e98" if (you have a notebook and) your
228 PS/2 mouse doesn't work. (Possibly caused by a BIOS-flaw on your board,
229 BIOS updates can help.) Sometimes, switching to the text console with
230 Control-Alt-F1 and back to the X-screen with Control-Alt-F7 solves the
231 problem without rebooting, since the X server reinitializes the mouse
232 driver during that procedure.
234 *) If your grml-CD makes strange noises during boot, or you see frequent
235 errors like "squashfs: read error", or programs are crashing randomly,
236 then your CD image is probably defective or incomplete, your CD-burner
237 created a defective CD due to wrong writing speed or bad media or your
238 CD-ROM drive is broken. This is the most common error reported. Please
239 boot with "grml testcd" to check if the CD is OK, and/or even better,
240 verify the MD5 checksums that are present on the mirrors before writing
241 the CD. Check your CD low-level via running 'readcd -c2scan
242 dev=/dev/cdrom'. In some cases, defective IDE controllers cause this
243 error if you have DMA enabled. Also, please read the grml-FAQ.
245 *) In case of a failing hardware autodetection, try booting with any of
246 the "no-" options as shown in the table above, like in
247 grml noagp noapm noapic acpi=off nodma
248 to skip some critical parts of the autodetection system.
250 *) Some boards (especially those with E-ISA slots) apparently don't pass
251 the proper memory size to the linux-kernel. It may cause the message
252 "Panic: cannot mount root file system" and the system hangs. Use "grml
253 mem=128M" to solve that problem if your system has 128MByte memory for
254 example (caution: you MUST use a capital "M" here).
256 *) The "myconfig=/dev/partition" option allows you to reconfigure the
257 system after autoconfiguration by running a bourne shell script called
258 "grml.sh" and/or extracting configuration files from a file named
259 config.tbz from the root directory on the given device (or floppy).
260 Take a look at http://grml.org/config/ for more information regarding
261 the configuration framework of grml.
263 *) If you wish to remaster the CD, please don't forget to specify
265 -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
266 -b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin -c boot/isolinux/boot.cat
268 as option to mkisofs. Otherwise your CD won't be bootable. The
269 directory live, containing the squashfs compressed filesystem file,
270 must be located in the top level directory of the CD.
272 *) Caution: screensavers: Don't start xlock/vlock or any other screensaver
273 that requires a password. There are no default passwords on grml,
274 i.e. all accounts are LOCKED unless you explicitly set a password.
275 See also README.txt about this issue.
276 Hint: If you accidentially started a screensaver switch to one of the
277 textconsoles by Control-Alt-F1 and kill the screensaver (or just set a
278 password for the grml user). Take a look at the script grml-lock.
projects / grml-live.git / blob