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31 <p>Up2date: 20060813 - applies to version grml 0.8/grml-small 0.2</p>
33 <p><a name="toc"></a><strong>Index:</strong></p>
35 <p class="toc"><a href="#general">General:</a></p>
37 <li><a href="#whatis">What is grml?</a></li>
38 <li><a href="#get">Where do I get grml?</a></li>
39 <li><a href="#whatmeans">What does grml mean?</a></li>
40 <li><a href="#pronounce">How do you pronounce grml?</a></li>
41 <li><a href="#releasename">What about the release name?</a></li>
42 <li><a href="#requirements">Requirements for running grml</a></li>
43 <li><a href="#why">Why another Linux distribution?</a></li>
44 <li><a href="#license">What's the license of grml?</a></li>
45 <li><a href="#difference">What's the difference between grml and $OTHER-DISTRIBUTION? What are your main goals?</a></li>
46 <li><a href="#knoppix">What's the difference between grml and Knoppix?</a></li>
47 <li><a href="#accessibility">What does accessibility at grml mean?</a></li>
48 <li><a href="#emulation">Is it possible to run grml with $EMULATOR?</a></li>
49 <li><a href="#usbboot">How do I boot grml from a USB stick?</a></li>
50 <li><a href="#store">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></li>
53 <p class="toc"><a href="#grmlsmall">grml-small:</a></p>
55 <li><a href="#whatissmall">What is grml-small?</a></li>
56 <li><a href="#smallvsnormal">What is the difference between 'normal' grml and grml-small?</a></li>
57 <li><a href="#grmlvsdsl">What is the difference between grml-small and DSL?</a></li>
60 <p class="toc"><a href="#system">System</a>:</p>
62 <li><a href="#configure">Which tools exist to configure grml?</a></li>
63 <li><a href="#password">What are the passwords of users on grml?</a></li>
64 <li><a href="#version">How do I find out the version of grml</a></li>
65 <li><a href="#remove_cd">Is it possible to run LiveCD and eject CD-ROM?</a></li>
66 <li><a href="#language">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></li>
67 <li><a href="#kde_and_foo">KDE, Gnome, $FOO and $BAR</a></li>
68 <li><a href="#wms">Which window managers can I use?</a></li>
69 <li><a href="#usbmount">How do I mount a USB device / USB stick?</a></li>
70 <li><a href="#booting">Which ways exist to boot grml?</a></li>
71 <li><a href="#bugreport">Bugreport</a></li>
72 <li><a href="#hdinstall">Is it possible to install grml to harddisk?</a></li>
73 <li><a href="#grml2hdhang">grml2hd seems to hang?!</a></li>
74 <li><a href="#hardware">I have problems with my hardware!</a></li>
75 <li><a href="#boot">grml does not boot on my computer!</a></li>
78 <p class="toc"><a href="#kernel">Kernel</a>:</p>
80 <li><a href="#kernelconfig">Where can I find the configuration for the kernel used on grml?</a></li>
81 <li><a href="#kernelpatches">Are there any special components/patches in the kernel used on grml?</a></li>
82 <li><a href="#platform">For which platforms is the grml kernel optimized?</a></li>
85 <p class="toc"><a href="#software">Software:</a></p>
87 <li><a href="#sw_general">General</a></li>
88 <li><a href="#sw_version">What version of $PACKAGE is available?</a></li>
89 <li><a href="#init">Init-System</a></li>
90 <li><a href="#zsh">Why is zsh the default shell?</a></li>
91 <li><a href="#zsh_binsh">Wasn't zsh the /bin/sh interpreter?</a></li>
92 <li><a href="#bash">Is a bash available?</a></li>
93 <li><a href="#setuid">setuid/SUID</a></li>
94 <li><a href="#bitchx">bitchx</a></li>
95 <li><a href="#ispell">ispell</a></li>
96 <li><a href="#latex">LaTeX</a></li>
97 <li><a href="#slapd">slapd</a></li>
100 <p class="toc"><a href="#release">Release related issues</a>:</p>
102 <li><a href="#known_issues">Are there any known issues with this release?</a></li>
103 <li><a href="#proc_usb">Why isn't /proc/bus/usb mounted anymore?</a></li>
106 <p class="toc"><a href="#xserver">X-Server</a></p>
108 <li><a href="#xstart">How do I start the X server?</a></li>
109 <li><a href="#xproblem">X does not start on my box?!</a></li>
110 <li><a href="#xresolution">I don't like the resolution of X!</a></li>
113 <p class="toc"><a href="#framebuffer">Framebuffer</a></p>
115 <li><a href="#video">The boot option video does not work as expected anymore</a></li>
116 <li><a href="#fbprobs">I don't see anything when booting grml?!</a></li>
119 <p class="toc"><a href="#stuff">Unanswered stuff</a></p>
121 <li><a href="#questions">Further questions?</a></li>
122 <li><a href="#donate">You like grml? Make a donation to support our work!</a></li>
125 <h2><a name="general"></a><a href="#toc">General</a></h2>
127 <h3><a name="whatis"></a><a href="#toc">What is grml?</a></h3>
129 <p>grml is a bootable CD (Live-CD) once based on <a
130 href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/">Knoppix</a> and nowadays based on <a
131 href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. grml includes a collection of
132 GNU/Linux software especially for users of texttools and system
133 administrators. grml provides automatic hardware detection. You can use grml
134 as a rescue system, for analyzing systems/networks, or as a working
135 environment. It is not necessary to install anything to a harddisk. Due to
136 on-the-fly decompression grml includes about 2.1 GB of software and
137 documentation on the CD.</p>
139 <h3><a name="get"></a><a href="#toc">Where do I get grml?</a></h3>
141 <p>You can download grml of course: take a look at <a
142 href="/download">grml.org/download/</a>. If you want
143 to get an original grml-CD including <a
144 href="/files/#covers">the grml-cover</a>, need a
145 special amount of CDs or want your own special grml-CD (including
146 your logo, your software and/or special settings) <a
147 href="/contact/">please don't hesitate to contact
148 us</a>! Take a look at <a
149 href="http://solutions.grml.org/">grml-solutions</a> for more
150 information regarding our offers.</p>
152 <h3><a name="whatmeans"></a><a href="#toc">What does grml mean?</a></h3>
154 <p>grml is short for 'grummel' and comes close to 'argl' or 'grrr' in English. People
155 use this when they want to express their dissatisfaction/discontentedness with software
156 (amongst other things):</p>
159 $ grep -ch grml .centericq/**/history | xargs echo | \
160 sed 's/[0-9]*/& + /g' | sed 's/+ $//g' | bc -l
163 <h3><a name="pronounce"></a><a href="#toc">How do you pronounce grml?</a></h3>
166 % flite -o play -t gremel</pre>
169 $ echo 'ghroummel' | festival \-\-tts
172 <h3><a name="releasename"></a><a href="#toc">What about the release name?</a></h3>
174 <p>Codename of grml 0.8 is Funkenzutzler. 'Funken' is the german word for
175 sparks. Zutzler is austrian jargon for 'some(one|body) who sucks'. The word
176 Funkenzutzler is an austrian word for an electrical engineering technician.
177 Oh, and yes: grml is sucking since 2004. But less than the rest. Mess with
178 the best - suck like the rest.</p>
180 <p>Codename of grml-small 0.2 is Corry. Corry is the nickname of <a
181 href="/team/">Michael Gebetsroither's</a> girlfriend.</p>
184 <p>Codename of grml-small 0.3 is Bugwards. Neither backwards, nor bugs. Just Bugwards.</p>
187 <h3><a name="requirements"></a><a href="#toc">Requirements for running grml</a></h3>
191 <li>Intel-compatible CPU (i586 or later, preferably Pentium class or higher)</li>
193 <li>at least 64MB of RAM (for stable use with ramdisks for unionfs and udev
194 and running X window system we recommend at least 128MB)</li>
196 <li>grml-small: at least 32MB RAM should be available</li>
198 <li>bootable CD-ROM drive (or <a
199 href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=tips">a boot floppy</a> and standard
200 CD-ROM [IDE/ATAPI or SCSI]) [or network - see <a
201 href="#terminalserver">grml-terminalserver</a>]</li>
205 <h3><a name="why"></a><a href="#toc">Why another Linux distribution?</a></h3>
207 <p>There already exist "<a
208 href="http://www.distrowatch.com/">some</a>" distributions. We decided
209 to base our work on the existing infrastructure of <a
210 href="http://debian.org/">Debian</a> and <a
211 href="http://www.knoppix.net/">Knoppix</a> because we don't want to reinvent
212 the wheel. Some admins already use their own rescue-CD and Knoppix works but
213 does not bring that many important tools for admins and users of texttools
214 out of the box, so we decided to share our work with others.</p>
216 <h3><a name="license"></a><a href="#toc">What's the license of grml?</a></h3>
218 <p>Anything written by the grml team is published under the GPL (<a
219 href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU General Public License</a>).
220 You don't have to pay anything for running grml. <a
221 href="/donations/">Donations</a> and <a href="/contact/">feedback</a> are
222 welcome of course. If you want a special LiveCD or need support, take a
223 look at <a href="http://solutions.grml.org/">grml-solutions</a>.</p>
225 <h3><a name="difference"></a><a href="#toc">What's the difference between grml and
226 $OTHER-DISTRIBUTION? What are your main goals?</a></h3>
228 <p>The main goal of grml is to be a distribution well suited for
229 users of texttools and sysadmins. grml includes many important
230 texttools (of course awk, sed, grep, ... but also zsh, mutt[ng],
231 slrn, vim and many others) and useful programs for admin's
232 daily work. grml uses the existing infrastructure of <a
233 href="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</a>. grml was once based on <a
234 href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/">Knoppix</a> (see '<a
235 href="#knoppix">What's the difference between grml and
236 Knoppix?</a>' for more details). We are also merging
237 useful things from other distributions/live-cds to provide a
238 perfect environment.</p>
240 <h3><a name="knoppix"></a><a href="#toc">What's the difference between grml and Knoppix?</a></h3>
242 <p>grml comes with a vastly different set of software. Missing KDE
243 and OpenOffice provides the opportunity of shipping more than 800
244 packages which Knoppix does not provide on its CD version. grml
245 boots a 2.6.x kernel but no X for faster startup. Knoppix is based
246 on Debian/testing-experimental (using apt-pinning), but grml is
247 basically based on plain Debian/unstable providing more current
248 versions of software and less painfull upgrades. grml was once
249 based on Knoppix but nowadays (except for a similar initial
250 ramdisk) has nothing in common with Knoppix:</p>
254 # find / -iname \*knoppix\*
257 <p>We consider Knoppix as a brand name for live-cds nowadays and
258 provide most of Knoppix' features as well. grml uses (mostly) the
259 same cheatcodes for booting as Knoppix and even provides some extra
260 ones. So if you are used to the basic Knoppix features you might
261 find them on the grml-system as well. Ripping out the Knoppix
262 stuff makes it possible to create a grml system out of a
263 Debian system and vice versa. Running 'apt-get install grml' on a
264 Debian box will be officially supported in an upcoming version of
267 <h3><a name="accessibility"></a><a href="#toc">What does accessibility at grml mean?</a></h3>
269 <p>The grml kernel includes <a href="/kernel/#speakup">support for
270 speakup</a> and provides software like brltty (using bootoption 'grml blind
271 brltty=type,port,tbl'), emacspeak and flite.</p>
273 <h3><a name="emulation"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to run grml with $EMULATOR?</a></h3>
275 <p><a href="http://www.vmware.com/">VMWare</a> should work without any
276 problems. It's also possible to run grml with <a
277 href="http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/">QEMU</a>, an emulator for various
278 CPUs which works on Linux, Windows, FreeBSD and Mac OS X. Running grml with
279 QEMU has been tested successfully on Windows and Linux. Take a look at <a
280 href="/qemu/">the QEMU-grml-webpage</a>.</p>
282 <h3><a name="usbboot"></a><a href="#toc">How do I boot grml from a USB stick?</a></h3>
284 <p>Take a look at the script <a
285 href="/scripts/grml2usb">grml2usb</a>. For more
286 details, take a look at the <a
287 href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">usb-webpage in the
290 <h3><a name="store"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to store my settings?</a></h3>
292 <p>Yes. grml provides a powerful config framework. See <a
293 href="/config/">grml.org/config/</a>, <a
294 href="file:///usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html">/usr/share/doc/grml-saveconfig/grml-config.html</a>
295 and 'man save-config restore-config mkpersistenthome' for more
298 <h2><a name="grmlsmall"></a><a href="#toc">grml-small?</a></h2>
300 <h3><a name="whatissmall"></a><a href="#toc">What is grml-small?</a></h3>
302 <p>Whereas grml provides about 2.1 GB of software on a 700 MB ISO, grml-small
303 is a flavor with online ~55 MB ISO-size (~200 MB uncompressed). It does not
304 provide a lot of software but the essential stuff for being a rescue system
305 on a business card CD-ROM or a small USB device. You can use the Debian
306 package management system to install software on the fly (assuming you have
307 network access to a Debian mirror). Take a look at the <a
308 href="/files/">'Debian-Information'-section</a> if you are
309 searching for the package list.</p>
311 <h3><a name="smallvsnormal"></a><a href="#toc">What is the
312 difference between 'normal' grml and grml-small?</a></h3>
314 <p>The 700 MB-grml brings more than 2370 packages of software and a <a
315 href="/kernel/">full-featured kernel</a>. grml-small includes
316 about 215 software packages, lacks documentation and manpages on the ISO and
317 has a stripped-down <a href="/kernel/">kernel</a> (but still
318 provides hardware detection of course). <a
319 href="#terminalserver">grml-terminalserver</a> is <strong>not</strong>
320 available/supported on grml-small.</p>
322 <h3><a name="grmlvsdsl"></a><a href="#toc">What is the
323 difference between grml-small and DSL?</a></h3>
325 <p>DSL and grml-small have different target audiences. <a
326 href="http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/">Damn Small Linux</a> (DSL) uses kernel
327 version 2.4 whereas grml-small provides a recent version of kernel version
328 2.6. DSL provides the X window system which grml-small does not. grml-small
329 provides the most important packages for sysadmins and ships the original
330 Debian package management which allows you to install packages of the Debian
331 pool with no modifications.</p>
333 <h2><a name="system"></a><a href="#toc">System</a></h2>
335 <h3><a name="configure"></a><a href="#toc">Which tools exist to configure grml?</a></h3>
337 <p>grml provides several scripts and tools which should make life
338 easier. See 'dpkg -L grml-scripts' to get an overview of some main
339 scripts. Run 'grml-config' to get a dialog interface for the most
340 important scripts and tasks.</p>
342 <h3><a name="password"></a><a href="#toc">What are the passwords of users on grml?</a></h3>
344 <p>There are no default passwords. All accounts are locked by
345 default. Even local logins are not possible (unless you set a
346 password or create new user accounts as root). You can create
347 valid passwords using "sudo passwd [username]" from the shell
350 <h3><a name="version"></a><a href="#toc">How do I find out the version of grml</a></h3>
352 <p>Run 'grml-version' or use the following command:</p>
355 $ cat /etc/grml_version</pre>
357 <h3><a name="remove_cd"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to run LiveCD and eject CD-ROM?</a></h3>
360 $ sudo umount -l /cdrom
361 $ sudo eject /dev/cdrom # now don't run any new programs ;)
362 $ mount /dev/cdrom # mount it again if needed ;)
365 <h3><a name="language"></a><a href="#toc">How do I change the language/keyboard settings?</a></h3>
367 <p>By default grml uses English settings. But it is possible to
368 change the settings via using either the bootparam(s) lang,
369 keyboard and xkeyboard or via running grml-lang when grml is
370 already running. Usage examples:</p>
373 grml lang=de # enter this at the bootprompt and you will get
374 # German keyboard layout and German $LANG, $LC_ALL,
376 grml keyboard=de xkeyboard=de lang=at # enter this at the bootprompt
377 # and you will get German keyboard and Austrian
379 $ grml-lang de # enter this in the shell to switch keyboard layout
380 # and $LANG settings in a running grml-system
383 <p>If you are running grml from harddisk (using <a
384 href="#hdinstall">grml2hd</a>) you have several options how to set
385 language options:</p>
389 <li>adjust /etc/environment to configure global language
392 <li>set $LC_ALL, $LANG, $LANGUAGE in your ~/.xinitrc (before the
393 'exec $WINDOWMANAGER line' of course) to configure the
394 language behaviour of programs</li>
396 <li>adjust /etc/sysconfig/keyboard to configure keyboard layout
397 on console, or run 'loadkeys $KEYTABLE' manually</li>
399 <li>add 'setxkbmap $LANGUAGE' to the keybindings section in
400 your ~/.xinitrc to configure keyboard setup in X window system
401 (deactivate the xmodmap lines if necessary)</li>
405 <h3><a name="kde_and_foo"></a><a href="#toc">KDE, Gnome, $FOO and $BAR</a></h3>
407 <p>Why isn't KDE, Gnome, $FOO or $BAR part of grml? grml is a distribution
408 for users of texttools and sysadmins. If you would like to run KDE with
409 Debian use e.g. <a href="http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/">Knoppix</a>, <a
410 href="http://kanotix.com/">Kanotix</a> or <a
411 href="http://www.kubuntu.org/">Kubuntu</a>. Gnome users might find <a
412 href="http://www.ubuntulinux.org/">Ubuntu</a> useful. If you would like to
413 see a specific (software) package added to grml please <a
414 href="/report/">report it to us</a>!</p>
416 <h3><a name="wms"></a><a href="#toc">Which window managers can I use?</a></h3>
418 <p>grml is shipped only with window managers which are lightweight and
419 fast - so well suited for a live-CD. At the moment, grml provides these window managers:
420 <a href="http://wmii.de/dwm/">dwm</a>,
421 <a href="http://www.6809.org.uk/evilwm/">evilwm</a>,
422 <a href="http://www.fluxbox.org/">fluxbox</a>,
423 <a href="http://www.fvwm.org/">fvwm</a>,
424 <a href="http://fvwm-crystal.org/">fvwm-crystal</a>,
425 <a href="http://modeemi.cs.tut.fi/~tuomov/ion/">ion3</a>,
426 <a href="http://joewing.net/programs/jwm/index.shtml">jwm</a>,
427 <a href="http://pekwm.org/">pekwm</a>,
428 <a href="http://www.nongnu.org/ratpoison/">ratpoison</a>,
429 <a href="http://www.plig.org/xwinman/vtwm.html">twm</a>,
430 <a href="http://www.grassouille.org/code/w9wm/README">w9wm</a>,
431 <a href="http://www.nickgravgaard.com/windowlab/">windowlab</a>,
432 <a href="http://wmii.de/">wmi and wmii</a>.</p>
434 <p>If you are new to grml and/or prefer an easy-to-use-desktop run 'grml-x
435 wm-ng' for starting fluxbox with idesk and gkrellm.</p>
437 <h3><a name="usbmount"></a><a href="#toc">How do I mount a USB device / USB stick?</a></h3>
439 <p>Run 'mount /mnt/external1' for example if you want to mount
440 /dev/sda1. udev on grml does multiplexing for USB block devices,
441 /dev/external1 is a symlink to /dev/sda1.</p>
443 <a name="terminalserver"></a>
444 <h3><a name="booting"></a><a href="#toc">Which ways exist to boot grml?</a></h3>
446 <p>The most common way to boot grml is, of course, running from
447 CD-ROM, but grml provides many more ways to boot grml:</p>
449 <p>It is possible to boot grml via USB (e.g. USB stick or harddisk),
450 firewire, or running from a Compact Flash disk. It works out of the
451 box; you don't need to modify anything. If accessing the device
452 fails, use the 'scandelay' cheatcode on bootprompt. So, boot with
453 'grml scandelay'. If the timeout is still not long enough add the
454 time to wait in seconds as parameter: 'grml scandelay=15'. See <a
455 href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=usb">usb-webpage in the
456 grml-wiki</a> for more details.</p>
458 <p>Your computer can not boot from CD-ROM but provides a floppy
459 disk? Take a look at <a
460 href="http://btmgr.webframe.org/">btmgr</a>, <a
461 href="http://ubcd4win.com/faq.htm#floppy">ubcd4win</a> or <a
462 href="http://linux.simple.be/tools/sbm">sbm</a>. They provide
463 support for booting from CD-ROM via a special floppy disk.</p>
465 <p>grml-terminalserver makes it possible to boot your system
466 via network. If you have a floppy drive, you can even boot your
467 system over network when your network card does not provide
468 PXE-support! For more information, refer to the <a
469 href="/terminalserver/">grml-terminalserver-webpage</a>.</p>
471 <h3><a name="bugreport"></a><a href="#toc">Bugreport</a></h3>
473 <p>Take a look at the <a href="/bugs/">bugs-webpage</a>.</p>
475 <h3><a name="hdinstall"></a><a href="#toc">Is it possible to install grml to harddisk?</a></h3>
477 <p>Yes. grml provides a tool called grml2hd (see '<a
478 href="/grml2hd/grml2hd.html">man grml2hd</a>'). grml is developed on a box
479 running the grml-system itself, and we - the grml-developers - especially like
480 grml2hd because it gives us a working Linux box within 10 to 30 minutes!
481 grml2hd is perfect for prototyping: test hardware support of Linux, test a
482 specific setup, ... You can even use grml2hd in a fully automatic mode without
483 any further interaction. More information is available on <a
484 href="/grml2hd/">grml.org/grml2hd/</a> and <a
485 href="/grml2hd/grml2hd.html">man grml2hd</a>. Notice: If you are using grml
486 in a production environment and/or use a grml2hd installation, we strongly
487 recommend you subscribe to <a href="/mailinglist/">the grml user
488 mailinglist</a>! Note that grml is based on Debian unstable, so you should
489 be familiar with Debian unstable if you plan to use grml as a harddisk
492 <h3><a name="grml2hdhang"></a><a href="#toc">grml2hd seems to hang?!</a></h3>
494 <p>grml2hd seems to hang? Switch to tty12 and take a look at the syslog output.
495 If you see something like:</p>
498 SQUASHFS error: zlib_fs returned unexpected result 0x........
499 SQUASHFS error: Unable to read cache block [.....]
500 SQUASHFS error: Unable to read inode [.....]</pre>
502 <p>your ISO/CD-ROM very probably is not ok. Verify it via booting with
503 grml testcd. Check your CD low-level via running:</p>
506 # readcd -c2scan dev=/dev/cdrom</pre>
508 <p>If the medium really is ok and it still fails try to boot with
509 DMA deactivated via 'grml nodma ide=nodma' at the bootprompt.</p>
511 <h3><a name="hardware"></a><a href="#toc">I have problems with my hardware!</a></h3>
513 <p>Take a look at the script grml-hwinfo. This script generates a
514 file named info.tar.bz2 which contains important information about
515 your hardware. If you think we might help, please run
516 grml-hwinfo and send us the file with additional, relevant
517 information regarding your problem.</p>
519 <h3><a name="boot"></a><a href="#toc">grml does not boot on my computer!</a></h3>
521 <p>Please take a look at <a
522 href="/files/grml-cheatcodes.txt">the available
523 bootparamters and cheatcodes</a> and '<a href="#booting">Which ways
524 exist to boot grml?</a>'. Especially booting with 'acpi=off noapm
525 noapic' might help. Bootparameter 'failsafe' provides minimal
526 hardware detection. You still have problems? Please <a
527 href="/contact/">contact us</a>!</p>
529 <h2><a name="kernel"></a><a href="#toc">Kernel</a></h2>
531 <h3><a name="kernelconfig"></a><a href="#toc">Where can I find the configuration for the kernel used on
534 <p>See /boot/config-`uname -r` and on <a href="/kernel/">the kernel-webpage</a>.</p>
536 <h3><a name="kernelpatches"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any special components/patches in the kernel
537 used on grml?</a></h3>
539 <p>grml uses the most current stable vanilla Linux kernel from <a
540 href="http://www.kernel.org/">www.kernel.org</a> with some
541 additional patches. More information and an all-in-one patch is
543 href="/kernel/">kernel-page</a>.</p>
545 <h3><a name="platform"></a><a href="#toc">For which platforms is the grml kernel optimized?</a></h3>
547 <p>Plain i586 compatibility-mode with SMP deactivated (to avoid problems with
548 specific systems and drivers). [Note: grml-small provides a kernel with SMP
551 <h2><a name="software"></a><a href="#toc">Software</a></h2>
553 <h3><a name="sw_general"></a><a href="#toc">General</a></h3>
555 <p>Want to run a program as root? Just use 'sudo $PROGRAM'. To get a
556 root-shell run 'sudo su'.</p>
558 <p>Problems with a specific package? Please try 'dpkg-reconfigure $foo'.
559 Still encountering difficulties? Please send us a <a
560 href="/bugs/">bugreport</a>!</p>
562 <h3><a name="sw_version"></a><a href="#toc">What version of $PACKAGE is
564 <p>Take a look at the dpkg_... files in the <a
565 href="/files/#debian">Debian-Information section on
566 grml.org/files/</a>. </p>
568 <h3><a name="init"></a><a href="#toc">Init-System</a></h3>
570 <p>Why is grml using runlevel 2 as default? Because runlevel 2 is 'the
571 textonly one' and it's debian's default.</p>
573 <p>Where are all the /etc/rc#.d-directories? grml doesn't use
574 sysv-rc but file-rc. This means you can configure the init system
575 in one single file named /etc/runlevel.conf with your favourite
576 editor. No symlink-hell anymore.</p>
578 <h3><a name="zsh"></a><a href="#toc">Why is zsh the default shell (/bin/sh)?</a></h3>
580 <p>Short answer: because zsh rocks.</p>
582 <p>Longer answer taken from <a href="http://zsh.sunsite.dk/FAQ/zshfaq01.html#l3">ZSH
583 FAQ: 1.2: What is it?</a>:</p>
585 <cite> Zsh is a UNIX command interpreter (shell) which of the standard shells most
586 resembles the Korn shell (ksh); its compatibility with the 1988 Korn shell has been
587 gradually increasing. It includes enhancements of many types, notably in the
588 command-line editor, options for customising its behaviour, filename globbing, features
589 to make C-shell (csh) users feel more at home and extra features drawn from tcsh
590 (another `custom' shell).</cite>
592 <p>If you don't know zsh take a look at <a
593 href="http://zsh.sunsite.dk/FAQ/zshfaq02.html#l9">ZSH FAQ: How does zsh
594 differ from ...?</a>, 'man zsh | less -p COMPATIBILITY' and '<a
595 href="/zsh/">man zsh-lovers</a>'.</p>
597 <p>If you are a bash user and don't know zsh yet, don't be afraid. bash is largely a
598 subset of zsh and you don't have to throw away your knowledge about shell stuff.</p>
600 <h3><a name="zsh_binsh"></a><a href="#toc">Wasn't zsh the /bin/sh interpreter?</a></h3>
602 <p>Yes, until grml 0.6 zsh was the intepreter for /bin/sh. Starting
603 with release 0.7 grml uses /bin/bash as /bin/sh. The reason?
604 Debian does not support zsh as /bin/sh. Take a look at <a
605 href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=329288">#329288</a>
607 href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=340058">#340058</a>
610 <h3><a name="bash"></a><a href="#toc">Is a bash available?</a></h3>
612 <p>grml uses <a href="#zsh">zsh</a> as the default shell but, of
613 course, a current version of bash (and many other shells as well)
614 is provided by grml.</p>
616 <h3><a name="setuid"></a><a href="#toc">setuid/SUID</a></h3>
618 <p>If you set a programm SUID (setuid/mode 4755), unprivileged users on your system will
619 be able to run it. This <em>could</em> be a potentially security hole, so by default the
620 packages are configured not to install binaries with setuid. If you want to use the
621 binaries with setuid please run 'dpkg-reconfigure $packagename' or 'chmod 4755
622 =programm'. The following packages are well known to have a programm with not set
635 <h3><a name="bitchx"></a><a href="#toc">bitchx</a></h3>
637 <p>Why isn't bitchx part of grml? <a
638 href="http://www.google.com/search?q=bitchx+sucks">bitchx
639 sucks</a>. Please use a better alternative like <a
640 href="http://irssi.org/">irssi</a> or <a
641 href="http://weechat.flashtux.org/index.php?lang=en">weechat</a>
642 which are part of grml.</p>
644 <h3><a name="ispell"></a><a href="#toc">ispell</a></h3>
646 <p>You don't want to use the preselected default for ispell? Run
647 'select-default-ispell' for changing it.</p>
649 <h3><a name="latex"></a><a href="#toc">LaTeX</a></h3>
651 <p>auctex and preview-latex are loaded by default in emacs. If you want to load
652 auctex based on your personal settings put the string "(require 'tex-site)" in your
653 ~/.emacs, for preview-latex use the string '(load "preview-latex")'.<br />
654 To change this run 'dpkg-reconfigure auctex' and/or 'dpkg-reconfigure
657 <h3><a name="slapd"></a><a href="#toc">slapd</a></h3>
659 <p>The password for the admin entry in the LDAP directory is 'grml'.</p>
661 <h2><a name="release"></a><a href="#toc">Release related issues</a></h2>
663 <h3><a name="known_issues"></a><a href="#toc">Are there any known issues with this release?</a></h3>
665 <p>We won't hide anything. Therefore, we do provide all known
666 issues/bugs publicly available:</p>
670 <li><a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml_0.8">issues regarding
671 grml 0.8</a> and</li>
673 <li><a href="http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=grml-small_0.3">issues
674 regarding grml-small 0.3</a> in <a href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the
679 <p>If you find another bug, or consider something a problem not yet
680 mentioned <a href="#bugreport">please report it to us</a>!</p>
682 <h3><a name="proc_usb"></a><a href="#toc">Why isn't /proc/bus/usb mounted anymore?</a></h3>
684 <p>Starting with kernel 2.6.14, /dev/bus/usb replaces usbfs.
685 Current versions of libusb check for /dev/bus/usb's existence and
686 /proc/bus/usb is not necessary anymore (see <a
687 href="http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=336596">#336596</a>).
688 Of course 'mount /proc/bus/usb' still works; it is just not mounted
689 by default anymore. If you see any problems please <a
690 href="#bugreport">report them</a>.</p>
692 <h2><a name="xserver"></a><a href="#toc">X-Server</a></h2>
694 <h3><a name="xstart"></a><a href="#toc">How do I start the X server?</a></h3>
696 <p>Please use 'grml-x' as user grml for starting X on the live-cd. It
697 generates the config file /etc/X11/xorg.conf and lets you start commands on
698 startup (see ~/.xinitrc). Use it, for example, via switching to TTY4 (press
699 Alt+F4) and run the following command to start wm-ng (window manager fluxbox
700 with idesk and gkrellm):</p>
705 <p>If you have /etc/X11/xorg.conf already you can use 'startx' instead of
706 grml-x. Adjust ~/.xinitrc to your needs.</p>
708 <h3><a name="xproblem"></a><a href="#toc">X does not start on my box?!</a></h3>
710 <p>grml-x supports several options. If you want to set some special options
711 please take a look at the grml-x manpage (man grml-x)! Some usage examples:</p>
714 grml-x -display 8 fluxbox # start fluxbox on display 8
715 grml-x -force -nostart fluxbox # force creation of xconfig file and don't start X server
716 grml-x -hsync 60 fluxbox # set horizontal frequency and start fluxbox
717 grml-x -hsync 60 -vsync 40 fluxbox # set horizontal and vertical sync frequencies and start fluxbox
718 grml-x -mode '800x600' fluxbox # set resolution to 800x600 and start fluxbox
719 grml-x -module vesa fluxbox # start fluxbox and use vesa module
722 <h3><a name="xresolution"></a><a href="#toc">I don't like the resolution of X!</a></h3>
724 <p>Just run xrandr to switch the resolution. For example: 'xrandr -s
727 <h2><a name="framebuffer"></a><a href="#toc">Framebuffer</a></h2>
729 <h3><a name="video"></a><a href="#toc">The boot option video does not work as
730 expected anymore</a></h3>
732 <p>grml versions 0.4 and 0.5 provided <a
733 href="/kernel/#vesafbtng">vesafb-tng</a> instead of
734 normal vesafb. Starting with grml 0.6 and grml-small 0.2 vesafb-tng
735 is not part of the grml-kernel anymore because it caused too many
736 problems. Therefore, you can use the 'normal' vga=... option
739 <h3><a name="fbprobs"></a><a href="#toc">I don't see anything when booting grml?!</a></h3>
741 <p>Likely, this is a problem with vesafb framebuffer. Try to boot
742 with bootoption 'nofb' or 'grml vga=normal'.</p>
744 <h2><a name="question"></a><a href="#toc">Further questions</a></h2>
746 <p>Do you have a question which is not answered in the FAQ or in
747 the provided <a href="/docs/">documentation</a>
748 (also run 'grml-info' on your grml-system)? Run 'grml-tips
749 $KEYWORD' on your grml-system. Take a look at <a
750 href="/">the grml-website</a> and <a
751 href="http://wiki.grml.org/">the grml-wiki</a>. Please don't
752 hesitate to <a href="/contact/">contact us</a>, a
753 good place to start is the <a
754 href="/mailinglist/">grml mailinglist</a>.</p>
756 <h3><a name="donate"></a><a href="#toc">You like grml? Make a donation
757 to support our work!</a></h3>
759 <p>grml is, as every other Open-Source project, driven by the many
760 contributions made by many developers. The grml-team spends a great
761 deal of their time and money toward this project.</p>
763 <p>If you have been using grml you will come to remember how much money you
764 or your company saves by using it and how you have been supported via
765 the project mailing list, personal mail or irc.</p>
767 <p>Now you can contribute by donating to grml. Your donation could either
768 be money or hardware that one of the developers or the project as a whole
769 needs. A donation would enable us to either support a specific
770 hardware/software either at all or simply better.</p>
772 <p>See <a href="http://grml.org/donations/">grml.org/donations/</a> for
773 details. Thank you for helping us to work on grml!</p>
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