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 $LANG (use like in lines above) with iso-mode instead of utf8
40 grml gmt Use GMT-based time
41 grml tz=Europe/Vienna Use this timezone for TZ
42 grml keyboard=us xkeyboard=us Use different keyboard layout (text-console/X)
43 grml setkeycodes Set some special function keys for MS/HP keyboards
45 Configuration settings:
46 -----------------------
47 grml myconfig=/dev/fd0 Set the DCS dir (debs, config, scripts) to the root of this device
48 DCS dir defaults to the live image or a device labeled GRMLCFG
49 If a file /config.tbz exists, it is extracted from there.
50 /dev/fd0 for floppy disk
51 /dev/sda1 for USB-stick/first SCSI-device
52 grml netconfig=server/config.tbz Download file and extract configuration archive
53 grml netscript=server/file Download and execute file
54 grml partconf=/dev/hda2 Copy files specified in /etc/grml/partconf from /dev/hda2
55 to booting grml system
56 grml file=foobar.tbz Use specified file as name for configuration archive
57 instead of the default one (config.tbz)
58 grml extract=/etc Extract only /etc from configuration archive,
59 use it in combination with myconfig or netconfig
60 grml persistent Enable persistency feature, more details available at
61 http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency
62 grml home=/dev/hda2 Mount specified partition as grml homedir
63 grml home=/dev/sda1/grml.img Mount loopback file as /home/grml
64 grml home=scan Automatic search for grml homedir (using file grml.img)
65 grml hostname=... Set hostname
66 grml nodhcphostname Do not to set the hostname according to the dns information
67 grml distri=... Set distribution name to given argument. If a jpg file named like the
68 given distri name can be found in directory desktop on the ISO
69 (/cdrom/desktop/"$DISTRI") it will be taken as wallpaper for grml
70 grml debnet Search through local partitions for file /etc/network/interfaces,
71 copy /etc/network to local system and restart networking then
72 grml mypath=... Add specified option into $PATH of Zsh
73 For example when using "grml mypath=/foobar" then /foobar
74 will be added to the end of $PATH inside Zsh
75 grml debs=path-name-wildcard install Debian packages matching the path-name-wildcard in the
77 grml scripts=path-name execute script (defaulting to grml.sh) inside DCS dir. Path names
78 allowed. If path-name points to a directory, all scripts found in
79 the directory are executed.
80 grml config=path-name unpack archive that path-name points to
81 grml noautoconfig Disable searching for device labeled GRMLCFG
83 Notice: Take a look at http://grml.org/config/ and 'man 1 grml-autoconfig'
84 for more information regarding the configuration framework of grml.
86 Booting related options:
87 ------------------------
88 grml2ram Copy grml's squashfs file to RAM and run from there
89 grml toram Copy the whole CD/medium to RAM and run from there
90 grml toram=filename.squashfs Copy the specified file to RAM and run from there
91 Usage example: grml toram=grml-medium.squashfs
92 Notice: grml2ram is an alias for this option which
93 corresponds with the grml flavour settings by default
95 grml tohd=/dev/sda1 Copy grml's squashfs file to harddisk partition for later
96 use via "grml bootfrom=/dev/sda1"
97 grml bootfrom=/dev/sda1 Use the squashfs file from directory 'live' of the specified device
98 Setup can be done booting 'grml tohd=/dev/sda1' or
99 running 'rsync -a --progress /live/image/live /mnt/sda1/'
100 grml bootfrom=removable Restrict search for the live media to removable type only.
101 grml bootfrom=removable-usb Restrict search for the live media to usb mass storage only.
102 grml isofrom=/dev/sda1/grml.iso Use specified ISO image for booting
103 Useful when booting as a rescue system from harddisk - just boot
104 the according grml kernel and initrd using the bootoptions
105 "boot=live isofrom=/dev/sda1/grml.iso"
106 Notice: "fromiso" does the same as "isofrom", it's just there
107 to prevent any typing errors
108 grml findiso=/grml_2010.04.iso Look for the specified ISO file on all disks where it usually
109 looks for the .squashfs file (so you don't have to know the device name
111 grml live-media-path=live Sets the path to the live filesystem on the medium
112 By default, it is set to /live
113 grml module=grml Instead of using the default "$name.module" another file can
114 be specified without the extension ".module"; it should be placed
115 on "/live" directory of the live medium
116 Useful for Multiboot USB pen, see
117 http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=tips#multiboot_usb_pen
118 grml bootid=mybootid Use specified argument as identifier for the ISO.
119 [Note: only available since release 2010.04]
120 grml ignore_bootid Disable bootid verification.
121 [Note: only available since release 2010.04]
124 Debugging related settings:
125 ---------------------------
126 debug Get shells during process of booting, using GNU screen, be very verbose
127 grml debug Get shells during process of booting, using GNU screen, be verbose
128 grml debug=1 Get shells during process of booting, using GNU screen, be verbose and
129 display shell code being executed in initramfs.
130 grml debug=noscreen Get shells during process of booting, verbose, but without using GNU screen
131 grml nocolor Disable colorized output while booting
132 grml log Log error messages while booting to /tmp/grml.log.`date +%Y%m%d`"
134 grml testcd Check CD data integrity and md5sums
136 Service related settings:
137 -------------------------
138 grml ssh=password Set password for user grml and start ssh-server
139 grml startup=script Start $script instead of grml-quickconfig on startup
140 grml nosyslog Do not start syslog daemon
141 grml nogpm Disable GPM daemon
142 grml noconsolefont Disable setting of console font (using consolechars)
143 grml noblank Disable console blanking
144 grml tsplash Text based bootsplash
145 grml noquick Disable grml-quickconfig startup script
146 grml small Do not start that many consoles
147 grml wondershaper=eth0,1000,500 Set up basic traffic shaping
148 grml services={postfix,mysql,...} Start service(s) which have an init-script (/etc/init.d/)
149 grml welcome Welcome message via soundoutput
150 grml noeject Do NOT eject CD after halt/reboot
151 grml noprompt Do NOT prompt to remove the CD when halting/rebooting the system
152 grml distcc=$NETWORK,$INTERFACE Activate distcc-daemon to listen on specified network
153 and interface, usage example:
154 distcc=192.168.0.1/24,eth0
155 grml gcc=3.4 gpp=3.4 Link /usr/bin/gcc, /usr/bin/cpp and /usr/bin/c++ to specified version
156 grml startx{=windowmanager} Start X window system automatically
157 Default window manager (if not provided): wm-ng (wrapper around fluxbox)
158 grml nostartx If using startx as default bootoption the nostartx *disables* automatic
159 startup of X again. (This bootoption is relevant for grml based derivatives
160 which decide to enable startx by default only, plain grml does not use
161 automatic startup of X by default.)
163 Accessibility related settings:
164 -------------------------------
165 grml blind Start Braille-Terminal (no X)
166 grml hwspeak Probe all available speakup hardware modules
167 grml swspeak Prepare system for use with software synthesizer through speakup
168 Run 'swspeak' after booting up to activate sound output
169 grml swspeak=espeak Use espeakup (if available) as connector to speakup
170 Run 'swspeak' after booting up to activate sound output
171 grml swspeak=speechd Use speech-dispatcher / speechd-up (if available) as connector to speakup
172 Run 'swspeak' after booting up to activate sound output
173 grml brltty=type,port,table Parameters for Braille device (e.g.: brltty=al,/dev/ttyS0,text.de.tbl)
174 grml speakup.synth=... Use speakup kernel module with given hardware type
175 Usage example: speakup.synth=apollo
177 Hardware related settings:
178 --------------------------
179 grml swap Activate present/detected swap partitions
180 grml noswraid Disable scanning for software raid arrays (creates /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf)
181 grml swraid Enable automatic assembling of software raid arrays
182 grml nodmraid Do not enable present dmraid devices.
183 grml dmraid=on Automatically enable any present dmraid devices.
184 grml dmraid=off Actively try to stop any present dmraid devices.
185 grml nolvm Disable scanning for Logical Volumes (LVM)
186 grml lvm Automatically activate Logival Volumes (LVM) during boot
187 grml readonly Make sure all harddisk devices (/dev/hd* /dev/sd*) are forced to read-only mode
188 grml ethdevice=... Use specified network device for network boot instead of default (eth0)
189 grml xmodule=ati|fbdev|i810|mga Use specified X.org-Module (1)
190 grml xmodule=nv|radeon|savage|s3 Use specified X.org-Module (2)
191 grml xmodule=radeon|svga|i810 Use specified X.org-Module (3)
192 grml no{acpi,agp,apm,cpu,dhcp} Skip parts of HW-detection (1)
193 grml no{dma,fstab,modem} Skip parts of HW-detection (2)
194 grml no{pcmcia,scsi,swap,usb} Skip parts of HW-detection (3)
195 grml 915resolution=... Start resolution modify tool for Intel graphic chipset
196 usage: $MODE,$XRESO,$YRESO
197 grml blacklist=modulename[,module2] Completely disable loading of specified module(s) via
198 blacklisting through udev's /etc/modprobe.d/grml
199 grml fwtimeout=50 Set firmware timeout via /sys/class/firmware/timeout to specified value
200 grml nosound Mute sound devices (notice: this does not deactivate loading of sound drivers!)
201 grml vol=number Set mixer volumes to level $number
202 grml micvol=number Set mixer volume of microphone to level $number (default: 0)
203 grml pnpbios=off No PnP Bios initialization
204 grml acpi=off Disable ACPI Bios completely
205 grml nousb2 Disable initialization of USB 2.x controller(s)
206 grml nousb Disable initialization of USB in booting sequence
207 grml nofirewire Disable initialization of firewire devices in booting sequence
208 grml pci=irqmask=0x0e98 Try this, if PS/2 mouse doesn't work *)
209 grml pci=bios Workaround for bad PCI controllers
210 grml ide2=0x180 nopcmcia Boot from PCMCIA-CD-ROM (some notebooks)
211 grml mem=128M Specify Memory size in MByte
212 grml libata.force=[ID:]VAL Force configurations for libata.
213 Usage example: grml libata.force=1:pio4
214 to force pio4 mode on device "ata1:00:"
215 grml libata.dma=0 Disable DMA on PATA and SATA devices
216 grml libata.ignore_hpa=1 Disable host protected area (which should enable the whole disk)
217 grml vga=normal [video=ofonly] No-framebuffer mode (does not influence X)
218 grml vga=ask [video=ofonly] Display menu for framebuffer mode
220 Installation related settings:
221 ------------------------------
223 Caution: do *not* use the grml2hd and/or debian2hd bootoption if you do not know what you are doing!
225 Install plain Debian via debian2hd bootoption (which runs grml-debootstrap in non-interactive mode):
227 debian2hd <options> ... whereas valid options for debian2hd are:
229 target= target partition/directory of the new Debian system, e.g.: target=/dev/hda1
230 grub= where to install grub to? Use grub syntax for specifying, e.g.: grub=hd0
231 groot= specify root device for usage in grub (use grub syntax), e.g.: groot=hd0,0
232 release= specify release of new Debian system (default is stable), e.g.: release=sid
233 mirror= specify mirror for apt-get/aptitude, e,g.: mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian
234 password= set passwort of user root without prompting for it, e.g.: password=AiTh5ahn
236 Usage example for automatic installation:
238 debian2hd target=/dev/hda1 grub=hd0 groot=hd0,0 mirror=ftp://ftp.tugraz.at/mirror/debian password=foobar
240 See http://grml.org/grml-debootstrap/ for more information.
242 Install grml via grml2hd bootoption (which runs grml2hd in non-interactive mode):
244 grml2hd <options> ... whereas valid options for grml2hd are:
246 user= user name for user which should be used at hd-install
247 filesystem={ext2|ext3|reiserfs|reiser4|jfs|xfs} filesystem to be used
248 mbr=/dev/... partition where MBR should be installed (default:=partition)
249 partition=/dev/... partition where grml should be installed
251 Usage example for booting:
252 grml2hd partition=/dev/hda4 mbr=/dev/hda filesystem=ext3 user=mika
254 Passwords of user root and user are "grml" - please adjust after hd-install!
256 See http://grml.org/grml2hd/ for more information.
261 *) If your Grml-CD makes strange noises during boot, or you see frequent
262 errors like "squashfs: read error", or programs are crashing randomly,
263 then your CD image is probably defective or incomplete, your CD-burner
264 created a defective CD due to wrong writing speed or bad media or your
265 CD-ROM drive is broken. This is the most common error reported. Please
266 boot with "grml testcd" to check if the CD is OK, and/or even better,
267 verify the MD5 checksums that are present on the mirrors before writing
268 the CD. Check your CD low-level via running 'readcd -c2scan
269 dev=/dev/cdrom'. In some cases, defective IDE controllers cause this
270 error if you have DMA enabled. Also, please read the grml-FAQ.
272 *) In case of a failing hardware autodetection, try booting with any of
273 the "no-" options as shown in the table above, like in
274 grml noagp noapm noapic acpi=off nodma
275 to skip some critical parts of the autodetection system.
277 *) Some boards (especially those with E-ISA slots) apparently don't pass
278 the proper memory size to the linux-kernel. It may cause the message
279 "Panic: cannot mount root file system" and the system hangs. Use "grml
280 mem=128M" to solve that problem if your system has 128MByte memory for
281 example (caution: you MUST use a capital "M" here).
283 *) The "myconfig=/dev/partition" option allows you to reconfigure the
284 system after autoconfiguration by running a bourne shell script called
285 "grml.sh" and/or extracting configuration files from a file named
286 config.tbz from the root directory on the given device (or floppy).
287 Take a look at http://grml.org/config/ for more information regarding
288 the configuration framework of grml.
290 *) If you wish to remaster the CD, please don't forget to specify
292 -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
293 -b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin -c boot/isolinux/boot.cat
295 as option to mkisofs. Otherwise your CD won't be bootable. The
296 directory live, containing the squashfs compressed filesystem file,
297 must be located in the top level directory of the CD.
299 *) Caution: screensavers: Don't start vlock or any other screensaver
300 that requires a password manually. There are no default passwords on
301 the live system - all accounts are LOCKED by default for security reasons.
302 Instead just invoke the script grml-lock which prompts for setting a
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