Linux assistance required please.

ZeroID (Brent) · #1 02-01-2016, 09:50 AM

I've acquired a small Linux PC and associated hardware. It's actually a system designed to run a copy\print software and comes with an 8.4 " TFT screen, a small form factor DELL box and the 12volt power supply which runs everything..

It's OS resides on a 128 meg Compact Flash card alongside a 128meg SIMM for the RAM component. The OS is a very minimal Linux build customised for the job and it all boots up quite happily. But it is useless for my intended purpose and lacks useful commands for my limited Linux knowledge.

So I assumed I could put a distro, ElementaryOS, Ubuntu or similar onto a 2 gig Compact Flash card I have and replace the existing card and bingo it would boot up to the new OS and would become useful. ( It can also boot from a USB but doesn't )

The message is Invalid Partition Table. I downloaded several Linux versions, copied the ISO to make a disk then copied the disk contents onto the CF Card or the USB key. Both the disks and the USB key will happily boot up on one of my old DELL laptops but not this wee beast.

There is no optical drive on the PC and I haven't got a USB one at home to try that option. Might go into work next week and 'borrow' one.

But can anyone suggest what might be necessary to get it to recognise the OS on either the USB key or CF Card ?

I'd love to get DistroAstro going on it but I'd have to strip it back first, at 2.4 gig it's too big for the CF card.
Real purpose is to get a portable guiding system going and being a 12v system no need for inverters and all the power hungry stuff.

And I'm having fun trying to make it work regardless ...

lazjen (Chris) · #2 02-01-2016, 10:27 PM

Well, I'm not sure what's happening, but I'll take a stab at some suggestions for you.

So, here goes:

If the hardware is a bit old, you might have issues with a few things, including the "BIOS" it uses. You may need to find an older distro to use and especially one that isn't setup for UEFI.

Another issue to check is the CF Card - there might be a limit on the size it can read. A test you could perform here is to copy the existing 128 M card on to the 2 G card and see if it works.

Even if you get further, you really are going to struggle with just 128M ram in it. See if you can get to at least 512 Mb.

Finally, when you get frustrated with it and it doesn't work, maybe you can gut it and put in some modern hardware? And/or buy a Raspberry Pi or equivalent?

AstralTraveller (David) · #3 03-01-2016, 01:22 PM

It does sound like a firmware issue. Are the partition tables on the CF cards different? I also wonder why it won't boot from USB. All mainstream Linux distros can install in either BIOS or UEFI mode. In fact if you want to use UEFI it is best to disable BIOS in the firmware.

DistroAstro is just Mint with a lot of software (or varying quality) pre-installed and a night vision mode. The Mint build used for Astro is a bit out of date and I doubt Astro is as well maintained as Mint. So I've opted for Mint and I'll install whatever software I need. Of course I'm not interested in the night vision mode, but you possibly are. I've attach a list of all the software that is on Astro that interested me but isn't in the Mint repositories. I wouldn't worry about elementaryOS just yet.

ZeroID (Brent) · #4 04-01-2016, 07:01 PM

Yeah. it is a bit old for sure, but it was also free, so just experimenting. The fact that it came with it's own screen (Car type unit ) and only ran on 12 volts was the attraction.

It recognises the 2 gig card at first bootup, show in the screen dump listing. Interestingly though my PC wants to format the 128 meg card, does not recognise it or the files on it.
I can score some bigger RAM no problem, std DDR 400, old but good.

I've chucked all the bits into a box for now to play with later. Might do a bit of Linux research and learning. There are some Linux gurus at work who put the system together I think so might have a wee chat to them when I get back .....

Which I just realised may be difficult as they are over in the new HO building and I'm shifting to another new building about 25 km away in Feb ...
Makes a quiet word in passing bit difficult as I won't be going anywhere near the new HO, outside my contract. Email is my friend .... to my friend.

Thanks for the info guys,,, food for thought.

luka · #5 04-01-2016, 10:50 PM

"Interestingly though my PC wants to format the 128 meg card"
Are you running Windows on your PC? Windows does not recognise linux file systems and it will try to reformat the card.

If you can boot linux on your PC and insert the CF card, can you copy/paste here the output of:
sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdxxxx
(replace xxxx with the drive letter of your CF card). This will list the partitions on the card.

ZeroID (Brent) · #6 05-01-2016, 06:21 AM

Ta for that, I've got plenty of laptops to play with and I think I've got a CF adapter either at home or definitely at work. Might be able to do a 'patch and paste' to make up a usable boot disk.
My limited Linux days are long past and trying to migrate my thinking into different paths is not as easy as it once was.