Interest in a lower compression iso optimized for USB booting?

[Yan]

On my Acer Aspire One 522, with 2 GB. I timed until I saw icons, not just the desktop or conky. I tried each twice.

Alpha 2   2:20
              2:16

Testing   1:30
             1:26

[meo]

Hi!

I've tried the lower compression iso quite extensively and it boots really fast, but it brought back the problem with the terminal at the top of the menu that stops working after upgrading and installing. I decided to go back to the second alpha release and there the terminal entry at the top of the menu works. Seems strange. Don't know what causes it. Someone might have the answer to that. Most everything works as it should on the second alpha release. Very good to be an alpha release! Looking forward to the next cut!

// meo

[BG405]

Sorry for the delay.

Am having issues getting my machines to boot DSL either with Ventoy (I ran the md5sum check both on the downloaded ISOs and on the stick itself, which it passed) or using dd. N.B. I didn't specify BS= etc. What block size should I use, if it's needed?

Although this probably deserves its own thread?

All I get is a rapidly reloading screen ending with this:

Code:

(EE)
Fatal server error:
(EE) AddScreen/ScreenInit failed for driver 0
(EE)
(EE)
Please consult the X.Org Foundation support
        at http://wiki.x.org
for help.
(EE)Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information
(EE)
(EE) Server terminated with error (1). Closing log file.

All the ISOs work fine in VirtualBox but not on either the Toshiba NB205 or Acer D255E. Also, other ISOs boot fine with Ventoy.

(Image of screen, if it shows):
   

[Yan]

Hi!

I've tried the lower compression iso quite extensively and it boots really fast, but it brought back the problem with the terminal at the top of the menu that stops working after upgrading and installing. I decided to go back to the second alpha release and there the terminal entry at the top of the menu works. Seems strange. Don't know what causes it. Someone might have the answer to that. Most everything works as it should on the second alpha release. Very good to be an alpha release! Looking forward to the next cut!

// meo

It's strange that this would return in the testing ISO, but the solution is here: https://damnsmalllinux.org/forums/thread-39.html

[John]

BG405, this could be because I went ahead and applied the isohybrid treatment to this experimental low compression iso and it is incompatible with Ventoy. Other than the compression difference that is the only change between this one and Alpha2. I can prepare another lower compression iso without the isohybrid treatment for you to test on your Toshiba NB205 and Acer D255E via USB boot.

Meo, that is indeed puzzling. I will do some testing.

[John]

BG405, here is the lz4 compression iso without the isohybrid treatment:
https://damnsmalllinux.org/download/dsl-...hybrid.iso
https://damnsmalllinux.org/download/dsl-...so.md5.txt

Please let me know if that was the issue with using Ventoy.

Meo, I suspect it is not an issue with the iso compression change and is instead an issue with new packages from antiX, they just came out with 23.1.
Added: I just tested a "sudo update" and "sudo upgrade" and I didn't get the same error. I'll do more testing.

[BG405]

BG405, here is the lz4 compression iso without the isohybrid treatment:
https://damnsmalllinux.org/download/dsl-...hybrid.iso
https://damnsmalllinux.org/download/dsl-...so.md5.txt

Please let me know if that was the issue with using Ventoy.

Thanks, just tested and exactly the same results. Note that none of the ISOs work with Ventoy or dd .. I must be doing something wrong here, or for some reason there's an incompatibility with my USB sticks ..? Puzzling as it is evident it's working for others.

Note I tried with and without the "quiet" and "splasht" (?) and also removing all options .. no difference. It seems to be an issue initializing the display server, maybe the netbook resolution is the problem? They are both the same. Although VB defaults to 800x600 and that works fine?

I will try this today with another netbook with a higher resolution display and see if that makes a difference. This is an Aspire ES1 IIRC .. haven't used it in years .. that one also has EFI capability.

ADDENDUM: Safe video mode results in a successful boot (at least on the original Alpha which I have just tested). If that is acceptable for testing I'll do this. Only thing is, it opens /media/demo/VTOYEFI and the Conman System Tray on startup so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled to see if the icons appear first, on next try.

This initial test was done on the D255E.

[BG405]

OK here goes:

Toshiba NB250 ← Single core Atom N455, 2GB RAM
ALPHA -------------------------------- 1m53s ← First try, it opened Ventoy contents, obscuring icons: 1m56s
ALPHA2 ------------------------------ 1m53s ← Same as above: 1m54s
LZ4-TESTING ----------------------- 1m11s
L4-TESTING-NO-ISOHYBRID -- 1m11s

Acer D255E ← Dual core Atom N570 @ 1.66GHz, 2GB RAM
ALPHA -------------------------------- 1m46s
ALPHA2 ------------------------------ 1m44s
LZ4-TESTING ----------------------- 1m12s ← 1m14s (to icons) when it also opened Ventoy contents (after icons)
L4-TESTING-NO-ISOHYBRID -- 1m10s ← AVG 1m09,1m11

[John]

Thanks for doing the testing BG405. Your results are interesting. It is probably worth offering a less compressed lz4 iso for those who want to run in VMs or off of USBs.

[BG405]

You're welcome, cheers! Happy to help where I can.

I wonder if that issue with the resolution can be fixed?