I’ve just downloaded the smallest version of Tiny Core Linux which is only 8 MB and trying to install it.
My Virtual Box Setting are as follows:
Memory: 64 MB
Hard Disk (IDE): 1 GB
I try to keep the hardware requirement as minimum as possible to save my CPU, RAM & Hard Disk resources.
I’ve followed the steps here to install it.
http://tinycorelinux.net/install_manual.html
Verify internet connectivity with ping test
ping google.com
Check cfdisk & grub tools
to directly download and install, use the following commands:
tce-load -wi cfdisk.tcz
tce-load -wi grub-0.97-splash.tcz
or
tce-load -wi cfdisk grub-0.97-splash
Type cfdisk again to verify the installation
type q to quit
type sudo su to make it a root shell
sudo su
Find a disk you want to install on. The following command will list your disks and their current partitions.
fdisk -l
Remember which disk will be used for installation. For the purposes of this guide, /dev/sda will be used.
The cfdisk command will be used to partition the hard drives.
cfdisk /dev/sda
Use the left and right arrow keys to navigate the bottom menu, and press Enter to select an option.
Navigate and select [ New ]
New > Primary > 200 MB
Logical > Linux SWAP (82)
Format the new partition. This demonstration will use ext3. You may format other partitions here as preferred.
fdisk -l
mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda2
After formatting rebuild the fstab file
rebuildfstab
Copy over TC system files and prepare for PPR mode.
Mount the new install partition:
mount /mnt/sda1
Create directories for TC files and GRUB:
mkdir -p /mnt/sda1/boot/grub
Mount the original boot media. For this guide, TC was booted from an IDE cd-rom drive on the second channel:
ls -l /dev/cdrom
mount /mnt/sr0
Copy over the file:
cp -p /mnt/sr0/boot/* /mnt/sda1/boot/
This will copy over bzImage and tinycore.gz. Ignore any “omitting directory” warnings.
To verify
ls -l /mnt/sda1/boot/
Compare it with cdrom content
ls -l /mnt/sr0/boot/
Next setup the tce directory to store application extensions:
mkdir -p /mnt/sda1/tce
To verify
ls -l /mnt/sda1/tce
Prepare file for backup & restore
touch /mnt/hda1/tce/mydata.tgz
mount /mnt/sda1
mkdir -p /mnt/hda1/boot/grub
mount /mnt/sr0
cp -p /mnt/sr0/boot/* /mnt/sda1/boot/
mkdir -p /mnt/sda1/tce
touch /mnt/sda1/tce/mydata.tgz
6. Installing GRUB
Copy over GRUB files (please note that the grub-0.97-splash.tcz extension will need to be installed as mentioned in step 1):
cp -p /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/* /mnt/sda1/boot/grub/
2 important files in /boot will be used in menu.lst
ls -l /mnt/sda1/boot/
Create menu.lst: (note that “lst” contains a lower case ‘L’)
vi /mnt/sda1/boot/grub/menu.lst
Presss i (enters insert mode)
Enter the following:
default 0
timeout 10
title C0r3
kernel /boot/bzImage quiet
kernel /boot/vmlinuz loglevel=3
initrd /boot/tinycore.gz
initrd /boot/core.gz
Note there’s a capital i in bzImage
Press <esc> when done. Enter 😡 (saves and quits)
To verify, run:
cat /mnt/sda1/boot/grub/menu.lst
Run GRUB:
grub
In the grub prompt,
root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)
quit
Remove the original CD boot media:
umount /mnt/sr0
eject /dev/sr0
To test, reboot the system.
reboot
Reference:
http://tinycorelinux.net/install_manual.html
http://tinycorelinux.net/4.x/x86/release/Core-current.iso
Install on a Hard Drive While Connected to the Internet
http://gr8idea.info/os/tutorials/tiny-core/net-install.html
Install on a Hard Drive Without Being Connected to the Internet
http://gr8idea.info/os/tutorials/tiny-core/install.html
Troubleshooting: