zlim Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 (edited) I'm running this from a USB stick on my eeepc 7" . No wireless but easy to get it going. Discovered when I typed that Num Lock was on, so turn it off unless you prefer Scot's forum to show as Sc6t's. Display is set at 640 X 480 but my netbook has a native display of 800 X 480 so I have a 5/8" black band on both sides of the display. I tried to configure the display but the up and down arrows do nothing which probably means I have to add what I need. Point me to the file I need to edit, please. It has been too long since I had to add a display option that I could use, I don't remember what I did. Weird, when I went to shut it down, the display spread over the entire screen! Maybe I need to fire it up again and see what happens. Edited June 13, 2012 by zlim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphaomega Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Not sure what video adapter you have...mine was set up automatically (ati). The only reason I went with PCLinuxOS was because it already came with proprietary drivers and I knew it would be difficult for me to manually install them on the mp3 player. The file you probably need to edit would be /etc/X11/xorg.conf. However, have you tried checking the display settings in both LXDE Control Center and PCLinuxOS Control Center? On mine I have icons to acces those on the bottom left of the screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Haven't tried PCLOS in a long time. Most modern distro kernels set the mode automatically to match the hardware and you don't have many options to edit xorg.conf or change the display resolution using the Settings. I'd have a look in the PCLOS Control Center and see what Monitor is selected. 800X480 is an unusual resolution nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Downloaded a copy of the PCLOS 2012 XFCE Live iso but I haven't been able to do anything with it in Linux but burn it onto a CD. Unetbootin and dd don't give a decent result. There is apparently a PCLOS Live-USB program but I can't find it in the Menu. Maybe a more experienced PCLOS user can help you out. I assume you used some sort of Windows USB creator to make your USB stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 I used unetbootin to create the stick. alphaomega, I'm not running the LXDE version. I selected XFCE because that's the environment in simple mode on the eeepc as it came installed with Xandros/Debian so I thought I'd be better acquainted with it. I'd have a look in the PCLOS Control Center and see what Monitor is selected. As mentioned, I opened the Control center and "the up and down arrows do nothing". It appears it is one choice only. Funny as PCLinux loads and the indicator moves across the screen, the entire screen is filled. The minute the desktop comes up, it is the wrong dimension. When I shut down, briefly the entire screen is used before it shuts down. I'll play around a bit and see if I can get another choice for the display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphaomega Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 (edited) I did not do anything special to install other than using the cd to install to the mp3 player. I did not need to use unetbootin as the laptop it is connected to has the ability to boot from usb. Not sure what the issue could be with the up/down arrows could be (they do not work here either) so I use the mouse to make my selections. When I go into the Control Center I can click on "Hardware" (along the left hand side) I can then click on "Configure Video Card". And then click on the bar right next to "Monitor" which then brings up a list of resolutions to choose from. Edited June 13, 2012 by alphaomega Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 (edited) If you like Xfce I would really recommend you try Xubuntu as that one works great with Unetbootin and has a very nice desktop. I use Xubuntu as my main production system on the Mini 12. The other netbook I have (Aspire One) uses Bodhi Linux which is also excellent. Both of these were installed on the hard drive from USB isos I made with Unetbootin. Edited June 14, 2012 by raymac46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 I'll just have to give up on PCLOS 2012 XFCE as far as USB booting goes. Unetbootin for Linux or Windows just gives a hangup on my Aspire One and on the Mini 12 the Linux image cannot be located so it won't boot. I can burn a CD and that works OK on a desktop that has an optical drive. dd doesn't seem to work either and that was fine for Linux Mint. Sorry Liz. Hope someone else can give support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Well guess what. I found another Windows based USB installer which does support PCLOS 2012. It's called Linux Live USB Creator. http://www.linuxliveusb.com/ I made a USB Live iso with this installer and it does work on the Mini 12. However I can only get a display of 800X600 with it. Going to try it now on the other netbook (Acer Aspire One.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 And here I am posting from the Acer Aspire One in PCLinuxOS 2012. I am getting full native 1024X600 resolution here and the wireless works fine. Well at least it did after I got the Numlock turned off and put in the proper WPA password. So on one machine I got a poor display but I expected that - it's only the most recent kernels that work OK with that Intel GMA 500 adapter. Here where I've got more conventional video it works in native resolution. I don't know why your eeePC will not do that except maybe the display resolution isn't one the Intel video recognizes. My video module here is intel 915. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrat Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 zlim, you could try xrandr to set resolution. Should be in the repo. There are graphic front ends for this, grandr for Gnome and arandr (which has no rpm package available), but I doubt they would suit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 (edited) One way to handle this (according to some research) is to make a special monitor section in xorg.conf Normally you don't have to do anything with xorg.conf any more but it will be read on bootup if it is there. In that section you describe the monitor and modesetting and that may get you the desired 800X480. I think there is also an i915 package that might be needed.All of this is futile with a USB stick that has no persistence so a real install would be needed. Better to look for a distro that can support the eeePC out of the box. Maybe EasyPeasy? Edited June 14, 2012 by raymac46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 I may work on the xorg.conf and see if I can get the display working properly. Thanks for "reminding" me where to look. I know I did this in the past. Since I have to set up wireless every time I boot and turn num lock off, adding a xorg setting would just be one more thing to do. I'll will probably tire of this and try one of the 'buntus with persistence. I do like to be able to fire up FF and not have the default every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 (edited) Something like this: Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor1" VendorName "ASUS" ModelName "eeePC P701" Modeline "800x480" 29.58 800 816 896 992 480 481 484 497 -HSync +Vsync # 60 Hz EndSection However I don't see how this would "stick" since you'd likely have to reboot for it to take effect. Maybe you could log in and out and see if it "sticks." Or maybe make the change, drop to the console and restart X. Edited June 15, 2012 by raymac46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphaomega Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Just curious, any reason why you chose to create a "live" usb stick vs actually installing to the stick? I thought the issue regarding the maximum write cycles of the newer usb sticks had been debunked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Isn't it basically the same thing - except the "live" USB is like a live CD or DVD and has no persistence. Hence you can't save your personal files and settings. Some distros support persistence, some do not. PCLOS does not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 The iso was installed on the stick. I call it live as opposed to installing on the internal ssd of the netbook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphaomega Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Isn't it basically the same thing - except the "live" USB is like a live CD or DVD and has no persistence. Hence you can't save your personal files and settings. Some distros support persistence, some do not. PCLOS does not. In a way yes. I could be wrong but the way I understand it...with persistence you can save your personnal files and settings, you can install additional programs, but you can't upgrade an existing program. I'm not positive about the last item. I would think you would be able to upgrade a program but then you would have two copies of the program (the original one plus the upgraded one stored in the area reserved for persistence). With an actual install you can upgrade an existing program. The iso was installed on the stick. You mentioned that you used unetbootin to install. I am not familiar with unetbootin but from what little I read about it...it appears as if unetbootin merely copies the iso to the stick and makes the stick bootable. This would be different from burning the iso to cd and then running the installer and installing to the stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 This would be different from burning the iso to cd and then running the installer and installing to the stick. Well Unetbootin does not just copy the iso but it basically does the same exact thing as burning the iso (it extracts the iso image to the usb drive and then makes it bootable). Think of it as burning a disk but you do not have to waste a cd/dvd in the process. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphaomega Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Well Unetbootin does not just copy the iso but it basically does the same exact thing as burning the iso (it extracts the iso image to the usb drive and then makes it bootable). Think of it as burning a disk but you do not have to waste a cd/dvd in the process. . So unless I'm misunderstanding something that would make it a "live" usb stick with persistence (like a burned cd - being read only) where the programs it came with can not be upgraded vs an actual install where they can be upgraded. Is that correct? I am not finding any helpful information regarding how to upgrade existing programs on a "live" usb stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 So unless I'm misunderstanding something that would make it a "live" usb stick with persistence (like a burned cd - being read only) where the programs it came with can not be upgraded vs an actual install where they can be upgraded. Is that correct? I am not finding any helpful information regarding how to upgrade existing programs on a "live" usb stick. Correct and you may be able to actually do more considering it is actually writeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphaomega Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 (edited) Correct and you may be able to actually do more considering it is actually writeable. That is why I asked zlim for clarification on how the install was done. To me it seems as if it would be easier to make any needed changes (if necessary) if the install was an actual install vs a "live" install. Edited June 15, 2012 by alphaomega Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Haven't seen many actual installs to USB as you describe it. Generally in my experience it's been a persistent or non persistent "burn" to USB using Unetbootin (or dd if you have a hybrid image.) I then move on to install on the hard drive or in VBox using the USB on netbooks that don't have an optical drive. I do not use the USB to replace a hard drive on any long term basis. Do you have some Web references on how to install to USB in the same way as you would to a hard drive? What distros support this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Here's a way to install an actual Linux system on a thumbdive by copying a virtual machine image: http://kpweb.homelinux.org/blog/index.php?id=17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 (edited) This is a bit off topic but I wanted to point out that I do not see any USB Linux setup as anything but an interim solution to check the hardware before moving on to a full install on the system in question. I prefer to work off the actual hard drive as it is invariably faster and more reliable, plus a lot easier to upgrade and configure. Both my netbooks had Linux pre-installed but in both cases they were relatively useless distros. The Dell Mini 12 had a kluged version of Ubuntu 8.04 that was not upgradeable (and is no longer supported.) The Aspire had a dumbed down version of Fedora 8 called Linpus Lite. Both machines are far more capable with distros I was able to select and install. I am convinced that one of the reasons Linux on the netbook failed in 2009 was because the OEMs really did a crappy job of pre-installation - bad distro selection, dumbed down interfaces that did not show the true virtues of Linux, lack of support, and then rushing to sell the tired and dated XP as soon as Microsoft cut a deal to practically give it away. For better or worse, Linux doesn't seem to be like Windows where you just buy a machine with an O/S installed and never change things until you buy another machine. Maybe it's different with Android on tablets and smartphones, but there appears to be a fair bit of systems upgrading going on there as well. Edited June 15, 2012 by raymac46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 I do not want to wipe the 4 GB ssd and install another distro. I am happy with what was installed by ASUS. Almost everything I need to do on this netbook is done quite easily. All the hardware works perfectly. The only reason I'm trying other options is because the FF on it is stuck at version 2. I'd have to do some hacking to move up and I think the most I could move up is to v 3.6 which is no longer supported. I am testing different distros for the rare occasions when we go on an extended trip and I take this netbook with me. I'll use it to surf and then remove the stick and use the netbook for everything else I purchased it for. I did not allow persistence on the PCLinux stick because unetbootin says persistence only works for Ubuntu. Since the tool is new to me, I previously made all my sticks using pendrive linux's universal installer, I followed the rules. PCLinux is not Ubuntu so I did not set up persistence. I did set up persistence on the Mint LXDE and wondered if that was causing some of my problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphaomega Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 I do not want to wipe the 4 GB ssd and install another distro. I am happy with what was installed by ASUS. Almost everything I need to do on this netbook is done quite easily. All the hardware works perfectly. The only reason I'm trying other options is because the FF on it is stuck at version 2. I'd have to do some hacking to move up and I think the most I could move up is to v 3.6 which is no longer supported. I am testing different distros for the rare occasions when we go on an extended trip and I take this netbook with me. I'll use it to surf and then remove the stick and use the netbook for everything else I purchased it for. I did not allow persistence on the PCLinux stick because unetbootin says persistence only works for Ubuntu. Since the tool is new to me, I previously made all my sticks using pendrive linux's universal installer, I followed the rules. PCLinux is not Ubuntu so I did not set up persistence. I did set up persistence on the Mint LXDE and wondered if that was causing some of my problems. Apologies, I assumed the reason you were testing different distros on the stick was to find one that would work with your machine sans issues. The only reason I mentioned doing an actual install to the stick (vs a "live" install) was because I thought it might be easier for you to tweak the system (if need be) to get it working with your particular hardware. In no way did I mean to imply that you wipe the 4GB ssd and install another distro. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Back when my EeePC 701 worked, I used to boot distros from a 16gb sdhc card. Basically I would use Unetbootin to burn the iso to a usb drive and then choose the sdhc card as the / partition when installing the distro. That way, I could boot the Asus interface with my card ejected or boot my chosen distro from the sdhc card. Pretty much, I always left the sdhc card in and it worked beautifully. There were a few distros that had issues booting from an sdhc card as the kernel did not load the driver soon enough but most all distros that I tried worked just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Liz, understood you want to have a separate USB system. I'd still recommend a persistent distro like one of the 'buntus. Lot easier on the sanity. I think I'd like to try the SDHC install as I have one of those in the Aspire One. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted June 15, 2012 Author Share Posted June 15, 2012 I'm not done experimenting yet. I just discovered unetbootin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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