Root What is BusyBox?

[Zoandroid]

Thanks for the motivational explanation. I had indeed written it off as a pita not worth pursuing. It's been about a year since I last made that decision so I guess I could give it another go.

There were several factors taken into account when I made that decision, and one of the biggest was that when someone did provide help, 99% of the time it was with command line statements. Very few forum 'helpers' ever seemed to mention the GUI to do anything at all in any distro version. I wasn't into that. But since my goal now is to learn more about the terminal commands for use on my Ally I guess that factor will no longer be pertinent.

It sounds like I might be better off downloading a new distro then, instead of relying on those I have on disc.

Thanks again!

Zoandroid

 

[Zoandroid]

I am playing with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, so far just in Live CD mode, because I wanted to see what kind of problems might surface using it on my main PC, which has a Matrox TripleHead adapter and 3 displays. I was surprised to find that it appears to have native support for this configuration, and it was fairly easy to get the Live CD setup working in 3840x1024 resolution. As I was playing with terminal and reading the Beginner Guide somehow the PC lost connection with my wireless trackball. Windows I can shut down from the keyboard, but Linux?? I couldn't seem to find a way. How does one shut down Ubuntu without a mouse?

So far I like the 10.04 LTS Beginner Guide. It is, just as they described, not full of technical jargon (but does provide links for those wanting more technical info) yet explains things fairly well. And it already saved me once from frustration, when I was totally blindsided by Linux's directory name structure being case dependent! Trying to 'ls documents' was not working. However after reading the above 'ls Documents' worked just fine. I presume Android is also case dependent in its path names?

If all keeps going well I will likely partition some space and install a dual-boot Ubuntu/Win7 setup.

Zoandroid

 

[Zoandroid]

Well, quite typical to my past experiences in trying to us Linux, I cannot get it to install on my Win7 PC. It runs fine as a live CD. But I have spent 2 days trying to actually install it and I keep getting the same result every time. I click the restart button, the display goes to white text on black, says lots of things which appear to be normal to the operation, and then suddenly it starts spewing a column of repeating statements which have slightly varying numbers in them, eventually freezing. The line at the bottom says:

[ 1020.620216] end_request: I/O error, dev sr0, sector 524560

All the lines above it are very similar, just have different numbers. Of course I have no idea whatsoever what this means. Not a good way to start a project. If I don't find a reasonably quick resolution so I can get things installed I'll chalk it up as "more of the same".

Zoandroid

 

[KuroTsubasa]

The error seem to indicate that it's having trouble reading the install disc. sr0 is one of the (unfortunately many) ways that Linux may refer to a cd drive. There are also cd0, cdrom, dvd0, and a lot of other annoying ones.

Anyway, when the live/install cd first starts, it should have an option to "check the disc for defects" or something similar sounding. Running that should tell you if there's any errors on your cd (I've never actually had to do that, but it seems like a good place to start). These errors could be from burning the disc too fast, or errors in the file if it didn't download right. Also, it could be due to your cd drive not reading the disc right. If your cd drive usually doesn't give you any problems though, it's probably just the disc.

Anyway... try messing around with it a little. Good Luck. If all else fails, I'd try it all over. Re-download the iso, burn it at a really slow speed, and see if that works.

 

[Zoandroid]

Thanks for the appraisal. Sorry I was sounding so frustrated there, but, well, I *am* when things hit a wall.

However, I am getting similar advice from the Ubuntu help forum, so they had me checking the MD5 on the ISO I downloaded, and it turns out it does not verify! So I finally managed to re-download a copy that does verify with its MD5 hash. I just finished burning it at the slowest speed this drive will go (16x) and Nero says it is OK.

The options to test the disc at the start of the Live CD are new to me, and apparently never mentioned in the Beginner Guide I am using from the Ubuntu site. But the fellow on their support site also mentioned that, and I asked him for details. He told me to click on the "stick man" icon, press space, and follow the menu options that appear. He also suggested I use their "check memory" (RAM) option as well. So I'll try that next.

Thanks!!

Zoandroid

 

[Zoandroid]

Well, here is how it played out:

__ / __ >Burn MD5 verified Ubuntu 10.04.1 ISO using Nero 8 at minimum 16X speed (helps minimize jitter errors).
__ OK __ >Test CD during Live CD Boot
__ OK __ >Run memtest86 during Live CD Boot
Reboot and

Install Ubuntu 10.04.1 following this article Dual-Boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu in Perfect Harmony
This time I did not even change to

 

[KuroTsubasa]

Okay... wow, i feel stupid now. I miss read your original post about the error. I've found that often that happens on rebooting a live cd. I'm not sure why, but I imagine it's because the shutdown process unmounts the install cd prematurely or something.

Anyway, on to the boot loader issues. The installation *should* have set it up automatically. If it offered you a choice (which I don't think it does unless you tell it you want to set up your partitioning manually), you want to install it to the mbr (master boot record) of your hard drive. This will make it take precedent over the Windows 7 boot loader. Some keywords to help your troubleshooting would be: dual boot windows 7 ubuntu grub setup, etc. GRUB is the Ubuntu bootloader (it's the most common bootloader for Linux, though others do exist).

Last, something that just occurred to me. I've completely spaced out on mentioning "Wubi". Wubi is the Windows based Ubuntu installer. It installs Ubuntu into a few files on your Windows partition, then adds the proper information into the *Windows* bootloader. It installs as a Windows program, so you can remove it just as easily using Add/Remove Programs. The only downsides to this method are the inability to hibernate your Ubuntu OS (Windows will still hibernate fine of course), *slightly* slower disc access, and the inability to access your Windows files from Ubuntu (they don't want you to go and delete the files that Ubuntu installed itself too or something I guess).

Wubi might be your best bet, especially since you're just trying to get your feet wet. It's included on the Ubuntu Live/Install CD. Just pop it in while running windows and it should be on the cd's autorun. Also, since the Ubuntu filesystem will be installed into a file on your windows drive, you don't need a separate partition or hard drive for Ubuntu. So you can go and reclaim the space from your failed install.

Anyway, good luck again. Sorry if my posts have been a little delayed and/or sloppy today. It's been my day off and I'm feeling really wiped out.

 

[Zoandroid]

Well, I just tried to research why Grub is not installed, and burned out on the attempt. The problem is that most responders to such a question make the assumption that you KNOW Linux and so they just toss something like this at you, which totally lost me:

>>Well I placed grub into /usr/sbin and was able to execute it, but now it says "Could not find device for /boot: Not found or not a block device"



Boot slax, drop to a root shell, run chroot /mnt/hda1 and then try /sbin/grub-install --recheck --no-floppy /dev/hda



This might not work. <<

Yep, It might not, especially since I have no clue what you are talking about!!

All I managed to glean from attempting the above in Terminal was to discover that Grub is not installed. WHY it is not installed from the CD, I have no idea. I tried to install it manually as the Terminal window suggested (something about apt-get), but it still isn't working. The PC boots ONLY to Windows 7.

I thought about Wubi, but since it is generally "looked down upon" by the hard core Linux community I did not want to get into a position where I needed help with something and had to tell someone I was using it, and then listen to them bash me for not having a "real" Linux installation.

But, since it is obviously impossible to install Ubuntu and Win7 on this PC together, I guess it is the only remaining option I have. So if I go that route, does it access some kind of group of Linux files and folders, so that when I want to play with Terminal and learn how to manipulate files and folders there will be things I can work with? As I understand it, Windows can't access Linux EXT formatted partitions. So unless it makes an EXT partition somewhere, how can it work with "Linux files"?

Thanks for sticking with me and all your help!! I am in the process of using Easus PM to wipe up the mess and put things back in order, and then I'll give Wubi a try.

Zoandroid

 

[Zoandroid]

After sitting here watching a progress bar for 15 minutes installing Linux "inside windows" when it reported about 5 seconds to go it tossed an error up on the screen:

Invalid argument

See the log file <username>\appdata\local\temp\wubi-10.04.1 -rev190.log. There is NO file at all in that location.

I ran this attempt twice and got the exact same results.

So despite my assuring the disc is pristine, it can't even do THIS right. That's enough for me. Any dealings I have with Terminal will be learned on the Ally.

Zoandroid

 

[KuroTsubasa]

Wubi creates a "virtual filesystem" within a file on your windows partition. When you boot into Ubuntu, this file will get mounted as a pretend ext partition. As far as the OS will know, it's on a real partition. Also, because of the way it works, no one ever really needs to know that that's how it's installed.

The Ubuntu Manual project is supposedly a wealth of information. I've never read it, but I've heard good things about it. It's geared toward beginner to intermediate level users.

Ubuntu Manual - Home

For the amount of difficulty you're having, I would *not* recommend installing grub manually. It's complex, and even I wouldn't be able to do it without some serious research (might be an exaggeration... but I'm tired right now). If you're going to mess with grub at all, try doing it during the installation. The installation wizard makes it *much* easier to configure than trying to go back and do it manually. Either way though, I'd suggest Wubi (and as I said, no one needs to know).

I don't know where you've been looking for help so far, but try going to the Ubuntu Forums. They're a bit more supportive than the rest of the web. And of course, like any forum, be sure to search for your issue a bit before posting with a question.

Yeah, Linux does sometimes have that annoyance of not being able to solve a problem easily... but things are always getting better.

Anyway, give Wubi a try, and see how it works. Ubuntu and Linux aren't *that* much more complex then Windows... they're just different. And it's that difference that makes for the steeper learning curve. I switched to Ubuntu after years of being a Windows power user, and even I felt a bit over my head when I started (not to mention the failed attempts I had before that).

I've found myself in a happy place with Ubuntu. That's me though. If you're experience turns out to be a bit rougher in the end, there's no reason you can't stick with Windows (especially with Microsoft starting to get back on track). And again, there's nothing wrong with installing by Wubi. Especially if you're just using it to learn a bit.

On another note... your second to last paragraph has a bit of Linux bashing in it. Although I won't make a big deal about it, be careful where you talk like that. =P Especially with your luck on some of those other forums.

Anyway, I'm tired and headed for bed... once I finish setting up my Ally with death's new Punisher Rom. =/ Don't really feel like re-reading my post. Hope it turned out okay. I'll try to help you out a bit tomorrow if you need it.

On a side note... this thread got hijacked from being "What is BusyBox?" quite some time ago. Doesn't seem like anyone really minds though, especially since it's just the two of us. XD

 

[Zoandroid]

I had the similar topic hijacking thought earlier today, but like you said, it is pretty much just us, and I am the one who started the thread anyway.

I edited out my linux-bashing comments. I just wanted you to know precisely how frustrating this whole experience has been for me. Since you got to read them my mission was accomplished. But truthfully, I have completely lost any desire to try any further at this point. Maybe in another year or so I may look again. But I won't hold my breath. I don't even know anyone who has successfully switched to Linux, or for that matter anyone who uses it at all. What I do know is that those people I know who have tried it had exactly the same kind of experiences I have had and that is why they don't use it now.

I do find it a bit overwhelming, but I was willing to try to learn it anyway. However, I have no tolerance for any tools I acquire which are "broken" right out of the box. From what I can see on the Live CD it is interesting. But I can't go any further, and it simply takes way to long to do anything on a CD-based OS.

Thanks for the help!

Zoandroid

 

[Zoandroid]

Having slept on the matter I can only come to one logical conclusion why this is not working. Despite my doing everything possible with MD5 and slow burning speeds to assure the ISO makes the best possible disk, all that only assures that I get whatever was on the server. But, as they say, GIGO. What if the server's installation package was faulty??

So, this morning I decided to try downloading version 10.10 instead (even though there is as of yet no manual for it). And I made some other changes to the process as well. I used a DVD instead of a CD, which made sure there was plenty of room for the files, AND allows a much slower 4X burning speed instead of 16X. And I decided to install it to my Windows XP rig instead of the Windows 7 one.

I decided to try the Wubi method first, and if that works go from there. I got much further this time. Instead of the typical error I was seeing before it seemed to install everything and then rebooted, and offered me a boot option. Choosing Ubuntu it booted up and then spent some time downloading and installing files within the Ubuntu environment. Then it rebooted again. I chose Ubuntu again but now it says :

Alert! /host/ubuntu/disks/root.disk does not exist. Dropping to a shell!

it then loaded BusyBox v 1.15.3, and is sitting at a prompt showing (initramfs)_

Am I supposed to leave the disc back in the DVD drive to use the Wubi method? What is it not finding?

Anyway, I think the version 10.04.1 desktop 32 bit installation files I was using before are defective.

Zoandroid

 

[Zoandroid]

Some more digging and gleaning bits and pieces of info here and there led me to try running CHKDSK -F on the C drive. I did so, and Ubuntu 10.10 can now load (Wubi) from the boot menu on the WinXP PC. Now applying 197 updates.

I had run across this issue when researching on the Win7 PC too. Perhaps I need to try it using the CHKDSK option there as well if I eventually try 10.10 on Win7. But this seems to indicate the 10.04.1 files I downloaded may indeed be bad from the source.

Interesting to also see BusyBox reference here on the PCs. Perhaps all versions and variations of Linux OS use it?

I don't want to turn this post into a build log for a Linux PC, but I just wanted to post that I am seeing some success with different install files. So something to keep in mind for anyone reading this.

Edit - I now have Ubuntu 10.10 up and running on BOTH my Win7 and WinXP computers using the second set of installation files. So the first set definitely are bug-ridden.

Zoandroid

 

[KuroTsubasa]

I can't really say much about 10.04 not working for you. I always stick with the current version, but I never had any trouble with 10.04 when it was around. It's a little odd considering that 10.04 is a LTS build (Long-Term Support). Anyway, glad to hear that you're having some luck. As for it using busybox when you had the error, I think that it just loaded it as a failsafe since it couldn't/wouldn't load its system files. This way you'd have some tools to work with. It's a good example of the versitility of busybox though.

 

[Zoandroid]

Well, for the record, I also posted the final chapter of this saga on the Ubuntu support page. Of course they deflected my suggestion their server files might be corrupt. But then they immediately said it sounded like a known bug they had in 10.04 and "reduced the incident of" in 10.10. So read whatever you choose into that statement.



In the end they said pressing enter when all the boot screen repeating errors appeared should have allowed it to reboot and be OK. But I was trying that. It rebooted, yes, but far from OK. I can tell you that having seen success in the end using 10.10 instead, I was only seeing maybe half the installation process in 10.04 each time it failed and died.

If anyone else follows in this path, do NOT try to install a driver if you have an NVIDIA graphics card when using the Wubi method. At least not on a WinXP SP3 32 bit Home installation. That was another lengthy but educational saga and I did learn how to fix it (from the TTY interface).

Zoandroid.

 

[kyle5434]

Hopefully this question isn't too dumb...

Can the BusyBox Installer app (which I downloaded from the market) be safely uninstalled after successfully installing BusyBox? I'm assuming it's just a mechanism to copy the necessary files to where they need to be?

It's taking up 2M of RAM I wouldn't mind getting back.

Thanks.

 

[Zoandroid]

Hopefully this question isn't too dumb...

Can the BusyBox Installer app (which I downloaded from the market) be safely uninstalled after successfully installing BusyBox? I'm assuming it's just a mechanism to copy the necessary files to where they need to be?

It's taking up 2M of RAM I wouldn't mind getting back.

Thanks.

I will say yes, but I am not 100% certain. I think the same way you did, that it is just an installer. However, it appeared on my Ally that BusyBox DID get installed when I installed Z4root at that point in time. There just wasn't any indication obvious to me. So I guess I didn't need to get it from the Market anyway.

 

[kyle5434]

I will say yes, but I am not 100% certain. I think the same way you did, that it is just an installer. However, it appeared on my Ally that BusyBox DID get installed when I installed Z4root at that point in time. There just wasn't any indication obvious to me. So I guess I didn't need to get it from the Market anyway.

FYI - I uninstalled the "BusyBox Installer" app, and Titanium Backup still works just fine. Nice to get that RAM back!

 

[KuroTsubasa]

I'm a little late, but yes, the installer is *just* an installer, and can be safely removed when you are done with it.

 

[Russ71]

VERY informative thread! Thanks!