Bare naked Ubuntu [update 2/1]

[dylandn]

First of all, full credit to deadhp1 for providing the original Ubuntu 11.10 image on which this is based.

This is an "enhanced" version of the stock Ubuntu image, but my definition of enhanced probably doesn't mean what you think it means.
My goal is to create a minimal system similar to what you would get if you installed the Ubuntu Minimal CD. It will boot to text, has apt-get, and that's it. Everything else has been purged. Use it as a bare naked base system on which you can add exactly and only what you want. I come from a Gentoo background and prefer my systems lean and mean. This image will fit on a 1G card with ~340megs to spare. Install with dd. I use a DM9601 usb-Ethernet adapter so I haven't tested wifi but iwconfig and wpasupplicant are there.

Some things I've noticed:
- The loadavg is always 4 at a minimum, even at idle. This really should be 0 but I have no idea what's keeping it up.
[edit] This seems to have calmed down a bit. It still hovers between 3 and 4. still weird.
- cron in the stock image was always spiking the cpu for 100% for no apparant reason. (it's purged in this image)
- fbset is weird. I have to set the current console to 1920x1200 before setting the rest (with -a). If I try -a first, it just blackscreens.

Nuked from the stock Ubuntu image:
- X, GNOME, all GUI apps. NetworkManager, Mono
- All the video/sound/image libraries.
- CUPS, all the printer drivers, colord, GCC and build tools
- More crap that has no use in a Minimal setup.
- The Freescale codecs have been purged and they are not in apt. You'll have to jump a few hoops to get them back.

Tweaks:
- It's been upgraded to 12.04.1 LTS
- Installed fbset and updated fb.modes, also included a 1920x1200 mode
- / is mounted noatime,nodiratime
- password is linaro. too lazy to remember how to clear it
- moved /wlan.ko to /lib/modules/wlan.ko and adjusted scripts

Changes:
[2/1]
- Added wpasupplicant
- Reset the fb to 1280x720-60p at boot

FAQ:
- "Feature XYZ is missing, why did you remove it?"
Because feature XYZ is superfluous on a minimal system. Want it back? apt-cache search XYZ

- How to expand the partition into a larger SD with command line only
Replace the ? with the correct letter, else you'll nuke your drive
dd if=BareMetal1 of=/dev/sd?
fdisk /dev/sd?
delete partition 1, new primary partition 1, first sector at 31248, last sector at default, write
fsck -f /dev/sd?1 and fix errors
resize2fs /dev/sd?1

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6ElTIZep22zdEpNVkxSY0N5bHM/edit?usp=sharing

[conversy]

Installed fbset and updated fb.modes, also included a 1920x1200 mode as that's the native resolution of my monitor.

so you can confirm that the GK is able to handle this resolution? That's great news actually.

cheers,

Stéphane

[dylandn]

so you can confirm that the GK is able to handle this resolution? That's great news actually.

Didnt know that was unknown factor but yes, it's sharp as a tack on my T260HD.

Code: Select all

mode "1920x1200"
    geometry 1920 1200 1920 1200 32
    timings 5069 352 144 49 1 208 3
    hsync high
    vsync high
endmode

I'm now trying my image after uploading it and it seems to be broken. Not sure what changed after I last tested it so try at your own risk until I can get it to work again.

[thePCisDead]

Nice.

Any way to convince you to install LXDE and share the image?

If not, I guess I will have something to play with when I get home

[dylandn]

Any way to convince you to install LXDE and share the image?

'apt-get xorg lxde' is all you need.
then edit /etc/lxdm/lxdm.conf to set autologin=linaro, probably want numlock=1 too

I usually use xfce so trying lxde for the first time, decent. 18 seconds from power on to the desktop, compared to 20 seconds for my eee1015

[hste]

Is this a dd image or a vhd image?

[dylandn]

Is this a dd image or a vhd image?

dd

[hste]

Thanks.
I also like to start minimal and add what I need

Still I can't get a boot. I don't know how many sdcard's and monitors I have tried.
On the serial output I can't see it getting up.
The kernel is running and detects if I take out or put in devices and monitor.
So for me I think it stops/loops/waiting? before it mounts the rootfs rw.

[thePCisDead]

Any way to convince you to install LXDE and share the image?

'apt-get xorg lxde' is all you need.
then edit /etc/lxdm/lxdm.conf to set autologin=linaro, probably want numlock=1 too

I usually use xfce so trying lxde for the first time, decent. 18 seconds from power on to the desktop, compared to 20 seconds for my eee1015

Thanks. I am struggling getting your image to boot so this will have to wait.

[danbro]

Not much luck with this one.
I got to a root terminal once and typed a few commands before it locked up but the other 5 times it locked up not long after booting.
(No caps lock).
The screen was barely readable on my 1080i lcd but not doubt thats easy to fix.
wpa_supplicant isn't installed but I guess I could disable wpa on the wifi network and install it as long as the kernel supports the wifi.

Ultimately I'd like to run gentoo on this thing, but firstly I'd like a working linux system with kernel source with config and a script to update the kernel.
That would no doubt be enough for me to develop a gentoo image.
(I'm confident working with gentoo on a pc but I'm clueless when it comes to arm and u-boot).

Thanks for the work.