Check boot process line by line
 

Is there a command I can put in /etc/lilo.conf or /boot/ somewhere so that I can check the boot sequence line by line?

thanks

None that I know of. When I need to do something like that, I set the host up to use a serial console, then attach another computer running some serial terminal software such as C-Kermit or minicom (or on a Windows host, hyperterm). Then you can see all of the console output, scrolling back as necessary to see the earliest messages. Requires having a bootloader that can use a serial console for the most complete results.

--- rod.

>Nbomr;
thanks for your response; though that really surprises me: i'd have thought this was something that
would almost be de rigour for debugging purposes ...

but what do i know?

only been here 5 mins :)

thanks again

some of them can be observed in /var/log/dmesg and /var/log/messages

You can see very early messages if you append kernel parameter "earlyprintk=vga" or "earlyprintk=serial[,ttySn[,baudrate]]", for instance, to the command line at boot time.

kernel and driver developpers can also use "ddebug_query= [KNL,DYNAMIC_DEBUG]"

See /usr/src/linux/Documentation/kernel-pameters.txt and /usr/src/linux/Documentation/dynamic-debug-howto.txt to know more.

Small tip: when a program displays data on the screen faster than you can read it, you can stop its execution with Ctrl+s and resume it with Ctrl+q

This is a reminiscence of controlling the flow of data on a communication line (e.g. RS232 serial) sending the "XOFF" (or "Transmit off) and XON (or Transmit on) signals, which was useful when the receiver couldn't process the data as fast as they were sent, see this page.

For the records this reminds me that this kind of software flow control have been used for connections between industrial terminals and a mini computer at the super high speed of 1200 bits per second in a project of which I was in charge 33 years ago...

One thing you can do is increase the output buffer size for the console, and then scroll all the way up and go line by line.

textillis,

is there something specific you are looking for? may be you can extract it from dmesg?

>Solarfields
 

I've not used dmesg yet, so I'll <man dmesg> ... cool, thanks.

In the meantime, I did manage to find what I was looking for by applying ctrl+s/ctrl+q, as per Didier's tip.

Edit: mention of LifeCam removed so as to disambiguate thread.
thanks for response!

What is DeadCam 3000? A camera? Do you know if somebody has managed to get it working on another distro?

I'm guessing you mean a MS Lifecam 3000.

If you are trying to use it with something like skype and just getting a green screen, then you may need to make a small shell script to load a compatibility library to make it work right.

Try running:

LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/skype


Also, in the future, you might want to mention your root problem in the original post so we can help you get down the right path sooner.

>Solarfields

That was me being flippant, sorry.
I thought the brand was known well enough for me to distort its name and still have people recognize it:

it is a LifeCam from microsoft and I can't get it working on slackware, and no-one else I've read here at LQ has either.
Yet it works fine on my Mint Linux system (?)

By "root problem" i take it you meant "boot problem", which is clearly outlined in OP.
cheers :)

ye i finally got the pun :)

Ok, no problem. I was taking all of this as a means to diagnose the webcam not working. But of course, it never hurts to learn how to find things yourself.

>october
>solar

I've started a new thread on lifecam.
thanks to both for time taken :)