complete silent boot on slackware?

Ongbuntu · 10-05-2013, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtsn

Fiddling with the scripts diagnostic output is not the correct way. Redirect it to the serial port instead using console= on the kernel command line, so your VGA console stays quiet.

Of course, don't use LILO, but a different boot loader.

With the right configuration (including KMS) you can have a seamless transition from the boot loader splash screen to the X login. See https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Fbsplash

thanks! that sounds like a plan

I can live with boot messages. I just want to know that I have the option to do w/o if I so choose to. For e.g. if I want to get my wife to try my slackware machine, I quiet boot would be less intimidating

MadMaverick9 · 10-06-2013, 12:33 AM

Anybody who can read those log messages going by at breakneck speed on console - you're a genius.

https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documenta...parameters.txt

Code:

	loglevel=	All Kernel Messages with a loglevel smaller than the
			console loglevel will be printed to the console. It can
			also be changed with klogd or other programs. The
			loglevels are defined as follows:

			0 (KERN_EMERG)		system is unusable
			1 (KERN_ALERT)		action must be taken immediately
			2 (KERN_CRIT)		critical conditions
			3 (KERN_ERR)		error conditions
			4 (KERN_WARNING)	warning conditions
			5 (KERN_NOTICE)		normal but significant condition
			6 (KERN_INFO)		informational
			7 (KERN_DEBUG)		debug-level messages

For me, with my old eyes, I just found out that appending "quiet loglevel=4" makes it much more pleasant. And setting the loglevel to four means that if anything should go wrong, I won't miss it. And - the kernel ring buffer still contains all kernel log messages ("dmesg"). So no information is lost.

In "/etc/lilo.conf":

Code:

append="quiet loglevel=4"

"loglevel=5" may be better. And reminder to myself - don't forget the "Scroll Lock" key on your keyboard.

But - whichever it's gonna be - four or five - setting the loglevel to five or lower does make for a more pleasant boot experience.

Ongbuntu · 10-06-2013, 07:51 AM

To be honest, I did use a camera in multiple shots mode to capture some of the early boot messages to help troubleshoot one of my kernel compilation

dr.s · 10-06-2013, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ongbuntu

...Seems like a lot of hard work for very marginal returns....

+1
Zero returns really. Sometimes you have to pick your battles, especially when working with Linux and dealing with MS-centric vendors or lack of hardware support etc.

jtsn · 10-06-2013, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMaverick9

Anybody who can read those log messages going by at breakneck speed on console - you're a genius.

In the past these messages were meant to be backscrolled with Shift+PgUp after pressing Scroll Lock. Since major distributions started hiding the kernel messages by default, they got way too verbose. Now it's not one line per detected device, but dozens instead. The dmesg for my main machine has about 1000 lines, with complete EFI and ACPI register dumps. 350 lines have hex values in it ("0x") which are only useful for debugging purposes and contain no useful info for the end user.

jtsn · 10-06-2013, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ongbuntu

I can live with boot messages. I just want to know that I have the option to do w/o if I so choose to. For e.g. if I want to get my wife to try my slackware machine, I quiet boot would be less intimidating

Let me add something to my recommendation: If you don't have a serial port available, you can also redirect the boot messages to a different VT:

Code:

quiet loglevel=3 console=tty9

redirects the boot messages to VT9, so you can view them by pressing Alt+F9. VT1 stays completely quiet until init executes getty and "Welcome to Linux" is displayed.

The only thing that is still on screen is the "Loading Linux" from LILO which is fine, because it actually contains useful information about what is currently happening.

Note: You may have to customize /etc/rc.d/rc.font to set the font on all VTs, otherwise it will only affect VT9.

Ongbuntu · 10-07-2013, 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtsn

Let me add something to my recommendation: If you don't have a serial port available, you can also redirect the boot messages to a different VT:

Code:

quiet loglevel=3 console=tty9

redirects the boot messages to VT9, so you can view them by pressing Alt+F9. VT1 stays completely quiet until init executes getty and "Welcome to Linux" is displayed.

The only thing that is still on screen is the "Loading Linux" from LILO which is fine, because it actually contains useful information about what is currently happening.

Note: You may have to customize /etc/rc.d/rc.font to set the font on all VTs, otherwise it will only affect VT9.

pardon me if this is a noob question. shouldn't there be only six virtual terminals (tty1 - tty6) for linux/slackware? do i have to manually setup tty9?

Ongbuntu · 10-07-2013, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dr.s

+1
Zero returns really. Sometimes you have to pick your battles, especially when working with Linux and dealing with MS-centric vendors or lack of hardware support etc.

yes. I have decided not to fix that which ain't broken

GazL · 10-07-2013, 03:58 AM

Actually by default there are 63 of them, but as there aren't enough function keys to get to those above 12 most people aren't even aware of them. You only need to setup a getty process on them if you want a login prompt on them. You can start programs on them directly using openvt (but you have to be root)

Ongbuntu · 10-07-2013, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GazL

Actually by default there are 63 of them, but as there aren't enough function keys to get to those above 12 most people aren't even aware of them. You only need to setup a getty process on them if you want a login prompt on them. You can start programs on them directly using openvt (but you have to be root)

Thanks for sharing.

Sometimes, I wonder how you guys know so much. I tried to learn by gathering bits and pieces of information from google and various linux forum. but is there a more structured/efficient way to learn slackware (i've read the slackbook as well as some getting started guide but it gets me nowhere close to power user level)?

GazL · 10-07-2013, 06:07 AM

Mostly it's just experience. Some of us have been at this a very long time.

Even 19 years in I'm still learning new stuff and there's still plenty of topics I'm clueless about.

Short answer, "We learn by doing." Read man-pages and documentation then play with the commands you just read about. It'll come.

Ongbuntu · 10-07-2013, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GazL

Mostly it's just experience. Some of us have been at this a very long time.

Even 19 years in I'm still learning new stuff and there's still plenty of topics I'm clueless about.

Short answer, "We learn by doing." Read man-pages and documentation then play with the commands you just read about. It'll come.

Thanks! It's comforting to hear this from a guru

I have to admit that i really enjoy what Linux has to offer, especially slackware. And I'm beginning to understand y it remains as the longest surviving distro after all these years. Great philosophy supported by great community

jtsn · 10-07-2013, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ongbuntu

Sometimes, I wonder how you guys know so much. I tried to learn by gathering bits and pieces of information from google and various linux forum.

Virtual Terminal (VT) is a very old Linux technology, dating back to the early 90s. The cloud*) doesn't know much about this, because it didn't exist before about 2000 (± 3 years). So if you're looking for useful info about old IT tech, you find it in so-called printed books.

*) Wikipedia, Google, YouTube, forums, Facebook et al.