Puppy for X86 64bit tablet with 32bit UEFI bios?

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Insomniacno1
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Puppy for X86 64bit tablet with 32bit UEFI bios?

#1 Post by Insomniacno1 »

As the subject says, I'm looking for a Puppy that can run from USB on this kind of tablet.

As the owner of an ODYS WinTab 8 with the specs below, I like to know if its possible to boot as live or install to an Windows 8.1 with Bing tablet.

The current windows 8.1 with Bing, is not good on such a small screen and the way ODYS set it up there are only about 3GB free space out of the total of 16GB, because of a 5.12GB recovery partition.

Anyone have a suggestion?

HW:

The Odys WinTab 8 is an 8" Windows 8.1 Tablet powered by Intels Bay Trail-T platform with an Intel Atom Z3735E quadcore processor. Built in is a microSDHC slot for expansion of storage of up to 32GB. 1GB of RAM. In terms of ports there is only 1 microUSB port which is host(OTG) capable and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Manufacturer Odys
Model name Wintab 8
CPU type Intel Atom Z3735E
CPU speed 1330 Mhz
Graphics Intel HD (Gen 7 Baytrail) - I's actually HD Graphics 4600
Fanless YES
OS Microsoft Windows 8.1
Display Size 8.0" 1280 X 800 - 1280x768, 1280x720 and 1024x768
Screen Type LED-Backlit LCD
Touchscreen type Multi-touch
Touchscreen FTSC1000:00 2808:1008
RAM 1024 MB
SSD 16 GB
Battery capacity 16 Wh

Wireless Interfaces:
802.11 b/g/n - Realtek RTL8723BS
BT 4.0 Realtek RTL8723BS

Wi-fi/bluetooth drivers for developer to use as kernel patch https://github.com/hadess/rtl8723bs

No Wireless WAN (e.g. 3G cellular)

Soundcard: Realtek RTL5640/42
Drivers: http://12244.wpc.azureedge.net/8012244/ ... c8.tar.bz2 - Not working in Ubuntu, no sound.

Accelerometer: Kionix KXCJ9

It has 32bit UEFI bios, so in order to boot it on anything it needs the /EFI/boot/bootia32.efi - here are the files needed with grub.cfg files with examples - its made by Ted Dog and I have modified it to work on this tablet. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/948 ... usb.tar.gz


The bios can be accessed by holding both volume buttons and power ON, so you don't have to boot to windows first.

The partition scheme is as follows:

1. 100MB EFI
2. Windows C: - Windows 8.1 with bing - 9.30GB with 3.20GB free
3. Recovery - 5.15GB used

Seems to be using Wimboot.

Hope some of the many geniuses here can help with this.

With kind regards

JBJ
Last edited by Insomniacno1 on Sat 22 Oct 2016, 12:35, edited 6 times in total.

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bigpup
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#2 Post by bigpup »

In general to get Puppy booting on a UEFI bios.

In bios look for an option to turn off or Disable secure-boot.

Also, may see an option for legacy boot or something like that in the UEFI settings, so select it.

If your UEFI/Legacy BIOS has an option for Quick Boot, disable it when using Legacy.

You will probably have to try several Puppy versions to get one that gives you the best support.
Most of the newest version of Puppy are good ones to try.

I would try Tahrpup 6.0.5 first and see how it works.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=96178

If the bios offers an option to boot from The SDHC and/or the micro USB.
I would install Puppy on one of them.
A USB flash driver or a SDHC card.

You will probably have to use a mouse.
Touch screen support is not built into Puppy.

There are some people that have posted about tablets and Puppy.
Use this search site and search for tablet touch screen in the puppy forum.
http://puppylinux.us/psearch.html
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
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Insomniacno1
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#3 Post by Insomniacno1 »

Thank you bigpup, I'm looking into Slacko in this thread:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 402#925402

If anyone else have tried this and have a solution, please feel free to post it here:)

JBJ

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bigpup
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#4 Post by bigpup »

That version of Slacko is very experimental.

I would stick to one of the stable versions.

I
actually have a nice puppy MATE on my Multiboot USB, unfortunately that can't boot on my tablet because of syslinux and EUFI can't talk - not even in legacy boot.
Have you turned off secure-boot?
May just be too old a version of Puppy :idea:
If you setup the UEFI bios the ways I suggested.
syslinux should not be an issue.

You do what?
You see what?

I assume you got the bios to give options to boot from USB and/or SDHC?
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

s243a
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#5 Post by s243a »

bigpup wrote: You will probably have to use a mouse.
Touch screen support is not built into Puppy.
I'm pretty sure the touch screen works with fatdog64. I know the original poster said it is a 32 bit system but odds are that if it is a windows 8 era PC that it is a 64 bit system. I presume that most PCs were 64bit since the windows 7 era.

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greengeek
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#6 Post by greengeek »

Your first hurdle is to find the right method to boot any Puppy (ie: getting past any UEFI issues). Once you have that issue mastered there are several options as far as touchscreen functionality goes.

I can't offer any experience or advice regarding UEFI issues but the version of Slacko in that other thread you posted to is not too bad with regard to touchscreen functionality. If you succeed in booting that experimental Slacko to a working desktop I have a .pet you could try which increases some of the icon sizes and makes some other changes that enhance touchability.

Do you have the ability to plug in a mouse temporarily while you set up some other Puppy?

jamesbond
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#7 Post by jamesbond »

s243a wrote:
bigpup wrote: You will probably have to use a mouse.
Touch screen support is not built into Puppy.
I'm pretty sure the touch screen works with fatdog64. I know the original poster said it is a 32 bit system but odds are that if it is a windows 8 era PC that it is a 64 bit system. I presume that most PCs were 64bit since the windows 7 era.
Check your UEFI version. If it is 64-bit, you're good to go.
If it is 32-bit, Fatdog64 won't work on it - you may want to try 32-bit Slacko with UEFI.
Fatdog64 forum links: [url=http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=117546]Latest version[/url] | [url=https://cutt.ly/ke8sn5H]Contributed packages[/url] | [url=https://cutt.ly/se8scrb]ISO builder[/url]

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Insomniacno1
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#8 Post by Insomniacno1 »

Hi All, so far i got to the Boot menu by following this recipe :

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 714#925714

I used mkusb to wipe my usb(Sandisk 32GB Dual USB drive, usb 2.0) totally, then gdisk to remove all partition tables so grub would be gone. Then formatted with Gparted to Fat32 and made boot flag - and extracted the uefi.zip from first post to the usb drive and copied fatdog and slacko iso files to the usb, the edited grub.cfg with geany and made sure everything were as suppose to.

Files on usb :

devx_slacko_6.9.6.1.sfs
fdrv_slacko_6.9.6.1.sfs
puppy_slacko_6.9.6.1.sfs
zdrv_slacko_6.9.6.1.sfs
drivers
grub.cfg
Shellx64.efi
EFI
initrd.gz
slacko-6.9.6.1-uefi
Fatdog64-702.iso
keys
slacko-6.9.6.1-uefi.iso


added the renamed grubia32.efi, now bootia32.efi to /EFI/boot/

Unmount the usb and eject it.

Then boot to Tablets boot manager, and choose boot options.
Choose EFI USB Device

I get the boot menu were I can choose Fatdog64-702.iso or slacko-6.9.6.1-uefi.iso

If I choose Fatdog64 then it end up in black screen - hanged!

If I choose slacko-6.9.6.1-uefi.iso then it starts booting and find the required .sfs files and end up in black screen hanged.

What the heck is wrong with this thing?

This thing only have 1 MicroUSB port, and that is were the USB is.

I think it needs some boot parameters in order to get to the desktop - I just don't know which to add.

Also, I can add USB hub, just don't have a powered one, and keyboard. But I think the MicroUSB port will not deliver enough power for it to boot.

Just clear up something, the cpu is 64bit but the UEFI is 32bit!

I'm going to try tahrpup now.

UPDATE: I get as far as Loading kernel modules - then black screen again:)

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bigpup
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#9 Post by bigpup »

If you boot to black screen it is probably a graphics hardware issue. A graphics driver issue.

Using one of these added commands usually fixes it.

for intel cards:
i915.modeset=0
ATI/AMD radeon cards:
radeon.modeset=0
nvidia cards:
nouveau.modeset=0

Yours is Intel graphics hardware.

The string must be placed at the end of the kernel line of the boot entry or the line that has vmlinuz.
Example:

Code: Select all

kernel vmlinuz  pmedia=usbflash i915.modeset=0
I am not clear on exactly what is giving you a boot loader.
I assume it is Grub.
grub.cfg may be where the boot entries are that you need to add too.

Example of grub.cfg:

Code: Select all

menuentry "Start Fatdog64-631.iso" {
loopback loop0  (hd0,msdos1)/Fatdog64-631.iso
linux (loop0)/vmlinuz i915.modeset=0
initrd (loop0)/initrd 
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

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greengeek
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#10 Post by greengeek »

I have no experience with UEFI - but I found a Ubuntu thread dealing with UEFI issues and there is a section about 1/3 of the way down the page entitled "Black Screen/ Video Modes".

Here is the thread:
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2147295

jamesbond
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#11 Post by jamesbond »

Fatdog64 will not work with 64-bit CPU but 32-bit UEFI. I already said so (and this is first hand experience). To do so will require some tweaks which are currently not implemented in Fatdog64.

32-bit Slacko blank screen is probably caused by incompatible graphics driver (probably i915). You need to blacklist this module and stops it from loading. Somebody needs to tell you exactly how to do that - perhaps you should ask forum member "jlst".
Fatdog64 forum links: [url=http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=117546]Latest version[/url] | [url=https://cutt.ly/ke8sn5H]Contributed packages[/url] | [url=https://cutt.ly/se8scrb]ISO builder[/url]

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Insomniacno1
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#12 Post by Insomniacno1 »

jamesbond wrote:Fatdog64 will not work with 64-bit CPU but 32-bit UEFI. I already said so (and this is first hand experience). To do so will require some tweaks which are currently not implemented in Fatdog64.

32-bit Slacko blank screen is probably caused by incompatible graphics driver (probably i915). You need to blacklist this module and stops it from loading. Somebody needs to tell you exactly how to do that - perhaps you should ask forum member "jlst".
Hi jamesbond, yes you said so, I'm just a bit unclear to why it will not work, as it boot to grub - goes past that into grub menu provided by the uefi.zip from Ted Dog and then continue to boot after choosing Fatdog64 - at this point we are already past UEFI - or am I missing something here?

I did add the bootia32.efi to the EFI/BOOT folder, could that be why you couldn't get it to work?

On my tablet it will not find the USB drive in UEFI Bios Bootmanager if the bootia32.efi is not on the USB drive - eventhough bootia64.efi is there and grub2.efi is there.

bigpup is right, it is probably the video driver, I suspected this but were not sure, since I tried many parameter with the ubuntu flavours and still ended up in black screen.

I will try the parameter bigpup provided - thank you bigpup - I will let you know how it goes.

If we get this going then its a breakthrough as not many other people have got linux working with this tablet(0).

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Insomniacno1
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#13 Post by Insomniacno1 »

OKAY - so far so good:)

Fatdog64 did not boot, as jamesbond predicted.

tahr-6.0.5_PAE did boot and got way past anyhting before, it actually ended up with a message about X failed and I should run xorgwizard to setup X. I have no keyboard attached right now so will do that later.

tahr-6.0.5_noPAE did exactly the same thing.

tahr64-6.0.5 did exactly the same thing.

slacko-6.9.6.1-uefi boots to desktop. But not good working without mouse, here the touchscreen actually works as the mouse but not good, as it is hard to move around and almost impossible to hit anything correct.

slacko64-6.9.6.1-uefi did exactly the same thing, but the mouse is dead and touchscreen does not work - or the whole thing is frozen.

So it can boot 64bit OS. Just not Fatdog64.

Also, we might need to change video resolution as everything is very small in 800x1280 24bit. 1024x768 or 1024x800 would be better.

Rotation, does not work yet.

EDIT: We can add X-Tahr-2.0 with Xfce, Xenialpup and xslacko to the list of those that boot to prompt and ask to run xorgwizard
Last edited by Insomniacno1 on Thu 29 Sep 2016, 18:13, edited 2 times in total.

Sailor Enceladus
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#14 Post by Sailor Enceladus »

Insomniacno1 wrote:Also, we might need to change video resolution as everything is very small in 800x1280 24bit. 1024x768 or 1024x800 would be better.
In Slacko 6.9.6,1, if you go into Menu -> Desktop -> Puppy Theme Manager and select the "Bright Touch" or "Dark Touch" hand it should make some buttons and the menu larger. I prefer a 1024x768 monitor as well if using the default theme.

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#15 Post by greengeek »

Insomniacno1 wrote:slacko-6.9.6.1-uefi boots to desktop. But not good working without mouse, here the touchscreen actually works as the mouse but not good, as it is hard to move around and almost impossible to hit anything correct.
Thats great news. It might be worth trying the 32bit version of Slacko 6.3.0.1 from here
I don't know if it can be booted by the same method but if so it will be a great candidate for touchscreen use.

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Insomniacno1
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#16 Post by Insomniacno1 »

greengeek wrote:
Insomniacno1 wrote:slacko-6.9.6.1-uefi boots to desktop. But not good working without mouse, here the touchscreen actually works as the mouse but not good, as it is hard to move around and almost impossible to hit anything correct.
Thats great news. It might be worth trying the 32bit version of Slacko 6.3.0.1 from here
I don't know if it can be booted by the same method but if so it will be a great candidate for touchscreen use.
Hi greengeek, isn't that a bit older than the one I'm using now, Slacko 6.9.6.1? http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=108017

Is there a particular reason for using an older version?

JBJ

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greengeek
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#17 Post by greengeek »

Insomniacno1 wrote:Hi greengeek, isn't that a bit older than the one I'm using now, Slacko 6.9.6.1? http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=108017

Is there a particular reason for using an older version?

JBJ
In this case yes - the older one is an experimental version which 01micko set up specifically to work with touchscreens. It sounded as if the newer version was giving you trouble with touchscreen accuracy or controllability so it would be an interesting comparison to see if the experimental version is easier to drive with a touchscreen.

Even if it has other issues I think it is worthwhile to see if you get a better touch experience.

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Insomniacno1
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#18 Post by Insomniacno1 »

greengeek wrote:
Insomniacno1 wrote:Hi greengeek, isn't that a bit older than the one I'm using now, Slacko 6.9.6.1? http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=108017

Is there a particular reason for using an older version?

JBJ
In this case yes - the older one is an experimental version which 01micko set up specifically to work with touchscreens. It sounded as if the newer version was giving you trouble with touchscreen accuracy or controllability so it would be an interesting comparison to see if the experimental version is easier to drive with a touchscreen.

Even if it has other issues I think it is worthwhile to see if you get a better touch experience.
Cool, I will try it very soon and let you know:)

EDIT: slacko-6.3.0.1.iso booted to prompt like most of the other iso's, I will need a keyboard to set it up, and I don't have that right now.

It would be nice with a bootparameter or built-in to the iso, that bluetooth were enabled by default and accepted connections without pairing code. It that were possible then bluetooth keyboard/mouse could be used immediately.

Any chance someone could make an iso like that?


JBJ

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#19 Post by Sailor Enceladus »

greengeek wrote:
Insomniacno1 wrote:Hi greengeek, isn't that a bit older than the one I'm using now, Slacko 6.9.6.1? http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=108017

Is there a particular reason for using an older version?

JBJ
In this case yes - the older one is an experimental version which 01micko set up specifically to work with touchscreens. It sounded as if the newer version was giving you trouble with touchscreen accuracy or controllability so it would be an interesting comparison to see if the experimental version is easier to drive with a touchscreen.

Even if it has other issues I think it is worthwhile to see if you get a better touch experience.
Isn't 6.9.6.1 the same as 6.3.0.1 if you change the default theme to "Bright Touch" or "Dark Touch" as I posted here?
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=925992#925992

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Insomniacno1
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#20 Post by Insomniacno1 »

Sailor Enceladus wrote: Isn't 6.9.6.1 the same as 6.3.0.1 if you change the default theme to "Bright Touch" or "Dark Touch" as I posted here?
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=925992#925992
Well, 6.9.6.1 booted to desktop, the other one didn't - Also, in 6.9.6.1 touch works, just not very good and its hard to navigate to menu. If I had access to my bluetooth keyboard then it would be a different matter.

Something else, still in topic - are there a slacko or tahrpup version with Gnome 3 desktop? Gnome 3 is touch friendly.

Tablet has bluetooth 4.0.

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