How to suppress boot messages?

[Pete]

Hi everyone.

Wow, lots of responses and ideas, thank you all.

Let me say up front that I certainly don't like the idea of suppressing any messages
but for this instance it's an opportunity to make some "converts".

As @bigpup wrote with his analogy of driving, it's a mind set and that is exactly
the point.
The "other" crowd have a certain mindset/expectation that the screen is pretty
much blank (with just the rotating thing) until the O.S. boots.
If something goes wrong, what does the average user do? panics and calls their tech support.
Plus the average "tech support" probably knows diddly squat about anything
else other than DLLS, exes and VXDs.

Believe me, those cryptic messages are really informative to us but for
the average man in the street, it will send them running for the hills.

@Flash
I really like your idea of giving people the option, after all, that is what Linux is all about, options.

@BGee
Thanks I will investigate.

@musher0
Point taken and noted about minimum number of messages.

@tlchost
Thank you. Glad someone agrees.

@Sailor Enceladus
Point taken but let's face it, if it was the average man in the street:

1) they would not even have given a second look at the laptop

2) Even if they had purchased it, messages could be flying back and forth
until the cows came home and they would still be as much use as if
they were in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
The likes of us, would immediately reach for Puppy on a USB stick and try it out, so the original messages (or lack of them) would be meaningless anyway.

@LazY Puppy
Many thanks for going to all the trouble.
It is exactly your method that I am now pursuing.

Pete

[bigpup]

I am freaking out when Puppy boots, because it shows me some messages that end with a green OK.
That tells me something good just happened, but I can not handle that much information.
I have no idea what I will do if one of those messages ever ends in anything but a green OK.
Would that indicate something is wrong?
No way that could be of any help to me.

I like Windows. It just locks up and tells me nothing.
All I have to do is get somebody else to fix it.
I have no idea what is wrong.
Sure wish it would tell me something happened and it was OK or not.

[musher0]

@bigpup
I don't think mockery is appropriate here. But it's none of my business, of course.

[Smithy]

Ok.

I gave this a quick shot. Tested in tahr 6.0.2 - was just a three minutes task. This post has taken some more minute after completion and re-reading it for typos.

As suggested above I had edited the init script in intrd.gz plus /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit in the puppy main sfs.

File /etc/profile does not have /dev/console.

Searched those files for /dev/console and change it to /dev/null.

Here is what appears on the screen when booting:

- the dots, when it searches for puppy files (incl. 'done')
- message about gtk-icon-cache (the full line as usual)
- messages from 'xwin' flashing very short before X appears on the screen.

Currently running this testing tahr 6.0.2 and am posting from it!

However:

To replace all /dev/console by /dev/null is NOT recommended as -at least- those messages like 'kernel panic' or 'sfs not found, dropping out to console' and similar error messages should be kept as echoed to /dev/console - otherwise you will not see anything, if something's going wrong!

Nice work RSH.
Is there a way to add a full screen like this (Not a brilliant example).

I don't think I have had a kernel panic for a very long time with the Puppies
and have removed the delayed run and everything. It just gets to the desktop and bang, (except for the elusive DO NOT Remove UR Blooming USB STICK).
Then Radkey's Control panel is there if you need to setup anything.
I understand that the console logging is handy, but it would be nice to try out a
dumbed down boot too.

[LazY Puppy]

Generally -in theory- it should be possible.

Since Windows, Ubuntu, Mint, Debian and other minor Linux distributions (the one and only major Linux distribution to me is: Puppy) have splash images, it should be possible to have this in Puppy as well.

Though, I don't know if Puppy is coming with the necessary tools included to achieve such.

However: this would need some more tweaks of the init script and /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit (plus a few more probably).

A major tweak would be to comment out the command clear within these files which returns a clean console/prompt screen.

Just to call it once in init and then to print the splash image to the screen.

There are two steps probably to do this, as at early boot there is everything executed by busybox functions; after doing the switch_root most of the busybox functions are replaced by those binaries from puppy main sfs.

I just don't know if there is a busybox function or -after the switch_root- a binary that could print the splash image to the console/prompt screen.

I can imagine a new boot option to boot by boot messages as usual or to boot just by the splash image.

Needs just two variables:

1. if bootoption = echotoconsole then ECHOTO="/dev/console"
2. if bootoption = echotonull then ECHOTO="/dev/null"

So, instead of replacing /dev/console by /dev/null just replace it by $ECHOTO.

Depending on the boot option it will echo the usual boot messages either to console or just to /dev/null.

Everything is possible - of course!

Those warning about usb flash drive (WARNING! Do not unplug USB Flash drive!) is placed in delayedrun (checked in tahr 6.0.2 - I think it's equal in all woof/woofce puppies).

Edit:

Had give this a quick try. Used 'pmessage' as for the new boot option to submit by boot entry in menu.lst. Worked!

[Pete]

Hi LazY Puppy

More good ideas, thank you.

I rather like the idea of "$ECHOTO".

I just don't know if there is a busybox function or -after the switch_root- a binary that could print the splash image to the console/prompt screen.

Perhaps one could get "feh" or similar to display it?
Although it could be too early in the boot process to be able to invoke it.
Will have to experiment.

[Smithy]

1. if bootoption = echotoconsole then ECHOTO="/dev/console"
2. if bootoption = echotonull then ECHOTO="/dev/null"



Had give this a quick try. Used 'pmessage' as for the new boot option to submit by boot entry in menu.lst. Worked!

Ok thanks, It wouldn't need the boot options really, as after/ underneath the Logo16 splash, there are the usual F1 boot.msg, F2 help.msg and F3 help2.msg
and then it commences loading automatically.

Presumably it should work ok in a syslinux.cfg /Idlinux type boot as well as a grub /menu.lst type boot.

As was mentioned elswhere, I too have a feeling that a couple of friends have moved away from Puppy partly (only partly) because of that "look" at the beginning. One is back in XP and the other is surfing the bandwidth, hogging message flashing, upgrade urging world of windows 8.1. That's ok though, computers are computers, they compute.

I'll have to dig out your little editInitrdgz 1.4 pet and have a go sometime!
Incidentally, would you know which line is the don't remove usb flash?
I have absolutely wrecked puppies that have a tint2/ openbox desktop each time I tried that "surgery" so I gave up on it.

[LazY Puppy]

Incidentally, would you know which line is the don't remove usb flash?

In tahr 6.0.2 it is line 155. In my lucid 5.2.8-4 based LazY Puppy it is at line 119. In my precise 5.7.1 based L.A.S.S.I.E. it is at line 232/234.

Code: Select all

#v2.16 popup a warning if booting from usb flash...
if [ "$PMEDIA" = "usbflash" ];then
 /usr/lib/gtkdialog/box_splash -close never -fontsize large -bg yellow -timeout 3 -text "$(gettext 'WARNING! Do not unplug USB Flash drive!')" & #101009
fi

Just search the delayedrun for: not unplug USB to find it.

[Smithy]

Thank you. Found it at 241.

[LazY Puppy]

Hi.

I have made some further investigations.

Here is what appears on the screen when booting:

- the dots, when it searches for puppy files (incl. 'done')
- message about gtk-icon-cache (the full line as usual)
- messages from 'xwin' flashing very short before X appears on the screen.

To suppress those messages of network-drivers, gtk-icon-cache and drive-icons just edit file: /etc/rc.d/rc.update.

Did not found yet a solution to suppress those dots and 'done' when searching for puppy files.

I had already tried to run a script in background which calls just clear and then sleep 1 until X desktop appears - but this was not successful.

After the switch_root it could not find command clear and sleep anymore, so I had lots of file not found messages at boot up.

Anyone successful in printing a splash image to the prompt screen at boot up?

[Smithy]

I was having a look round at:
Bootsplash – the first and original implementation of a Linux kernel bootsplash, superseded by Splashy
fbsplash – Gentoo implementation as bootsplash program[3]
Plymouth – uses Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) and KMS driver
Splashy – a graphical boot process designed to replace the aging Bootsplash program
usplash – former bootsplash program used by Ubuntu
XSplash – new splash program used by Ubuntu starting from 9.10

Then I noticed Pizzagood had made PEBBLE v0.4 Bootsplash:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 9b5cd533d3

Might be worth a look RSH, get ideas from it, at least it was "in house" .

[Pete]

Hi all

I looked at Pizzagood's project but decided it was too much work.
Instead I am quite happy to change the logo.16 image to my liking
and it can display for a few seconds like it does then using @LazY Puppy's
method of using:

Code: Select all

1. if bootoption = echotoconsole then ECHOTO="/dev/console"
2. if bootoption = echotonull then ECHOTO="/dev/null" 

will be acceptable as it will go a long way in decluttering the boot screen.

@Smithy
Have you found editInitrdgz 1.4 pet yet?
Sounds like it could be very helpful, any chance of posting it here?

@LazY Puppy

Did not found yet a solution to suppress those dots and 'done' when searching for puppy files.

I am also looking to find where to "nuke" these.

EDIT:

I have found editInitrdgz pet but the page is in German and there are
several versions listed.

@LazzY Puppy, which version should I use for Slacko 6.3 32 bit?

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=575255

[LazY Puppy]

Hi.

Thanks for the replies.

I will have a look at what pizzasgood has done, since the initrd.gz Editor is also based on a line of code by pizzasgood.

Download Version 1.4: initrd.gz Editor.

Though for newer Puppy Linux Systems (like tahr, I assume it's equal in WoofCE Puppies) it is not necessary, since they have option to extract initrd.gz when just left-clicking it.

Edit:

Currently I'm using this script. It is executed at the beginning of init script and at the end of /etc/profile. It clears the screen and echoes just LOADING to the boot screen.

[Pete]

Thank you, downloaded editor and script.

[bigpup]

For anything like this to be useful it has to have a option to not suppress the boot messages.
If anything goes wrong, those boot messages can tell you where to look and what did not work.

Most of the boot problems people have are indicated by what those boot messages say or do not say.
If you have no way of seeing them, you have no way of knowing what is wrong.

Every boot problem, that I have tried to help people fix, was easy to solve, because the boot message tells you what the problem is and indicates what should fix it.

I have an old Dell computer that is sometimes slow to get components powered up and working. If I do not watch closely what boot messages say, I do not know what happens. Sometimes it boots to the desktop with no indication there is a problem.

If I look at all boot messages as it boots, I see at this point something did not happen. I have to reboot until that specific boot message reads good. I now have a completely good working operating system and computer.

Any computer, old or new, can have boot problems, at any time, for any reason.

[LazY Puppy]

For anything like this to be useful it has to have a option to not suppress the boot messages.
If anything goes wrong, those boot messages can tell you where to look and what did not work.

Yes, we already faced this exactly.

To replace all /dev/console by /dev/null is NOT recommended as -at least- those messages like 'kernel panic' or 'sfs not found, dropping out to console' and similar error messages should be kept as echoed to /dev/console - otherwise you will not see anything, if something's going wrong!

Nice to see any boot errors before they become a problem.

In my current setup of T.O.P.L.E.S.S. 1.0.2 there is a new boot option established: pmessages.

Had give this a quick try. Used 'pmessage' as for the new boot option to submit by boot entry in menu.lst. Worked!

If this boot option is not submitted/used it prints boot messages as usual. To suppress those messages I'm using pmessages=splash.

At least this boot option could also be added or removed by edting the boot command line at the prompt before booting (grub4dos offers an option to edit).

[Pete]

@LazzY Puppy

Your idea of the boot option caters for all needs.


LazzY Puppy wrote:

Did not found yet a solution to suppress those dots and 'done' when searching for puppy files.

Check out lines 231 and 298 of initrd.gz

[LazY Puppy]

@LazzY Puppy

Your idea of the boot option caters for all needs.


LazzY Puppy wrote:

Did not found yet a solution to suppress those dots and 'done' when searching for puppy files.

Check out lines 231 and 298 of initrd.gz

Thanks.

Line 298 already found, but line 231 is the dots !!!

[LazY Puppy]

Checked the modified T.O.P.L.E.S.S. init script:

Code: Select all

echo -n "." >$ECHOMSGTO

Since /dev/console is replaced by $ECHOMSGTO when converting the initrd.gz, it is already set to >$ECHOMSGTO but the dots are still appearing on the boot screen.

Must be somewhere else probably?

As I do understand line 231 and its wrapping function, this is for doing a file system check for save files. I'm running in RAM only (no save file generally), so I will never ever met this section of init script at boot up.

So the dots when searching for Puppy files must be echoed somewhere else. I will now search the whole init script just for a dot (.) manually by text editor!

Though, I can live with those dots as they are pretty small compared to the echoed 'LOADING' by my loading script.

[Pete]

Hi LazY Puppy

Searching for dots is like searching for "spaces", it's gonna take ages.

Since the dots are being produced one after another, perhaps an easier
and quicker way is to search for a loop instead as the dots will be echoed
from the loop.

Like you say, the dots are not that bad.
It's a case of if they can be found and removed, great, if not, it's not too bad.