Splashtop on USB stick

[Kano]

Here you find some scripts, the first is to create an USB stick which can be booted on several motherboards - vendor independ to check out the system. The second script can be seen as an optional way to create a hd image which can be used together with VirtualBox to start the system. VirtualBox has to be configured to automatically enable the USB stick - best using the USB filter setting as the apps are loaded via USB. I use the kernel which is stored on the interal SSD therefore you need to emulate it. In order to store additional data on the stick, two partitions are made. If you try it on real hardware and you can not boot from USB, just put the ce_bz kernel from the stick onto your hd and boot it with your standard bootloader. When you are able to start it but you don't have got LAN working, the cheapest solution is to add a Realtek 1 GBit ethernet adapter - this is supported. You might experince problems with front usb connectors - in that case try the ones directly onboard - even there try all ports if needed.

a) Create USB stick

Change DEVICE to match your stick. Also set IMAGE to the image you want to use.

Required tools which are not always preinstalled are: lilo (or mbr with a simple change), syslinux

#!/bin/sh
DEVICE="/dev/USBSTICK"
IMAGE="FILE.IMG"
offset=$(($(sfdisk -d $IMAGE|grep start=|head -n1|sed 's/.*start=\s*//;s/,.*//')*512))
OPTIONS="umask=000,shortname=mixed,quiet,utf8"
DIR=/tmp/target
INPUT=/tmp/input
umount ${DEVICE}1 $INPUT
mkdir -p $DIR $INPUT
mount -o loop,offset=$offset,$OPIONS $IMAGE $INPUT
dd if=/dev/zero of=$DEVICE count=1
sfdisk -D -uM $DEVICE <<EOT
,240,6,*
,,b
EOT
#install-mbr -p D ${DEVICE}
lilo -s /dev/null -M ${DEVICE}
mkdosfs -F16 -nDVMUSB ${DEVICE}1
mkdosfs -F32 -nDATA ${DEVICE}2
syslinux -s ${DEVICE}1
mount -o $OPTIONS ${DEVICE}1 $DIR
cat > $DIR/syslinux.cfg <<EOT
default /ce_bz
EOT
cp -av $INPUT/* $DIR/
umount ${DEVICE}1 $INPUT
sync

b) Inject GRUB into image - bootable!

Set IMAGE to the image you want to use. Also check the postition of the grub stage1/2 files. Example for 32 bit Debian/Ubuntu.

#!/bin/sh
IMAGE="FILE.IMG"
offset=$(($(sfdisk -d $IMAGE|awk '/start=/{print $4}'|head -n1|sed 's/,//')*512))
uuid=$(dd if=$IMAGE skip=$((0x27+$offset)) bs=1 count=4 2>/dev/null|hexdump -e '"%X"'|sed 's/\(....\)/\1-/')
LOOP="/dev/loop0"
OPTIONS="umask=000,shortname=mixed,quiet,utf8"
DIR=/tmp/target
mkdir -p $DIR
losetup -d $LOOP
losetup $LOOP $IMAGE
umount $DIR
mount -o loop,offset=$offset,$OPIONS $IMAGE $DIR
mkdir -p $DIR/boot/grub
cat > $DIR/boot/grub/menu.lst <<EOT
timeout 0
title Test
kernel /ce_bz
EOT
cp -v /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/stage1 $DIR/boot/grub
cp -v /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/stage2 $DIR/boot/grub
grub --device-map=/dev/null --batch <<EOT
device (hd0) $LOOP
root (hd0,0)
setup --stage2=$DIR/boot/grub/stage2 (hd0)
EOT
cat > $DIR/splash.idx <<EOT
root=UUID=$uuid
EOT
umount $DIR
losetup -d $LOOP

c) Try image with qemu

qemu -m 256 -hda FILE.IMG

d) Convert image to VMware harddisk image

Requires qemu.

qemu-img convert FILE.IMG -O vmdk test.vmdk

e) Install onto FAT32 partition (without grub-install ntfs would work too).

Requires grub.

#!/bin/sh
PARTITION="/dev/partition"
IMAGE="FILE.IMG"
offset=$(($(sfdisk -d $IMAGE|grep start=|head -n1|sed 's/.*start=\s*//;s/,.*//')*512))
OPTIONS="umask=000,shortname=mixed,quiet,utf8"
DIR=/tmp/target
INPUT=/tmp/input
umount $PARTITION $INPUT
mkdir -p $DIR $INPUT
mount -o loop,offset=$offset,$OPIONS $IMAGE $INPUT
mount $PARTITION $DIR
mkdir -p $DIR/boot/grub
cat > $DIR/boot/grub/menu.lst <<EOT
timeout 0
title Test
kernel /TEST.IT/ce_bz
EOT
grub-install --recheck --no-floppy --root-directory=$DIR $PARTITION
grub-install --recheck --no-floppy --root-directory=$DIR $PARTITION
mkdir -p $DIR/TEST.IT
cp -av $INPUT/* $DIR/TEST.IT/
cat > $DIR/splash.idx <<EOT
root=UUID=$(/lib/udev/vol_id -u $PARTITION)
/TEST.IT
/TEST.IT
EOT
umount $PARTITION $INPUT
sync

PS: The used IMAGE is really easy to find when you look for updates of boards with Splashtop support like P5Q.

Edit: I looked a bit at the Win installer (which you can use of course too, just boot ce_bz with any bootloader you want to use, like grub4dos) and found that there was a file called splash.idx in the root of the partition. Then it was fully clear to me what to do - the file needs to be there when you don't want to start it via USB (emulates the SSD). The structure is easy:

root=UUID=$uuid
/DIR.SYSTEM
/DIR.USERDATA

where $uuid is similar to /dev/disk/by-uuid/$uuid. the lines 2 and 3 are optional and point to the files where it is installed, the userdata dir has to contain the files matching user*. With that info you could have multiply installs on one partition - just set the dir names to the ones you want to use and even share the userdata between em. So - I think thats all. If needed I could add some hints for Grub4Dos.

Edit 2: Use 240 mb instead of 220 mb in order to add more custom addons. You can use even more if want to add extra apps.

Extra hint: If you want to modify existing packages you can get rid of the error message that the install was corrupted using:

dd of=version bs=1 seek=32 count=0

in the same dir with the sqx packages. You do not need that if you only add more packages.

[drosky]

Thank you for the scripts.

I ran the first script, but when Itry to boot from USB stick, I get an error message that says approximately: "This device is not bootable, please insert bootable floppy and press return."

I'm not sure yet what I did wrong. Is this a problem with lilo's MBR?

[Kano]

Well I simply test the stick using

qemu -hda /dev/USBSTICK

If that at least shows that the kernel is loaded then it is bootable. There are several problems that can occur when you try to boot from USB:

a) USB sticks are used as superfloppy, in the BIOS care does not work. Saidly none of the available virtual nics are supported, hopefully one of it gets added to a newer release. As it is pretty hard to copy the kernel to a Linux partition when there is none, I just installed a grub bootloader with the 2nd script. Thats of course huger than it has to be, if lled USB-ZIP, that will not work when it is a partitioned stick. Interestingly serveral Gigabyte boards do not correctly boot from USB-HDD, even when selected this as first boot device. Therefore you have to enable the USB legacy storage option and then you find it as harddisk in the menu. New boards have got a menu on a hotkey, F12 for Gigabyte, otherwise change the boot order between the harddisk. You may need to reboot to see the device when USB storage support was turned off.

b) Only some usb ports work, thats a bit stupid, when you are able to start the system, but then you see something like: not installed correctly, please run installer. Just try all possible ports to see if one works, had that problem on a Gigabyte GA-G33-DS3R. No way to boot from front usb and not even all directly available ports from the board worked.

c) If it does not work at all to boot from USB, don't give up. Just copy the ce_bz file from your stick to /boot and add a short entry to your grub menu (usually /boot/grub/menu.lst) - fetch values for X,Y from the already available kernel/root entries.

title Test
kernel (hdX,Y)/boot/ce_bz

d) Test it using VirtualBox if booting on real hardware fails. You have to configure proper USB support for your distro, so look at the Vbox manual. Otherwise you would have to start Vbox as root. It is needed that you enable the USB stick for the Vbox session. Sadly none of the possible virtual network devices seem to work, hopefully an update could fix it. As you have to start the kernel from a hd image I provided the 2nd script. That image is of course much bigger than needed and you can do step c) if you have to already a hd image for Vbox too. If somebody likes rewrite it and show how create a partitioned hd image in a clean way feel free to post it. I had no success using a boot floppy or boot iso image however.

e) Rare, but possible: it is lilo's fault as you asked before, in that case use the install-mbr command instead of the lilo command (install-mbr is in the mbr Debian package). It writes MBR on screen when the MBR is loaded.

[drosky]

Thanks for the info.

I will try some of the things you say, but a few things to note:

The machines I tried to boot are capable to boot from the same USB stick with another Linux on it, for example Puppy Linux. That's why I think maybe something went wrong with the installation process.

I might enable more echo and re-run the script to see if any of the commands reports a problem.

Maybe I will also try GRUB instead of syslinux.

[Kano]

Yes you can try grub too - just be sure that the stage1/2 location is correct. Therefore I basically rewrote it. This script uses grub:

#!/bin/sh
DEVICE="/dev/USBSTICK"
IMAGE="FILE.IMG"
offset=$(($(sfdisk -d $IMAGE|grep start=|head -n1|sed 's/.*start=\s*//;s/,.*//')*512))
OPTIONS="umask=000,shortname=mixed,quiet,utf8"
DIR=/tmp/target
INPUT=/tmp/input
umount ${DEVICE}1 $INPUT
mkdir -p $DIR $INPUT
mount -o loop,offset=$offset,$OPIONS $IMAGE $INPUT
dd if=/dev/zero of=$DEVICE count=1
sfdisk -D -uM $DEVICE <<EOT
,220,6,*
,,b
EOT
mkdosfs -F16 -nDVMUSB ${DEVICE}1
mkdosfs -F32 -nDATA ${DEVICE}2
mount -o $OPTIONS ${DEVICE}1 $DIR
mkdir -p $DIR/boot/grub
cat > $DIR/boot/grub/menu.lst <<EOT
timeout 0
title Test
kernel /ce_bz
EOT
cp -v /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/stage1 $DIR/boot/grub
cp -v /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/stage2 $DIR/boot/grub
grub --device-map=/dev/null --batch <<EOT
device (hd0) $DEVICE
root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)
EOT
cp -av $INPUT/* $DIR/
umount ${DEVICE}1 $INPUT
sync

I even ported the script to use pure lilo, but maybe that's too academical ;)

[drosky]

OK, it works now (the original syslinux version). I must have had a BIOS setting wrong.

I could boot it up on my Dell laptop, but unfortunately no wireless (Intel 3945) or LAN support :(

I thought it might have this since Asus uses it on some laptops, but no luck..

[Kano]

Well as soon as they are shipping laptops with it this could happen. Right now the wireless seems to be limited to AR5007 cards similar to the used one from the Eee PC and the RT2870 chip which is on newer WiFi boards.

[drosky]

Well as soon as they are shipping laptops with it this could happen. Right now the wireless seems to be limited to AR5007 cards similar to the used one from the Eee PC and the RT2870 chip which is on newer WiFi boards.

The newer Asus laptops with Express gate use the Intel 5100 wireless chip, so the ipw3945 used in a lot of earlier laptops might not get supported :(

[Kano]

Well you don't miss that much as you can read here:

http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11644

It is not really inteded to replace a full OS install. It boots relatively fast, but with several drawback.

[drosky]

Well you don't miss that much as you can read here:

http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11644

It is not really inteded to replace a full OS install. It boots relatively fast, but with several drawback.

Yes it is true, it has drawbacks, but it's nice because it boots *very* fast and gives you at least some web browsing.

So, I'm wondering, what makes it boot so fast, and could we build a similar fully OSS distro that boots into X in 10 seconds and supports just internet access? Could it be some of the following:

1. Disable UDEV auto detection - do autodetection during install and then assume the same fixed set of hardware after that.

2. Compile all of the common modules into the kernel.

3. Of course, run only very minimal amount of daemons necessary to support internet access - no CUPS, no HPLIP, no GDM, etc.

4. Use a minimal X environment and WM, possibly tinyx and blackbox similar to splashtop.

5 ?????????

It must be possible since splashtop does it, and we could have a fully OSS version that supports more hardware

[Kano]

Well it does not do much, there are no modules, everything static it seems. And it only uses vesa for the X server, basically similar to DSL with static kernel and and a custom menu - so you can skip all the detection part. The intersting thing is the kernel image itself, I don't know how to create such a thing with built-in menu. If it is a kernel mod then the source has to be made opensource I guess. At least I never saw this technique before - you would expect it in an initrd. The apps itself are loaded later from usb, therefore you see the delay when you select what you want.

[deanjo]

Yes it is true, it has drawbacks, but it's nice because it boots *very* fast and gives you at least some web browsing.

So, I'm wondering, what makes it boot so fast, and could we build a similar fully OSS distro that boots into X in 10 seconds and supports just internet access? Could it be some of the following:

1. Disable UDEV auto detection - do autodetection during install and then assume the same fixed set of hardware after that.

2. Compile all of the common modules into the kernel.

3. Of course, run only very minimal amount of daemons necessary to support internet access - no CUPS, no HPLIP, no GDM, etc.

4. Use a minimal X environment and WM, possibly tinyx and blackbox similar to splashtop.

5 ?????????

It must be possible since splashtop does it, and we could have a fully OSS version that supports more hardware

You mean like machboot? http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20070917#feature

[drosky]

The intersting thing is the kernel image itself, I don't know how to create such a thing with built-in menu. If it is a kernel mod then the source has to be made opensource I guess. At least I never saw this technique before - you would expect it in an initrd.

A few days ago I downloaded the sources they made available at splashtop.com, and there was a directory with what appeared to be kernel patches. I don't have it in front of me (I'm not on my home machine), but I believe there was a patch that was related to a boot splash. There could be some useful information in there. I'll post back later if I find it.

Considering most everything is GPL, it seems like splashtop and Asus are not releasing enough source code *grin*.

[drosky]

You mean like machboot? http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20070917#feature

That looks really cool. I'll definitely check it out. Thanks for the link, I googled around a bit for fast booting linux but didn't find it :rolleyes:

EDIT: Actually, the components look even more out-of-date than splashtop (kernel 2.6.16 and Firefox 1.5), but it's a move in the right direction if he updates it.

[drosky]

I'll post back later if I find it.

There is a bootsplash patch that appears to be based on www.bootsplash.org code. I'm not a kernel hacker and didn't look it over much, but maybe they've added menu functionality to the normal bootsplash code.

[Kano]

The difference is just that here serveral drivers like the ones for via-rhine and other nics are left by purpose. I don't think that would affect speed when a few more are added. Also I think the r8169 driver is a bit worse than the implementation of a current kernel. Usally this card supports automatic detection of the used cable - that means you don't need a cross cable for direct connections - which is standard for all gbit nics. It even seems to get an ip via dns, but internet is not working. Booting into a newer Linux distro internet works fine. Ok, that's a special case, but you see that there have been some improvements in newer drivers...

[drosky]

You mean like machboot? http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20070917#feature

I downloaded this and took a look. It is based on Debian and it does boot very fast for a CD (~15 sec), but it still needs a lot of work. The Kernel is 2.6.16, which is too old to support the Intel iwl driver (Intel only support back to 2.6.18).

Firefox is version 1.5, although since it's an open platform, you could probably add a newer version.

The worst problem is hardware support. The disk would not boot on my P5Q nor on my son's P5K due to lack of new enough IDE drivers. It did boot on a 3-year old Dell laptop, but no network support for the ipw3945 or for the Broadcomm LAN.

It's a good experiment, but it needs even more updating than Splashtop. Probably would be better to start from scratch with a current Debian snapshot.

[MetalheadGautham]

1. How fast does this thing boot ?

2. Is this also installable to a CD-R(W) and if yes, will I get similar speeds ?


3. Does this use Firefox 3 or Firefox 2 or something like Skipstone or epiphany ? (for more speed)

4. Will it run on old hardware sufficiently well ? (see my siggy)

[Kano]

Well there are 2 ways to install, this way - which basically emulates the SSD or you use the Win installer. As the Win installer alone does not let you boot what you are installing just cp the ce_bz file to your Linux partition and boot it with your already installed grub. Another way would be using grub4dos or grub2. You could also reuse the Wubi installer - when you change the grub2.conf.

[Kano]

Did somebody try the script b? Or the possible changes in the config file? If needed I have got even a current grub2 version to be embedded into XP's boot.ini - can be used with EasyBCD and V too.

[x20mar]

Hi there,

I just heard about what you're doing with splashtop and I'm totally amazed by it. Is there any chance of a how to guide (with files) so that other people can do it to?

Thanks

[Kano]

The needed file "FILE.IMG" you can simply find on the download page for boards like asus p5q. There is only one file with IMG ending in it, so no change to use the wrong one ;) Of course your linux system must have got all tools i used preinstalled - for the IMG direct mod to boot with qemu/vbox you have to fix the links to the grub stage1/2 files if needed.

[drosky]

Hi there,

I just heard about what you're doing with splashtop and I'm totally amazed by it. Is there any chance of a how to guide (with files) so that other people can do it to?

Thanks

There are a number of things that can be done, I will try to summarize them here. Actually, Kano is a more experienced hacker than I am and has done more of the work, but I will try to summarize here.

1. Getting express gate to run on other hardware - Kano has figured this out. Search for the latest of his posts with a script for making a bootable USB stick from update images posted at Asus.com. You will need to be running Linux to use the script and will need some tools that aren't installed by default on many systems, like syslinux and lilo. Note that express gate comes with a limited number of hardware drivers to support Asus's target motherboards, so some important things like networking may be missing on some hardware. For some hardware, fixing this might be as simple as compiling a driver module against the 2.6.20.11 kernel and patching it into splashtop.

2. The other big area is hacking new things into express gate and/or fixing things. Application files are generally stored in .sqx files, which are squashfs archives. You can access them by installing squashfs tools on your system. The archives can be un-squashed by using unsquashfs and can be modified then re-compressed by using mksquashfs. So far, I have been able to get an rxvt terminal and ROX file manager, and kano has done those things plus added xterm and patched Pidgin to enable ICQ. One issue here is that apparently some versions of express gate check the sqx files against MD5 and date info stored in a version file, so you would have to patch that version file.

Basically, you can add files to an sqx archive, or create a new sqx archive, and they get mounted at runtime so that all of the files are available in the file system. The best way to start is by extracting some of them and looking around. Kano has posted a short script that will extract all of the sqx files at once.

I'm a little to busy right now, but at some point I would like to start a wiki on this (if someone else doesn't do it) to collect all of the details and maybe even post additional sqx files that people create, etc.

[Kano]

The check in the version file is against size and md5sum, but when you only use the header then you can edit everything too. I wanted to show the structure of the file - not that somebody thinks I do not know what it does ;)

dd of=version bs=1 seek=32 count=0

[packman_jon]

Hi there,

I just heard about what you're doing with splashtop and I'm totally amazed by it. Is there any chance of a how to guide (with files) so that other people can do it to?

Thanks

Me too...I'd love to have this on my laptop (since it takes forever to boot being a slower Vista machine :eek:)

[Kano]

Just join IRC channel.

[drosky]

Hi there,

I just heard about what you're doing with splashtop and I'm totally amazed by it. Is there any chance of a how to guide (with files) so that other people can do it to?

Thanks

This would be a good idea. Since this is all still at an early phase, I was thinking perhaps a wiki would be even better, so everyone in the community could add/correct things as more info comes in.

[Kano]

I would not say early stage, the only thing I could not test was using a DFI file to update a board with internal ssd (because I do not own one), all other infos you need to start you can find here. Usually in the first post.

[drosky]

I would not say early stage, the only thing I could not test was using a DFI file to update a board with internal ssd (because I do not own one), all other infos you need to start you can find here. Usually in the first post.

You are right, it's not really early stage. What I should have said is that it's at a stage where there is a lot of information here, but not yet collected into a single, concise location. Of course, there may still be new information appearing as well.

[supaJ]

With all due respect guys, I don't get it. What is so special about Splashtop? Distributions like Puppy Linux and Damn Small Linux are many times more powerful and customizable. Don't you agree?

Anyways, I tried it on my Abit IP35 Pro MOBO. It boots off the USB drive but nothing happens when I click on the links, Skype, Web, etc. It simply stops at a splash screen displaying 'Asus Express Gate'. Why is that?

[Kano]

I had the same problem until I found out that only 1 or 2 USB connectors work to boot it. Still don't know why that is, did you try all?

[supaJ]

I had the same problem until I found out that only 1 or 2 USB connectors work to boot it. Still don't know why that is, did you try all?

Yes, I have tried all USB ports. It only boots on one of my USB ports. But I can't launch any of the applications. It sticks on the black screen which says 'Asus Express Gate - Powered by Splashtop'. After about a minute, my Scroll and Num Lock lights on the keyboard starts to blink. I have tried the HD installation and it does the same thing.

I injected grub into the image and it boots using QEMU. It passes the 'Asus Express Gate - Powered by Splashtop' screen I mention above. I was able to configure it using the wizard. However, I still can't launch any applications. Nothing happens when I click the symbolic links.

What is causing these problems?

[Kano]

Well qemu is too slow for me, therefore I use Vbox. I have made addon sqx files which add network support - they just load extra drivers. Another way to start it on real hardware is to use the exe installer inside Win. As i guess that you already have got Linux on your hd you could simply copy the ce_bz file onto your linux partition and load that as kernel with your current grub. Then you dont need usb boot - one system does not work that way but i can start the kernel from hd + usb stick attached.

[supaJ]

Well qemu is too slow for me, therefore I use Vbox. I have made addon sqx files which add network support - they just load extra drivers. Another way to start it on real hardware is to use the exe installer inside Win. As i guess that you already have got Linux on your hd you could simply copy the ce_bz file onto your linux partition and load that as kernel with your current grub. Then you dont need usb boot - one system does not work that way but i can start the kernel from hd + usb stick attached.

It now works in Vbox(I only discovered Vbox about 1 mth ago - it has since become my favorite virtualization package) for me. I used the VMware harddisk image. I can launch firefox, skype and the rest of the applications.

Unfortunately, I still can't get it to work on real hardware. I used the .exe to install it in Windows. Then I used grub4dos to boot it(no USB drive attached);

title Splashtop
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/ce_bz

Still I can't get it launch any applications. It sticks at 'Asus Express Gate - Powered by Splashtop'.

Reasons?

[Kano]

Is your hd in AHCI mode? Then this would not work.

[supaJ]

Is your hd in AHCI mode? Then this would not work.

I know it does not work in AHCI mode. I discovered that whilst playing around with it. I have since change my hd mode to IDE. Still, nothing!

[Kano]

Well of course thats an unoffical way, vbox works good however and 2 boards could boot it - one directy from stick, one from stick but kernel on hd. Saidly no board could boot it with the Win installer - only Vbox can boot everything ;)

[trid]

u guys rock, keep on the cutting edge of things, your in front leading the way! couple ? i have splashtop lite MB, can't get addin usb or pci wifie card to work i heard a LINKSYS WUSB600N IEEE 802.11a/b/g would work,, usb starts to work blinks once,, then nothing,, i have a new satadom on order to load on that,, dont want windows to load do you no how to take off os icon,, i removed the skyp .sqk file because i dont want it to load but then you get the incomplete install screen,,, the pdf reader would be a great add on,,, thanks for any help

[Kano]

Removing apps is not problem as long as you reset the version file:

dd of=$INPUT/version bs=1 seek=32 count=0

inside your ASUS.SYS dir. Wifi seems to be really special, there are only very few drivers inside. Compiling new drivers could be a bit problematic but did not try yet.

[drosky]

can't get addin usb or pci wifie card to work i heard a LINKSYS WUSB600N IEEE 802.11a/b/g would work,, usb starts to work blinks once,, then nothing,,

The number of drivers included is very limited, not much more than necessary to target Asus motherboards that have express gate. If you know the driver you need, and it doesn't require a re-compiled kernel, you might be able to get it working by compiling it against the 2.6.20.11 kernel (which you can get from kernel.org) and insmodding it as per Kano's tips.

I'm trying to get Intel iwlwifi working, since a lot of notebooks have intel wireless, but so far have not been able to. Wireless seems more tricky because older kernels often need to be patched and recompiled for some drivers to work. I might try ipw3945 if iwlwifi doesn't work, but that will support fewer cards.

One option for wireless is to use wired ethernet connected to an external wireless bridge (like the Dlink DWL-G730AP), but that starts to defeat the instant-access characteristic of splashtop.

[Kano]

If you want to use the same compiler you could use this:

http://snapshot.debian.net/archive/2006/05/09/debian/pool/main/g/gcc-4.0/cpp-4.0_4.0.3-3_i386.deb
http://snapshot.debian.net/archive/2006/05/09/debian/pool/main/g/gcc-4.0/gcc-4.0-base_4.0.3-3_i386.deb
http://snapshot.debian.net/archive/2006/05/09/debian/pool/main/g/gcc-4.0/gcc-4.0_4.0.3-3_i386.deb

Fetch sources to get the uses kernel patches + config. Link you will find here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splashtop

The used kernel (do not change extra version) was:

http://kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.20.11.tar.bz2

But: In the sources link you get from Wikipedia is a major error in the kernel config, you have to change:

# CONFIG_MODULE_UNLOAD is not set

to

CONFIG_MODULE_UNLOAD=y

Edit: I really hate when I have to use modinfo to see that it is _impossible_ that the kernel config was used.

[kpmwrestler]

Wow, Kano you are a genius. I am having a problem though. I couldnt find the image on Asus's site, but I did find the windows installer, so I ran that on my windows computer, but I can't figure out how to make my flash drive bootable.

[Kano]

Well the windows installer can be used too, as I worte several times, just copy over the ASUS.SYS/ce_bz kernel image to your linux partition (in this example in the boot dir) and boot it with any installed grub on your system - replace X,Y to match other entries for your kernels.

title Test
kernel (hdX,Y)/boot/ce_bz

[kpmwrestler]

I'm sorry, I guess this is a n00b question, but what size should the partitions be? I don't completely understand your scripts.

[drosky]

Edit: I really hate when I have to use modinfo to see that it is _impossible_ that the kernel config was used.

So we don't know if the error you found is the only error in the kernel config? I guess we also don't know if Asus made any additional changes to the kernel from Splashtop, for example they may have had to add the drivers for the wifi boards.

I guess the only way is to just try to compile the kernel with the config (with your fix) and patches from splashtop and see if it works in express gate.

[Kano]

The patches are included in the sources. Just download and apply em. Asus did add nothing, maybe they gave em a few pictures ;)

[deanjo]

The patches are included in the sources. Just download and apply em. Asus did add nothing, maybe they gave em a few pictures ;)

Now hurry up and figure out how to add XMBC :p

[Kano]

No need, my Xbox 1 has it already ;)

[NaWer]

hi all :) (scuse my bad english - I'm french)

so you rock.

Splashtop now work on my desktop, but not on my laptop. It's an eeePC 701 with supported wifi card so it would be great to have splashtop on it :)

you can see here an eeePC running splashtop found on splashtop blog (with ethernet - no wifi):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qKRt6a7nE8

On the splashtop release note, supported wifi are :
* Atheros WiFi: madwifi-ng-r2756-ar5007
* Ralink WiFi (AW-NA830): RT2870_1.2.1.0

eeePC seems to connect with this revision (not tested, I use r3366 but before this revision, eeePC owners used r2756 according to Google)

The eeePC seems the perfect laptop for running splashtop.

So, I use the same USB dongle which work on my desktop computer (no problem with it) and making the key with your script. I test on each USB port, with add it to grub menu.lst (after copy kernel on (hd0,0)/boot without success.
Loading ce_bz is ok (on USB key with syslinux or hd0 and grub entries)
When I try to boot, I've got a blinking screen white - text cursor - white - text cursor ...
I tried with v1.2.3.1_20080605 version.

It's look like X fails again and again.

any hints or ideas ?

[dm5253]

Let me start by giving Kudos to Kano for getting this working. Kano u da man! I have a p5q-e and (like others) was disappointed to find that it didn't have the SSD version of Express gate. I used the Kano script to dd the IMG (the one asus calls ExpressGate(ONBOARD) to a USB drive and it works great. I can enable express gate in the BIOS and boot from the usb drive and everything works. Thanks again Kano.

I downloaded the latest SSD (ST_ASUSEG00_256MB_v1.2.4.0_20080611.DFI) which as you can see comes as a DFI. So I did like Kano said and cp it to a .IMG.gz and then gunziped it. However when I try to use the same script that worked before I get the following.

[root]# ./splashtop
set -x on
DEVICE="/dev/sda"
+ DEVICE=/dev/sda
IMAGE="ST_ASUSEG00_256MB_v1.2.4.0_20080611.IMG"
+ IMAGE=ST_ASUSEG00_256MB_v1.2.4.0_20080611.IMG
offset=$(($(sfdisk -d $IMAGE|grep start=|head -n1|sed 's/.*start=\s*//;s/,.*//')*512))
sfdisk -d $IMAGE|grep start=|head -n1|sed 's/.*start=\s*//;s/,.*//'
++ sfdisk -d ST_ASUSEG00_256MB_v1.2.4.0_20080611.IMG
last_lba(): I don't know how to handle files with mode 816d

sfdisk: ERROR: sector 0 does not have an msdos signature
++ grep start=
++ head -n1
++ sed 's/.*start=\s*//;s/,.*//'
./splashtop: line 6: *512: syntax error: operand expected (error token is "*512")

Is there anyway to fix this problem?

Thanks again for making my P5Q-E board an upgrade (atleast it is to me)

[Kano]

Well the problem is, when you use the DFI file, you have to remove the header - that means the first 48 bytes. Try this:

dd if=FILE_WITH_HEADER.IMG of=FILE.IMG bs=48 skip=1

[dm5253]

Well the problem is, when you use the DFI file, you have to remove the header - that means the first 48 bytes. Try this:

dd if=FILE_WITH_HEADER.IMG of=FILE.IMG bs=48 skip=1

Worked like a charm. Thanks again Kano!

[kpmwrestler]

When I first booted off my usb drive it said it couldnt find ce_bz, so I changed the syslinux.cfg from

default /ce_bz
to
default ce_bz

and it now works just fine in my Dell gx620

[Kano]

Syslinux 3.61 needed the /. What version do you use?

[kpmwrestler]

I have version 3.31

[Popple3]

Sorry, I'm an absolute noob here.
I'm just wondering if there's anyway to do all this on Windows, or do I need to get to a Linux box? I see mention of the Windows installer, but I'm pretty sure this is referring to the installer available on ASUS' site, and using the contents of that installer in Linux, correct?

[Kano]

Nope, it is possible to use the exe installer inside Win. All you need to do is to add a bootloader to your win install. For XP this is easy, but just found a scripted way for V too. I only have to update it a bit...

[Popple3]

Hmmm... I'm still lost...
Perhaps I should wait until when/if the process is made easier

[Valen]

Hi Guy's

Been playing with this all morning and still can't get it to work.
Kinda a linux noob so please excuse my ignorance :)

i've used image "ST_ASUSEG00_256MB_v1.2.3.1_20080605.IMG".
all seemed to be going really well until i tried to actually boot it up lol .. all i get is a flashing screen after syslinux loads ce_bz

Thanks in advance for any help with this :)

[Kano]

Well you can try it in Vbox too, when it does not boot on your hardware. The ce seems to work on more hardware, as it is no "real" kernel, it just chainloads a kernel later (the kernel.bin, could not extract that, maybe somebody else can do). This kernel is optimized for Pentium 4 - that means when you can already click on the app you want to launch and it does not work it can also be because of that cpu optimisation. Maybe somebody finds an image for older cpus...

[x20mar]

Hi sorry for not getting back in touch but I've been away on holiday. I've got the image but I think I've gone a different route to how you were doing it and I've kinda got myself stuck.

What I did was that I took the image and I expanded the achieve (so I can see all the SQX files, etc) and placed that onto a usb drive. The plan was then to add grub so that it could be bootable but that didn't work any suggestions?

Thanks

[Kano]

Use the script unmodified, there is a grub script too, when you look better. Then it works on supported hardware.

[x20mar]

Use the script unmodified, there is a grub script too, when you look better. Then it works on supported hardware.

Hi Kano,

unfortunately I couldn't get the scripts to work for me but I understood them enough to manually punch in the commands.

Anyway I'm at the point where splashtop has been extracted and grub has now been installed. If I boot from the usb drive just now I get pointed to the grub command line interface, so what I need to do is link grub to splashtop. I understand that should be done in device.map, which at the moment looks like this
(fd0) /dev/fd0
(hd0) /dev/sda
(hd1) /dev/sdc

Any Suggestions?

Thanks

[Kano]

Then use the sample menu.lst that i write in the scripts... It seems you did not figure it out. When the system boots from USB it is always hd0, so delete the devices.map.

[x20mar]

Then use the sample menu.lst that i write in the scripts... It seems you did not figure it out. When the system boots from USB it is always hd0, so delete the devices.map.

You know what, you're right, I hadn't figured it properly. I went back to the scripts with a fresh pair of eyes and now I've happy to report that I've got this work on a usb stick!

Now I just need VLC and wifi support....

[Kano]

wifi i could help you if needed, just need your system specs.

[x20mar]

wifi i could help you if needed, just need your system specs.

If you could that would be great. My wireless chipset is the Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG, and if it is any help the linux drivers are available at http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_results.aspx?strTypes=all&ProductID=2259&OSFullName=Linux*&lang=eng&strOSs=39&submit=Go!

Thanks for this!

[Kano]

Join IRC. I will not upload files.

[x20mar]

Join IRC. I will not upload files.

As much as I would love to just now, I have to go. Maybe I'll catch you later.

Thanks

[calin]

Thanks Kano for the scripts, I'm just trying to run the first script.

The error I get is
root@calin-desktop:~/Desktop# lilo -s /dev/null -M ${DEVICE}
Fatal: /dev/sdb1 is not a master device with a primary parition table

Second question: what represents DEVICE 1 and DEVICE 2

Thanks and sorry for my begginers questions :)


Thanks I solved the problem and I got the answer for my question, thanks again for the script

[x20mar]

Join IRC. I will not upload files.

Kano,

Many thanks for the files you gave me however the wireless driver isn't fully working for me for some reason.

What I mean my that is that splashtop accepts the driver but it can't scan for wireless networks with it. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[x20mar]

Thanks Kano for the scripts, I'm just trying to run the first script.

The error I get is
root@calin-desktop:~/Desktop# lilo -s /dev/null -M ${DEVICE}
Fatal: /dev/sdb1 is not a master device with a primary parition table

Second question: what represents DEVICE 1 and DEVICE 2

Thanks and sorry for my begginers questions :)


Thanks I solved the problem and I get the answer for my question, thanks again for the script

Hi Calin,

I think I can see your problem here. What I think you have done is in line 2, you have

DEVICE="/dev/sdb1"

where is should be

DEVICE="/dev/sdb"

See what happens is that your pen drive is partitioned creating a new sdb1 and a new sdb2 (aka DEVICE1 and DEVICE2)

Does that help you?

[Kano]

@x20mar

I compiled it with a patched kernel (to get mac80211), can only verify that the modules is loaded but without hardware I can not test it. I compiled the driver for AVM FritzWLAN too and that worked - even ndiswrapper worked for some people but I guess that wont work with Intel drivers, because there you usually need a kernel patch to use a huger stack size. If you can use ndiswrapper with an unpatched kernel you could try it however.

Did you try

iwlist s

in console (ALT-F1)?

ifconfig wlan0 up

could help too. If it is not wlan0 you need to customize the va-custom.sqx (there the wlan device is set, which defaults to ra0 without).

@calin

You should save the script in a text file and edit the DEVICE line only.

[x20mar]

@x20mar

I compiled it with a patched kernel (to get mac80211), can only verify that the modules is loaded but without hardware I can not test it. I compiled the driver for AVM FritzWLAN too and that worked - even ndiswrapper worked for some people but I guess that wont work with Intel drivers, because there you usually need a kernel patch to use a huger stack size. If you can use ndiswrapper with an unpatched kernel you could try it however.

Did you try

iwlist s

in console (ALT-F1)?

ifconfig wlan0 up

could help too. If it is not wlan0 you need to customize the va-custom.sqx (there the wlan device is set, which defaults to ra0 without).

@calin

You should save the script in a text file and edit the DEVICE line only.

Hi Kano,

yeah ifconfig wlan0 up does the trick, what's the easiest way to add that line on boot?

Thanks!

[Kano]

If thats all you can modify the va-ipw3945.sqx - in the vactl file.

[x20mar]

If thats all you can modify the va-ipw3945.sqx - in the vactl file.

Hi Kano,

stupid question but when you're compiling the sqx file, what settings do you use?

ps good on you for finding that security hole!

[Kano]

I guess you mean how i compressed it? To edit use

unsquashfs -d va-ipw3945 va-ipw3945.sqx

change the file, then

mkquashfs va-ipw3945 va-ipw3945.sqx -noappend

(when you remove the sqx you don't need to remember -noappend)

[x20mar]

Hi Kano,

I managed to modify and compress the sqx file but now splashtop won't boot! It will get as far as the menu screen but after I click on an app (say web browser) it goes to the Express gate boot screen and then it hangs with the caps lock key flashing.

Any suggestions (I think it's something to do with the check sum)

Thanks

[Kano]

I guess you used a too new squashfs version. Kanotix works best do do that ;)

[calin]

Kano thanks for you help.
It's possible to use Express Gate installer that contains ST_ASUSEG00_HD_v1.2.8.0_20080709.EXE? How can I convert it to a IMG file?

Thanks

[Kano]

You can start that within Win and use Grub4Dos or Grub2 for starting the ce_bz fake kernel. Basically it would be possible to create a IMG - thats nothing special just that all files are in / in a FAT16 partition named DVMUSB in a 255 MB hd image - the Win installer splits em into ASUS.SYS and ASUS.000.

[cobra-kai]

Thank you for the addition of the HD installation tips, Kano. I had no luck installing on a FAT32 HD partition. I'll try it again some time, but it seemed the machine froze on the Express Gate splash screen. I never understood how GRUB was intended to be invoked anyway, isn't the BIOS part of Express Gate responsible for loading the kernel? Instead, I reformatted the partition to NTFS and stripped out the GRUB code from your script, as you suggested. That worked perfectly. It's weird though, that it takes much longer for SplashTop to load when I run it from the HD than it did when I ran it from a USB stick. I wonder why.

[Kano]

Well grub was installed into partition, all you need to do was to make that partition active or use chainloader on it. In your case you don't need grub, but for the poor others without ce in the bios ;)

[ncp76@yahoo.com]

Kano and other pro please help.

I had Sata disk installed onto SATA slot 0 of this MB(PRO version), then installed windowsXP and followed the supplied disk to intall all driver and utilities; including Express Gate. But every time i reboot i'd get the message "EG not install or incomplete..." my BIOS was left at default and i can boot into XP ok. The bIOS had SATA as IDE. My HD was formated as NTFS.

I tried uninstall EG and reinstall into C a few times.. tried repair option too but everytimes it said the same message "not install or incomplete.."

I then tried it on my USB stick (which previously had BARTPE working). Then EG boot to the menu.. but every time i pick an app it would freeze at the splahtop logo and i had to Ctrl.Alt.Del to restart.....

I am starting to hate this MB... can you offer any solution or method I need to try?

I had the latest Bios installed.. version 1012 I think.
Thanks.

[badbrad420]

Hi
I have a eeepc 701 4g, with win xp on ssd so i used the win installer to usb flash drive. when i start it with syslinux or grub it goes straight to a flashing screen, and it will just stay there blinking... unless I press the left mouse button fast at boot it stops and says you have entered an invaled mode, press enter for list of video modes or (scan) or hit spacebar to continue... and if i hit spacebar or choose one of the video modes it just the same thing it boots the kernel and loads straight to the splashtop desktop, and photo manager and file manager autostart every time. it dose not have the continue to os button and if you hit the power off button, power off dose nothing but grey the screen . but the restart reboots the eee, and everthing works great has wireless + fn keys.

Is there any kind of boot option to pass that might help me get a clean boot and get rid of the flashing

Is there anyway that you could help with adding the new sqx apps ive tryed a few pkgs but kernel stops with scaning ---.sqx (######). anyways could you post the sqx's online to download. or a good how to make the rxvt package that works

I think that splashtop is very cool and fast but would love to learn how to add pkgs but dont understand what all to put in the sqx tar.gz/.pup/.lzm or do I have to have lots of files folders /bin/lib/usr/share....ect. help

[FraG]

Hello.
I've tried to install Splashtop on a USB stick, but it was difficult to follow the instructions over this large post.
Maybe it would be a nice idea to create a wiki for all things related to Splashtop Hacks, wouldn't it ?

By the way, great job you did guys, and many thanks for this post! :)

[Kano]

@FraG

All you need to know is in the FIRST post.

@badbrad420

Use my script to install onto USB - the official installer is not for USB devices - only hd.

[badbrad420]

ok i will give it a try but it all works, but the boot is scetchy, if i dont press left mouse button at boot of ce_bz it just flashes forever but when it works it gose straight to the kernel and to splashtop desktop. and it all works but power button,bios,os. but i will make one with your script just to try also thx for the quick reply

also put the same usb in accer 5100 and it went to boot-splashtop-screen but would not boot into splashtop-desktop when i click on browser it gose to black-screen-death

i wil try your way thx

[mips]

Wondering if there is a .img file available for usb flash drives one can download somewhere?

[MetalheadGautham]

Can you please tell me a simple and straightforward way to install this on my pendrive without erazing already existing data ? Currently, its in FAT32 and 2GB in size.

[Kano]

Well, the script creates 2 partitions, the first is labeld DVMUSB , FAT16, and marked active + installed bootloader. Most easy way is to use it and backup your data first...

[FraG]

Many thanks Kano. :)
I tried the scripts and installed succesfully Splashtop on a USB stick.
Though, like badbrad420 it doesnt' work on my EeePC 700 (but works good on my desktop computer).
I wondered if anyone had succesfully modified splashtop to run on it.
Anyway, if i want to modify splashtop, can I use the USB installed version, or do I have to first modify the img via vmware ?

[Kano]

Reset the version file like mentioned in the first post then you can even change already stored sqx files. If you add more no mod necessary. Just put new files to the DVMUSB called partition.

[badbrad420]

Many thanks Kano. :)
I tried the scripts and installed succesfully Splashtop on a USB stick.
Though, like badbrad420 it doesnt' work on my EeePC 700 (but works good on my desktop computer).
I wondered if anyone had succesfully modified splashtop to run on it.
Anyway, if i want to modify splashtop, can I use the USB installed version, or do I have to first modify the img via vmware ?
Hi
did you manage to get to the desktop or did it just start flashing, try pressing they left mousepad button and arrows at the same time fast at boot, and it will bypass the bootsplash screen and boot the kernel to desktop. Also if you put some boot options in it will bing up the bootsplash screen but its so blury and disstorted that you can't read it and there is like five mouse-cursors showing but it will still boot the kernel if you start pressing lot of buttons right at boot of ce_bz. I tryed the syslinux.cfg boot options that came with eeetiger puppie linux, and tryed altering it with more boot options like vga=785, vga=915, nofb and lots of other ones mix matching but can only get same flashing or blurry bootsplash. but once you boot it you get to desktop fast, some versions do not have wireless and some do not have sound but ExpressGate_V1205_XPVista.zip from ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/misc/utils/ has sound and wireless and 680x480 or 800x480 res, but its old and only has skype,chat and browser, so install it then copy the kernel.bin for latter. Then install the newest version you can witch has updater built in and wireless but no sound then do update toget new version and you will lose wireless if it even boots so if you ever can't boot or no wireless, sound copy the kernel.bin from the ExpressGate_V1205_XPVista.zip kernel.bin you saved and you will have 680x480 or 800x480 res, sound, wireless, and you have the old desktop theme again but still flashing on boot.

I think that its lots to do with the kernel.bin. would someone be able to add them all together some how, as some work and some don't, but when you use the old one that 10mb+ smaller then you lose some stuff like power-management and your themes but it fixs the res to 680x480
we need you a guru's to do some custom work to /ect,/proc,/bin....ect i'm a newbee so any help would glady taken please thx

[Kano]

When you look at

http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11800

Point c)

you will see the config used for some Asus systems. The wifi + res is just a config setting. For the menu I would test other skin0000.* files (rename both), there is for example the EeeBox theme already available, if you are lucky maybe you find the EeePC too - replace always both - md5sum is a nice tool to find the different ones ;)

[badbrad420]

Hi
I was wondering if there is away to bypass the splashtop boot-screen and some how make it start the splashtop browser on boot witout having to press anything. Also can someone please post there xterm.sqx and other custom.sqx for us newbees who can't figure it out, please I've lost way to much sleep over this... Or maybe a good howto all in one post, in newbbee language

[Kinox]

Hi all !

I try to install Splashtop on my USB stick for testing in my Eee PC 901 and it's work !!

But my wlan card is not detected ... So I want to install the speciall Linux kernel for eee pc which integrate driver for wlan card.

But I don't know how to prossed to install another Linux kernel in Slashtop, can you explain to me how to do this ?

Or if someone try this install in Eee PC 901 explain to me ho you do for have the wlan connection :)

Thanks a lot !

[FavleX]

Hi all !

I try to install Splashtop on my USB stick for testing in my Eee PC 901 and it's work !!

But my wlan card is not detected ... So I want to install the speciall Linux kernel for eee pc which integrate driver for wlan card.

But I don't know how to prossed to install another Linux kernel in Slashtop, can you explain to me how to do this ?

Or if someone try this install in Eee PC 901 explain to me ho you do for have the wlan connection :)

Thanks a lot !
Hi to all forums members at first :)

Second , I'd like to know if it's possible using the EEPC version on a MSi Uind U100 (same N270 CPU)
Thanks in advance

[Kano]

The driver should be already included, but you have to enable it in a special config file. Look at c2:

http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11800

export DI_HAVE_WIFI_LIST='ath0'

in your case i would say. Also you have to look how to load ath_pci correctly. another way would be using ndiswrapper.

[FavleX]

wow - thanks Kano for your fast answer and for ur Guru contribute here ! :D

Unfortunately , I am not a good one as you are, than I must ready a bit more for understanding what I have to do to get it :D

[Edit] I got swapped the wifi card default , now I'm using a broadcom 43xx chipset based..