Cheatcodes
From XDSL
XDSL is based on Damn Small Linux and therefore inherits 'cheatcode' boot parameters.
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What is a cheatcode?
A cheatcode is an option you can add to linuxboot.cfg to change how X-DSL behaves. They should be used when booting X-DSL from a frugal install.
Where can I find linuxboot.cfg?
The location of linuxboot.cfg depends on the type of install:
- Frugal/Loopback Install - E:\linuxboot.cfg
- Native Install - /boot/linuxboot.cfg
What cheatcodes are available?
Most of the X-DSL cheatcodes are unchanged from Damn Small Linux. Here is a list of those available
- xsetup - Prompt user for X setup
- noicons - If booting to X use plain desktop
- mydsl={hda1|sda1} - Restore myDSL apps
- base - Skip myDSL load only the base system
- norestore - Turn off the automatic restore
- restore={hda1|sda1} - Specify saved configuration location
- {ssh|lp|nfs|syslog|monkey|ftp|joy} - Start various deamons at boot
- lang=xbox (us cs da de es fr nl it pl ru sk uk ...) - Choose Language/Keyboard. "xbox" will use Xbox region and language settings to set X-DSL regional settings
- no{scsi|pcmcia|usb|agp|swap|apm|firewire|audio} - Disable HW-detection
- dma - Turn on DMA accel. for all drives
- 2 - Runlevel 2, Textmode only
- frugal - Mount boot drive as read/write
- eth0=ip,nm,dg,dns - Use a static ip for networking. Here ip is your IP address, nm your netmask, dg your default gateway and dns your dns server
- host=xxxx - Set hostname to xxxx
- secure - Prompt for root and dsl passwords
- protect - Password encrypted backup
An example
So for example to startup X-DSL in textmode (no X windows) with a ssh server and a german keymap would need ssh 2 lang=de. So you would amend linuxboot.cfg to the following:
kernel /KNOPPIX/linux24 initrd /KNOPPIX/minirt24.gz append init=/etc/init video=xbox:640x480 ssh 2 lang=de frugal quiet kbd-reset
Framebuffer options
The video=... option in the append line of linuxboot.cfg specifies the framebuffer options to use. Currently the following choices are available for the Xbox framebuffer driver
- video=xbox:640x480
- video=xbox:800x600
- video=xbox:480p
- video=xbox:720p
640x480 is the default option and should work on all tv's. 800x600 should also work on all tv's and provides a higher resolution at the expense of fuzzier fonts. 480p and 720p are only available when using component cables with a HDTV. 720p is not available on v1.6 Xboxes.
Finally it is also possible to use the vesa framebuffer instead of the acclerated xbox framebuffer using the option.
- video=vesa:640x480
This may be more compatible if you are experiencing video problems.
Correcting overscan
When using the Xbox framebuffer at 640x480 or 800x600 you can specify additional options to correct overscan. hoc specifies horizontal overscan correction in % (values in the range 0-20). voc specifies vertical overscan correction in % (again in the range 0-20). So for example for 5% horizontal correction and 10% vertical correction you would need to use the following in you linuxboot.cfg:
video=xbox:640x480,hoc=5,voc=10
Unfortunately the hoc and voc options don't work on v1.6 Xboxes. This is because v1.6 Xboxes use a different video chip (Xcaliber) for which no documentation is available and support in the kernel is limited.
