You might also look at Knoppix (http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html) which I've worked with before. A full live CD/DVD, it's also got a menu on startup that lets you pick CLI startup as well as various X, framebuffer, ACPI settings for twitchy machines. Includes a bunch of utilities like partimage that's handy for rescuing partitions from old hard drives, qparted, etc, as well as a full GUI if you're just looking to test out a machine for compatibility.
On Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 10:04 AM, Ken D'Ambrosio <k...@jots.org> wrote: > Thanks for the suggestions, all. I tried to use the recommended > SystemRescueCD, but the download was s-l-o-w... (for all I know, was my > fault, but I didn't have 2+ hours to wait for it). Found this while > googling for similar things: https://en.altlinux.org/Rescue . Half the > size, and downloaded in substantially less time (like, 15 minutes). Boots > straight to console, but also has other options (e.g., memtest, rEFInd), and > the console's a Debian variant, so I can apt-get to my heart's content. > > -Ken > > > > On 2016-02-17 14:45, Shawn O'Shea wrote: > > +1 for system rescue cd. > > As far as other handy utility distros. If I'm just resizing a partition, > I'll do gparted live (Gui but goes straight to gparted partition editor) and > if imaging (backup/restore) then Clonezilla Live. > > http://gparted.org/livecd.php > http://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live.php > > -Shawn > > On Feb 17, 2016 2:15 PM, "Kyle Smith" <askr...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Check out SystemRescueCD[1], which I'm sure can be burned to a USB drive. >> Boots to a shell and comes with a ton of recovery tools and scripts to >> assist in getting a broken system operable. >> >> - Kyle >> >> [1]: https://www.system-rescue-cd.org/SystemRescueCd_Homepage >> >> On Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 2:04 PM Ken D'Ambrosio <k...@jots.org> wrote: >>> >>> On 2016-02-17 13:49, Brian Chabot wrote: >>> >>> In GRUB, boot to init 1, single user mode.' >>> >>> >>> >>> Which is great. If you catch it. And if it doesn't override you (as >>> some live install disks I've seen, do). Hell -- I'd be happy with the "rw >>> init=/bin/bash" bit for all I need, but even that, for example, isn't >>> cutting the mustard on one server I've got. I guess I could spin my own, >>> but I figured someone out there probably had a >>> stick-it-in-and-boot-to-CLI-no-interaction-needed option in their back >>> pocket. >>> >>> -Ken >>> >>> >>> >>> Brian Chabot >>> >>> On Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 1:46 PM, Ken D'Ambrosio <k...@jots.org> wrote: >>>> >>>> Hey, all. Many's the time I just want to go and fix something stupid -- >>>> maybe wipe a disk, or edit a file -- and all I want is to be able to >>>> stick in a USB stick and wind up at said CLI. But most distros these >>>> days are GUI-based. And Ubuntu Server (say) boots to install, period, >>>> which is an >>>> >>>> extremely-stripped-down-to-the-point-of-useless-for-anything-other-than-install >>>> CLI. >>>> >>>> Any middle ground someone could recommend? >>>> >>>> Thanks! >>>> >>>> -Ken >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> gnhlug-discuss mailing list >>>> gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org >>>> http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> gnhlug-discuss mailing list >>> gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org >>> http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> gnhlug-discuss mailing list >> gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org >> http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ > -- Ted Roche Ted Roche & Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
