Cheat Codes


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German Version: Cheat CodesDeutsch / French Version: Cheat CodesFrench / Versión español: Cheat CodesSpanish


Cheatcodes are used to pass values to KNOPPIX, to help with getting it working on difficult hardware. You type them into the boot screen, shown to the left, and press enter/return. The format is "kernel opt opt opt ...". Usually "knoppix" is the right selection for the "kernel", options as listed below (in Gnoppix is Credativ).

Example: "knoppix xvrefresh=60 noscsi floppyconfig"

You can type more than one cheatcode before press enter (i.e. knoppix lang=us knoppix xmodule=fbdev).

Options

lang=bg|be|ch|cn|cs|cz|da|de|dk|es|fi|fr|ie|it|ja|nl|pl|ru|sk|tr|tw|uk|us 
specify language/keyboard

You can click on http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/IG/ert/iso639.htm to see the two-letters code meanings.

For example, typing knoppix lang=us you change the keyboard/language to US english.

If you don´t change the keyboard, in the default DE-bootimage, Knoppix boots with the german keyboard layout (i.e. '=' letter is located at Shift-0 at this keyboard). Print the german keyboard layout for your reference.

keyboard=us 
specify only console keyboard


xkeyboard=us 
specify [Xfree86 X] keyboard


atapicd  
Do NOT use SCSI-Emulation for IDE CD-Roms - Knoppix V3.4 and later


desktop=fluxbox|icewm|kde|larswm|twm|wmaker|xfce 
Use specified WM instead of KDE


screen=1280x1024 
Use specified Screen resolution for X


xvrefresh=60 or vsync=60 
Use 60 Hz vertical refresh rate for X


xhrefresh=80 or hsync=80 
Use 80 kHz horizontal refresh rate for X


xserver=XFree86|XF86_SVGA 
Use specified X-Server


xmodule=ati|radeon|fbdev|vesa|savage|s3|nv|i810|mga|svga|tseng 
Use specified XFree4-Module


wheelmouse 
The mouse is a wheelmouse - not needed since 2003-04-15


nowheelmouse 
Regular PS/2 mouse - 2003-04-15 and after.


Runlevel 2, Textmode only


myconfig=scan or floppyconfig or floppyconf (in recent versions) 
Run knoppix.sh from a floppy. The "floppyconfig" option allows you to reconfigure the system after autoconfig, or install your own config files, by mounting a floppy disk and running a bourne shell script called knoppix.sh from the root directory on this floppy. There is a GUI to create such a configuration floppy disk calles "saveconfig" (also located in the KDE menu under "KNOPPIX", but experts also know how to do this by creating their own shellscripts. The configuration with network and graphics setup are stored in configs.tbz. A file called knoppix.sh, if located in the toplevel KNOPPIX directory on CD, will also be executed at startup. This makes it easier to create customized versions without having to change anything on the compressed filesystem KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX.


myconf=/dev/sda1  
Run "knoppix.sh" from a partition - Knoppix V3.4


myconf=scan (or config=scan) 
Try to find "knoppix.sh" automatically - Knoppix V3.4


noapic noagp noapm nodma nomce nofirewire nopcmcia noscsi noswap nousb nosmp noaudio 
Skip parts of Hardware-detection, In case of a failing hardware autodetection, try booting with any of the "no-" options as shown in the table above, like in knoppix noagp noapm noapic nodma nopcmcia noscsi nousb to skip some critical parts of the autodetection system. The "noswap" option is useful for a forensic analysis without touching existing swap partitions.


pci=irqmask=0x0e98
Notebook if PS/2 mouse doesn't work, Try "knoppix pci=irqmask=0x0e98" if (you have a notebook and) your PS/2 mouse doesn't work. (Possibly caused by a BIOS-flaw on your board.)


ide2=0x180 nopcmia 
boot from PCMIA-CD (Transmeta notebooks)


pci=biosirq
Will force the use of the BIOS assigned Interrupt ReQuests on the PCI bus. Possible cure for non-functioning hardware. Very handy for unruly IRQ conflicts. Look at dmesg and cat /proc/pci to find out if you have any such troubles..


mem=128M
Specify Memory size in MByte, Some Boards apparently don't pass the proper memory size to the linux-kernel. It may cause the message "Panic cannot mount root file system" and the system hangs. Use "knoppix mem=128M" to solve that problem if your system has 128MByte memory for example (caution you MUST use a capital "M" here).


noeject
Do NOT eject CD after halt


noprompt
Its especially useful in combination with noeject. With noprompt, Knopix won't eject the CD and ask for a keypress. It was a much asked feature some time ago. Version 2003-09-22 and later.


nodhcp
skip dhcp/network broadcast detection


splash
It shows the upper half of the KDE splash-screen, while booting up. You can press Esc anytime to see all the messages. Ever wanted to hide those cryptic messages? Version 2003-09-22 and later.
  • New in 3.4: Animations (see for yourself) and the ability to press any key.


modules-disk
This cheatcode allows you to insert a floppy disk with additional modules, for example USB-stick or similar. Yes, its also possible with "expert", but there you loose the automatic configuration afterwards. Version 2003-09-22 and later.


toram
Copy CD to RAM and run from there. Version 2003-09-05 and later.


tohd
You can now do a "poor mans install" on vfat and ext2-Partitions with, knoppix tohd=/dev/hda1 Version 2003-09-22 and later.


fromhd
With this cheatcode the CD-Roms are ignored, so you can finally boot your "poor mans install" with just the original cdrom. Version 2003-09-05 and later. note - Cheatcode "toram" and "fromhd" work now together. Usage fromhd=/dev/hda1.


bootfrom=/dev/hda1 
Access Image then boot from previously copied CD-Image (enables booting from NTFS / ReiserFS) - Knoppix V3.4


bootfrom=/dev/hda1/KNX.iso  
Access image, boot from ISO-Image. - Knoppix V3.4


NOTE: bootfrom needs access to a running Knoppix-System with the same Kernel as the Bootkernel, before it is able to mount the partition / ISO-Image. This should allow a poor mans install from NTFS-Partitions and makes it also possible to boot an ISO-Image directly. You can also use wildcards in the ISO-Filename, but it must be unique. So: If you have just one KNOPPIX.iso on /dev/hda1 you can access it as: bootfrom=/dev/hda1/K*.iso, but if there are several, you need to make clear, which one you want. (Feature added by Fabian Franz.)
CAUTION: The 2.4 kernel that is in the KNOPPIX 3.4 CD does not support the ext3 filesystem so make sure that the ISO is stored in an ext2 filesystem.

gmt|uce
Hardware clock is set to GMT/UCE


vga=normal
No-framebuffer mode, but X


vga=ext
50-line TEXT mode


dma 
enable DMA for all IDE drives


home=scan 
Set home directory. 'scan' will search for knoppix.img in the root of all partitions. To create a home directory, go K-menu -> Knoppix -> Configure -> Create persistant home directory. Be carefull when creating the home-dir, Do NOT use the entire partition unless you know what you are doing. Other options could be, home=/dev/hda1/knoppix.img home=/mnt/hda1/knoppix.img . If you are using a USB memory stick type home=/dev/sda1/knoppix.img but home=scan will probably do.


blind 
Start Braille-Terminal (no X)


brltty=type,port,table 
Parameters for Braille device.

For more information on brltty parameters see http://mielke.cc/brltty/guidelines.html

alsa 
Autoconfigure alsa for an pci-soundcard


alsa=es1938 
Configure alsa for the snd-es1938.o-module pci-soundcard


testcd 
Check CD data integrity, If your KNOPPIX CD makes strange noises during boot, or you see frequent errors like "cloop read error", or programs on your KDE desktop keep crashing randomly, then your CD image is probably defective or incomplete, or your CD-burner created a defective CD due to wrong writing speed or bad media. This is the most common error reported. Please boot with "knoppix testcd" to check if the CD is OK, and/or even better, verify the MD5 checksums that are present on the mirrors before writing the CD. Also, please read the KNOPPIX-FAQ.


pnpbios=off 
No PnP Bios initialization


acpi=off  
Disable ACPI Bios completely


pci=bios 
Workaround for bad PCI controllers


knoppix_dir=KNOPPIX  
Directory to search for on the CD.


knoppix_name=KNOPPIX 
Cloop-File to search for on the CD.



Kernels

knoppix 
Default settings


knoppix26 
Boot the 2.6 kernel for use with the new Knoppix 3.4 and 3.4 c't Edition.


knoppix26 acpi=off  
Disable ACPI configuration in Kernel 2.6


knoppix-txt 
No framebuffer at startup


fb1280x1024 or fb1024x768 or fb800x600 
Use fixed framebuffer graphics


failsafe 
Boot with (almost) no hardware detection


expert 
Interactive setup for experts, The "expert" mode provides a very simple and not yet well tested interface to loading additional Kernel modules from floppy disks (ext2 or vfat), plus interactive configuration of mouse/keyboard/soundcard/xserver. "expert" mode supports the same boot options as "knoppix".


expert26 
The same as above only with 2.6 kernel - Knoppix V3.4


knoppix -b 
Quick-n-dirty boot, almost no HW detection, only 1 VT; hit enter at root-password prompt and start typing commands. Good if you just need to fdisk IDE devices, activate a different partition for booting, DD stuff, and you are planning on rebooting Real Fast after you're done. You can actually Alt-SysRQ-B safely ie. immediate reboot w/o worrying about shutting down nicely or anything, because nothing is mounted r/w at ALL - not even swap. Also works on other Linux distros.


memtest  
Run memtest86 instead of Linux - Knoppix V3.4



Tips&Tricks

If you have an old (VGA) monitor and get only flickering with the defaults, try "knoppix-txt xvrefresh=60" or "fb800x600"
Most of the boot options are parsed in /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig and the rest is found in /KNOPPIX/boot.img -> miniroot.gz -> linuxrc.

updates:

Updated for Knoppix 3.1 2003-01-05

Updated for Knoppix 3.2 
desktop=gnome is no longer available... (use Gnoppix).

See also: