Two "BBC" recovery corrupted Linux systems

We can find the Linuxcare bootable business card (BBC) in the toolbox of many Linux system users. Its main role is to repair the Linux system.

-Developing Linuxcare BBC

In 1999, four employees of Linuxcare designed a Linux system boot disk to rescue the damaged system. restore. Since the software on the disc can be compressed very small, the disc is the size of a business card. This kind of CD soon became the focus of discussion among many vendors in the Linux product roving exhibition. When the earliest version of the Linuxcare BBC was released on the LinuxWorld and Atlanta Linux Showcase sites for free download, it became one of the most downloaded software in the world at the time.

Since the birth of the original Linuxcare BBC, the Linux world has changed dramatically, and the Linuxcare BBC itself has changed. The original Linuxcare BBC is now also divided into two branches, Linuxcare Bootable Toolbox V2 and LNX-BBC project V1.618. The four programmers who originally developed the Linuxcare BBC later left Linuxcare. With the help of other volunteers, they continued to research the source code to create the LNX-BBC program. In fact, LNX-BBC has no connection with Linuxcare.

And Linuxcare has developed new software products based on the principles of the BBC. It wants to build a modular system to enable programmers to keep up with the BBC's development process. To achieve this goal, Linuxcare has developed a new BBC called Linuxcare Bootable Toolbox (LBT). They claim that Linuxcare Bootable Toolbox is not a normal BBC, and Linuxcare Bootable Toolbox V2 is a programmable BBC.

-What is BBC?

It must be clear that neither BBC is a Linux suite for end users. They are just a tool in the hands of experienced Linux system administrators to recover corrupted Linux systems.

The "experience" here has a profound meaning. For a user with no experience, the wrong use of the BBC may cause great damage to the target system. The role of the BBC is to re-establish a self-contained, bootable system environment so that users can repair compromised systems. Most of the executable tool software in the BBC suite is a standard chain of instructions, so the BBC is the wrong choice when users need to react to a functioning GUI tool.

Someone used the old version of Linuxcare BBC to fix corrupt bootloaders, such as LILO and GRUB. The main practice was to reset and reinstall them, and the results were very successful. Users can also test new hardware systems using the BBC suite to understand what's inside the device and quickly detect some basic components. The BBC plays a vital role in some emergency backup or repair processes.

It is well known that when a computer fails to function properly due to a hard disk failure, it is usually necessary to copy the bad disk through the network to solve the problem. Some Linux advocates even think that using Linux technology to solve the problem of Windows system is very effective.

-Similarity

Today, the use of the two BBCs is very close. When booting with both discs, the selection will be displayed on the screen. Normally, don't choose a direct text option unless the user is determined not to use the X-Window system anymore. Other options will invoke the frame buffer support feature, allowing users to enter the operating system they want. This technology can support most existing operating systems.

After the operating system starts, the user can perform initial login according to the on-screen prompts. If the user wants to enter the X-Window system, type the "startx" command. Both BBCs use the Blackbox window manager to effectively avoid defects in the Blackbox, and they all allow users to customize the style of the desktop.

- Differences

There are some subtle differences between the two BBCs. When the user logs in to LNX-BBC, they will see a text file that explains the usage and importance of some CDs. command. Users can browse it at any time by typing the "help" command.

What the user sees after logging in to LBT is a simple menu. From this menu, the user can choose to install or exit the CD, set up the network interface, enter the X-Window system, install the PCMCIA device, and other basic functions. Users can also enter a diagnostic system called Albert. It provides the user with the current state of the system and ensures that more options are available to the user. To re-enter after exiting the system, the user only needs to type the "menu" command.

LNX-BBC usually divides all Linux partitions in read-only mode in the boot state. If you want to modify the file, the user needs to re-partition the readable and writable partition. LBT does not set any hard disk partition by default. However, the user can quickly divide the hard disk partition according to the partition point on the initial hard disk through the LBT menu. However, in some cases users may accidentally delete these partition points. But don't worry, because these partition points are easy to recover.

In addition, there are some subtle differences between the two BBCs in the X-Window state. LBT uses Mozilla as a web browser, while LNX-BBC uses BrowseX. The options for the two BBCs in the Blackbox window manager are also different. LNX-BBC uses Ethereal tools to monitor the operation of Ethernet. It is divided into two workspaces by default, and even includes three simple games to allow users to spend time during the test. The LBT is much simpler. The default is a single workspace and a menu item. The latter includes several Xterm options, a calculator, a clock, and a Mozilla browser.

The LNX-BBC also includes the Memtest86 tool, which can play an unexpected role when the user's memory is unstable.

In short, except for some subtle differences, the two BBCs work almost identically. They all recover corrupted Linux systems, and they can quickly create a system environment for transferring files over the network. Users can use this environment to operate hard disks and CDs and run programs without regard to the integrity of the original operating system.