How To: smxi Install and Setup

VastOne · 2012-10-30 16:29:40

I got frustrated seeing all the posts about smxi install and setup, so on a new install of Waldorf, I set about to detail it step by step.

This is for anyone wanting to use smxi to manage kernel installs, kernel updates, nVidia, ATI, Radeon, Intel driver installations and the dkpg process for these when you update your kernel.

smxi is a set of incredible scripts developed here

Theses include the smxi, sgfxi, svmi, rbxi, and inxi scripts and have been developed for years.

There is also a really good wiki and doc collection here

Waldorf comes with unzip installed, but if your distro does not have it, you will need to install unzip

sudo apt-get install unzip

Step 1: Installing smxi

At the first login screen, do not log in. Instead, hit

ctrl + alt + f1

to take you to tty1 since smxi is best used outside of Xorg

Login as you and then:

sudo su

cd /usr/local/bin && wget -Nc smxi.org/smxi.zip && unzip smxi.zip && smxi

This will install and run smxi for the first time. The first time run is where you tell smxi your options.

NOTE - these settings can be changed at any time within smxi after this first run through

Step 2: Setting up smxi

The first step any time smxi is run is to exit the X/Desktop, as it needs to perform outside of Xorg

1) shutdown-desktop-and-continue

Next is confirming what distro you are on and that you want to run smxi

1) continue-no-change

Next is to add Liquorix Kernel Sources. I use Liquorix Kernels and this is the primary reason why I use smxi. It is entirely up to you on this choice. You can add the Liquorix Kernel sources and still use the Debian Kernel and switch between the two at any time using smxi.

1) yes-add-liquorix-sources

apt-get update will now automatically run and the liquorix keyring will be added if you chose liquorix sources.

Next smxi needs to know what kernel you are going to use. There are four choices, the only two that matter now is either 2 or 3 depending on what you are going to use

1) no-kernel
2) debian
3) liquorix
4) continue

Next smxi needs to know if you want to use apt-get or aptitude as package manager. It is strongly recommended by the script developer to use apt-get

1) apt-get

Now smxi needs to know if you want to use dist-upgrade or upgrade. I have always used dist-upgrade

1) dist-upgrade

Next smxi needs to know your Distro level identification. Since Waldorf is based on testing smxi detects that and your choice here should be debian-testing. If you are using Debian sid, then select debian-sid

2) debian-testing

Next smxi needs to install dctrl-tools and gawk to run properly

1) yes-install

Next you can and should select your closest debian mirror. Since I am in the US I choose

36) us:United-States

NOTE - Some users report that keeping US as the default works best because some of the foreign mirrors are extremely slow

Next Are the Kernel Upgrade Options. If you selected the debian kernel, smxi would now find the latest kernel and install it. If you selected to use Liquorix, it would install the latest Liqourix kernel

Enter to Continue

Recommended Step

smxi now will do a dist-upgrade to make sure everything is up to date

1) continue

Enter to Continue

Y to any questions asked

When done you will be presented choices, select

4) continue

After the dist-upgrade is done, select

6) kernel options

This is where you can update to your latest kernel

1) install-apt-kernel

then

1) yes-install-kernel

Once the kernel is updated you can now proceed to

7) continue-to-graphics

Now you are presented with several choices to install your video drivers. Since I use nVidia, my choice is

6) current-nvidia

1) yes-create-xorg-conf-file

Enter

Now the driver will be downloaded and installed to your current kernel.

When nouveau is used, it will report a failure to remove. This is normal. Just select

2) reboot

Log back into the new kernel you just installed and at the login screen hit ctrl alt f1 again

login as you

sudo su

smxi

2) continue-no-dist-upgrade

7) continue-to-graphics

6) current-nvidia

Enter

Now the driver is installed

1) start-desktop

That is it... You are now using the latest kernel and the current nVidia drivers.

NOTE - If at any time you login during the process to a blinking cursor on the top left, just do

ctrl alt f1 

login as you

sudo su

smxi

2) continue-no-dist-upgrade

7) continue-to-graphics

6) current-nvidia

Please feel free to comment on how this can be improved.

Thank You!

hinto · 2012-10-30 16:38:30

^ I think you covered it pretty well.
Great job!
-H

VastOne · 2012-10-30 16:41:07

Thanks hinto

We will find out when a brand new user tests it and succeeds/fails...

Sector11 · 2012-10-30 17:57:23

VastOne wrote:

NOTE - If at any time you login during the process to a blinking cursor on the top left, just do
ctrl alt f1 

login as you

sudo su

smxi

2) continue-no-dist-upgrade

7) continue-to-graphics

6) current-nvidia

Excellent HowTo vastOne.

Wish I had known that final ending just two days ago. So simple compared to the loops I jumped through.

Thank you!

EDIT: On a side note:

Next you can and should select your closest debian mirror. Since I am in the US I choose

This I disagree with, I use the "US" as well, the closest mirror here is a 'sloth'.
I would suggest that people use the mirror that they have found best in their sources.list or experiment over time.

Last edited by Sector11 (2012-10-30 17:59:52)

VastOne · 2012-10-30 18:02:27

^ Thanks Sector11!

I have added a note about the US mirrors to that section in the instructions..

I appreciate the feedback.

Typos also corrected.

Sector11 · 2012-10-30 18:21:07

VastOne wrote:

^ Thanks Sector11!
I have added a note about the US mirrors to that section in the instructions..
I appreciate the feedback.
Typos also corrected.

Lookin' good, I'm watching as it progresses. Since I use smxi.

tlinsley · 2012-10-30 18:51:55

Excellent how to!

Small typo in the title. You have "sxmi", but I think you intended "smxi".

VastOne · 2012-10-30 18:54:09

tlinsley wrote:

Excellent how to!
Small typo in the title. You have "sxmi", but I think you intended "smxi".

DOH!

Thanks on both accounts... I appreciate it!

apprentice · 2012-10-30 19:13:10

another great how to v1

i know this is about smxi but...
if running sid with a towo, would it benefit any to use liquorix
or at least add it then switch between the two and compare?

are you going to get into the rest that smxi/sgfxi/svmi does/can do?
or is the scope mainly kernel/gfx

cheers

VastOne · 2012-10-30 19:17:28

Thanks apprentice... I appreciate that!

I would add liquorix and test against towo... It wouldn't hurt at all. I think I'll add towo and do the same on my end and we can compare notes.

I will add all of the smxi/sgfxi/svmi capapabilities over the next couple of days... I need to find a tty scrot tool to make it easier...

hinto · 2012-10-30 19:18:39

@apprentice I run towo instead of liquorix. I seem to get a little better scheduling in my vm (I run a Win7 guest on #! for Visual Studio development).
YMMV
-H

Sector11 · 2012-10-30 19:24:32

OK I Googled:

Linux kernel towto
towto vs liquorix
blah blah

nothing - so what is towto!

Last edited by Sector11 (2012-10-30 19:25:25)

apprentice · 2012-10-30 19:25:14

like i said i dont want to take away from topic and smxi

im running towo on one of bacons spins
i guess the real question is would i need liquorix
would i really notice a difference
you know the old if it ain't broke...

VastOne · 2012-10-30 19:25:21

@hinto Thats good info..

I use Liquorix because it seems to handle all my multimedia needs a lot better than anything I have used.

cl00t · 2012-10-30 19:30:02

Great howto. I use smxi & am contemplating installing the ati drivers, as currently waldorf is using the i915 card in this laptop I think it worth mentioning that if you add the liquorix sources & do a dist-upgrade, it might want to upgrade a few packages, in my case wireless firmware & drivers. I really don't want that from the liquorix repo, after installing the latest liquorix kernel I coment out the repo in sources.list

hinto · 2012-10-30 19:30:27

as we continue to go off topic, towo is one of the developers for siduction. The towo kernels seem to follow the debian kernel versions in the repositories. Every once in a while I'll get a kernel that seems to pause during its scheduling. I think it's more closely related to the debian source, rather than who compiles what.
-H

Ozitraveller · 2012-10-30 20:54:53

HI VastOne

I'm not quite sure what this means, maybe a typo in there:

smxi needs to do a the initial dist-upgrade should be run to make sure everything is up to date

BTW Nice howto, appreciate your effort.

It would be nice if smxi also did wifi setup too!

Ozi

Last edited by Ozitraveller (2012-10-30 20:57:42)

VastOne · 2012-10-30 21:01:53

Ozitraveller wrote:

HI VastOne
I'm not quite sure what this means, maybe a typo in there:
smxi needs to do a the initial dist-upgrade should be run to make sure everything is up to date

BTW Nice howto, appreciate your effort.
It would be nice if smxi also did wifi setup too!
Ozi

Thanks Ozi...

I have changed it to this..

Recommended Step

smxi needs to do a dist-upgrade ... It should be run to make sure everything is up to date

Does that make more sense?

Ozitraveller · 2012-10-30 21:05:20

Hi VastOne

Excellent that's much clearer.

Cheers
Ozi

lowrider · 2012-11-05 23:08:10

Great HowTo V1. lwfitz point me to here after a new users question about nvidia drivers. You could have done nothing better!!!

anticapitalista · 2012-11-05 23:24:35

Great how to.

However, wouldn't it be much easier for crunchbang to come with the smxi stub already installed?
I can't see any negatives only positives if this were the case.

VastOne · 2012-11-06 00:13:12

@lowrider, thanks mate... Glad it helped!

@anticapitalista Thank you, I agree 100% ...

If you do not mind, head over to Feedback and Suggestions and suggest it. From there I will second/support the recommendation...

Jimbo_G · 2012-11-06 11:14:42

This is excellent! I'm commenting to say thanks and so that I can easily find it again in the future :-)

Edit: nice old-school smiley there.

Last edited by Jimbo_G (2012-11-06 11:15:38)

SpaceAviator · 2012-11-06 21:21:44

Thanks for this excellent guide

Smxi worked like a charm!

Cheers!

PS : Good to be back!

VastOne · 2012-11-06 21:22:47

Welcome back SpaceAviator! Thank you!

Glad to see smxi working for you and thank you for the feedback...

CrunchBang Linux

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#1 2012-10-30 16:29:40

How To: smxi Install and Setup

#2 2012-10-30 16:38:30

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#3 2012-10-30 16:41:07

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#4 2012-10-30 17:57:23

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#5 2012-10-30 18:02:27

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#6 2012-10-30 18:21:07

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#7 2012-10-30 18:51:55

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#8 2012-10-30 18:54:09

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#9 2012-10-30 19:13:10

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#10 2012-10-30 19:17:28

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#11 2012-10-30 19:18:39

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#12 2012-10-30 19:24:32

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#13 2012-10-30 19:25:14

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#14 2012-10-30 19:25:21

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#15 2012-10-30 19:30:02

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#16 2012-10-30 19:30:27

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#17 2012-10-30 20:54:53

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#18 2012-10-30 21:01:53

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#19 2012-10-30 21:05:20

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#20 2012-11-05 23:08:10

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#21 2012-11-05 23:24:35

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#22 2012-11-06 00:13:12

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#23 2012-11-06 11:14:42

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#24 2012-11-06 21:21:44

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

#25 2012-11-06 21:22:47

Re: How To: smxi Install and Setup

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