smxi sgfxi svmi :: basic options and use

Page Version: 1.0
Page Updated: 2015-08-23

smxi options
sgfxi options
svmi options

These scripts have a wide ranging set of options that can be used to modify their behavior, or trigger non-standard features, or skip ones you don't need.

Check smxi -h, sgfxi -h, and svmi -h for full supported current options. The options change now and then, one might get removed, another added, but overall, they pretty much stay the same.

To make each script use an option permanently, check the sticky options page.

smxi :: options and use

Please note, I always refer to the dist-upgrade/upgrade/safe-upgrade section as the 'upgrade' section to keep it simple, but your selection in this category, if applicable, would of course determine what actual upgrade type is being used.

Basic script operation - skipping steps

skip the first kernel install question (to permanently skip it, set the preference in Post Upgrade Options, Miscellaneous Tweaks, Advanced Options, kernel type. Set to no-kernel to always skip the pre upgrade kernel option list).
```
smxi -k
```
skip the first smxi/system information section.
```
smxi -i
```
skip the first kernel install section, and the smxi/system information section, go straight to warnings section, pre upgrade.
```
smxi -ki
```
skip kernel section, information, and warning section, start upgrade right away. NOT RECOMMENDED, this is risky.
```
smxi -kiw
```
skip kernel, information, and upgrade section, go straight to Post Upgrade Option section. Useful if you just want to do something without doing an upgrade or kernel install.
```
smxi -kiwd
```
skip Post Upgrade Option section. Useful if you just want to install kernel, upgrade and install graphics driver.
```
smxi -t
```
skip kernel, information, upgrade, post upgrade options, and go straight to graphics installer section.
```
smxi -kwidt
```

Useful options to trigger extra features

You can start with any combination of these, and the above, like so: smxi -kim

change Debian mirrors before you start the main update.
```
smxi -m
```
change your kernel metapackage options, from using them to not, or from not to using them.
```
smxi -N
```
smxi -X <script name>#<script download url> - example:
```
smxi -X my-install-script#http://mywebsite.com/my-install-script
```
This will add whatever script you want as an extra Post Upgrade Options section option, it will be called, in this case: run-my-install-script. Very useful to run second party scripts you know you want for your current actions. Can be in any scripting language supported by your system, smxi will download it, set it executable, change its name to whatever you put before the # (makes no difference what you call it to smxi), then offer it as a run option.

advanced options

These are mostly for stranger, non standard things, but still of some use to some people now and then.

To change color scheme. 0 is standard, default, single color, the default for your console; 1 is script default colors; 2 is a gray/blue type theme; 3 is a earth type color theme (fine for dark/light or light/dark consoles); 4 is a darker scheme which is good for light background consoles.
```
smxi -j2
```
Trigger pre system du/upgrade dpgk reconfigure locales question. Useful to avoid those super long locales that sidux users have to sit through if they don't reconfigure their locales prior to running system upgrade.
```
smxi -L
```
Force the script to update itself before it does anything else, in case it's missing a feature, an option or something. Normally the scripts update themselves automatically anyway if required, but this does it first, and can be run in X.
```
smxi -U
```

options you can run in X, as root

Run only the post upgrade section of the script, where cleanup, package install, miscellaneous tweaks, package removal and kernel options are located.
```
smxi -G
```

options you can run in X without being in root

show basic system information, last use of smxi, last upgrade, and so on. The basic output you see in the step before kernel install or upgrades, that is.
```
smxi -v
```
smxi -W - takes 1 of 3 possible further options: -W c ; -W w ; -W wc
c shows just the config file section. w shows the alerts/warnings, and wc shows first the alerts/warnings, if any, then the configs. If you run this option as root, smxi will also update to latest warnings/configs. If you don't, it will use the last available, if any. Example:
```
smxi -Wwc
```
This can be especially useful if you are in the middle of an upgrade, and you've forgotten some warning or config file. All you need to do then is switch to another console/tty, say: ctrl+alt+F2, then login, run: smxi -Wc (if you want to check the config file information), then go back to the upgrade in progress with ctrl+alt+F1.
show all available options, the help menu, that is.
```
smxi -h
```

options you can run in X where you must be root

Start the smxi cleanup tool, this lets you run the cleanup of various smxi components that tend to get cluttered over time, like the kernel downloads, the video driver downloads, or the virtual machine downloads, or the backup files smxi makes for some things.
```
smxi -Y
```

These are the most commonly used options, at least by me.

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sgfxi :: options and use

sgfxi has a wide range of options, some only work for nvidia, or only for fglrx, or only for free xorg drivers.

common options

Use composite (nvidia non free only): Note: As of 2010-10-20, sgfxi now defaults to using composite for all newer nvidia cards, including 5xxx series and some older that support composite. You do not need -c for any supported nvidia card any longer. To turn on composite for other card brands, use:
```
sgfxi -c
```
If you want to override the default ON for composite for nVidia cards, use the -q option, that turns composite OFF:
```
sgfxi -q
```
To install a different driver than the default. sgfxi always tells you what driver it is going to install before it starts runnning the install, with the option to exit then.
```
# example for nvidia
sgfxi -o 177.68

# for fglrx
sgfxi -o 10-9

# or with composite too
sgfxi -co 10-9
```
To install the default native xorg driver and reconfigure xorg to use it. Supports autodetection for nvidia (nv driver), ati (but only install xorg ati, not radeon or radeonhd), intel, and a few others. Will exit if your card is not on the list of known graphics cards in sgfxi for native xorg driver install.
```
sgfxi -n
```

To force install of a specific driver version and reconfigure xorg to use it. See sgfxi -h for list of supported xorg drivers.

# example, for say new ati card, radeonhd
sgfxi -N radeonhd

# for vesa default driver, often good in case the normal driver fails for some reason.
sgfxi -N vesa

To install distribution driver packages, from for example Debian. (ATI and Nvidia only). Nvidia will also select automatically the legacy level of the driver to install from the distro package pool. Configures xorg too.
```
# for nvidia, with composite turned OFF
sgfxi -qd

# for fglrx/nvidia
sgfxi -d
```
To install the fglrx driver without using any distro packaging or methods, a direct binary install that is:
```
sgfxi
```
For fglrx, sgfxi is the direct install from binary .run file for fglrx/nvidia. This method will often succeed when the distro package file builder sgfxi -D (ATI/FGLRX only) or sgfxi -d method fails.
Build and install distro package files from fglrx run binary driver installer (ATI Only).
```
sgfxi -D
```
Because of constant distro package builder failures, the direct (default, no arguments) install method is recommended and default for sgfxi.

options you can run in X without being in root

show current driver list, from webserver data (updated every hour automatically), or the current fglrx/nvidia status. Exits afterwords.

Requires one of the following arguments: d (for driver list); f (for fglrx status information); n (for nvidia status information)

# for driver data
sgfxi -L d
# or fglrx information
sgfxi -L f
# or nvidia information 
sgfxi -L n
# to show latest sgfxi script version. Mostly useful if sgfix is
# packaged by your distro, this tells you if there is a new version
# or not on the remote sgfxi server, and if that version is different
# than your local version
sgfxi -L v

show sgfxi version and graphics card information. Exits afterwords
```
sgfxi -v
```
help menu, all supported options, list of current drivers supported in sgfxi. To make sure this is up to date, use, as root, first: sgfxi -U to update sgfxi to have the latest drivers. Exits afterwords.
```
sgfxi -h
```

options you can run in X where you must be root

Start the sgfxi cleanup tool, this lets you run the cleanup of various sgfxi components that tend to get cluttered over time, video driver downloads, or the backup files sgfxi makes for some things.
```
sgfxi -Y
```

advanced options

Install driver to a different kernel than the currently running one, from the currently running one. Remember, when you do this, you'll need to reboot to the other kernel to have X work. smxi does this automatically if you want when it installs a new kernel, as long as you don't exit smxi before the graphics install section.
```
# example, must be full kernel name, sgfxi will check this to make sure it exists
sgfxi -K 2.6.26-3
```
Install latest nVidia beta driver, if available, for your current card type. This simply tests if there is a beta driver for your card type at the same time it assigns the correct driver. The script will tell you if one was available or not when it asks if you want to continue or exit install.
```
sgfxi -B
```
Force the script to update itself before it does anything else, in case it's missing a feature, an option or something. Normally the scripts update themselves automatically anyway if required, but this does it first, and can be run in X.
```
sgfxi -U
```
Run the install non-interactively. Will not restart x at end. Will do default behaviors unless you override them with other options. (Automatic install, that is)
```
sgfxi -A
```
Skip Xorg configuration. Only use this if your Xorg is already working with your driver. The most common reason to use this is if you have two video cards in your system, but you only use one, and can't turn the other one off.
```
sgfxi -C
```
Recreate your xorg.conf file. This is especially useful for systems that have a bad xorg.conf, like some Mepis releases. Saves a backup of your old xorg.conf, and then uses X -configure to create a new one. Must be out of X or it won't work.
```
sgfxi -z
```
Note that this can be used in conjunction with other variables, for a first time say nvidia non free driver install if you know the xorg.conf needs to be created or recreated (new xorg.conf are either not present or very minimal).
```
# installs latest beta nvidia driver, creates xorg.conf, and sets xorg.conf 
# to use composite
sgfxi -zBc 
```
Enable tripleBuffer (nvidia only). triplebuffer can reduce 3d performance on cards with low graphics memory (64 mB or less). Default is disabled/off.
```
sgfxi -b
```
To change color scheme. 0 is standard, default, single color, the default for your console; 1 is script default colors; 2 is a gray/blue type theme; 3 is a earth type color theme, 4 is a darker scheme which is good for light background consoles.
```
sgfxi -j2
```

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svmi :: options and use

The main things you can do with options is svmi is to run certain features automatically.

common options

svmi has no standard useful options that I can think of.

options you can run in X without being in root

show svmi version. Exits afterwords
```
svmi -v
```
help menu, all supported options, Exits afterwords.
```
svmi -h
```

auto install options

svmi lets you run certain install and update items automatically, non interactively. These are not well maintained, and I honestly haven't tested several of these for a long time.

any-any install. Detects, downloads, latest any any for your current kernel and vmplayer. Note, you must have vmplayer installed to use any-any patch.
```
svmi -A
```
Download, extract, run vbox install. (not active currently due to license issues of SUN)
```
svmi -B
```
Build vbox module. Not sure on this one, should rebuild vbox module for you.
```
svmi -M
```
Download, extract, run vmplayer install, and then run any any install. Make sure to answer 'n' when it asks if you want to configure vmplayer after the initial install runs, then any any starts, and then you say 'y' to configure vmplayer.
```
svmi -p
```

advanced options

Force the script to update itself before it does anything else, in case it's missing a feature, an option or something. Normally the scripts update themselves automatically anyway if required, but this does it first, and can be run in X.
```
svmi -U
```
To change color scheme. 0 is standard, default, single color, the default for your console; 1 is script default colors; 2 is a gray/blue type theme; 3 is a earth type color theme (fine for dark/light or light/dark consoles); 4 is a darker scheme which is good for light background consoles.
```
svmi -j2
```
If you want to set up vbox with a specific user account name, use this option
```
# example, for user name fred
svmi -u fred
```
Start the svmi cleanup tool, this lets you run the cleanup of various svmi components that tend to get cluttered over time, for now just the virtual machine downloads directory. You must be root to run this.
```
svmi -Y
```

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