Automatic System Repair in the WebFAI - TUXEDO Computers

We firmly believe that with the combination of TUXEDO computers and TUXEDO OS you get a stable and reliable platform for your work and home. However, in the world of computers there are always situations when something does not work as desired. Just in case, we give you a set of repair tools as part of our automated installation routine WebFAI, which can analyze a damaged installation of TUXEDO OS and in many cases get it working again.

Prepare WebFAI USB stick

We deliver every TUXEDO computer with a bootable USB stick for our WebFAI (the FAI stands for “Fully Automated Installation”). You will find it in the enclosed accessories. We recommend to keep the stick safe. It will always remain up to date, as the data and configurations are automatically loaded from the TUXEDO servers from the network at each boot.

If you can’t find the stick anymore, you can equip any USB stick with the WebFAI image. To do this, either use the tool integrated in TUXEDO OS (via TUXEDO ” TUXEDO WebFAI Creator) or write the image yourself to an empty USB stick using Etcher (Linux, MacOS, Windows) or Rufus (Windows). Please refer to the WebFAI USB stick documentation for instructions.

Boot from WebFAI USB stick

On the one hand, to identify your WebFAI stick more easily and on the other hand, to avoid data loss (the WebFAI runs fully automatically after a certain point and could overwrite connected data media), please remove all storage media from your computer (USB sticks, USB hard disks or USB memory, memory cards, CDs/DVDs, etc.) and only plug in the WebFAI stick for booting.

Then restart the computer and press one of the keys ESC, F7, F10 or F11 (the key varies depending on the device) repeatedly during the startup to open the boot menu. There you then select the WebFAI stick, usually recognizable by the label “TUXEDO”.

Automatic System Repair

In the WebFAI, you first have the option of choosing between German and English as the language. Use the arrow keys to navigate in the menu. Use the Tab key to switch between OK and Cancel. With the enter key you start the selected function. To repair your TUXEDO OS system, select Automatic System Repair and confirm with OK.

Collect and transmit information

Here you have the choice: If your system does not start at all, the repair mode can collect information about your system by selecting Yes and send the data to our support. For this you need a ticket number, which you will receive via e-mail from TUXEDO support. Enter the number directly after selecting the analysis tool.

Repair or reset system

If your system still boots, but no longer functions satisfactorily, select No and start an attempt at automatic repair. WebFAI offers you a number of tools for this purpose, which can provide a remedy depending on the problem. Depending on the system found, the options offered vary.

• tomte – Run Tuxedo-Tomte: TUXEDO Tomte is an automatic configuration service that detects missing drivers and packages and saves users from tedious troubleshooting. It inserts solutions, such as Grub entries and TUXEDO Mirrors customizations, while leaving the system untouched. Therefore, you should give Tomte the first chance to fix the system.

• apt – Factory reset: The function resets the installed system to the factory settings. The created users, all personal settings and data remain unaffected. The function compares the package list of installed programs with the current state of the TUXEDO OS image and installs missing packages. Additionally installed software and package sources are removed, but can be added again later.

• grub – Reinstall grub: The boot manager Grub ensures in TUXEDO OS that you can boot the system and also offers, for example, the possibility – if installed accordingly – to choose between TUXEDO OS and Windows when starting the computer. Should Grub no longer find TUXEDO OS correctly, this autorepair function takes over.

• initrd – Initial Ramdisk rebuild with strong compression: The Linux initrd (Initial Ramdisk) is a temporary RAM-based file system structure that is used at boot time to load basic drivers and modules and to support the boot process. When a new kernel is installed, the image for the initrd is recreated. If this runs out of memory, for example, problems will occur. This function rebuilds the initrd with maximum compression and thus saves disk space.

• chroot – Enter the installed system using chroot: Using chroot, you can switch from one Linux system (such as a live system booted via USB stick) to another Linux system installed on the hard disks. This allows you to repair internal problems without having to reinstall the system. Details are explained in this article. A corresponding function is also integrated into the live image of TUXEDO OS.

• nvidia – Reinstall Nvidia Driver: This option reinstalls the current version of the proprietary driver for NVIDIA graphics cards into the TUXEDO OS system. So if there are problems with the desktop display or the graphics performance is not as expected, you can remedy the situation via this path. This step is not necessary to tune the system, TUXEDO OS ships the NVIDIA driver ex works.

• kernel – Remove all Kernels and reinstall recent Tuxedo Kernel: The Linux kernel is the core of the operating system. It manages hardware resources, provides drivers, controls the scheduler of the CPU and manages file systems. If you ever install an incompatible kernel on your TUXEDO OS installation, this routine removes all foreign kernels and installs the current TUXEDO OS kernel again.

Depending on the selected function, the process takes more or less time. Make sure that the system is connected to the power supply and the Internet connection is not interrupted during the process. After successful work, remove the WebFAI stick from the computer and reboot your now hopefully repaired system.