SliTaz Forum

Trouble with persistent frugal install

(25 posts) (6 voices)

• Started 9 years ago by K3nn3th
• Latest reply from K3nn3th
• This topic is not resolved

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1. 

   K3nn3th
   

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   Hey guys,

   been trying to get a working persistent frugal install with the slitaz-5.0-rc2-iso for the last few days now.
   Actually Im trying to add a couple programs to slitaz and customise the desktop, then have it all running in ram.

   Theres no trouble installing to hdd, nor with my "vanilla" frugal.
   i have experienced several problems "updating the frugal install" though.

   First Scenario
   I boot up vanilla frugal, make changes (updating packages is necessary at this point, otherwise the generated rootfs.gz caused kernel panic), and write a new rootfs.gz. now when I boot up the new frugal install with the new rootfs.gz I cant mount my ext3 partition (with my slitaz hdd install) with PCMan.
   I mount via terminal, also gives me errors.
   Then I try again via PCMan, and it works.
   Any ideas whats the cause of this?

   Also, when making a new rootfs.gz from this frugal install, (ie. added another piece of software, want to save it) and trying to boot it gives me some init errors.
   -> not good, I need it to keep some changes without breaking.

   Second Scenario
   When doing a full hdd install, booting up into it, making changes (also updating pckgs), write new rootfs.gz, and booting up with that, i can only log in as root ("failed to excexute login command" otherwise).
   When adding home=/dev/sda4 to the grub menu entry, it automatically mounts the entire ext3 filesystem to /home/ which i find strange. my experience with this up to now was finding the home/tux/ folder of the frugal in the root of my hdd partition.

   i am writing a new rootfs.gz with "tazusb writefs none (i prefer not to compress for faster booting). tried the other two (lzma/gzip) but it doesnt change the issue. also tried the tazlito writeiso command. In my experience, it does the same apart from saving the output at different locations.

   one would have thought it would be easiest generating a new rootfs.gz from a hdd install cause you can take your time configuring before you do so.

   I read about ticking a checkbox somewhere when logging out after "enabling persistency mode". couldnt find any..

   This is quite nerve-racking, as I'm not sure it might be another bug with tazusb/tazlito (the amount of hours i spent trying around until i came up with updating the packages!) or if im doing something wrong.

   Anyone able to tell me a "best way" of making a custom bootable slitaz?

   thanks in advance! Ill try around with the rolling iso from Sept. 7th next

   Posted 9 years ago #
2. 

   Anonymous
   

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   I found rolling to be better than rc2 in general, so might be the way to go.

   Posted 9 years ago #
3. 

   K3nn3th
   

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   thanks fatmac!
   re-creating (actually re-using) the rootfs.gz was no probem coming from the live rolling iso.
   ill give it a go coming from a hdd install with rolling.

   Posted 9 years ago #
4. 

   K3nn3th
   

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   cant boot my new rootfs.gz created from a hdd install with rolling.. some kernel panic telling me about no proper ntfs being found.
   ->possible bug?

   I'll stick to booting my frugal and re-writing my rootfs after every change :P

   i have another question concerning frugal slitaz:

   when attaching an external screen to my laptop it shows an exact copy of whats seen on the laptop screen, including screen resolution.
   the external one is bigger than my laptop screen and displays a black border on the right and bottom.
   lxrandr doesnt recognize the plugged in screen at all, only mentions "default".

   using a hdd install no border is displayed.

   any thoughts on this?

   Posted 9 years ago #
5. 

   K3nn3th
   

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   bumping the topic here, cause its not working anymore (getting the kernel panic again with the ntfs error).

   - whats the best way to make persistent changes on a frugal install of slitaz 5.0 rolling?

   Posted 9 years ago #
6. 

   K3nn3th
   

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   cant even get it to work with the rolling from September 7th like i could a few posts earlier..

   here is the message i get after trying to use a newly-made rootfs.gz

   

   could it be that it depends on the bzImage file? or some specific kernel parameters in grub?
   this is very nerve-racking.

   are there any slitaz 5.0 rolling persistent-frugal users here that could help me out by sharing their setups?

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   Posted 9 years ago #
7. 

   Anonymous
   

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   Did you have an NTFS filesystem mounted when you created your filesystem?
   (Best I can do is suggest you re read the manual and work your way through line by line.)

   Posted 9 years ago #
8. 

   K3nn3th
   

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   no i didnt. i umount everything when writing the rootfs.gz.

   i cant find a manual entry for keeping things persistent, only for a frugal install.

   are you currently using a frugal install? if so, could you tell me your persisntency procedure?

   Posted 9 years ago #
9. 

   Ceel
   

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   Administrator

   are you currently using a frugal install?

   Yes, I do: frugal install on sda1 and persistence on sda5. My entry in menu.lst:

   # Boot SliTaz 5.0 - frugal install
   #
   title SliTaz 5.0 rolling 21/09/2014 - frugal install (kernel 3.2.53)
         kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz-3.2.53-slitaz rw root=/dev/null kmap=fr-latin1 nomodeset home=cb58a50f-6401-4f41-8cf3-409ec78a9f38
         initrd (hd0,0)/boot/rootfs1409214.gz (hd0,0)/boot/rootfs1409213.gz (hd0,0)/boot/rootfs1409212.gz (hd0,0)/boot/rootfs1409211.gz
   

   My HD (partitions appears "hd" and not "sd" because the blkid command has been launched from SliTaz 4.0)

   ceel@SliTaz:~$ blkid
   /dev/hda5: UUID="cb58a50f-6401-4f41-8cf3-409ec78a9f38" TYPE="ext2"
   /dev/hda1: UUID="e7133cab-f2bf-4686-b952-0b3bc0b14580" TYPE="ext3"
   /dev/hda2: UUID="371fe7cb-5af6-49a3-95a2-e7eda59580a2" TYPE="swap"
   /dev/hda3: UUID="36e30815-1a3f-469d-9e0c-3b6721d83f70" TYPE="ext2"
   /dev/hda6: UUID="5234-C546" TYPE="vfat"
   /dev/hda7: UUID="07A423B95696C36A" TYPE="ntfs"
   ceel@SliTaz:~$
   

   The partition where your /home is must be ext formated.

   Posted 9 years ago #
10. 

    az_ua
    

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    @K3nn3th
    Look at top-right corner of your picture.
    size 0x2e5020 is wrong
    you forgot to update RC2 bzImage.
    With any september-rolling size should be 0x2c0bd0

    > could it be that it depends on the bzImage file?
    This was the first you had to check.
    Really it depends - "bzImage file" is linux kernel.

    Posted 9 years ago #
11. 

    K3nn3th
    

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    @az_ua: you have an eagle eye! it did the trick. i had accidentally kept the old one backuped during one of my reformattings.

    @Ceel: I understand you have your home folder mounted to sda5. do you do persistent system changes, too? e.g. installing packages etc. how do you handle this?

    I also see youre not using a bzImage file and are using three rootfs.gz's. Are there advantages?

    thanks for taking your time, guys!

    Posted 9 years ago #
12. 

    mojo
    

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    Key Master

    @K3nn3th
    There is no /boot when running slitaz live frugal, only with a full install.
    Updating files located in /boot such as the kernel on live install requires the user to manually move them from /boot to /home/boot before shut down.
    tazusb writefs will still need to be run to save other files from the tazpkg that install to locations other than /boot.
    The kernel in linux-3.2.53.tazpkg is /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.53-slitaz
    The kernel in persistent frugal install is /home/boot/bzImage
    bzImage is a hard link to vmlinuz-3.2.53-slitaz created by tazlito when it builds the live cd iso.
    tazusb copy_cdrom_files() uses the bzImage so it is kernel version agnostic.
    To update the kernel on live frugal install with home=
    # tazpkg recharge
# tazpkg -gi linux --forced
# mv /home/boot/bzImage /home/boot/bzImage.old
# cp /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.53-slitaz /home/boot/bzImage

    I find it easier to rename the old bzImage and copy/rename the new kernel rather than copy /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.53-slitaz to /home/boot and edit the boot menu to change bzImage to vmlinuz-3.2.53-slitaz
    Either way works.
    Any files from tazpkgs that install to /boot such as syslinux have to be manually moved to /home/boot the same way.

    Posted 9 years ago #
13. 

    Ceel
    

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    @K3nn3th

    do you do persistent system changes, too? e.g. installing packages etc. how do you handle this?

    Not really. Frugal is for tests only; I use persistence for my notes and to store packages because sometime I go somewhere where I have no internet. When I want to save a configuration I create a new rootfs with tazusb writefs.

    I also see youre not using a bzImage file and are using three rootfs.gz's. Are there advantages?

    No. That's only for practical reasons. Concerning kernel, I have several versions of SliTaz installed (full and frugal); it's the way I found to distinguish the different versions. Concerning rootfs, the computer I use for tests has only a 20GB HD; to limit space on disk I store only 4in1 ISOs. This allows me to boot as well as core or gtk-only or justX or base simply editing the initrd line at boot.

    Posted 9 years ago #
14. 

    K3nn3th
    

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    Thanks for the clarification.

    Another strange thing:
    I boot up a new frugal rolling, which does not have the firmware for my wifi card yet.
    After installing it through tazpanel (wifi-rtfirmware) via ethernet, configuring the wifi config, rewriting rootfs.gz and booting with it, only wifi seems to work.
    My ethernet permanently has "disconnected" as status. even when i disable wifi and replug the eth cable.

    Might this have something to do with having the eth cable plugged in (active connection) whie writing the rootfs.gz?

    Yet another question: Anyone had any success connecting an external screen and using it as an extended desktop?

    Posted 9 years ago #
15. 

    mojo
    

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    Key Master

    @K3nn3th
    Slitaz network script configures one adapter.
    If you require a second adapter on boot you can script it in /etc/init.d/local.sh
    This brings up ethernet adapter with eth1 alias with static address 192.168.0.1
    ifconfig eth1 192.168.0.1 up

    This feature speeds up connecting to different access points or switching between ethernet and wifi adapter but your still limited to one adapter.
    Different connections can be pre-configured by either manually editing a copy of /etc/network.conf or configuring the connection in tazpanel and copy/rename /etc/network.conf to another location.
    The different connection can be using a different adapter or a different configuration on an adapter.
    Connecting to a different wifi access point or using ethernet adapter instead of wifi adapter.
    Networking is restarted using the alternate configuration.
    # /etc/init.d/network.sh restart alternate network configuration
    More info: http://doc.slitaz.org/en:guides:network-script

    Posted 9 years ago #

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