Remastering a frugal install

How to do things, solutions, recipes, tutorials
Message
Author
User avatar
CatDude
Posts: 1563
Joined: Wed 03 Jan 2007, 17:49
Location: UK

Remastering a frugal install

#1 Post by CatDude »

Hi

I recently recieved the following PM
majorfoo wrote:You recently provided an excellent step by step on How to set up a wireless connection in lupu 520.

Please consider providing similar step by step visuals on how to remaster puppy live cd.

I went through the entire process and counted about 20 screens if you stop and delete root from tmp directory, copy new root to tmp directory, then delete etc from tmp directory and copy new etc to tmp directory.

I believe this would be very helpful to newbies in making a new iso of all their changes.

thank you for your valuable contributions to puppy community.

majorfoo
So, without further ado
let's get on with it. (in slightly more than 20 screenshots :wink: :wink: )

Please note that the remaster script dialog window sizes were hacked by me,
so that i could take screenshots of them that were not too big (wide) for the forum.
They will appear different on your computer, but the content is the same. (well, it will be in Wary-5.1.3)

  • OK then,
    first of all a little background information.

    I started with a fresh FRUGAL install of Wary-513,
    to which i made the following changes:
    • Installed both of these:
      zzx_upgrade_73_to_75_nokms-201101-1.pet
      zzx_upgrade_73_to_75_nokms_DEV-201101-1.pet


      so that i could build the ATI graphics driver: ati-driver-installer-11-7-x86.x86_64.run
      (obviously, that required that i load up the devx and kernel source .sfs files first)

      Whilst i still had the devx and kernel source .sfs files loaded,
      i also built the wireless driver for my card: hybrid-portsrc_x86_32-v5_100_82_38.tar.gz

      I also installed Seamonkey-2.3.1 (after which i removed the default version)
      which wouldn't work until these were installed (via the PPM):
      dbus-1.2.4.2permissive-1-w5.pet
      dbus-glib-0.82-w5.pet


      Changed the desktop background image,
      by simply replacing these two files with my new image (keeping the same name and format)

      /usr/share/backgrounds/default.jpg
      /usr/share/backgrounds_original/ORIGINAL-default.jpg


      Changed the desktop/menu icons to Silver-Marble

      After all that was done, i UNLOADED the devx and kernel source .sfs files,
      then rebooted.
      If this step was not done, then the final remaster would be somewhat bigger than necessary.


      OK, now that i am back at the desktop i need to do a couple more things before running the remaster script.

      To make things easier for when i make an install (on this computer) from the remaster i am about to make,
      i will make a backup copy of my current xorg.conf file.
      So i simply went to: /etc/X11
      and copied xorg.conf as acer-ati_xorg.conf

      Right then, that's enough of what i did in the way of customising,
      let's get down to the nitty gritty of remastering.
    Before we really get going, let's make sure we have everything we need.
    • 1. A working area with enough free space (here i am using another partition sda8)
      this needs to be mounted before running the remaster script. so you may as well do it now.

      • NOTE:
        The working area needs to be on a Linux Partition (ext2, ext3 etc)
        DO NOT use FAT or NTFS partitions.


      If you have enough space in /mnt/home you can use that instead,
      there is no need to mount it as it already is (or should be if you are running a FRUGAL install)

      2. A copy of the LiveCD you used to make your install (or at least the ISO image)
      If using the LiveCD, put it into the drive now.
      If using an ISO image, then mount it now (see Step 2)

    Step 1.
    If you intend for your new Puppy to run the usual setup for locale and timezone (i did),
    then before running the remaster script navigate to: /usr/lib/locale
    Copy the contents of this directory to somewhere else (say: /root/my-documents)
    After we have finished remastering, we need to copy them back to /usr/lib/locale
    Image

    /usr/lib/locale should now look like this.
    Image
    NOTE:
    If you are remastering some version of Lupu,
    then i suggest that you take a look at this thread: Remastering Lucid Puppy 5.2.5
    as it explains about the differences between the normal Puppy way of doing things and the Lupu way.


    Step 2.
    If you are using an ISO image rather than a LiveCD,
    then it needs to be mounted now, navigate to it and left click on it.
    Image

    Here you can see it mounted
    Image
    You can close these two windows if you like,
    it will give more room to play on the desktop :wink:


    Step 3.
    Here we go, start the remaster script.
    Image


    Step 4.
    Have a read, then click OK
    Image

    Image

    Select your working area.
    As i mentioned before i used another partition (sda8) you can see that it is mounted already,
    you can also see that sda7 is mounted too, that is my /mnt/home.
    Select your choice then click OK
    Image

    As you can see from the image below, i used an ISO image rather than the LiveCD,
    again, select your choice and click OK
    Image

    Here you have a choice.
    You can create a seperate driver .sfs file, or have it included in the main Puppy .sfs
    I opted for the latter.
    Image

    Depending on how much you have installed into your FRUGAL install,
    this step will take a minute or two.
    I'm not sure what it is complaining about in the orange window,
    but it didn't appear to cause any problems.
    Image


    Step 5.
    This is a very important step.
    DO NOT click OK just yet (minimize the window into the taskbar after reading what it has to say)
    Image

    Open up two ROX-Filer windows.
    One at: /root (the top one in the image below)
    and the other at: /tmp/root
    Make sure Hidden files are being shown (in both windows)
    Position the windows similar to what is shown in the image below.

    Click the icon to select ALL files in the window at: /tmp/root
    Image

    Now right click on one of the files, and select Delete from the popup menu,
    in the window that appears, click on the Quiet button.
    This will delete everything in /tmp/root
    Image

    Now go to the window at: /root
    and click the icon to selct ALL files.
    Now left click (and keep the mouse button held down) on one of the files,
    then Drag 'n' Drop it into the other window at: /tmp/root.
    Select COPY from the popup menu that appears.

    When all of the files are finished being copied,
    go in to /tmp/root/my-documents
    and delete the locale files that you copied there in Step 1.
    There is no need for them in the remaster.

    Bring the remaster GUI back up out of the taskbar,
    and click OK
    Image


    Step 6.
    I did not want to add any customisations for my hardware,
    as i would like to use the new remastered ISO image on different computers.
    Image


    Step 7.
    This is another very important step.
    DO NOT click OK just yet (minimize the window into the taskbar after reading what it has to say)
    Image

    This particular step is rather more selective than what we did in Step 5

    Although i did not want to add any customisations for my hardware,
    there are a few things that i wish to copy over into the remaster.

    You may or may not have to copy things from /etc
    it all depends on what packages you installed.
    • One way to find out, is to take a look in: /root/.packages
      Let's say you installed a package called: cannot-live-without-it.pet
      then you would find a file called: cannot-live-without-it.files

      If you open that in a text-editor you will see all of the files that package installed (and where),
      so, if it did put something in /etc, you may need to copy it into the remaster
    So, once again
    Open up two ROX-Filer windows.
    One at: /etc
    and the other at: /tmp/etc
    Make sure Hidden files are being shown (in both windows)
    Position the windows so that both are visible (for Drag 'n' Dropping)

    These are the things i wanted copied over:
    /etc/ati
    /etc/network-wizard/wpa_modules
    /etc/X11/acer-ati_xorg.conf


    Image

    In the previous step, if i did not copy over /etc/network-wizard/wpa_modules
    i would get the following two dialog windows appear after clicking on the Wireless button in the Network Wizard when running from the new remastered ISO
    Image

    Image


    Step 8.
    Here you get the chance to edit the isolinux.cfg file,
    i chose to leave it as it was.
    Image


    Step 9.
    Here you get the chance to add or edit things before the ISO is created,
    again, i left things as they are and click OK
    Image


    Step 10.
    Here you can choose to burn the ISO directly to CD/DVD,
    or simply create the ISO image (i opted for the latter)
    Image


    Step 11.
    Your last chance to create the ISO.
    Note: Even if you choose to create the ISO (as i did) the files are still left in existence.
    Image


    Step 12.
    I simply left things as they were, and clicked OK
    Image


    Step 13.
    Here you see the ISO being created (it don't take long)
    Image


    Step 14.
    There you have it, job done.
    Image


    Step 15.
    Here you can see both the new ISO image,
    and the directory containing the files that make up the ISO
    Image
    • Wake Up Call
      Remember what we did in Step 1. :?:
      Go and copy them back to /usr/lib/locale
      BEFORE you shutdown or reboot whatever.
Here are a couple of screenshots taken in the new remaster running in RAM

In this one you can see the desktop background and icons are as i expected
and after overwriting the xorg.conf with my backed up one acer-ati_xorg.conf, the ATI Catalyst Control Center and the newer Seamonkey.
You may also notice that i have setup the wireless connection already.
Image

This one shows that the menu entries are still intact (ATI CCC)
Image

I hope this helps
CatDude
.
Last edited by CatDude on Sun 04 Mar 2018, 18:14, edited 3 times in total.
[img]http://www.smokey01.com/CatDude/.temp/sigs/acer-futile.gif[/img]

majorfoo
Posts: 448
Joined: Mon 07 Mar 2011, 22:27
Location: Wish I knew

#2 Post by majorfoo »

Excellent job Dude.

I hope this will help others as they remaster changes they have made to their puppies

Thanks for providing
majorfoo

nooby
Posts: 10369
Joined: Sun 29 Jun 2008, 19:05
Location: SwedenEurope

#3 Post by nooby »

Much appreciated.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

User avatar
Tman
Posts: 808
Joined: Sat 22 Jan 2011, 21:39
Location: Toronto

...

#4 Post by Tman »

CatDude,

That was an excellent tutorial which I am sure will be of great use for those wanting to know how to remaster. It took me quite a bit of head-banging when I was trying to learn to remaster on my own, some months back.

I haven't tried Wary 5.1.3 yet, but if it contains the remasterpup2 found in slightly older versions of Wary and Lucid Puppy, then I recommend users to try remasterpup3 which I find to be better. For instance; it automates some of the changes one needs to do when copying over files from /etc to /tmp/etc such as: /etc/windowmanager and /etc/desktop_icon_theme

I extracted remasterpup3 into the /usr/sbin folder and renamed it to "remasterpup2". This way, it can be called by Radky's PupControl Panel as well as be run from the Setup menu

Great work CatDude, and also thanks to pa_mcclamrock for -- remasterpup3 --

WillM
Posts: 173
Joined: Wed 30 Dec 2009, 04:42
Location: Oakland, California

#5 Post by WillM »

Thank you CatDude. With this tutorial I was able to do a remaster of Fatdog64-520. That is my first remaster ever.

User avatar
e_mattis
Posts: 114
Joined: Fri 21 Dec 2012, 02:24
Location: Williamston, SC
Contact:

Getting "No space left on device" error

#6 Post by e_mattis »

Hey all.

Just finished customizing a Precise 5.4.3 build an am trying to remaster it. I keep getting the"no space left on device" error message after it builds /tmp/root, i delete it's contents, and I try to copy /root to it. :(

I am using two HDD (sda1 and sdb1). Sdb1 has the customized frugal install. sda1 only has a previous Lupu on it and will have the PuppyLiveCD directory. Both are about 100GB in size. I have the personal storage set at 2GB. The entire build is only about 300 MB.

What am i missing? :? should I increase the personal storage again? :? is this some limitation in the remaster? :? is the remaster broken in this version? :x

I am now trying to do just a straight remaster - no changes at ALL during remaster to see if I get the same error message.

If someone could please advise me why this may be happening.

Thanks!

E

ICPUG
Posts: 1308
Joined: Mon 25 Jul 2005, 00:09
Location: UK

#7 Post by ICPUG »

Should it be mentioned in the 'Before we get started section' that the working area needs to be partition with a linux format (ext2, ...) NOT FAT or NTFS.

ICPUG
Posts: 1308
Joined: Mon 25 Jul 2005, 00:09
Location: UK

#8 Post by ICPUG »

Should it be mentioned in the 'Before we get started section' that the working area needs to be a partition with a linux format (ext2, ...) NOT FAT or NTFS.

User avatar
CatDude
Posts: 1563
Joined: Wed 03 Jan 2007, 17:49
Location: UK

#9 Post by CatDude »

Hi
ICPUG wrote:Should it be mentioned in the 'Before we get started section' that the working area needs to be a partition with a linux format (ext2, ...) NOT FAT or NTFS.
Done.

CatDude
.
[img]http://www.smokey01.com/CatDude/.temp/sigs/acer-futile.gif[/img]

User avatar
e_mattis
Posts: 114
Joined: Fri 21 Dec 2012, 02:24
Location: Williamston, SC
Contact:

#10 Post by e_mattis »

Just to clearify,

sbd1 has customized precise build frugal install; sda1 has previous frugal install of lucid puppy 5.2.8 and PuppyLiveCDBuild directory. Both are ext2 partitions.

So, what am I still missing? Any ideas?


As an update - the "no changes" attempt did create the liveCD, however, many things did not get carried over as they should. Statup directory missed a script to start the xampp mod, the jwmrc rewrote itself to the default original, pwidgets not only didn't run, but also re-wrote itself to default, and 1 of the ony 3 desktop icons I left writes itself to the top left corner rather than the bottom right (where the other two are).

Any suggestions appreciated.

thanks!

E

User avatar
greengeek
Posts: 5789
Joined: Tue 20 Jul 2010, 09:34
Location: Republic of Novo Zelande

#11 Post by greengeek »

I think when I had that problem I had to use my hard disk as the working area. Couldn't get it to work correctly to a usb stick. Long time ago though so my memory may be unreliable.

User avatar
e_mattis
Posts: 114
Joined: Fri 21 Dec 2012, 02:24
Location: Williamston, SC
Contact:

#12 Post by e_mattis »

Thanks greengeek,

I'm trying that now. It still is re-writing some files back to default regardless - especially when I do not copy over the /root, but other than that, so far so good?!?


Thanks!

E

AQUAR
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri 08 Feb 2013, 07:49

#13 Post by AQUAR »

Thanks for this detailed article.
Going to try a remastering and see how it goes.

musher0
Posts: 14629
Joined: Mon 05 Jan 2009, 00:54
Location: Gatineau (Qc), Canada

#14 Post by musher0 »

Very good and informative article. Thanks, CatDude.

musher0
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

ton
Posts: 59
Joined: Sat 01 Feb 2014, 15:23

#15 Post by ton »

I am remastering my puppy according to steps shown in
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=71349


Unfortunately, it fails at step 5 when copying files from /root ----> /tmp/root.
what should i do?
[img]puppyerror.jpg[/img][/img]
Attachments
puppyerror.JPG
error
(190.23 KiB) Downloaded 1057 times

User avatar
e_mattis
Posts: 114
Joined: Fri 21 Dec 2012, 02:24
Location: Williamston, SC
Contact:

#16 Post by e_mattis »

hey ton,

Have the same problem with one of my current projects. Basically, there's more in the /root you are copying than there is room for.

From what I understand, there's not enough room either in the personal storage space allotted, or on the HDD itself.

you would be surprised how much room it takes to remaster. The first thing I would do is reset the personal storage (open the menu > Utility>resize personal storage file) and set it high; may take a couple of times doing this if you have a large enough hard drive.

Now my question here is what size HDD do you have and is this a frugal instal? Is it the only install on the HDD? what puppy are you using?

If the personal storage file expansion doesn't work, you might want to clone the HDD to a larger one and then try again. you can do this in the console using the "dd" command.

Hope it helps!

E

User avatar
greengeek
Posts: 5789
Joined: Tue 20 Jul 2010, 09:34
Location: Republic of Novo Zelande

#17 Post by greengeek »

Another possibility is to do remastering manually in a "live" session (with no installation and no savefile) and fit a usb stick configured with Gparted as a "Linux swap" partition - this effectively increases the ram size and allows heaps more /root storage. Then just save the output .sfs on HDD or wherever you have room.

User avatar
rufwoof
Posts: 3690
Joined: Mon 24 Feb 2014, 17:47

#18 Post by rufwoof »

Another possibility is to do remastering manually in a "live" session (with no installation and no savefile)
As I run in LiveCD mode all of the time that's what I do, and just select ramdisk as the working directory. You do of course have to copy the puppylivecd directory or CD iso afterwards to a more permanent storage (HDD) otherwise its lost at reboot/shutdown.
Attachments
rm.png
(45.44 KiB) Downloaded 1091 times

ton
Posts: 59
Joined: Sat 01 Feb 2014, 15:23

#19 Post by ton »

Mattis and all,
I am using puppy precise.
Since it is frugal install, i believe i need save file which is limited to 2GB.
I can't increase more than that. (havent' tried though) but, people say that it will cause error if it is bigger than 2GB.


Or, do you suggest that if i use full install, there is no such issue? as it is not limited to 2GB? I install it to usb 32gb, yet it uses only 8GB.
Perhaps, i try with full install.
I think this is the limitation of frugal install.
If the error is caused by not enough space, then several re-mastering will solve the problem.

thanks

User avatar
nic007
Posts: 3408
Joined: Sun 13 Nov 2011, 12:31
Location: Cradle of Humankind

#20 Post by nic007 »

Deleted
Last edited by nic007 on Tue 13 May 2014, 00:39, edited 1 time in total.

Post Reply