Light-Debian-Core-Live-CD-Wheezy + Porteus-Wheezy

[sunburnt]

Hybrid iso means multi. file systems, different O.S.s and also media types ( data + audio ).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_CD

The code posted for mnt.img is after a "exit" so it`s not run anyway.
Looking at mnt-img I see that blkid does not seem to id Squash files.
# I`ll fix it and post it.

# Toni; Some of the file types are not added to Rox.? Test tar.gz-bz2-xz, iso, etc.

# William brings up all the important points, very good.
For both ext3 and ext4 the journal is a problem for flash devices of all types.
ext2 can simply be used in place of ext3 and that fixes that problem.

gParted and Parted have no ability to custom format a partition.
It assumes if you`re using ext3 and ext4, then you must want them for the journal.

The main speed-up item as I see it is the partition alignment starting at 8MB.
Having a properly formatted ext4 partition is a further improvement.
But even fat and ext2-4 partitions will be faster access with the 8MB alignment.

# The installer is a critical "first use utility" for DebianDog. It will say a lot about us.

Options for other partition formats is good and make live-rw or not.
But this complicates the install for non-expert users.
# Maybe a tab panel, the first tab is simple install options, the second is expert.?

Doing an image install only complicates it, how to align to existing partitions.?
A single partition from an image is easy, but it makes for iso & image downloads.
Better to just have iso and live o.s. installs to keep it simple all the way around.

The vmlinuz button does install from /live of course. GtkDialog is rather limited.
An EntryBox is needed to select a iso "file" and another EntryBox for a /live "dir.".
I just did not want to have to use 2 EntryBoxes when only 1 is needed for the job.
So if you select an iso file or a vmlinuz file, then they are both files ( Really sad ).
# I can fix this with my stdDlgs utility. File: open, save, Dir.: open, new, & MsgDlg.

Having the installer(s) posted along with the DebianDog release is very good.
If we want an installer fast, let`s make a simple installer, and an expert one later.
And finding one for Windows would be good also. Post a link to it in downloads.

### Thoughts about this.?
.

[anikin]

at least for me the problem is in this first empty 8Mb partition that debdog-install creates. Flash drive does not boot if this 8Mb partition is there.

8MB should be unallocated space, not a partition, see the pic below.

The installer is a critical "first use utility" for DebianDog. It will say a lot about us.

I will have the temerity to ask you guys consider extlinux instead of grub/4dos.

[fredx181]

Hi all
It's hard to follow everything lately, hybrid iso, img install.....
All I can say I've been struggling with gtkdialog for the installer to include some of the suggestions and made some corrections.
Terry, I'm beginning to understand now what you said about gtkdialog.
It's not possible to get a file selection browsing for only directories, am I right?
I wanted to replace the 'vmlinuz File' button with 'select folder' which should be better I think.

Added a checkbox for disable journal on ext4 (if checked it will be done just before copying the files, uses tune2fs, no reformatting)
Check it in terminal for e.g. sdb1:

Code: Select all

dumpe2fs /dev/sdb1 | grep "Filesystem features"

If there's no 'has_journal' in that list it's not journaling.

Also changed the messages to using Xdialog instead of xmessage.

As I said I'm crap with gtkdialog so I'll keep my hands off it from now on.
Hopefully someone with better skills can improve it.
Attached new debdog-inst-mod2.zip

EDIT: Forgot to mention I also changed a line in "drive-info".
Before somehow it showed wrongly 'ext2' for a "no-journal" ext4 filesystem.

Fred

[saintless]

Thank you, Fred!

It's hard to follow everything lately, hybrid iso, img install.....

Don't follow all ideas. They will most probably stay just ideas.

Toni

[saintless]

at least for me the problem is in this first empty 8Mb partition that debdog-install creates. Flash drive does not boot if this 8Mb partition is there.

8MB should be unallocated space, not a partition, see the pic below..

Yes, you are right.
But this does not change the fact the flash drive stays unbootable for my hardware if 8Mb unalocated space is there.

Toni

[saintless]

Hi, Terry.

# Toni; Some of the file types are not added to Rox.? Test tar.gz-bz2-xz, iso, etc.

See the picture with created archives with arcdrop. All have icon and run-action. Iso files really does not. I will fix it.

DebianDog has many other things missing like theme changing for JWM for example and GUI for clock setup.
Debdog-installer should do all like puppy one or only simple install on usb-stic. Even extra options for different formating are not needed since Gparted is included.

Terry and All - do not expect too much for DebianDog. It does not aim to replace puppy or windows. lets keep work on it mostly for our fun and for our needs.

Toni

[sunburnt]

Fred; Rather than have a check box, just look at drive-info for fix/rem and set it automatically.

# And yes, how sad GtkDialog truely is... I was going to suggest doing it in BaCon.???
As I said above... A dir. entry box is needed to show a dir., I did not want 2 entry boxes.
So a file must be selected, not a folder. So I chose a file to click on. I`ll fix all of this...

I wanted to replace the 'vmlinuz File' button with 'select folder' which should be better I think.

# What change did you make to drive-info to fix the ext2 to ext4 ?


##### Shall we make a simple installer for iso/live to fat/ext2-4 formatted HD/USB ?

##### And has anyone found a good Win. installer.?

Toni; here`s the complete apps that I`ve made ( no debdog-install yet ).
So you can post them at Smokey`s. Each has it`s own dir.

# Also in opt_bin is new mnt-img and ls-part files. Toni; Don`t post these 2 files.

### mnt-img I made mount, and then unmounts when run again. # Is this preferred.?
Sadly Rox throws an error on startup, but it closes the Rox-Filer just fine ( odd...).

### Run: mnt-img -h to see the help, it runs Xfe by default. Rox is my choice but it errors.

[fredx181]

Fred; Rather than have a check box, just look at drive-info for fix/rem and set it automatically.

The checkbox is for disable journal on ext4 and I see nothing about that in drive-info.

# What change did you make to drive-info to fix the ext2 to ext4 ?

It's 'disktype' info that has it wrong, I changed:

Code: Select all

TYPE=`echo "$info" |egrep -iom1 '(ext[2-4]|fat|ntfs|swap)'`

to:

Code: Select all

TYPE=`blkid -o list "/dev/$PART" |egrep -iom1 '(ext[2-4]|fat|ntfs)'`

Fred

[saintless]

Uploaded here, Terry:
http://smokey01.com/saintless/source-code/
You have one older Wallpapers.GUI archive there also. If you like to delete it just say.

Toni

[sunburnt]

Fred; As I suggested, look for "rem" and if it`s in the line, then disable the journal.
I suggest it because most folks won`t know when to do it or not. Too much to explain to them.

And it`s odd, because blkid shows ext2 for me on my ext4 USB drive. I must look at this...


Toni; Delete it...
.

[saintless]

### mnt-img I made mount, and then unmounts when run again. # Is this preferred.?
Sadly Rox throws an error on startup, but it closes the Rox-Filer just fine ( odd...).

Yes, but the new version does not unmount on second click. It just opens again new window.

### Run: mnt-img -h to see the help, it runs Xfe by default. Rox is my choice but it errors.

It errors in terminal in this command which is missing in the previous mnt-img. I think commnting line 29 fixes this.

Code: Select all

loop=`losetup-FULL -j "$PF" |cut -d: -f1`         

Code: Select all

/opt/bin/mnt-img: line 29: losetup-FULL: command not found
iso9660

Terry, the previous mnt-img works so do not waste time to work on this.

Toni

[mcewanw]

It's not possible to get a file selection browsing for only directories, am I right?
I wanted to replace the 'vmlinuz File' button with 'select folder' which should be better I think.

No problem in gtkdialog to browse only for a directory if I understand you correctly Fred. This is from /opt/apps/xhippo/usr/bin/xrecord:

Code: Select all

     <entry editable="true" accept="directory" tooltip-text="$(gettext 'Browse, drag and drop, copy and paste, or type the target directory for the file to record')">

As far as I remember it is the accept="directory" part that does it. You won't need the backslashes above if you are using single quotes round your gtkdialog code of course.

I was going to suggest tune2fs for the turn off journal issue, but I see you have done that. Would be good if a user didn't have to think about it, so if that could be done automatically, as Terry suggests; I agree with Terry that that would be good. Otherwise, for now, I suggest that Toni just uses your modded version of Terry's debiandog installer script (once tested), if Terry is okay with that, and just prioritize getting the beta iso ready. No need for either a simpler or more complicated installer at the moment - these can be created/added to the iso later, if they prove wanted.

Whilst helping to create DebianDog is fun, I don't think it is just for fun. I'm planning to use DebianDog as my main os. Puppy Linux is a great wee system, but for some of my needs I need a multiuser os, and debiandog is shaping up nicely for that. Of course it will take a long time before it has as many nice utilities as Puppy Linux, and no hurry for that, but it has other advantages with few disadvantages.

The debiandog installer is an important facility to have, so despite it being a bit frustrating that it is delaying the beta iso being published, it won't take long to finish something suitable I think, and a small delay is IMO worth it.

Terry has been working on many utilities and over time I'm sure they will all be enhanced, but they are all pretty much ready for the beta release as things stand and best we do that soon. So I agree that most new ideas/enhancements or whatever should be left for later (after beta release), when they will naturally occur anyway. Aside from (and including) debiandog install, bug fixing only is in order I think. Utilities for adding extra JWM themes and so on are not very important.

I just put out the idea of using hybrid-iso (which is not the same thing as a hybrid-cd Terry) because I noted that many live distributions, including arch and debian seemed to provide that mechanism. But whether we ever provide (or even want to provide) such a utility is not of concern - what Terry/Fred have put together just now is looking great and good enough without putting more time into it apart from any bug fixing.

So, like Toni, my wish would be to lets call a halt to further developments per se and just fix any identified bugs and get the beta iso out as quick as possible. Then, once the beta is released (and along with it to some extent) we should concentrate a bit on the documentation so it is easy to install, understand the system, and use it. Documentation is, I think, what new users will need most and there is much contained in this huge thread now.

[sunburnt]

# Here`s new drive-info and mnt-img
Changed drive-info to blkid from disktype for file system type.
disktype is still needed to get drive sizes.
Better parsing method for file system type and for drive label.

# mnt-img only pops up Xfe or Rox with a cli switch [-rox,-xfe]
I don`t know what Rox`s error problem is, best not to use it...

[sunburnt]

Fred; As William and I were saying. The file/dir. buttons work in pairs with file/dir. entry boxes.
# If you wish to continue work on the installer, that`s fine. We need to merge our efforts.
I wondered if the installer was "holding up the show". Should have started on it earlier.
# Here`s the relevant dir. button/entry pair:

Code: Select all

  <frame Directory>
    <hbox>
      <entry accept="directory">
        <label>Select a Directory</label>
        <variable>FILE_DIRECTORY</variable>
      </entry>
      <button>
        <input file stock="gtk-open"></input>
        <variable>FILE_BROWSE_DIRECTORY</variable>
        <action type="fileselect">FILE_DIRECTORY</action>
      </button>
    </hbox>
  </frame>

[catsezmoo]

Gparted - does anyone know how to ensure no ext4 journal created under Gparted - have I just missed some checkbox?

gParted and Parted have no ability to custom format a partition.
It assumes if you`re using ext3 and ext4, then you must want them for the journal.

journaling is supported (or not) by a given filesystem. Whether or not journaling is performed depends on args passed (or not) in the mount command line.
Gparted does not, and should not, know/care whether we intend to mount using custom args.

Having the installer(s) posted along with the DebianDog release is very good.
If we want an installer fast, let`s make a simple installer, and an expert one later.
And finding one for Windows would be good also. Post a link to it in downloads.

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ (both windows and linux versions are available)
Unetbootin has performed flawlessly for me across several years, creating bootable pendrive from dozens of various distros.
Its online docs seem "too thorough" IMO. The workflow within a Windows session is simple:

1) Download *.iso for whatever live linux distro you want to try
2) connect a FAT32-formatted pendrive
3) launch Unetbootin, select pendrive as destination, click "browse" and select the *.iso, and click OK
4) Upon completion, Unetbootin prompts exit/Reboot.
Exit, and shutdown windows now/later whenever ya like.
If bios boot order is set to give preference to USB boot drive, boot with the pendrive plugged in whenever ya want to boot to the new O/S.

Note that I don't think you need the isolinux folder if you are using grub4dos.

Personally, I think it is good to include several menu.lst entries, including those with persistent item in them, though I understand the problem with that, which Toni is pointing out. Perhaps you could generate an active menu.lst that didn't include the persistence item and a fuller menu.lst which included the persistent and various other options, but renamed slightly so it won't be used by default. Then the user could quickly activate that simply be replacing the default menu.lst provided on the usb installation.

unetbootin ships with an internal copy of syslinux(exelinux+isolinux), so that it can apply a "make it bootable" wrapper (creating menu.lst, menu.cfg).
If the iso already contains a newer syslinux, unetbootin will extract and use the provided menu.cfg etc.

[saintless]

I wondered if the installer was "holding up the show". Should have started on it earlier.

Take your time, Terry. It is not the installer problem.
Proper testing of the system is what stopping the beta iso.
I do not plan to make beta iso in the next 4-5 days with sure.

Toni

[saintless]

Unetbootin has performed flawlessly for me across several years, creating bootable pendrive from dozens of various distros.

Yes, it is great program and works fine. I agree.
The problem to use it in DebianDog is the size:

Unetbootin works fine for me and it has also options for download and install different linux systems on flash drive.
The only problem it has many dependencies. I can make 14Mb squashfs separate module. I can try to slim it down but it is too big to be included in DebianDog. On the other hand it can be downloaded from the site after first boot and used to create bootable flashdrive from the iso.
Some instructions for Unetbootin:
http://foxyroxylinux.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=133

Toni

[saintless]

Hi, William.

Documentation is, I think, what new users will need most and there is much contained in this huge thread now.

Debian documentation is DebianDog documentation also.
I see only boot process and codes for debian and porteus as needed to be available from DebianDog site + some documentation about changing different kernel modules and initrd files.

DebianDog can be easy remastered for any need and I see the next versions changes only by adding more user friendly desktop and system setup options. We can upload separate deb packages, NoInstallApps and SFS modules to be available for further remaster by the user.

About DebianDog project - the most important thing to keep it alive is not to loose our desire to work on it. Pushing yourself too much is not the right way to do it.
I suggest everyone work when he feels like and on what he feels like best and ask for help when it is needed. It worked to the moment and rushing for new beta iso should not change this. Beta will come out in a month or more if it is needed.
The important thing is we feel comfortable and working without pressure on DebianDog.

Toni

[mcewanw]

Debian documentation is DebianDog documentation also.
I see only boot process and codes for debian and porteus as needed to be available from DebianDog site + some documentation about changing different kernel modules and initrd files.

I was only meaning documentation for utilities added specially for DebianDog, such as the Remastering tool, which sounds fantastic, but I've never tried it yet. Maybe next to no documentation is required and all the DebianDog specific addons are self-explanatory. Just a list maybe to tell users these addons are there - though I guess they can find them from the menu.

I suggest everyone work when he feels like and on what he feels like best and ask for help when it is needed.

Well, its an opensource effort and everyone is just volunteers. Anything I've ever developed is done from the point of view that I don't mind if no one else likes it or wants to use it. I certainly listen to the ideas of others and appreciate criticisms and ideas for improvements, but at the end of the day I only implement what I want or feel time and energy to do.

DebianDog is already very good and pretty much at beta stage, I feel, and I'm sure other people would enjoy trying it out. A beta is basically just a signal that its ready for testing for bugs rather than major development still going on. But it is your project Toni and it doesn't matter at all when you choose to release a beta and start a thread about it. We are only here working on this because we enjoy doing so and hope that our efforts and help are useful to someone else other than ourselves in some way (but it doesn't really matter if they are not)! It is fun and a learning experience regardless. Off to bed now for me anyway!

William

[sklimkin]

Hi All !

I will allow myself a bit offtopic in this thread.
Because the question of transferring Debian-Dog on ARM-platform came here a few pages earlier.

In recent (~15) years, there are many mobile devices in which the main processor is not Itel-32, but ARM.
Such devices are running OS Windows-CE (Mobile) (previously), Android and MacOS (later).
And very few devices running OS Linux (eg Nokia - OpenMoko).
On the Internet you can find interest to be installed on various mobile devices OS Linux (especially Debian GNU/Linux).
For this there are several reasons, the most important are:
a) an open system
b) free access to a huge repository
Here's what we can say about installing OS Debian on devices with no-Intel32 architecture, with ARM-architecture in particular.

0. foreword
Debian-embedded has a large repository and adapted the usual program.
qemu is probably the only available emulator for ARM- architecture.
Online information on this issue and scattered mainly in the English language.
Remembered that author's description of the process after "extensive training"
often unconvincing when viewed from the side (when viewed from a beginner).
Try to describe the process intelligibly (as 'll be able to).
Here, the operation for HP iPAQ hx4700 because did for him.
But I think a lot will be true for other devices (architectures).

Virtual machine (emulator) qemu must be installed on your system:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install qemu

- In Ubuntu it was some old version,
so download the source qemu-1.7.0 and installed qemu again.

Especially noteworthy - from the following description it will be seen that:
System Debian-wheezy-armel created from scratch, without any finished modules.
Used only qemu-debootstrap, chroot and compile the kernel from source.
After compilation of the kernel source are zImage and /lib/modules
It is a working system that can also convert to qcow2-image for qemu.
But there are two conditions:
1. the file '.config' to compile the kernel must be CORRECT,
2. kernel must contain the patches you everything you need.
Otherwise there will be outside of /lib/modules
So file '.config' becomes more critical to the success of the work.

Detailed guidance for ARM- HP iPAQ hx4700 PDA in English:
http://fds-team.de/cms/articles/2012-12 ... image.html
with illustrations and the necessary references (5 pages on the site, plus archive modules).
And unlike the official Debian-armel uses a "light" modules.

Further description of the process and the practical results see:
Debian-wheezy-ARM - shared DIR
http://yadi.sk/d/Xod-pYvRLZypG

make-your-own-not-Intel32-debian-system_ENG.txt Size: 16 KB
http://yadi.sk/d/KGtr4-LrLsvmJ

Sergey.