Refracta Development, Scripts, etc.
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AlexRey

- AlexRey
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## Re: refractasnapshot with uefi support

Thu Jan 12, 2017 12:28 pm

BAH!
From what i understand dmsquash is part of the Fedora live setup.
Thanks for looking.
scythargon

- scythargon
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## Re: refractasnapshot with uefi support

Thu Jan 12, 2017 3:17 pm

Thanks! But I don't need a usb stick, I need a bootable iso image. Should I make a usb stick first anyway? Like mount real usb stick to virtualbox?
golinux

- golinux
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## Re: refractasnapshot with uefi support

Thu Jan 12, 2017 4:21 pm

> scythargon wrote:Thanks! But I don't need a usb stick, I need a bootable iso image. Should I make a usb stick first anyway? Like mount real usb stick to virtualbox?

You should be able to install the .iso image directly in VB.
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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- Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:13 pm

## Re: refractasnapshot with uefi support

Thu Jan 12, 2017 11:39 pm

I thought you wanted to boot your 32-bit iso on your uefi hardware. As I said before, you can't do that directly. The files needed for booting uefi are in the 64-bit refracta iso. I know of two ways to get them in a place where the 32-bit iso can use them. One is to unpack both isos, copy the /boot and /efi directories into the 32-bit tree, and then make a new iso. The other way is to make a bootable usb with the 64-bit iso and then add the second iso. The second way is easier.
If I'm wrong about what you want to do, please clarify.
scythargon

- scythargon
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## Re: refractasnapshot with uefi support

Thu Jan 19, 2017 1:23 am

Okay, screw this, I can't mount virtual usb drive to VB, I'll just make a separate 64 bit uefi-compatible image.
Just installed Debian 8 Jessie 64 bit in uefi mode in VB, refractainstaller and refractasnapshot to it, made an iso image, booted from it in another 64 bit VB machine with uefi enabled, successfully, but refractainstaller fails to do grub-install:
"Installing for x86_64-efi platform.
grub-install: error: cannot find EFI directory"
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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## Re: refractasnapshot with uefi support

Thu Jan 19, 2017 2:42 am

What is it you really want to accomplish. A couple of posts ago, you were trying to make a 32-bit uefi capable usb, and now you're trying to install a 64-bit snapshot. UEFI install is only partially supported at this time, and you need a different install script.
This one -
http://distro.ibiblio.org/refracta/file ... aller-uefi
And instructions -
http://distro.ibiblio.org/refracta/file ... all.readme
And you'll need to include two packages in the iso so they are available to install with dpkg during the installation - grub-efi-amd64 and grub-efi-amd64-bin.
scythargon

- scythargon
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## Re: refractasnapshot with uefi support

Thu Jan 19, 2017 4:17 am

Thanks a lot, I'll try it soon.
What my big goal is - make my own debian distro which can be installed both on very old PC's (32 bit BIOS) and modern ones with UEFI, I've customized a 32-bit setup in VB, made a bios-bootable iso, and suddenly got into huge trouble making one for uefi.
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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## Re: refractasnapshot with uefi support

Thu Jan 19, 2017 12:42 pm

The installer installs a system that's already configured. If you want a system that can be installed on either uefi or bios, you need to have a way to make the right grub packages available. There are a few ways to do that - you can have the efi versions installed and include the non-efi versions (grub-pc and grub-pc-bin), or you can have the reverse of that, or you can require a network connection, update the package cache and install the right version.
For the refracta8 isos, I did the following:
- Installed grub-efi-amd64 and grub-efi-amd64-bin. This will bring in efibootmgr and a couple of libraries that won't be removed in the next step.
- Installed grub-pc and grub-pc-bin. This will remove grub-efi-amd64, but it won't remove grub-efi-amd64-bin. That's ok. Do not run 'apt-get autoremove'.
- Downloaded the .deb files for grub-efi-amd64 and grub-efi-amd64-bin and put them in / (root of the filesystem) for easy access during installation.
- Made a snapshot: you need to use the force_efi option, otherwise refractasnapshot will complain about the missing grub-efi packages. (It might complain anyway, but you can ignore it.) You will also need to edit a test in refractasnapshot-gui at line 144 or refractasnapshot at line 108 to change grub-efi-amd64 to grub-efi-ia32.
- Include refractainstaller-uefi in the iso.
When you install on uefi, the installer will allow you to pause in the middle and enter a chroot where you can install the grub-efi debs. This will create your bootloader. If this is the first installation on that computer, you will need to create your own efi partition. If this OS is being installed along with an existing OS, installing the grub debs will cause the new installation to control the boot. If you don't want that, then don't install the grub debs and edit your existing boot menu to find the new installation.
scythargon

- scythargon
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## Re: refractasnapshot with uefi support

Thu Jan 19, 2017 10:28 pm

Semi-manual efi installation instructions from http://distro.ibiblio.org/refracta/file ... all.readme will be super hard to follow for people without much IT background for which my distro is exactly intended:(
In case there is already a windows/macOS (am I right that in both this OS cases I still need to install new linux'es grub?) installed on PC in efi mode and user wants to install my debian alongside it - there is no way we can automate this?
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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- Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 9:13 pm

## Re: refractasnapshot with uefi support

Fri Jan 20, 2017 3:20 am

Installing linux alongside windows (or alongside linux) in uefi is not a job for the inexperienced. I get nervous every time I do it, because it has screwed up my boot more than once. Add to that the lack of adherance to uefi standards and the possibility of bricking some motherboards by deleting files, and I'm in no hurry to automate any of this. Eventually, either grub-install or dpkg -i grub-efi-blah will happen without actually typing those commands. Without looking to check, I think it would be an easy edit.
If you do use the installer to install linux alongside windows on uefi and tell me how it went, you will be the first to report such an experiment. Yes, you can let grub take over the boot, and it should work. That's what I've heard, anyway. You can also install linux without grub and add linux to the windows boot menu by using bcdedit in windows.
And then some laptops have their idiosyncracies -
https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=15
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