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aquilarubra

- aquilarubra
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:07 am

## refracta snapshot won't boot - SOLVED

Fri Mar 04, 2016 6:26 pm

Hi,
I upgraded refracta tools on my debian after a couple of years they were working just fine. I have the latest release now. I created a snapshot, but it is not able to boot. I attach a screenshot.
It complains about tty not accessible, and then mount aufs on /root/ fails.
I upgraded the machine to jessie and the kernel also and I deleted the previous kernels. I noticed that refracta snapshot needs /vmlinuz and /initrd.img, but I did not have them. So I created symlinks:
ln -s /boot/vmlinuz-4.1.0-2-amd64 /vmlinuz
ln -s /boot/initrd.img-4.1.0-2-amd64 /initrd.img
I suspect squash does something wrong with the kernel, but I cannot figure it out.
Any clue?
Last edited by aquilarubra on Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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## Re: refracta snapshot won't boot

Sat Mar 05, 2016 1:43 am

The latest version, 9.3.2, does not work as expected. It was supposed to be for stretch/testing/ascii, but it only works with jessie. Is that the one you're using?
9.2.2 works with jessie and with testing. For testing/stretch/ascii, remove "union=aufs" from the boot command if it's there.
I'm not sure what happens if you have jessie with 4.x kernel. I can't see your screenshot, even after I allow javascript. Not sure what that's about.
The symlinks should have been created automatically if you used a stock debian or devuan kernel.
Edit: OK, I had to allow cookies, too. Use refractasnapshot-9.2.2 and allow it to patch /usr/share/initramfs-tools/init. If you grep for the word, nuke, in that file, it should return two lines. If not, it needs to be patched. Make sure (/)etc/refractasnapshot.conf has "yes" for patch init, or whatever I called it. It's at the end of the config file.
aquilarubra

- aquilarubra
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:07 am

## Re: refracta snapshot won't boot

Sat Mar 05, 2016 5:38 am

I actually have Jessie (upgraded from Wheezy). Just the kernel is updated and stock removed.
I tried removing "union=aufs" from the boot command but it still drops in initramfs.
I used refractasnapshot-9.2.2.
/usr/share/initramfs-tools/init is not patched and does not have the word, nuke.
I checked (/)etc/refractasnapshot.conf and it has "yes" for patch init.
I will try with different kernels and maybe put stock back.
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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## Re: refracta snapshot won't boot

Sat Mar 05, 2016 11:53 am

You have systemd installed? Are you using it, or are you using sysvinit? The patch in 9.2.x gets applied if you do not have systemd installed and util-linux is version 2.25 or later. Maybe try refractasnapshot-9.3.2
aquilarubra

- aquilarubra
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:07 am

## Re: refracta snapshot won't boot

Sat Mar 05, 2016 12:40 pm

I think I found the caveat. I got something bootable that pointed me to the right direction. I did required changes now and will run everything again. I will post about result.
As I found, when you purge unused kernels, the /vmlinuz and /initrd.img symlinks get deleted. You can create them again, but I found best just to reinstall current kernel package to get everything fixed properly. Why not add in refracta a check that, if there is only one kernel, automatically creates the symlinks if they are not there?
Then, I had a previous refractasnapshot installed. When you upgrade, (/)etc/refractasnapshot.conf does not get overwritten (it should... or at least ask). Thus, I was using my old refractasnapshot.conf and probably this was making the snapshot not bootable. In my latest test, I uninstalled refractasnapshot and then installed latest version. This created a fresh (/)etc/refractasnapshot.conf. This gave me the bootable thing.
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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## Re: refracta snapshot won't boot

Sat Mar 05, 2016 1:41 pm

Rather than automatically create the symlinks, I might check for them, and if they're not present, prompt the user to choose the kernel.
I'm surprised you weren't asked if you wanted to replace the config file. I have been asked that question when upgrading refractasnapshot. I haven't paid close attention to it to know if it's ever failed to do that for me.
aquilarubra

- aquilarubra
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:07 am

## Re: refracta snapshot won't boot

Sat Mar 05, 2016 6:00 pm

It says when it does not find the symlinks. However, then it takes the kernel name wrong and won't boot.
I used gdebi refractasnapshot... to install. It didn't ask to replace the config file at all.
Now I completed the snapshot and failure again, with same error.
My setup has a single 4.3.0 kernel. The previous test worked when I had the default kernel also. I suspect now that it is a kernel problem.
Now I will install the custom kernel, keeping also the 4.3.0 kernel, and see what happens. Will report.
aquilarubra

- aquilarubra
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:07 am

## Re: refracta snapshot won't boot

Sat Mar 05, 2016 6:32 pm

I found that it is a common issue with backport kernels. Only default kernel uses aufs. Later kernels use overlayfs.
Here there is a solution:
https://www.mail-archive.com/debian-liv ... 15390.html
Basically it says to install sid version of live-boot and live-boot-initramfs-tools, but they just updated the live CD with those.
I didn't try, but I wonder how that could be implemented in refractasnapshot.
fsmithred

- fsmithred
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## Re: refracta snapshot won't boot

Sat Mar 05, 2016 7:10 pm

Just did some testing. With dpkg or gdebi, if the config file has not been altered, it gets replaced without asking. If the file was edited, you get asked if you want to replace it or not.
I think you would need to install the newer live-* packages before making the snapshot. The solution in the post you linked is for building an image with live-build, which installs packages in a chroot environment to build the live image.
Oh, there might be a way to that with a snapshot iso after it's been created. You'd need to unpack the iso, unpack the squashfs, go into chroot and install what you need, then re-squash and repack the iso. If you've got refracta8-xfce-beta, look at /usr/local/bin/xtras/remaster-snapshot_2.3. It's a script that dzz wrote for making changes to an existing snapshot.iso. Also read the readme in that same directory. (experimental, use at your own risk, be careful, etc.)
There have been a few posts about the newer live-* packages in the past few months. Search this forum for overlay or union=overlay.
aquilarubra

- aquilarubra
- Posts: 39
- Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:07 am

## Re: refracta snapshot won't boot

Sun Mar 06, 2016 2:11 am

That's strange about gdebi. I can assure it didn't ask me.
I installed live-* from sid and run all over. Again, the new snapshot drops into initramfs. No success.
N.B.: I found these notes that are still not working for me:
http://clonezilla.org/downloads/stable/ ... -notes.php
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