Stuff that has not yet gone into the official build.
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nadir

- nadir
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## Re: (experimental) Alternative usb installation method

Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:59 pm

I understand.
I used this version:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/refracta/test ... b02.tar.gz
The rest i have to check later (it is late, i am tired, ...). Perhaps tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
But wouldn't it be possible to simply del everything already there? I mean: should it really matter what has there been before?
fsmithred

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## Re: (experimental) Alternative usb installation method

Tue Mar 26, 2013 1:19 am

The latest version is still on my hard drive. The one you used (refracta2usb02 tarball) does copy a syslinux folder in place of the isolinux folder in the iso.
Alright, here, it's not just on my hard drive now. This one copies the isolinux folder and renames files instead of copying a refracta syslinux directory. It does still copy /live/hooks onto the usb stick.
https://gist.github.com/fsmithred/5242259
It's still in the middle of being edited, so there's some old dead code and some new dead (not yet activated) code, and it's slightly reorganized. Just drop it into the existing refracta2usb directory to replace the previous version.
If you use it to replace the /live folder on a usb stick that already has a live system on it, beware of a couple of pre-set variables in the script. 239, 244, and 248. It's set to save an existing /live/hooks or /live/boot folder rather than copy the packaged versions. The /live/boot folder is only relevant if your usb stick uses grub, such as the usb image for refracta-606.
fsmithred

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## Re: (experimental) Alternative usb installation method

Tue Mar 26, 2013 1:24 am

Delete the stuff you can see, or delete the stuff that you can't see? You might need to do some voodoo for the latter.
nadir

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## Re: (experimental) Alternative usb installation method

Tue Mar 26, 2013 2:56 am

delete everything there and put the iso on the stick.
Here is the actual output of /media/sdc1/syslinux,
put on the SD-card via unetbooting,
iso is crunchbang:

Code:
  `user$ ls /media/sdc1/syslinux
  exithelp.cfg f1.txt f3.txt f5.txt f7.txt f9.txt live.cfg prompt.cfg stdmenu.cfg vesamenu.c32
  f10.txt f2.txt f4.txt f6.txt f8.txt ldlinux.sys menu.cfg splash.png syslinux.bin
  `

Now let me try to use the new script and put the refracta iso on the card.
Reboot, and post more.
After running refracta2usb i got this:

Code:
  `user$ ls /media/sdc1/syslinux
  boot.cat f1.txt f3.txt f5.txt f7.txt f9.txt isolinux.bin menu.cfg splash.png syslinux.cfg
  exithelp.cfg f2.txt f4.txt f6.txt f8.txt install.cfg live.cfg prompt.cfg stdmenu.cfg vesamenu.c32
  `

====
And that worked.
Now let me try it the other way around again.
dzz

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## Re: (experimental) Alternative usb installation method

Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:16 am

> You might need to do some voodoo

Many mystical things go on here but we don't do voodoo. An example of what can be done:
I was given a laptop with a knackered mainboard. The 320 gig HD was good and I got already a £5 usb caddy
Repartitioned one fat32, one ext4. Refracta snapshot "live" installed with full LUKS persistence to part1 with syslinux bootloader.
The FAT part is large enough to contain other live images in a multiboot setup with space left for data transfer (music and vids) with lesser OS's
It actually boots and runs faster on my old Lenovo than the installed squeeze.. and can boot different machines. It fits in the laptop bag. We wont be dd'ing an isohybrid to that one nor will "ubkernel" be it's master!
On-topic a bit more: Some Debian "deviants" use modified (or very different) "live-boot" mechanisms but whatever is in /isolinux is mostly syslinux compatible by just changing text strings (and directory/file names) from "isolinux" to "syslinux"
EDIT the interesting bit is what is in crunchbang's live.cfg
nadir

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## Re: (experimental) Alternative usb installation method

Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:28 am

After running the script again, this time choosing crunchbang.iso

Code:
  `user$ ls /media/sdc1/syslinux
  boot.cat install.cfg isolinux.bin live.cfg menu.cfg splash.png stdmenu.cfg syslinux.cfg vesamenu.c32
  `

I will reboot, but ain't got much hope.
live.cfg

Code:
  `label live-686
  menu label Live Session
  menu default
  kernel /live/vmlinuz
  append initrd=/live/initrd.img boot=live config quiet
  `

dzz

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## Re: (experimental) Alternative usb installation method

Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:32 am

Crunchbang needs

Code:
  `config`

refracta (and refractasnapshot) does not. In cmdline.. because in refracta, "live-user" is already configured therefore "config=whatever, and_more" is for selected use only, e.g. setting live locale and keyboard.. "config" on it's own runs all live scripts including user-setup
Last edited by dzz on Tue Mar 26, 2013 4:03 am, edited 5 times in total.
nadir

- nadir
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## Re: (experimental) Alternative usb installation method

Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:33 am

That says nothing to me.
And my problem is not crunchbang. My problem is to put an iso on a stick as easy as possible. Any iso.
dzz

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## Re: (experimental) Alternative usb installation method

Tue Mar 26, 2013 4:23 am

This is somewhat out of date (syslinux has evolved since) but for anyone who doubts the validity if this method in a Debian environment:
http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i ... y-flexible
fsmithred

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## Re: (experimental) Alternative usb installation method

Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:49 pm

New version of refracta2usb. I organized the code a bit, and I think it's pretty smooth. I squashed a lot of bugs, but there may be more. This one will detect your text editor if you choose to edit the boot menu. I've tested it with geany, leafpad and mousepad. It should also work with gedit or kwrite. Others can be hard-coded in the script.
http://distro.ibiblio.org/refracta/test ... b06.tar.gz

Code:
  `1. Create a live-USB using files taken from a live-CD .iso file.
  This is the normal mode. The program asks you which iso file and usb
  stick you'd like to use, mounts both the iso and the usb, copies
  files from the iso to the usb, copies syslinux files and custom
  hooks from its own library to the usb device, and makes the usb
  bootable with syslinux.
  2. Create a live-USB using files taken from a running live session.
  You can do this if you don't want to install Refracta to hard drive.
  Files are copied from the running system. (/lib/live/mount/medium)
  Burn the iso to a CD and boot into the live system. Then follow this
  guide.
  3. Update a previously prepared usb stick with a newer (or older)
  image, without reformatting the stick. Lets you choose the iso file
  and usb device, copies files as in #1 above, but does not reinstall
  the bootloader. If the stick already contains a /live/hooks
  folder, hooks are preserved and not replaced with the ones from the
  program's library. This option will also work with a device that
  uses GRUB to boot - it will preserve the existing /live/boot/grub
  folder.
  4. Run the partition editor (gparted or cfdisk) on the selected
  usb device.
  5. Edit the boot menu and add an entry to boot with Refracta
  custom hooks. Use this if you plan to create an encrypted,
  persistent /home. Run this after you've used one of the "Create"
  options. You must have a linux partition ready for this,
  and the script will add the menu entry with the uuid of the physical
  partition. This will allow you to use the new boot entry without
  having to manually add the device name to the boot line at every
  boot.
  Note that this will not create the encrypted /home partition. You
  need to boot into the live system and run musbcrypt. (see below)
  Note also that this method is separate and distinct from standard
  debian-live persistence, which at this time in Debian Wheezy does
  not handle encrypted partitions. This is a hack to get around that
  limitation. If you want standard debian-live persistence, see the
  section on persistence below.`

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