impuwat wrote:I think a remaster script/save to iso for Base is an excellent idea. I mentioned this quite awhile back in a different thread and did not get much of a reaction. Base is for play and customization. Saving what you created fits hand and glove with that concept. And the simpler the process the better.

Bingo."Saving what you created" is exactly the obvious point that hadn't occurred to me until I started putting together my particular setup. Of course it can be true for any version of Mepis/antiX, but it seems part of the whole Base concept.

Warning: I think all efforts to remaster will currently fail.

I just posted about this on the Mepis boards
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If we are able to upgrade the kernel/initrd to squashfs-4.0 and if you start with antix-base and only want to add to the system then the resource requirements can drastically reduce.

The resources required are:

1) a lot of CPU (in other words, time), and
2) 500M or so of extra ram.

If you are running from a LiveCD then you need enough ram to hold the entire squashfs file in memory (about 500M but will vary depending on the what's in the system. Mepis is more, antix-base should be much less). If you are remastering from an installed system, the squashfs file can be stored on disk so you won't need the extra ram.

Wow. Thanks for the heads-up BitJam. I'll wait to see how this gets sorted out.

Meanwhile I'm sounding like a broken record: How is Puppy pulling this off when, as far as I know, it's almost never being remastered from an installed system?

Isn't Puppy built on a completely custom linux built from scratch (or something like that) and not built on any of the major distros? If so, perhaps their solution might not apply to a Debian based, but it's worth checking.

In terms of a low tech solution, how about either a list of apps you included, or even a script with a bunch of apt-get installs which, at the end, will result in the system you want? The last approach will take more downloading time, which I think was one of your concerns. However, assuming that you are distributing your newly created antix version to people who may not have such limitations (or who can just sit in a Starbucks and use their wi-fi), then it might not be such a problem.

At any rate, this is an interesting point that I hope we see resolved, one way or another.

Pedro

I think puppy is a slackware remaster.

john

Puppy is now slack compliant but I don't think it was built from slack.

Pedro,

Using apt-get scripts may become a solution. What I wanted was a disk I could use for desktop machines that don't have wireless (I get wireless for my laptop that I take to the library, which I can't do with my desktops). I'm still going to look into downloading and burning onto a series of disks the resource packages available for Mepis. But all this is way down the line. The first task is still to figure out how to do a basic remaster relatively quickly and easily.

Real happy about the base due to the size.
have an very old laptop thats only 3-4 GB - it fills very fast and its a waste to buy a bigger hard drive.
only add what is needed
unlike puppy you got all the debian packages to pick from---tons
ok- puppy can use .debs but it not as easy as an debian based distro

malanrich wrote:The first task is still to figure out how to do a basic remaster relatively quickly and easily.

I'm still working on backporting squashfs-4.0 to the (current) 2.6.27.1 kernel. One thing I know is that even if I can get it to work, it won't be a quick and easy solution. It would actually be easier to upgrade the kernel as explained by vampirefo
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By far the easiest thing to do is simply wait for the next antiX release which will have squashfs-4.0 built into the kernel. The problem we have now is because the userspace tools (mksquashfs unsquashfs) are version 4.0 but the kernel module is version 3.x. Once the kernel is upgraded, it should all be copasetic again.

IMO, if you don't want to wait, the next easiest thing to do is to somehow install version 3.x of the squashfs-tools package. I don't know how to do this under the Debian system but I'm guessing it should not be too hard. You might run into a small problem with remastering scripts that use the mksquashfs -noappend flag. Look through the script first and if you find this flag, just get rid of it. The older version of mksquashfs can't append so it doesn't have or need that flag.

HTH

Thanks for following up, BitJam. No real rush until the new kernel comes out. I'm still having a fine time learning how to get antiX-base set up the way I want. Lots of Wine configuring to do. By the time that gets sorted out, it will be time enough to grapple with remastering.

How about a section with a little walkthrough on how to use that script? How to start it? Does the script walk you through the peramiters such as what to do? Prompt you so to speak?

Additionally, I see a lot here about the script now working with the current squashfs, so how do we 'get' the older squashfs that it is compatible with? (squashfs tools?).

Also, it seems that everyone is asking for it, so it will probably end up in the antiX-base eventually. My coding skills being totally non-existant, how similar is the current 'tool' for remastering like the old one? It is a version of this old one that they are currently using in in PClinuxOS. It was originally a debian project or tool. One can still get the .deb from sourceforge.

I haven't really tried it because just like something was said here about needing an older squashfs for the tool included with antiX-base, it seems that the last time anyone did some development on that project with the .deb was almost 2yrs ago so there have been a lot of changes. I just wonder if it's even compatible anymore?

However, since development on it has stopped. Maybe it could be a good base for someone who knows scripts and coding to start with for a simple remaster tool.

I'm trying to make remasters also of Xfce, it's quite fine without GNOME riding under it, and Enlightenment. Possibly with both interfaces since I would like to make one for the students here.

I'll tune in, try to figure out what's going on with the remastering process. I can't afford to get too technical and someone did mention the very idea I had considered here...

Make a LiveUSB...

So following that path, I've got a 500gb portable USB HDD which I was planning to configure in such a way as to install and run from it... the wife's 10.1 having only 160gb of space and most of it is hers... :p

So if I just made a 'liveusb' how would I turn that remaster into an iso for Livecd?

using the script? Or is it another process?

Sorry, been using Linux for 2yrs almost, but still learning... too much I don't know.

Oh, well maybe we can work on that 'little section' after all the tools are in place... I don't suppose a Gui might be added too? Actually the one used in PClin is really simple. It's just prompt boxes that offer you some basic options and another is an option to exclude some files that you don't want to use...


Well, since I'm still fighting with my first remaster here for the kids, I can 'wait' for the next upgrade of kernel and tools and more direct instructions on how to use the remastering tool... or as someone here suggested how to make an .iso from the Liveusb...

Or since I'm mostly installing these on students laptops next to their winduds, just tell me how to copy my system to an iso that can be installed. It needn't be a livecd though the livecd is a bit more fun in that it can show what is there and they can see how they like it first...

just for fun i checked if remastering with live-helper would work. i did a fresh install (of antix 7), configured it, installed live-helper and ran:"lh_config --bootstrap copy --debian-installer live" with a follow up"lh_build". The result is an installable live-cd of my configured installation. As a test i ran the installation and it did work (though its the usual debian installer)
The advantage is that it didnt take much to think about: installing, configuring and running the two commands The disadvantage i know about is that it also installs a debian-kernel (besides the mepis one).
A similar (easy) method is remastersys (which is availiable for ubuntu and debian, so one might run into similar"problems")
I used anitx7, as it works better for me.

How exactly does remaster.sh in /usr/local/bin works?

You point it to the iso, it will ask you for the path. Then you can chroot into the file system and add/remove and customize.

You can also use your installed system but I'm not sure how that works.

In a terminal as root just:

eriefisher wrote:You point it to the iso, it will ask you for the path. Then you can chroot into the file system and add/remove and customize.

You can also use your installed system but I'm not sure how that works.

In a terminal as root just:

Code: Select all

remaster.sh

mh, BitJam gave a link above, and i had a short glance:

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i think i understand it, as i did a similar thing with a live-helper created iso.
(its a cool way too, but building the iso takes a while, then you boot it and find out you have forgotten this and that. and you gotta run the whole shebang once again. Building from an installation seems more"comfortable": configure it over a few days, the way you make use of your system, and then make your iso. Of course thats just me...allways confused...i need some time till all is fine)


Is remaster.sh compareable to that link ?
I guess the answer is simple: i have to give it a go to check __{{emoticon}}__ .
it might take some time/ a few days. I will simpy run"remaster.sh" as root and see what will happen. correct ?