Live USB - No Persistence options available in Grub Menu

cuscotravelservices · posted: 2015-09-29 16:42

Hi Folks,

I tried antiX 15 64bit for the first time last night.

With the default (First) option available, from the Grub menu, the display was set to 1024 x 768 and I couldn't find a quick way to be able to change that.

I rebooted to try the Custom (2nd) option, from the Grub menu, but the Laptop (Lenovo B590) screen went blank and eventually I had to hard reset (hold the power button) to turn it off.

What diagnostics from the Default session will help to solve these problems?

Thanks, Michael.

dolphin_oracle · posted: 2015-09-29 17:20

run inxi -F so we can see the video driver info.

also the output of xrandr would be good as well.

check in control center>session>set resolution to see if you can change your resolution there.

also, from the title of your post, I assumed you were looking for the persistence options, which are now in the F5 menu.

cuscotravelservices · posted: 2015-09-29 17:28

dolphin_oracle wrote:also, from the title of your post, I assumed you were looking for the persistence options, which are now in the F5 menu.

Hi D.O.,

I don't recall seeing any F5 option anywhere on the Grub menu.

I'll post the other information shortly.

Thanks, MTB.

dolphin_oracle · posted: 2015-09-29 17:30

umm...is this while running live. this is what the boot menu should look like to you:

cuscotravelservices · posted: 2015-09-29 17:53

dolphin_oracle wrote:umm...is this while running live. this is what the boot menu should look like to you:

Nup nothing like that at all which is what I was expecting it should be.

A typical Grub menu is displayed.

I got the resolution set for both the Laptop and the monitor connected via HDMI but on the larger monitor (1920 x 1080), even after restarting the session, the Taskbar was positioned about a 1/3 of the way up the screen and it's length appeared to be the same as the Laptop screen (1366 x 768).

I forgot the xrandr, later.

Code: Select all

demo@antiX1:~
$ inxi -F
System:    Host: antiX1 Kernel: 4.0.5-antix.2-amd64-smp x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: IceWM 1.3.8
           Distro: antiX-15-V_x64-full Killah P 30 June 2015
Machine:   System: LENOVO product: 20208 v: Lenovo B590
           Mobo: LENOVO model: 20208 Bios: LENOVO v: H1ET75WW(1.18) date: 06/27/2013
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i5-3230M (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB 
           clock speeds: max: 3200 MHz 1: 1395 MHz 2: 1204 MHz 3: 1585 MHz 4: 1220 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller
           Display Server: X.Org 1.16.4 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1366x768@60.01hz, 1920x1080@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Ivybridge Mobile GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.3.2
Audio:     Card Intel 7 Series/C210 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.0.5-antix.2-amd64-smp
Network:   Card-1: Broadcom BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter driver: bcma-pci-bridge
           IF: wlan0 state: down mac: 70:18:8b:ec:8c:77
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller driver: r8169
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: 3c:97:0e:ca:14:fc
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 508.0GB (2.7% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: HGST_HTS545050A7 size: 500.1GB
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdd model: DataTraveler_3.0 size: 7.9GB
Partition: ID-1: swap-1 size: 10.74GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 48.0C mobo: 39.0C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 0
Info:      Processes: 151 Uptime: 8 min Memory: 174.4/7825.5MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.2.25

Thanks, MTB.

dolphin_oracle · posted: 2015-09-29 17:58

how did you make the live media?

cuscotravelservices · posted: 2015-09-29 18:38

Unetbootin

dolphin_oracle · posted: 2015-09-29 20:18

Did you format the stick first? you can get some weird stuff if you didn't format the stick first.

skidoo · posted: 2015-09-29 20:38

FWIW, I use unetbootin (from a winXP session) and get the screen dolphin showed, above.
I have a several year old version of unetbootin, though.
Reading this thread leaves me wondering whether newer unetbootin is buggy.

dolphin_oracle · posted: 2015-09-29 20:41

I made mine with the version included with antix 15. I did write one over top of an mx live USB once and got a crazy looking boot loader. antix options with the mx.backgrounds.

kmathern · posted: 2015-09-29 22:29

@dolphin_oracle, the image you posted here: post43299.html#p43299 is the syslinux boot menu, cuscotravelservices might be talking about the grub menu you get when booting antiX15 in UEFI mode.

In that case it really is a grub menu with minimal options, it lacks the F1 thru F7 options that the syslinux boot menu has.

The UEFI grub.cfg is this:

Code: Select all

if loadfont /boot/grub/font.pf2 ; then
    set gfxmode=auto
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod gfxterm
    terminal_output gfxterm
fi

set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray

menuentry"antiX-15-V_x64-full (30 June 2015)" {
    set gfxpayload=text
    linux    /antiX/vmlinuz quiet splash=v disable_srv=LX
    initrd    /antiX/initrd.gz
}

menuentry"Custom Boot (with menus)" {
    set gfxpayload=text
    linux    /antiX/vmlinuz quiet splash=v menus disable_srv=LX
    initrd    /antiX/initrd.gz
}
menuentry"Safe Video Mode" {
    set gfxpayload=text
    linux    /antiX/vmlinuz quiet splash=v nomodeset xdrvr=vesa disable_srv=LX
    initrd    /antiX/initrd.gz
}

menuentry"Failsafe Boot" {
    set gfxpayload=text
    linux    /antiX/vmlinuz quiet splash=v load=all nomodeset xdrvr=vesa disable_srv=LX
    initrd    /antiX/initrd.gz
}

I think the "Custom Boot (with menus)" stanza was supposed to take the place of the F key options. I did test it some for BitJam while antiX15 was in development and it worked in RC2 or RC3, but I think it might be broken in the final release.

If I recall it looks something like the image below, though my image is from a simulation I did with grub-emu:

cuscotravelservices · posted: 2015-09-29 22:50

Hi D.O., skidoo and Kent,

Here's some more details and things I tried but still no go with the proper antiX Grub menu.

I see the following when the Laptop boots.

Code: Select all

GNU GRUB 2.02~beta2-9ubuntu1

antiX-15-V_64-full (30 June 2015)
Custom Boot (with menus)
Safe Video Mode
Failsafe Boot

I see the following when I use the"e" key for the 2nd menu option.

Code: Select all

setparams 'Custom Boot (with menus)'
        set  gfxpayload=text
        linux         /antiX/vmlinuz quiet splash=v menus disable_srv=LX
        initrd         /antiX/initrd.gz

I tried an older version of Unetbootin (608-1) but no difference. 613-1 is the version that I first used.

Continuing with the 613-1 version ...

I tried formatting the bootable FAT32 partition on the USB Drive - same result.

Using gnome-disk-utility, I tried restoring the original image, which only had a few files on it but had not yet been used with Unetbootin, to the USB Drive and then creating a 5GB bootable FAT32 partition and a second FAT32 partition not flagged as bootable - same result.

The Laptop is using UEFI but Secure Boot is disabled.

@Kent - Yes, I think"broken" would be the operative word __{{emoticon}}__ Also, did you get my PM via the Mepis forum?

Hasta pronto, MTB.

skidoo · posted: 2015-09-30 00:02

GNU GRUB 2.02~beta2-9ubuntu1

? ? ?

kmathern · posted: 2015-09-30 01:06

skidoo wrote:
GNU GRUB 2.02~beta2-9ubuntu1
? ? ?

Yes, that is what it shows when you boot in UEFI mode.

kmathern wrote:...I think the "Custom Boot (with menus)" stanza was supposed to take the place of the F key options. I did test it some for BitJam while antiX15 was in development and it worked in RC2 or RC3, but I think it might be broken in the final release. ...

I'm able to get the"Custom Boot (with menus)" grub menu selection to work if I change the set gfxpayload=text to set gfxpayload=keep.

When you choose"Custom Boot (with menus)", It goes thru five different menus, one after another.

The first menu is"Select Languages" with 47 choices.

The second menu is"Select Timezone" with 48 choices

The third menu is as follows:
Select Option -- Only one can be selected
0) none
1) checkmd5
2) checkfs
3) toram
4) from=usb
5) automount
6) mount=usb
7) mount=sll
8) nousb2

The fourth menu is as follows:
Select Persistence Option
0) none
1) frugal
2) root
3) static
4) home

The fifth (and last) menu is"Select Desktop" with 16 choices -- Default, Rox-IceWM, IceWM, JWM, etc.

cuscotravelservices · posted: 2015-10-02 02:29

Hi again Folks,

So, editing the Custom Boot (with menus) option to change text to keep allows me to set up Static Root persistence but not everything is persistent.

Each time I boot, I have to make a selection from the 5 menus.

For the 3rd menu, I have just been selecting the default option. However, although I can see the names, of the partitions of the hard drive, I don't see a listing of the directories when I select a partition in the file manager (spaceFM). Do I need to select Option 7 (mount=all) to obtain access to these directories?

When the session is established I have to configure the resolution again.

Deactivating the Laptop monitor fixes the problem with the taskbar on the external monitor but is there some way to configure this so that the taskbar is displayed properly on both displays?

Thanks, MTB.