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Werner P. Schulz
08-18-2014, 11:18 PM
Did anyone with 7.4.0 a successfully flash disk install with overlay file (not partition)?

I've tried it in many ways but failed; nothing of the options worked for me. It seems the new version of the script "flash-knoppix" contains some serious bugs.

utu
08-19-2014, 11:52 PM
Greetings, Werner.

I can't answer your question directly; however FWIW:

I can report that Knoppix 7.4 will successfully record and use fat32 Knoppix cloops as did Knoppix 7.2.
I'm using a 64Mb KNOPPIX1 overlay made from an initial reiserfs persistence file, which has now
been re-formatted for subsequent changes.

I am using MakeOverlay in Knoppix 7.4 exactly as defined at
http://knoppix.net/forum/showthread.php?30672-Using-Overlay-Updates-in-Knoppix-7-2-LiveUSBs&highlight=overlay

If Knoppix 7.4 isn't working as you say, then there must be some trivial miscoding somewhere,
because my experience says virtually all the necessary infrastructure works ok, and the amount of manual
manipulation that I employ is minimal.

HTH

Porteņo
08-22-2014, 08:14 PM
I'm using right now version 7.4 on a 16 Gb USB pendrive which I made with pendrivelinux from KNOPPIX_V7.4.0DVD-2014-08-01-EN.iso a few hours ago. It works as long as I don't try to use any cheatcode on boot.
This post is being made from this version of Knoppix. I have got a persistent home of 4Gb.

utu
08-22-2014, 08:38 PM
It works as long as I don't try to use any cheatcode on boot.

With 8 Gb SanDisk and 2.6 Gb reiserfs persistence,
I have no problem using no3d and/or noimage cheatcodes with my Knoppix 7.4 LiveUSB.

Werner P. Schulz
08-22-2014, 10:29 PM
My question was about flash disk install done by the Knoppix script "flash-knoppix" and overlay file. It seems for me, the script is unable to format the whole device with FAT32. Either I get the message "Flashdisk is not partitioned properly. The first partiton must be DOS/FAT32." or the message "mkdosfs: /dev/sda1 contains a mounted file system".

I've tested it with three devices which works without problems under other circumstances. And also partitioning with gparted first doesn't help.

My USB installation done by "flash-knoppix" and with overlay partition works well and I can use all the cheatcodes I need.


I'm using right now version 7.4 on a 16 Gb USB pendrive which I made with pendrivelinux from KNOPPIX_V7.4.0DVD-2014-08-01-EN.iso a few hours ago. It works as long as I don't try to use any cheatcode on boot.What happens or what error message do you get using a cheatcode? And did you ever try to use the cheatcode "knoppix testcd"?

Porteņo
08-23-2014, 02:39 AM
What happens or what error message do you get using a cheatcode?
Typing "keyboard=es" (without apostrophes) in boot it starts, asks for pass, informs of the loading of GUI and then...nothing! No penguin, no compiz, only a black screen until the machine is physically turned off.

Eduardo

Werner P. Schulz
08-23-2014, 07:24 AM
And what happens with cheatcode "knoppix testcd"?

Can you switch with [Strg Alt F1] or [Strg Alt F2] to the console?

Porteņo
08-23-2014, 08:59 PM
And what happens with cheatcode "knoppix testcd"?
Machine answers "All files OK" but, after announcing that graphic interface is loading only a black screen appears.
And no response is got from CTRL ALT F2.

rudepeople
09-26-2014, 10:58 PM
I am also having an issue using the flash-knoppix setup script... I am trying to put knoppix on a thumb drive... the only options that work are as follows:

r Allow installation only on removable devices.
sdb PNY USB 2.0 FD (62419.9MB)
p Installation on FAT32 with additional overlay partition.
Yes to format

this works fine, and I get a bootable thumb drive... but the whole point here is to make a "utility" drive so this doesn't really work as it creates a 4GB fat32 partition for Knoppix, and a ~55GB reiser partition... which is useless on anything NOT linux!

I guess I can delete the reiser partition and resize the fat32 partition, but then I loose the overlay option.

so what can I do to use the option of <4GB overlay file on the thumb drive using a ~64GB partition?

MasterOfTheMagicBox
10-02-2014, 06:36 PM
I am new to this forum so I would first like to say Hello to all. I realize that the request on this thread is for v7.4.0 while I am using v7.4.1, but I could find nothing in the version information that changed this issue. This post is meant (primarily) for Werner Schultz and "rudepeople". I will enumerate below:

I have successfully installed Knoppix 7.4.1 to an 8GB SDHC MicroDrive using a USB adapter several times now (effectively the same as a USB "thumb drive", "pen drive" or whatever one wants to call the device).

1) The Flash Card used was pre-formated (from the manufacturer) as FAT32. I used it the first time in its "out of the box" state with success and then while experimenting with installations, I manually removed the partition and reformatted using the freeware version of "MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition v8.1.1". USB installs have been successful using the same drive several times now.

2) To Werner, I have been using the install from "Start Menu => Knoppix => Install KNOPPIX to flash disk" I choose "r Allow installation only on removable devices" and use the overlay File option and NOT the Partition option just as you wish to do. When prompted at the end of the USB install for the size of the file, I move the slider to size it at 1024MB. This seems to create the Image file found at "/home/knoppix/Desktop/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX/knoppix-data.img". It is sized appropriately at 1GB and Persistence works fine. This is probably too big (1GB), but I don't know what a reasonable size for it is yet. It seems that in another thread you may have addressed this so maybe you have some advice or observations for me?

3) To "rudepeople". As mentioned, the drive has been used successfully "out of the box" with subsequent repartitioning and reformatting done using "MiniTool". This install uses approx 4.5 GB (including the 1GB Image file) leaving approximately 3.5 GB of the FAT32 partition unused. I have copied 3+ GB of .jpg files (along with other files) to the drive, moved them, deleted them, copied them to other folders (while staying within the 3.5 GB space available) in order to test that the drive has been written to beyond the "end" of the drive as seen by the drives internal "usage smoothing" algorithm. I have created folders, copied, deleted, etc. in Win7 Ultimate x64 as well as within Knoppix itself. I can move the USB drive to another computer, boot it to Knoppix, and use the files as I wish. Like you, I intend to use the drive to carry additional tools with me as well. It seems to work fine.

Caveats and Observations:
1) In one install, I decided to use MiniTool to resize the remainder of the FAT32 partition and create another partition in the unused space created just to see what would happen. MiniTool let me shrink the FAT32 to within 1GB of the unused 3.5GB space which would allow me to create a second, separate partition of approximately 2.5GB. AT THAT POINT, before creating another partition in the now unused space, I remembered that Windows was only going to see the first partition of a USB drive anyhow, so I resized it back to the original full capacity. It ruined the ability of the drive to boot. Whatever it did, the drive was no longer able to boot Knoppix. I won't do that again.

I hope this helps and any and all advice or observations are welcome. Best of luck.

Mike

knp
10-04-2014, 01:02 AM
Hi

You had a good luck! It seems,like for me (knoppx7 AND 6) the thumdrives boot but stops immediately with a message like this one:

"No directives or UI in configuration file".

This message appears on the web for other users and refers to "syslinux modifications" which do not work for me also.

I think, like Werner P Schulz, that there is a severe bug in the script included on theses versions.

Very curiously, installing on pendrives seems to depend on the KIND of Pendrive:

it works for some ones and not for others !!!!.

It seems that the script has been better "worked" for "SD-Cards" (essentially?)


Also (even though this point has nothing to do with the post) there are some other bugs in my version of 7.4.


For exemple,at the boot, when using some cheatcodes


"=" is obtained by "Shift + @"


"/" is obtained by "shift + 7" etc.. etc...


Bye


knp

Werner P. Schulz
10-04-2014, 12:37 PM
It is sized appropriately at 1GB and Persistence works fine. This is probably too big (1GB), but I don't know what a reasonable size for it is yet.Hello Mike!
The size of the overlay (file or partition) depends on what you want to store of personal Linux stuff - configuration files, additional installed tools and so on. The remainig part within the FAT32 partition you can also use under Windows. I recommend to create a new folder in the directory 'mnt-system' and call it for example "privat_Windows".

The problem of flash disk install and option "overlay file" is also in Knoppix V7.4.2 if I try it in a HD install within VirtualBox. Therefore I burned a DVD and booted with it. This time my trial has been successful. I suppose it's a udev and/or timing problem because Knoppix from my VirtualBox installation reacts faster than from CD. Perhaps one or two "sleep 10" within the flash-knoppix script may solve the problem for any case.

MasterOfTheMagicBox
10-07-2014, 09:24 AM
Hello Werner,

These are some more Caveats, Observations and Questions of mine, I hope they can help you or anyone having USB stick issues. As background, I had also burned Knoppix 7.4.1 to a DVD and used it to make the USB installs in my previous post. For everyone; Please use Mr. Knopper's advice on burning slower than "max" speed. My first DVD failed post burning verification so I limited burn speed to 6x on the second and had success. Since I don't like wasting DVD's, and the only reason to burn 7.4.2 was to boot Knoppix long enough to create a USB MicroDrive SDHC card install (using a USB adapter as above) I liked your idea of using Virtualbox to load Knoppix as a VM (guest). Especially since 7.4.2 followed so quickly in response to the Shellshock bug. We should all thank Mr. Knopper for a very quick reaction and fix to plug that hole.

Observations:
1) I have had success in creating the exact same bootable USB drive (MicroDrive SDHC) with a persistence image FILE of whatever size I choose several times now (as above) from within a Virtualbox guest running Knoppix 7.4.2 booted directly from the .ISO image. This may still be the goal for you as well.

2) Both my Vbox VM install and the USB install run Knoppix significantly faster than from CD. It seems that Mr. Knopple says something like 5 or 6 times faster. I think that is to be expected because both the flash memory and hard drive (from the VM) have significantly faster read (and write) throughput than the fastest CD/DVD drive. It seems to me that udev or a timing issue are not where to look but I don't have the expertise to help there yet.

Caveats:
I am running Win 7 Ultimate x64 as the host. The current situation (as of this date and time) with Virtualbox 4.3.16, which is the current release, appears to be the same as 4.3.14. They don't want to start guest VM's when Win 7 x64 is the host, even when the guest works fine under 4.3.12 on the same host. It seems to be related to security software (antivirus in particular) and many Virtualbox users are rolling back to v4.3.12 which does work. The other alternative is to use 4.3.17-96342 which I am using successfully. It is a Beta and uses the same Extension Pack as 4.3.16. This seems to work fine on Win 7 x64 at least for the purpose of creating a USB bootable Knoppix. It's a known issue and the Virtualbox developers appear to be working hard to solve it.

I have a couple of issues that I could use some help with concerning Knoppix on Virtualbox.
1) I can't load the Vbox Guest Extensions ISO file using the Vbox manager. Linux requires the Knoppix ISO to be "ejected" (unmounted) from the CD/DVD virtual drive in order to load the Guest Extensions ISO in the CD drive just like real hardware would. As soon as you do that, the Knoppix VM that needs its own ISO locks up. The Guest ISO "NAME" (the label on a CD) is mounted (inserted) fine in the virtual CD/DVD drive, but it can't mount the host's C: drive that the ISO resides on in the real world. It freezes Knoppix until you reinsert the Knoppix ISO via the Vbox manager. I have created a second virtual CD/DVD drive as a Secondary Master (and Slave etc.) and it behaves the same (whether I set it to Slave or Master). The Primary Master must point to the Knoppix ISO to boot the VM and run and it pulls the Knoppix ISO from that same physical drive just fine so I know that Knoppix in conjunction with the VM can see it at boot time. It would seem that installing Knoppix to the 8GB fixed Virtual HDD (vdi) I created for the VM would make it possible to mount the Guest ISO to the CD/DVD drive. Which leads to the second problem:

2) I can't mount the host machine's drive. The drive isn't enumerated when Knoppix is loaded as the OS in the VM. Knoppix reports /dev/sda (cloop0) and /dev/sr0 (the virtual CD/DVD drive). I'm guessing that this is likely Operator Error (me) or the Vbox release has issues passing virtualized hardware pointers to Knoppix. When booting from the USB stick it seems to know about all drives and partitions on the machine (booting to the actual machine and NOT within a VM) and they are just sitting there waiting to be mounted so I don't know how the VM is behaving.

3) I see the boot menu cheatcode for installing to a hard drive at boot is "Knoppix tohd=/dev/sda1" but I have no point of reference to determine what "sda1" is pointing to. I am thus a little hesitant to hit Enter. :-) I can see my host drive being partitioned and formatted in my nightmares. Gparted sees the 8GB fixed virtual drive when in the Knoppix VM, and the .vdi file is where it's supposed to be on the host drive, but the virtual drive is unpartitioned and unformatted and I'm unwilling to create an MBR or partition to format it using gparted without some sound advice and documentation. Perhaps the reason that "sda1" is chosen in the cheatcode above is that it creates partition 1 if installed to sda using that boot menu cheatcode at boot time? I don't know and I can't seem to find reliable documentation.

I realize that some of this may be related to Virtualbox and I'm scouring their forums looking for answers as well. I'm really pointing out these seeming anomolies here to see if there are known Knoppix limitations or incompatibilities or even undocumented settings when using Vbox. If you have any insights I'd appreciate it.
Mike

Werner P. Schulz
10-07-2014, 11:46 AM
Why not study the very good "help" o VirtualBox?