open an old Knoppix.img with Knoppix 7

[user89]

now I just wonder when I have to mount the container on Knoppix if I want a persistent image...

[Capricorny]

now I just wonder when I have to mount the container on Knoppix if I want a persistent image...

Knoppix creates a new encrypted image for you. Placed where Knoppix usually resides. If you store it on NTFS or extX partitions, you can make it big - but then you may have to either create it manually or resize it (I don't know about resizing encrypted images, resizing ordinary images is simple and works quite well.) To make things simpler and safer, I suggest you copy over from the old encrypted image to an unencrypted one, and then from there to the new encryption.

You should be able to do this from Knoppix 7, running, as kl522 suggests, the Knoppix 5 ISO/installation in a virtual machine.

My own preferred way of doing such things, is making a Poor Man's install on some partition, setup legacy Grub so it can boot that install, and then let Grub boot it in Qemu.
For example, booting your main HD like this

sudo qemu -hda /dev/sda -m 512 &

then select the partition and from the original Knoppix version running in the VM, copy from encrypted to unencrypted - on the same partition (the VM's /mnt-system), or somewhere else mounted by the VM. Just beware of multiple mounting of partitions.

Maybe too awkward and stupid for your liking, but that's me.

BTW, I doubt incompatibilities here are introduced by Knoppix, I would guess it's the Debian heritage, and I would think you got a hint when you couldn't open the new container in the old Debian.

[user89]

again, my data file (on USB key) can't be on the Knoppix device (DVD)

I managed to open my old Knoppix 5 data and to copy them in a cryptsetup device that I can open with my old Debian and newest Knoppix 7, so that's ok

now two troubles:

- the USB key is very very slow on the old Debian, I need about 1h to mount a 16Gb crypted container and a long time too to umount it. It was faster with the Knoppix 5 container (and the same USB key...)

- I need to configure again all my softwares (Icedove mail...) when I reboot, and I didn't find a solution to install and keep new softwares in my container as I did before with Knoppix 5. For static it's ok, but I have some professional softwares only available as .deb and the publishers won't change that...
maybe because I mount my container on a directory on the Desktop...

[Capricorny]

again, my data file (on USB key) can't be on the Knoppix device (DVD)

I managed to open my old Knoppix 5 data and to copy them in a cryptsetup device that I can open with my old Debian and newest Knoppix 7, so that's ok

now two troubles:

- the USB key is very very slow on the old Debian, I need about 1h to mount a 16Gb crypted container and a long time too to umount it. It was faster with the Knoppix 5 container (and the same USB key...)

- I need to configure again all my softwares (Icedove mail...) when I reboot, and I didn't find a solution to install and keep new softwares in my container as I did before with Knoppix 5. For static it's ok, but I have some professional softwares only available as .deb and the publishers won't change that...
maybe because I mount my container on a directory on the Desktop...

1. Do you understand what we were talking about when we suggested running your old Knoppix in a VM and mention Poor Man's install? The method I suggested doesn't involve DVD at all.

2. If your software is available as .deb
A: If new install works, why don't you just reinstall it on a new persistent store, dropping the old versions?
B: If new install doesn't work, why do you bother trying to transfer? You can still use these programs by running Knoppix5 in a virtual machine, as we suggested.

3. Why do you mix programs and user data in a 16 GB volume? I have experimented with persistent store, and found that for my use, anything beyond ca 6 GB starts to become impractical. User data is better kept on a separate volume, and you can modify for example /etc/rc.local or knoppix.sh to automount that. In particular, if you don't want to roll some programs into the KNOPPIX cloop by remastering, but keep them on an encrypted volume I think it is safest and most practical to keep user data separate from that, encrypted or not. Otherwise, the simplest way to proceed is remastering, so essentially all programs are integrated in the KNOPPIX cloop.

[user89]

I understand your "solution", a VM and so on, but that's not what I can use/need

I need to run Knoppix on very old machines that are not mine and that can't boot from USB key (old Bios)
so I have to use a DVD for Knoppix (except if sometimes they already have Debian on HDD for exemple, but I can not modify them) + a key for my data (and my /small/ softwares stored here are protected from any unwanted modification)
-- while til now, default Knoppix 7 scripts allow install of a crypted persistent container only on the boot device

the only "new" solution you give me is remastering, that I wanted to avoid if possible

[Capricorny]

I understand your "solution", a VM and so on, but that's not what I can use/need

I need to run Knoppix on very old machines that are not mine and that can't boot from USB key (old Bios)
so I have to use a DVD for Knoppix (except if sometimes they already have Debian on HDD for exemple, but I can not modify them) + a key for my data (and my /small/ softwares stored here are protected from any unwanted modification)
-- while til now, default Knoppix 7 scripts allow install of a crypted persistent container only on the boot device

the only "new" solution you give me is remastering, that I wanted to avoid if possible

No, it does not seem to me that you understand this.
1. You don't have to use the same setup for transferring Knoppix images as for running later, as you seem to imply. We have not discussed the use afterwards at all, only procedures for conversion. You don't insist on doing the conversion on some very old machine if you don't have to???
2. You don't have to run Knoppix off CD/DVD, even it you have to use that for booting. So AFAIK, you can use a USB stick setup whether or not you can boot it. When you can't, you boot with the CD/DVD.
3. Remastering can be done VERY simply nowadays, so "avoid that if possible" is IMHO a very impractical approach if you want to use Knoppix with fairly extensive customizations in the form of added programs, as seems to be your case. The simplest for you is probably just to create overlays instead of doing a complete remastering. YMMV.
4. If you want to make extensive customizations, you simply can't rely fully on the default Knoppix install scripts - they are for the simple use cases. The "only on the boot device" conception which you easily get becomes very misleading - a basic functionality of Knoppix is the splitting of booting and running. For example, if you have a KNOPPIX directory somewhere on the HD and you boot from DVD/USB, Knoppix will use that image (the first it finds if several) unless you specify bootfrom= option on the command line.
5. The partition Knoppix is run from is mounted on /mnt-system, and on that partition, you can have as much persistent stuff as you like - it is always possible to automount it by simple modifications like I mentioned if system capacity permits. You can also have it on other partitions, but then there will be more coordination work. I have used several automounted knoppix-dataX.img files, put into the KNOPPIX directory for convenience - then they will be copied to new media by the Install Knoppix to flash script.
6. If you run the Install Knoppix to flash script, and let Knoppix create a new encrypted image for you on a USB stick, you have created the basis for what you need entirely with standard scripts. Using that for user data, and installing the additional .deb programs in noimage Knoppix instances, rolling them into overlays as needed, will give you a robust and handy setuo for your work - always using the stick, booting from CD/DVD when necessary. If you exceed that 4GB limit on the persistent image, my advice is that you either simply create more 4GB overlays as needed, or setup NTFS/extX partitions on the stick for larger files.