live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

_alexmyself · 2006-06-22 17:24:16

hello, i'd like try larch but apparently lshwd doesn't exists anymore on your repo... HELP !!

maybe you could add those importants parts in the larch.tar.gz ?

very happy to have found your live system, it look like simple and answering totally what i am looking for and don't find till now !!

thanks you

gradgrind · 2006-06-22 17:47:45

Sorry about that, _alexmyself. There are some things that are really weird about the host. Believe it or not I cannot upload the lshwd file, it gets swallowed into a black hole or something. I really must look for a more practical host (though, to be fair, I can't complain about something that costs nothing).

Anyway, lshwd is not a critical part of larch, it's just a tool that might be useful to some people. You can safely remove it (and hwd) from the configuration file. Or you can use the standard Arch packages - they're OK I think, they just miss some graphic cards (but don't use my hwd with Arch lshwd!). As it doesn't have any direct relevance to larch, I wouldn't like to include it in the larch tarball.

Or, if you send me your email address, I can send you my lshwd package.

Of course, the best thing would be for the Arch lshwd package to be fixed!

Sigi · 2006-06-22 18:23:41

I managed to create my first liveCD using larch in less than 3 hours. It's really easy, try it out folks!

_alexmyself · 2006-06-22 19:05:03

thanks for quick reply, i've thought lshwd was specially modified for larch so...so bye bye i run try that !

Mr Green · 2006-06-22 19:12:17

errr Archie will do it much quicker than that ;-)

_alexmyself · 2006-06-22 20:06:17

arfff...my run was short...
certainly i'm doing something wrong, this is what happened :
./mkarch stop after first echo "getting live cd .."

if i add an echo "something" at the end of config_larch, script continue, ask me for erase the dir and fail to do it --> no such file or directory...

if there was only one problem i focus on it, but two seems i do something wrong...

i do everyting as root (i'm logged in kde as root, so really everything)

sure it's something very stupid..

gradgrind · 2006-06-23 07:43:44

@_alexmyself:
The "no such file or directory..." can be fixed easily (if I have understood the situation correctly). I think it probably arose because you have created your destination directory, but it is empty (which wouldn't normally be the case, so I never noticed it!).

Easiest solution: delete the directory.

Better solution: add -f flag to line 81 of mkarch:

rm -rf $DESTDIR/*

I will add this when I get round to doing the next update. Thanks for the report!

Your halting during the sourcing of config_larch is something I can't explain - this file only sets a few variables. Did you change something in it? If you discover what the problem was, please let me know.

gradgrind · 2006-06-23 08:09:12

Oh, and a little warning: It might be a good idea to wait until the extensive gcc/glibc/kernel updates are finished and the repos have settled down again, otherwise all sorts of compatibility problems might arise. Or, if you can't wait, it might be better to get everything from the testing repo, but I wouldn't really recommend that either.

_alexmyself · 2006-06-23 08:49:15

yes, probably wait a moment....
fix empty dir : ok
halting in config_larch : i've moved the last
PACKAGES=$( readlink -f ../packages )
on the top of the precedent
CDDATA=/root/Desktop/larch/systeme_compresse
and it now run well, file packages existing or not

_alexmyself · 2006-06-26 18:12:27

it run
just try with your default configuration and it run...happy...
i've build it after the last "big" update

thanks again

Vins · 2006-06-27 12:35:13

I created a basic live CD with the stock kernel26. It runs fine.

I get the following error message when I try to replace the stock kernel, with the beyond one:

error: archive kernel26beyond-2.6.16.beyond4.1-1.pkg.tar.gz is corrupted

I've already tried to get the package from different mirrors: no way, same results.

Has anyone encountered the same issue?

Thanks!

ViNS

Sigi · 2006-06-27 17:38:57

Vins wrote:

I get the following error message when I try to replace the stock kernel, with the beyond one:
error: archive kernel26beyond-2.6.16.beyond4.1-1.pkg.tar.gz is corrupted

I think version 2.6.17 is out. Already tried that one?

Sigi · 2006-06-27 17:48:07

After I was able to create a xfce-based LiveCD with my favorite tools I begun to build one that fits well into the environement of the university I'm going to. I'm going to include a few educational/scientific tools and prepare the use of the vpn/WLAN at school.

Now my Question:
On my previous LiveCD, I just deleted all the "Modes"-lines in xorg.conf, because xorg7 is detecting the right ones on my system quite well. Too bad this doesn't work that way on older hardware. Is there a way of autodetection for xorg instead of the previously mentioned?

Cheers Sigi

gradgrind · 2006-06-28 15:07:46

Another new version is ready for your perusal ...

Apart from numerous - mostly small - changes, I have also included my modified lshwd and hwd packages in the tar-ball.

Key new feature? Simplified integration of custom packages by making a 'custom' repository (all automatically - using my gen_repo.py script). It should be (even) easier to use now.

Get it from http://www.fsphost.com/gradgrind

Hope it's of use to somebody!

@Vins: Did you remember to delete the cached package when you got the corruption message?

Vins · 2006-06-28 15:18:50

gradgrind wrote:

@Vins: Did you remember to delete the cached package when you got the corruption message?

I tried with the kernel 2.6.17 beyond and everything went fine. Thanks.

ViNS

gradgrind · 2006-07-05 07:00:00

New release: version 0.9.9

Changes to mkarch:
Added alternative methods for getting the list of base packages, so that abs is not required. Also added automatic download of pacman if it is not found on the system (uses wget). This should make it much easier to build a larch CD on a non-Arch Linux system. It should work pretty much "out-of-the-box".

Get it from http://www.fsphost.com/gradgrind

lilsirecho · 2006-07-09 17:16:23

Made use of Larch to produce a 3.577GB Live Arch DVD following the lead of Gradgrind with his 3.2GB effort.

If interested, find the discussions in OFF TOPIC forum under my post.

The possibility seems to me that more than one OS could be placed on a Live DVD with boot selection of desired OS.

Approx 300 packages were included in my effort.
With the included UNIONFS, r/w overlay packages can be downloaded via pacman, the kernel required is kernel26beyond.

Good show for Larch!!!!

lilsirecho · 2006-07-11 23:10:46

Prepared a directory /ram1 and entered with 1GB avii video.

Performed : mount -t ramfs none /ram1....
Entered mplayer and selected /ram1 1GB avi.file.

Played the 1GB file in ram. Had 800+ free ram displayed in Ksysguard with no swap.
The system showed tmpfs having 1.2GB . Ramfs was not indicated in kwik disk.

System has 2GB of ram installed ...Athlon 1900+.

Would appreciate an ..install-to-ram... option with the larch boot and isolinux details to accomplish same.

This would enable removing the DVD media and install more programs via CD or DVD discs.

Installed added packages for this DVD test was 648MB.

When operating in ram, the video program can be "scanned" at will with no loss of sync.

Maybe some user can provide some guidance toward the ..install-to-ram ...option.

I hope so!

gradgrind · 2006-07-12 07:29:38

I'm afraid I don't have the time to work on an install-to-ram option at the moment, maybe later. But it should not be too difficut for anyone who is comfortable with shell scripting.

Essentially you would need to copy the CD/DVD contents to RAM instead of doing the symlink (in mklive/initrd/init), and then (in mklive/initrd/init) mount the copied system.sqf and (maybe) the copied overlay.sqf (in mklive/overlay/etc/rc.sysinit). According to how you deal with the latter you should be able to unmount the CD/DVD in mklive/initrd/init or mklive/overlay/etc/rc.sysinit.

I expect one or two other tweaks might be necessary in mklive/initrd/init, mklive/overlay/etc/rc.sysinit and maybe mklive/overlay/etc/rc.shutdown.
With such a lot of RAM, you might like to increase the size of the tmpfs. People with less RAM might like to enable swap (I'm not sure how tmpfs sizing interacts with swap, so here you might need to consult the kernel docs).

lilsirecho · 2006-07-12 15:59:55

Gradgrind;
I appreciate your responseregarding install-to-ram.

I have no experience with generating script.

While experimenting with the Larch script, I loaded a 1GB video file into a directory /ram1 in /mnt.

I mounted this via...mount -t ramfs none /ram1... I selected the video file in mplayer.

I monitored the ram in use via "system guard" in Kde and it showed almost all of the 2GB ram in use.

Then I examined the size of tmpfs in kwik disk and it showed 1.2GB in use while running the mplayer video.

I do not know if ramfs appears as tmpfs when operating in arch in that kwik disk display.

If install to ram can be initiated, it would seem possible to utilize the cdrom to add packages from discs on a variable basis to create custom system performance .

The install to ram for a full DVD would be excessive since it has nearly 4GB of data and the mobo would have to support more than that in ram...most systems are less than 4GB in ram capability.

Your Larch program performs very reliably!!

I will study the mods you presented and thanks again for reply

lilsirecho · 2006-07-13 22:15:38

Gradgrind;

Interesting to find 1.2GB in tmpfs after loading /ram1 directory with a 992MB video file.

gradgrind · 2006-07-14 08:44:28

Interesting to find 1.2GB in tmpfs after loading /ram1 directory with a 992MB video file.

Yes, that is interesting, but I don't think it should behave like that. If I make a ramfs, what I put in there doesn't show up in the tmpfs. Did you really have a ramfs mounted there (try cat /etc/mtab)?

Why are you using ramfs anyway? What can it do that tmpfs can't do (better)?

lilsirecho · 2006-07-14 18:39:44

Gradgrind;
I ran the DVD again and entered the video file into /mnt/ram1.

I checked the Disk Free listing for tmpfs and it showed 1.2GB in use and some 270KB free.

I ran ...cat /etc/mtab...

It listed:

tmpfs rw o o
/dev/shm tmpfs rw 0 0
/dev/proc/bus/usb usbfs rw 0 0

I then ran ....mount -t ramfs none /ram1

Then I ran:...cat /etc/mtab....the following was added to the previous items.

/none/ram1 ramfs rw 0 0

I used the command line to run mplayer on the .vob file and it played the video and displayed the activity on the command line.

I think the difference is that the .vob is loaded into ram and played in ram rather than the slower operations without ramfs.

I am not familiar with how tmpfs interfaces with ram operational technique but it may be similar since the fs is listed as r/w.

It is interesting to note the file size of tmpfs being 1.2GB during this procedure which permits running the .vob from desktop in mplayer. Is the entry of the .vob from hda3 entered via unionfs as r/w and therefore is an "overlay" which has the capability of utilizing the unused ram as r/w? If this is true, ramfs is unnecessary. Furthermore, additional packages might be loaded via squashfs from Hdd and all r/w extending the system package count considerably!

Normal tmpfs display without the .vob file present in the system is about 600MB with about 302MB in use.

Any comments are welcome

lilsirecho · 2006-07-15 05:59:57

Gradgrind;

When utilizing larch scripts for my experiments, I concentrated my trials with DVD R/W media. Consequently, I did not check the .iso sizes against the loaded module data.

When trying to set-up a CD.iso of 700MB for test purposes, I found that a trial having 1.8GB of programs in Live Data file produced a LiveLarch.iso of 2048MB.

It seems that squashfs was not compressing the Live Data.

In my system, I find ..../sys/modules/squashfs ...present and have added squashfs- tools into my system.

I may have missed :oops: an entry in the scripts to cause this defect.

It explains why the DVD showed such interesting results.

Perhaps a simple fix??

gradgrind · 2006-07-15 13:22:22

What do you mean by 'Live Data'? Is that the directory where 'mklive' builds the CD content up before making the iso ('/home/tmp/live_data' in my original config file)? If so, there is no big surprise there - that is the result AFTER squashing. The pre-squashing stuff is (if using the original config) at /home/ArchImage

The thing that is squashed is the 'raw' Arch installation (it becomes 'system.sqf'), and you can usually squash about 2GB of uncompressed code and data down to 700MB. Data that are already compressed won't, on the whole, get smaller by being squashed.

By the way, you don't need squashfs or its tools on the system you are using to build the live CD.

Arch Linux

#26 2006-06-22 17:24:16

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#27 2006-06-22 17:47:45

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#28 2006-06-22 18:23:41

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#29 2006-06-22 19:05:03

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#30 2006-06-22 19:12:17

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#31 2006-06-22 20:06:17

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#32 2006-06-23 07:43:44

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#33 2006-06-23 08:09:12

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#34 2006-06-23 08:49:15

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#35 2006-06-26 18:12:27

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#36 2006-06-27 12:35:13

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#37 2006-06-27 17:38:57

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#38 2006-06-27 17:48:07

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#39 2006-06-28 15:07:46

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#40 2006-06-28 15:18:50

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#41 2006-07-05 07:00:00

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#42 2006-07-09 17:16:23

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#43 2006-07-11 23:10:46

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#44 2006-07-12 07:29:38

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#45 2006-07-12 15:59:55

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#46 2006-07-13 22:15:38

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#47 2006-07-14 08:44:28

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#48 2006-07-14 18:39:44

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#49 2006-07-15 05:59:57

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

#50 2006-07-15 13:22:22

Re: live Arch CD construction kit (larch)

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