[gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[James]

Hello,

Ok the latest release of livedvd is here:

https://www.gentoo.org/news/20140826-livedvd.xml

So my understanding is you can put this on a usb stick. Run
gentoo live, download packages, set flags, install packages
and save them to the USB stick?  So it's a portable  gentoo
workstation on a usb stick? 

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB/HOWTO


Are these the best instructions to follow to createa usb bootable
live gentoo image?  It has to be able to install new packages and 
save those to the usb stick.

I remember some time back (Neil) mentioned a package I was
not aware of (and naturally cannot remmber the name of) that
made creating USB bootable, usable, images on a usb stick
straightforward?

It even handled grub2, uefi and such?

suggestions?


James

Re: [gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Wed, 19 Nov 2014 22:15:38 +0000 (UTC), James wrote:

> Are these the best instructions to follow to createa usb bootable
> live gentoo image?  It has to be able to install new packages and 
> save those to the usb stick.
> 
> I remember some time back (Neil) mentioned a package I was
> not aware of (and naturally cannot remmber the name of) that
> made creating USB bootable, usable, images on a usb stick
> straightforward?

Do you mean isohybrid? That converts an ISO image to make it suitable for
copying to a USB drive with dd and booting it as if it were a CD. it's
not suitable for your needs as it uses the whole drive as an ISO9660
filesystem, leaving nowhere to save your files.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[David Abbott]

On Wed, Nov 19, 2014 at 5:15 PM, James <wireless@tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Ok the latest release of livedvd is here:
>
> https://www.gentoo.org/news/20140826-livedvd.xml
>
> So my understanding is you can put this on a usb stick. Run
> gentoo live, download packages, set flags, install packages
> and save them to the USB stick?  So it's a portable  gentoo
> workstation on a usb stick?

Use dd to put it on a usb stick.
For persistence I would ask likewhoa;
https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-995118.html

>
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB/HOWTO
>
>
> Are these the best instructions to follow to createa usb bootable
> live gentoo image?  It has to be able to install new packages and
> save those to the usb stick.
>
> I remember some time back (Neil) mentioned a package I was
> not aware of (and naturally cannot remmber the name of) that
> made creating USB bootable, usable, images on a usb stick
> straightforward?
>
> It even handled grub2, uefi and such?
>
> suggestions?
>
>
> James
>
>

Regards,
David

Re: [gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[thegeezer]

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On 19/11/14 22:15, James wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Ok the latest release of livedvd is here:
>
> https://www.gentoo.org/news/20140826-livedvd.xml
from the forum link from the news article   
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-995118.html
"One of the great things about this new livedvd besides that it contains
over 1200 packages is that it now supports full / persistency meaning
that you can boot this livedvd, make tweaks as you like and reboot while
retaining those changes. It's more like a Gentoo to Go if you ask me. "
and
"Another great feature which will be ported to all minimal install cds
is support for UEFI. This image even boots on MAC OSX hardware! Yes you
heard it right! "

nice pie, well done to the gentoo devs

>
> So my understanding is you can put this on a usb stick. Run
> gentoo live, download packages, set flags, install packages
> and save them to the USB stick?  So it's a portable  gentoo
> workstation on a usb stick? 
>
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB/HOWTO
>
>
> Are these the best instructions to follow to createa usb bootable
> live gentoo image?  It has to be able to install new packages and 
> save those to the usb stick.
>
> I remember some time back (Neil) mentioned a package I was
> not aware of (and naturally cannot remmber the name of) that
> made creating USB bootable, usable, images on a usb stick
> straightforward?
>
> It even handled grub2, uefi and such?
>
> suggestions?
>
>
> James
>
>
>
>


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Re: [gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[David Abbott]

On Thu, Nov 20, 2014 at 2:21 PM, thegeezer <thegeezer@thegeezer.net> wrote:
> On 19/11/14 22:15, James wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> Ok the latest release of livedvd is here:
>
> https://www.gentoo.org/news/20140826-livedvd.xml
>
> from the forum link from the news article
> http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-995118.html
> "One of the great things about this new livedvd besides that it contains
> over 1200 packages is that it now supports full / persistency meaning that
> you can boot this livedvd, make tweaks as you like and reboot while
> retaining those changes. It's more like a Gentoo to Go if you ask me. "
> and
> "Another great feature which will be ported to all minimal install cds is
> support for UEFI. This image even boots on MAC OSX hardware! Yes you heard
> it right! "
>
> nice pie, well done to the gentoo devs
>
>
> So my understanding is you can put this on a usb stick. Run
> gentoo live, download packages, set flags, install packages
> and save them to the USB stick?  So it's a portable  gentoo
> workstation on a usb stick?
>
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB/HOWTO
>
>
> Are these the best instructions to follow to createa usb bootable
> live gentoo image?  It has to be able to install new packages and
> save those to the usb stick.
>

Likewhoa just put this together for the LiveDVD media, he is the one
who builds them;

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveDVD-Persistence-Mode

-- 
David Abbott (dabbott)

Re: [gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[Fernando Rodriguez]

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On Wednesday, November 19, 2014 10:15:38 PM James wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> Ok the latest release of livedvd is here:
> 
> https://www.gentoo.org/news/20140826-livedvd.xml
> 
> So my understanding is you can put this on a usb stick. Run
> gentoo live, download packages, set flags, install packages
> and save them to the USB stick?  So it's a portable  gentoo
> workstation on a usb stick? 
> 
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB/HOWTO
> 
> 
> Are these the best instructions to follow to createa usb bootable
> live gentoo image?  It has to be able to install new packages and 
> save those to the usb stick.
> 
> I remember some time back (Neil) mentioned a package I was
> not aware of (and naturally cannot remmber the name of) that
> made creating USB bootable, usable, images on a usb stick
> straightforward?
> 
> It even handled grub2, uefi and such?
> 
> suggestions?
> 
> 
> James
> 
> 
> 
> 

You can install Gentoo to a USB drive following the installation guide on the 
wiki. I've done it Arch cause it's quicker but it will work with Gentoo as 
well. Just make sure to compile the kernel with everything as modules and 
install all the xorg drivers if you want a desktop.

You can also make a multiboot USB (for most live CDs) like that, Just use 
syslinux as your bootloader, to install a new live CD (in a nutshell):

1. Create a FAT partition big enough to store the Live CD. If the CD has a 
volume label that's less that 8 chars set the label of the new partition to 
the same (some live CDs use it to find the live medium).
2. Mount the ISO image as a loop device and copy all the files to your new 
partition.
3. Install Syslinux on top of Isolinux (usually /isolinux).
4. Create a syslinux.cfg as follows: "echo 'include isolinux.cfg' > 
/mnt/isolinux/syslinux.cfg (assuming your new partition is mounted on /mnt).
5. Add an entry to your Gentoo's syslinux.cfg to chainload to the new 
partition.

I recently tried this and it worked with Arch, Knoppix, Kali, and Ubuntu CDs 
(for Ubuntu distros create the partition and then use Ubunutu's startup disk 
creator to install it to the new partition, then do step #5).

I create a FAT32 parition for my files and set the type of all other paritions, 
including the ext2 partion to "Hidden FAT32" (more modern software doesnt care 
about the type) so when you plug it in on a desktop (even windows) only that 
partition is visible. Just make sure not to mount your it on your /home 
directory cause it'll give you problems.

-- 
Fernando Rodriguez
PGP Key: http://keys.gnupg.net/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xF6CE157FF9525C1C

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Re: [gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Tue, 25 Nov 2014 03:17:07 -0500, Fernando Rodriguez wrote:

> You can also make a multiboot USB (for most live CDs) like that, Just
> use syslinux as your bootloader, to install a new live CD (in a
> nutshell):
> 
> 1. Create a FAT partition big enough to store the Live CD. If the CD
> has a volume label that's less that 8 chars set the label of the new
> partition to the same (some live CDs use it to find the live medium).
> 2. Mount the ISO image as a loop device and copy all the files to your
> new partition.
> 3. Install Syslinux on top of Isolinux (usually /isolinux).
> 4. Create a syslinux.cfg as follows: "echo 'include isolinux.cfg' > 
> /mnt/isolinux/syslinux.cfg (assuming your new partition is mounted
> on /mnt). 5. Add an entry to your Gentoo's syslinux.cfg to chainload to
> the new partition.

Alternatively, you can use GRUB, which boots directly from the ISOs, so
you don't even need to unpack them. Just chuck them all on the stick, no
need to partition, and create a menu entry for each one. The details of
the menu entry vary according to how the ISO boots, but there are plenty
of samples at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2/ISOBoot/Examples


-- 
Neil Bothwick

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy
enough people to make it worth the effort.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[wireless]

On 11/19/14 19:20, Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Wed, 19 Nov 2014 22:15:38 +0000 (UTC), James wrote:
>
>> Are these the best instructions to follow to createa usb bootable
>> live gentoo image?  It has to be able to install new packages and
>> save those to the usb stick.
>>
>> I remember some time back (Neil) mentioned a package I was
>> not aware of (and naturally cannot remmber the name of) that
>> made creating USB bootable, usable, images on a usb stick
>> straightforward?
>
> Do you mean isohybrid? That converts an ISO image to make it suitable for
> copying to a USB drive with dd and booting it as if it were a CD. it's
> not suitable for your needs as it uses the whole drive as an ISO9660
> filesystem, leaving nowhere to save your files.

Yep, that's it. Theoretical question: If one build this image, why
can't you include a file that is the size of the remaining free space
before creating the image?  It afterwards use that file space to
install additional wares?

James

Re: [gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Thu, 20 Nov 2014 10:06:12 -0500, wireless@tampabay.rr.com wrote:

> > Do you mean isohybrid? That converts an ISO image to make it suitable
> > for copying to a USB drive with dd and booting it as if it were a CD.
> > it's not suitable for your needs as it uses the whole drive as an
> > ISO9660 filesystem, leaving nowhere to save your files.  
> 
> Yep, that's it. Theoretical question: If one build this image, why
> can't you include a file that is the size of the remaining free space
> before creating the image?  It afterwards use that file space to
> install additional wares?

Because the process creates a read-only filesystem on the whole drive.
What you suggest is surely possible, but far more work than the method
the Wiki describes.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Programmer (n): A red-eyed, mumbling mammal capable of conversing
with inanimate objects.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[wireless]

On 11/19/14 19:30, David Abbott wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 19, 2014 at 5:15 PM, James <wireless@tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> Ok the latest release of livedvd is here:
>>
>> https://www.gentoo.org/news/20140826-livedvd.xml
>>
>> So my understanding is you can put this on a usb stick. Run
>> gentoo live, download packages, set flags, install packages
>> and save them to the USB stick?  So it's a portable  gentoo
>> workstation on a usb stick?
>
> Use dd to put it on a usb stick.
> For persistence I would ask likewhoa;
> https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-995118.html
>


> Regards,
> David



YES. I read that. I think there is something in this article 
(persistence maybe?) that allows one to emerge and keep
the newly installed softwares. I think it's going to have to
be some with a deeper understanding of what he is say, to figure
out an explicit path forward for me.


James

Re: [gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[wireless]

On 11/20/14 14:40, David Abbott wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 20, 2014 at 2:21 PM, thegeezer <thegeezer@thegeezer.net> wrote:
>> On 19/11/14 22:15, James wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> Ok the latest release of livedvd is here:
>>
>> https://www.gentoo.org/news/20140826-livedvd.xml

>> So my understanding is you can put this on a usb stick. Run
>> gentoo live, download packages, set flags, install packages
>> and save them to the USB stick?  So it's a portable  gentoo
>> workstation on a usb stick?
>>
>> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB/HOWTO
>>
>>

> Likewhoa just put this together for the LiveDVD media, he is the one
> who builds them;
>
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveDVD-Persistence-Mode

So adding all [3] links together yields  a usb gentoo image
that can have additional codes installed on the usb (via persistence)
and saved out as a portable "demo" gentoo workstation?

If these 3 links are not sufficient for that, then what is missing?


If so, we now have a great/easy recruiting tool for (new) folks to
test out gentoo. Another questions is has anyone seen reliable/valid 
benchmarks on usb sticks to see which is faster?  Is usb3 the fastest 
and they are all the same?


If a workstation has abundant ram, does it make sense to boost 
performance via an additional "ram_drive" ; if so how would one
go about adding that feature? Bad idea?


curiously,
James

Re: [gentoo-user] Iron penguin on usb?

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Fri, 21 Nov 2014 11:59:13 -0500, wireless@tampabay.rr.com wrote:

> If so, we now have a great/easy recruiting tool for (new) folks to
> test out gentoo. Another questions is has anyone seen reliable/valid 
> benchmarks on usb sticks to see which is faster?  Is usb3 the fastest 
> and they are all the same?

I did some ad hoc tests with USB3 sticks recently and found them roughly
twice as fast a USB2 stick, or when connected to a USB2 port.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Three kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't.

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