[gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[Michael Mol]

So I'm about to play with installing Gentoo on another system.

Now, the ritual goes, grab the ISO, burn the ISO, grab the latest
stage3, the latest Portage, and go to town.

What I'd like to do is drop the stage3 and Portage snapshots onto the
ISO before burning, but I've never done anything with mastering
bootable discs. Could someone provide me with some pointers?

(I don't strictly need to put it all one one disc; it's just an
opportunity to learn some more about systems through application)

-- 
:wq

Re: [gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[Jonas de Buhr]

>What I'd like to do is drop the stage3 and Portage snapshots onto the
>ISO before burning, but I've never done anything with mastering
>bootable discs. Could someone provide me with some pointers?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=build+your+own+live+cd+gentoo

SCNR :P

alternatively you could use catalyst:
http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/catalyst/

or you just mount the iso, modify it, run mkisofs on it and burn it.
the mkisofs options you are looking for are -b and -c.

/jonas

Re: [gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[Michael Mol]

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 7:42 AM, Jonas de Buhr <jonas.de.buhr@gmx.net> wrote:
>
>>What I'd like to do is drop the stage3 and Portage snapshots onto the
>>ISO before burning, but I've never done anything with mastering
>>bootable discs. Could someone provide me with some pointers?
>
> http://lmgtfy.com/?q=build+your+own+live+cd+gentoo

Not so useful, thanks. Google fails me regularly. Personalized
searches are getting to be a real sore spot for me; not just mine, but
those of people pointing me at Google assuming my searches for the
same keywords will get the same results. Particular grating is when
someone sends me a link to a search, then the link to what I was
looking for, and says something like "first hit". My first *page*
didn't even have that link on it.

/rant

>
> SCNR :P

shortcircuit:12@serenity~
Fri Sep 23 08:44 AM
!501 #1 j0 ?0 $ wtf is scnr
SCNR: sorry, could not resist

Ah.

>
> alternatively you could use catalyst:
> http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/catalyst/
>
> or you just mount the iso, modify it, run mkisofs on it and burn it.
> the mkisofs options you are looking for are -b and -c.

I knew there was going to be something I wasn't going to know, and it
looks like the values passed to -b and -c are it.

I don't want to build a CD from scratch (and doing so looks like it
would require setting up a fully "generic" box to build). I just want
to add two files to an existing ISO.

How would I extract boot_catalog and eltorito_boot_image from an existing ISO?

-- 
:wq

Re: [gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[Mick]

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On Friday 23 Sep 2011 13:58:22 Michael Mol wrote:
> On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 7:42 AM, Jonas de Buhr <jonas.de.buhr@gmx.net> 
wrote:
> >>What I'd like to do is drop the stage3 and Portage snapshots onto the
> >>ISO before burning, but I've never done anything with mastering
> >>bootable discs. Could someone provide me with some pointers?
> >>
> > http://lmgtfy.com/?q=build+your+own+live+cd+gentoo
> 
> Not so useful, thanks. Google fails me regularly. Personalized
> searches are getting to be a real sore spot for me; not just mine, but
> those of people pointing me at Google assuming my searches for the
> same keywords will get the same results. Particular grating is when
> someone sends me a link to a search, then the link to what I was
> looking for, and says something like "first hit". My first *page*
> didn't even have that link on it.
> 
> /rant

This is because Google uses geo-targeting to determine what results you may be 
interested in (assuming your geo-location from your IP address), and 

because of the Google data centre that you are getting connected to (updates 
of search results and their ranking is not instantaneous across the globe), 
and

because if you are logged in to Google (mail, et al) your search history will 
bias the results you may receive, and

because recent searches (whether logged in or not) are cached and will affect 
what you're getting served.


People searching for pubs in the UK are bound to get different results to 
people searching for pubs in Australia.

Of course if you want to search for pubs in Australia while you are browsing 
from the UK things are going to get tricky ...

In such cases you want to add:

The location in the search results:  e.g. pubs + Australia (to filter the UK 
Google results for Australian pubs), or go to www.google.au and then search 
from there for pubs (Australian Google results for pubs).  There could be 
other more sophisticated ways but can't recall them off hand.

Now, if someone sends you a non-lmgtfy.com link you can look at the Google TLD 
to determine the country the results are from and search accordingly.

> > SCNR :P
> 
> shortcircuit:12@serenity~
> Fri Sep 23 08:44 AM
> !501 #1 j0 ?0 $ wtf is scnr
> SCNR: sorry, could not resist
> 
> Ah.
> 
> > alternatively you could use catalyst:
> > http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/catalyst/
> > 
> > or you just mount the iso, modify it, run mkisofs on it and burn it.
> > the mkisofs options you are looking for are -b and -c.
> 
> I knew there was going to be something I wasn't going to know, and it
> looks like the values passed to -b and -c are it.
> 
> I don't want to build a CD from scratch (and doing so looks like it
> would require setting up a fully "generic" box to build). I just want
> to add two files to an existing ISO.
> 
> How would I extract boot_catalog and eltorito_boot_image from an existing
> ISO?

Mount the ISO with loopback and then navigate into it as a normal fs:

# mkdir /mnt/iso
# mount -o loop LiveCD.iso /mnt/iso
# ls -la /mnt/iso
# cp /mnt/iso/some_file
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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[gentoo-user] Re: OT: google search results (was: Modifying LiveCDs)

[Jonas de Buhr]

>This is because Google uses geo-targeting to determine what results
>you may be interested in (assuming your geo-location from your IP
>address), and 

are you sure google uses ip geo-location? the results change a lot if
you just change the TLD or hl=

/jonas

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: OT: google search results (was: Modifying LiveCDs)

[Pandu Poluan]

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On Sep 23, 2011 9:53 PM, "Jonas de Buhr" <jonas.de.buhr@gmx.net> wrote:
>
> >This is because Google uses geo-targeting to determine what results
> >you may be interested in (assuming your geo-location from your IP
> >address), and
>
> are you sure google uses ip geo-location? the results change a lot if
> you just change the TLD or hl=
>
> /jonas
>

It seems like it. Accessing www.google.com in my country always gets me
redirected to www.google.co.id. Unless I login first.

Rgds,

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Re: [gentoo-user] Re: OT: google search results (was: Modifying LiveCDs)

[Walter Dnes]

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 09:58:03PM +0700, Pandu Poluan wrote

> It seems like it. Accessing www.google.com in my country always gets
> me redirected to www.google.co.id. Unless I login first.

  Use http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en  I do that to avoid being
redirected to http://www.google.ca/

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: OT: google search results (was: Modifying LiveCDs)

[Paul Hartman]

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 9:48 AM, Jonas de Buhr <jonas.de.buhr@gmx.net> wrote:
>>This is because Google uses geo-targeting to determine what results
>>you may be interested in (assuming your geo-location from your IP
>>address), and
>
> are you sure google uses ip geo-location? the results change a lot if
> you just change the TLD or hl=

In the US, when I Google search it shows my city and ZIP code
(detected, not always correctly), and allows me to change it, if I
want. It uses this to customize results in search, shopping, maps,
news...

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: OT: google search results (was: Modifying LiveCDs)

[Mick]

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On Friday 23 Sep 2011 15:48:29 Jonas de Buhr wrote:
> >This is because Google uses geo-targeting to determine what results
> >you may be interested in (assuming your geo-location from your IP
> >address), and
> 
> are you sure google uses ip geo-location? the results change a lot if
> you just change the TLD or hl=

Yes it does.  When you change the www.google.TLD you 'force' it to give you 
the results from the specific TLD location.  The results can change a lot if 
location is relevant.

-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Re: OT: google search results (was: Modifying LiveCDs)

[Mick]

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On Friday 23 Sep 2011 17:02:03 Mick wrote:
> On Friday 23 Sep 2011 15:48:29 Jonas de Buhr wrote:
> > >This is because Google uses geo-targeting to determine what results
> > >you may be interested in (assuming your geo-location from your IP
> > >address), and
> > 
> > are you sure google uses ip geo-location? the results change a lot if
> > you just change the TLD or hl=
> 
> Yes it does.  When you change the www.google.TLD you 'force' it to give you
> the results from the specific TLD location.  The results can change a lot
> if location is relevant.

BTW, the hl= just specifies the 'host language' of your browser.  Of course if 
you have set this to e.g. French, then (I think) that the results will be 
listed with priority given to French sites if any are found.

To obtain location specific results you can also use Google's advanced search:

http://www.google.com/advanced_search

and click to expand the link named "Date, usage rights, region, and more" 
where you can choose a preferred country from the dropdown menu for 'Region'.

HTH.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[Michael Mol]

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:33 AM, Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Friday 23 Sep 2011 13:58:22 Michael Mol wrote:
>> /rant
>
> This is because Google uses geo-targeting to determine what results you may be
> interested in (assuming your geo-location from your IP address), and
>
> because of the Google data centre that you are getting connected to (updates
> of search results and their ranking is not instantaneous across the globe),
> and
>
> because if you are logged in to Google (mail, et al) your search history will
> bias the results you may receive, and
>
> because recent searches (whether logged in or not) are cached and will affect
> what you're getting served.
>
>
> People searching for pubs in the UK are bound to get different results to
> people searching for pubs in Australia.
>
> Of course if you want to search for pubs in Australia while you are browsing
> from the UK things are going to get tricky ...
>
> In such cases you want to add:
>
> The location in the search results:  e.g. pubs + Australia (to filter the UK
> Google results for Australian pubs), or go to www.google.au and then search
> from there for pubs (Australian Google results for pubs).  There could be
> other more sophisticated ways but can't recall them off hand.
>
> Now, if someone sends you a non-lmgtfy.com link you can look at the Google TLD
> to determine the country the results are from and search accordingly.

All great info, if I'm looking for a physical location. Yeah, when I'm
looking for the address of a music, I'll search for "the intersection
in Grand Rapids, MI". GeoIP and other details take care of the rest,
and it actually comes up with the place I saw JoCo and TMBG last
weekend.

>> I don't want to build a CD from scratch (and doing so looks like it
>> would require setting up a fully "generic" box to build). I just want
>> to add two files to an existing ISO.
>>
>> How would I extract boot_catalog and eltorito_boot_image from an existing
>> ISO?
>
> Mount the ISO with loopback and then navigate into it as a normal fs:
>
> # mkdir /mnt/iso
> # mount -o loop LiveCD.iso /mnt/iso
> # ls -la /mnt/iso
> # cp /mnt/iso/some_file

Loopbacks are easy enough. I wasn't sure that the files in question
were going to be on the filesystem, or were somewhere else in the ISO
image. I was thinking analogously to boot sectors on floppy disks and
hard disks; some data isn't directly visible on a filesystem.


> --
> Regards,
> Mick
>



-- 
:wq

Re: [gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[Jonas de Buhr]

>> http://lmgtfy.com/?q=build+your+own+live+cd+gentoo
>
>Not so useful, thanks. Google fails me regularly. Personalized
>searches are getting to be a real sore spot for me; not just mine, but
>those of people pointing me at Google assuming my searches for the
>same keywords will get the same results. Particular grating is when
>someone sends me a link to a search, then the link to what I was
>looking for, and says something like "first hit". My first *page*
>didn't even have that link on it.

well... i didn't know if it was ok to post links to unofficial gentoo
resources on this list which is why i went with the search. 
i also meant to point out that what you are looking for is fairly
common knowledge and that you can easily find all the information you
need with a simple search query. and i assumed that you would be
capable to find the one search result that does describe all you need
to know in the first 5 hits. i even checked that it is in there in
different google TLDs and with different hl= options.

>> alternatively you could use catalyst:
>> http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/catalyst/
>>
>> or you just mount the iso, modify it, run mkisofs on it and burn it.
>> the mkisofs options you are looking for are -b and -c.
>
>I knew there was going to be something I wasn't going to know, and it
>looks like the values passed to -b and -c are it.

again, the hint you maybe didn't get was: you will have to do some of
the work yourself. 

>I don't want to build a CD from scratch (and doing so looks like it
>would require setting up a fully "generic" box to build). I just want 
>to add two files to an existing ISO.
>
>How would I extract boot_catalog and eltorito_boot_image from an
>existing ISO?

you can actually omit -c i think. use isolinux.bin (should be on the
livecd) as boot image.

Re: [gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[Michael Mol]

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:37 AM, Jonas de Buhr <jonas.de.buhr@gmx.net> wrote:
>>> http://lmgtfy.com/?q=build+your+own+live+cd+gentoo
>>
>>Not so useful, thanks. Google fails me regularly. Personalized
>>searches are getting to be a real sore spot for me; not just mine, but
>>those of people pointing me at Google assuming my searches for the
>>same keywords will get the same results. Particular grating is when
>>someone sends me a link to a search, then the link to what I was
>>looking for, and says something like "first hit". My first *page*
>>didn't even have that link on it.
>
> well... i didn't know if it was ok to post links to unofficial gentoo
> resources on this list which is why i went with the search.

Posting direct links should be absolutely fine, IMO. My fiancee shares
my frustrations with LMGTFY responses; she'll google for a phrase, and
the first few results will be forum and newsgroup mirrors of threads
along the lines of:

"How do I do $x"
"Google for "$phrase_just_googled_for"

>
>>> alternatively you could use catalyst:
>>> http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/catalyst/
>>>
>>> or you just mount the iso, modify it, run mkisofs on it and burn it.
>>> the mkisofs options you are looking for are -b and -c.
>>
>>I knew there was going to be something I wasn't going to know, and it
>>looks like the values passed to -b and -c are it.
>
> again, the hint you maybe didn't get was: you will have to do some of
> the work yourself.

If I wasn't willing to do some of the work myself, I wouldn't be using
Gentoo. I'd be using Ubuntu. Or wearign diapers. Thanks.

>
>>I don't want to build a CD from scratch (and doing so looks like it
>>would require setting up a fully "generic" box to build). I just want
>>to add two files to an existing ISO.
>>
>>How would I extract boot_catalog and eltorito_boot_image from an
>>existing ISO?
>
> you can actually omit -c i think. use isolinux.bin (should be on the
> livecd) as boot image.

Huh. Ok; when I glanced through the man page for mkisofs, I got the
impression that the files added by -b and -c wouldn't appear on the
filesystem. I don't know how El Torido actually works, at the ISO
level, I only know it's something like a bootable floppy image that a
capable BIOS loads and executes.

-- 
:wq

Re: [gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[Pandu Poluan]

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On Sep 23, 2011 9:42 PM, "Jonas de Buhr" <jonas.de.buhr@gmx.net> wrote:
>
> >> http://lmgtfy.com/?q=build+your+own+live+cd+gentoo
> >
> >Not so useful, thanks. Google fails me regularly. Personalized
> >searches are getting to be a real sore spot for me; not just mine, but
> >those of people pointing me at Google assuming my searches for the
> >same keywords will get the same results. Particular grating is when
> >someone sends me a link to a search, then the link to what I was
> >looking for, and says something like "first hit". My first *page*
> >didn't even have that link on it.
>
> well... i didn't know if it was ok to post links to unofficial gentoo
> resources on this list which is why i went with the search.

Well, IMHO the principle here is:

"If you're not against us, then you're our ally."

(That is, unofficial sites are okay. In fact, unavoidable since the official
sites have the additional burden of having to be bug-free and/or thoroughly
tested)

Rgds,

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[gentoo-user] Re: Modifying LiveCDs

[James]

Michael Mol <mikemol <at> gmail.com> writes:


> What I'd like to do is drop the stage3 and Portage snapshots onto the
> ISO before burning, but I've never done anything with mastering
> bootable discs. Could someone provide me with some pointers?

> (I don't strictly need to put it all one one disc; it's just an
> opportunity to learn some more about systems through application)

Catalyst was the tool of choice; it's in portage.

Personally, I'd track down the guy (name eludes me) that put
together the liveDVD-11.2, as I recall he is very smart
and friendly. Seek his opinion on your tasks.
;-) 

He can cut through advise from this group and give you
the straight skinny....

Do drop us a line where your offering is posted.



just a thought.

hth,
James

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Modifying LiveCDs

[Michael Mol]

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 12:34 PM, James <wireless@tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> Michael Mol <mikemol <at> gmail.com> writes:
>
>
>> What I'd like to do is drop the stage3 and Portage snapshots onto the
>> ISO before burning, but I've never done anything with mastering
>> bootable discs. Could someone provide me with some pointers?
>
>> (I don't strictly need to put it all one one disc; it's just an
>> opportunity to learn some more about systems through application)
>
> Catalyst was the tool of choice; it's in portage.
>
> Personally, I'd track down the guy (name eludes me) that put
> together the liveDVD-11.2, as I recall he is very smart
> and friendly. Seek his opinion on your tasks.
> ;-)
>
> He can cut through advise from this group and give you
> the straight skinny....

I figured I'd ask here, because this is the densest collection of
knowledgeable people I've ever encountered. LMGTFY is just a hot
button for me.

>
> Do drop us a line where your offering is posted.

Was only planning to do a one-off, but if I can put together a script
to automate it--and hopefully that doesn't result in reinventing
catalyst--I'll drop a link to it.

-- 
:wq

Re: [gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[Mark Knecht]

On Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 7:15 PM, Michael Mol <mikemol@gmail.com> wrote:
> So I'm about to play with installing Gentoo on another system.
>
> Now, the ritual goes, grab the ISO, burn the ISO, grab the latest
> stage3, the latest Portage, and go to town.
>
> What I'd like to do is drop the stage3 and Portage snapshots onto the
> ISO before burning, but I've never done anything with mastering
> bootable discs. Could someone provide me with some pointers?
>
> (I don't strictly need to put it all one one disc; it's just an
> opportunity to learn some more about systems through application)
>
> --
> :wq

OK - I'll take a different pov for fun. Consider using Windows... ;-O

Sounds like a lot of work for a 1-off Linux install. Normally I
download the tar files to another machine and then scp them over once
the disks are partitioned and have a file system on them.

Anyway, I completely understand wanting to do this. I've never had a
need to do it for Gentoo and I'm sure there are some Linux tools out
there for authoring the iso file. I have had to do this in the Windows
world where my old XP install CD doesn't have the right drivers &
service packs and because of hardware configurations wouldn't allow
ejecting the Windows disk to get the drivers necessary for the new
machine's install. There are some programs in the Windows world that
do this sort of thing quite effectively. The term to Google is
'slipstreaming'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipstream_%28computing%29

One I just Googled is IsoBuster. It looks interesting.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/slipstreaming-windows-xp-to-create-bootable-cd/

I'm pretty certain you could even slipstream the Gentoo disk using a
Windows VM running on Gentoo. Might be fun to try if you don't have a
real Windows machine hanging around. I'm not certain whether these
Windows programs would run under Wine but that's another way to go if
you don't find what you want natively in Linux or don't want to spend
the time getting down & dirty with all this iso stuff.

HTH,
Mark

Re: [gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[Michael Mol]

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 1:13 PM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 7:15 PM, Michael Mol <mikemol@gmail.com> wrote:
>> So I'm about to play with installing Gentoo on another system.
>>
>> Now, the ritual goes, grab the ISO, burn the ISO, grab the latest
>> stage3, the latest Portage, and go to town.
>>
>> What I'd like to do is drop the stage3 and Portage snapshots onto the
>> ISO before burning, but I've never done anything with mastering
>> bootable discs. Could someone provide me with some pointers?
>>
>> (I don't strictly need to put it all one one disc; it's just an
>> opportunity to learn some more about systems through application)
>
> OK - I'll take a different pov for fun. Consider using Windows... ;-O

Heh. That's the day job. This is skill-building. :)

>
> Sounds like a lot of work for a 1-off Linux install. Normally I
> download the tar files to another machine and then scp them over once
> the disks are partitioned and have a file system on them.

Yup, that's what I normally do, too. As I said, though, this is skill-building.

>
> Anyway, I completely understand wanting to do this. I've never had a
> need to do it for Gentoo and I'm sure there are some Linux tools out
> there for authoring the iso file. I have had to do this in the Windows
> world where my old XP install CD doesn't have the right drivers &
> service packs and because of hardware configurations wouldn't allow
> ejecting the Windows disk to get the drivers necessary for the new
> machine's install. There are some programs in the Windows world that
> do this sort of thing quite effectively. The term to Google is
> 'slipstreaming'.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipstream_%28computing%29
>
> One I just Googled is IsoBuster. It looks interesting.
>
> http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/slipstreaming-windows-xp-to-create-bootable-cd/
>
> I'm pretty certain you could even slipstream the Gentoo disk using a
> Windows VM running on Gentoo. Might be fun to try if you don't have a
> real Windows machine hanging around. I'm not certain whether these
> Windows programs would run under Wine but that's another way to go if
> you don't find what you want natively in Linux or don't want to spend
> the time getting down & dirty with all this iso stuff.

Yeah, I've got a coworker who's done slipstream install discs for our
Windows VMs in the past. That got a little easier with VMWare
templates, though.


Anyway, thanks for the replies.

-- 
:wq

Re: [gentoo-user] Modifying LiveCDs

[Mark Knecht]

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:51 AM, Michael Mol <mikemol@gmail.com> wrote:
<SNIP>
> Yeah, I've got a coworker who's done slipstream install discs for our
> Windows VMs in the past. That got a little easier with VMWare
> templates, though.
>

Cool. I haven't heard of these. Something new for me to check out.

Thanks,
Mark