- This topic has 28 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated Nov 9-2:57 pm by Brian Masinick.
-
Posts
-
Anonymous
Could this be related to a snapshot? Or maybe when you save the boot parameters, Switch to grub disapears?
As a followup test, I booted the 19.3-from-snapshot ISO, and created another (2nd generation) snapshot iso.
Within the iso-snapshot workflow, I did not choose a custom name this time.
When booting the 2nd-gen ISO, “switch to grub bootloader” is correctly displayed.
The namestring in the default bootmenu entry is (again, still) just “antiX”> when you save the boot parameters
In virtualbox, can I even test this permutation?
When livebooting in virtualbox, the F8 Save option is absent
(expected to be absent b/c we are emulating a liveCD boot scenario)
Xecure
When livebooting in virtualbox, the F8 Save option is absent
(expected to be absent b/c we are emulating a liveCD boot scenario)I just tested this out on my laptop, and after making changes in Legacy bootloader and saving (F8), after rebooting I still can see “Switch to Grub Bootloader”.
I think the other possibility is that a previous snapshot version could be to blame. I never realized if there was any problem before as all my remaining computers are UEFI systems.
Maybe rayluo can tell us how he created his live system, and if it comes from a snapshot or from live USB created with Live USB maker or some other tool.antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.
rayluo
Thanks for keeping the momentum on investigating, gentlemen!
the DATE shown in bootmenu misled me to think that was a pristine 19.2 iso, but it was not. It was a 19.2 iso created via isosnapshot.
Water over the bridge ~~ whatever was what back in 19.2, I retested using fresh 19.3, created a fresh snapshot iso and booted that. Yes, the “switch to grub bootloader” menu entry is displayed, even booting the snapshot iso,
Skidoo, did you mean that, creating an ISO snapshot with or without the custom name, would cause that “switch to grub bootloader” menu entry to appear or disappear? 😮 And, by “custom name”, did you mean the filename you chose when saving the ISO snapshot?
I haven’t used the ISO snapshot tool since last 4+ months, so I am not currently sure, but I believe the default ISO filename contains a YYYYmmddHHMMSS pattern, and then I did change it into a more meaningful (to me) “gvmcf” suffix.
I just tested this out on my laptop, and after making changes in Legacy bootloader and saving (F8), after rebooting I still can see “Switch to Grub Bootloader”.
I think the other possibility is that a previous snapshot version could be to blame. I never realized if there was any problem before as all my remaining computers are UEFI systems.
Maybe rayluo can tell us how he created his live system, and if it comes from a snapshot or from live USB created with Live USB maker or some other tool.My liveUSB is NOT from the official ISO. It is from my customized snapshot. But my customization process is straightforward, and probably reproducible.
1. When the then-new antiX 19.2 version comes out, I would download its official ISO, and then use the liveUSB tool of my existing antiX (typically the prior version, such as 19.1), to create a pristine antiX 19.2 liveUSB. Use it to reboot my computer.
2. I probably just plug in an ethernet cable, in order to avoid the possibility of creating-and-leaving some WiFi settings into the new ISO snapshot that I’m going to make.
3. Install the very few tools that I need: Git, Vim, Mosh, Chromium, Flash plugin, and tmux.
4. Create a snapshot immediately. Gives it a filename suffix “gvmcf”. (Was that the culprit?)
5. Run the liveUSB maker immediately, using the newly created ISO snapshot. Now, this is the first time and the last time I use the official antiX 19.2 ISO. From now on, I only use those customized liveUSB on my several computers.
6. In my subsequent usage, I would sometimes do F8-Save some settings to the liveUSB.I’ll attach a picture of my liveUSB’s boot menu.
Attachments:
Skidoo, did you mean
I suggest we not attempt to test and/or troubleshoot using 19.2
> creating an ISO snapshot with or without the custom name,
> would cause that “switch to grub bootloader” menu entry to appearTesting on 19.3, “switch to grub bootloader” was successfully present on every test variation.
> by “custom name”, did you mean the filename you chose when saving the ISO snapshot?
Yes, by editing YYYYmmddHHMMSS in the entrybox displayed within the iso-snaphot dialog.
Regardless the specified namestring, it is rejected and the resulting bootmenu entry label displays a fallback “antiX” string (without datetime)rayluo
I suggest we not attempt to test and/or troubleshoot using 19.2
> creating an ISO snapshot with or without the custom name,
> would cause that “switch to grub bootloader” menu entry to appearTesting on 19.3, “switch to grub bootloader” was successfully present on every test variation.
Sure, I’ll pick up antiX 19.3 sooner or later anyway, so, it is fine to do it now. And, 2+ hours later, the test result is – drum rolls – indecisive.
* I download official antiX 19.3 64 bit full and net ISO, and 19.3 32 bit net ISO. And I even managed to find and download the official antiX 19.2 32 bit full and net ISO. When booting, they ALL present that menu entry “Switch to Grub Bootloader”. So, it is not about the antiX version. And it is likely something during my ISO snapshot creation procedure.
* Then I use my same procedure to create a new customized 19.3 ISO snapshot:1. Download official antiX 19.3 64 bit full ISO, create a pristine antiX 19.3 liveUSB. Use it to reboot my computer.
2. It is probably unnecessary, but I still plug in an ethernet cable, in order to avoid creating-and-leaving some WiFi settings into the new ISO snapshot that I’m going to make.
3. Install the very few tools that I need: Git, Vim, Mosh, Chromium.
4. Create a snapshot immediately. Gives it a filename suffix “gvmc”.
5. Run the liveUSB maker immediately, using the newly created custom ISO snapshot, and create my customized liveUSB.
6. However, the LiveUSB maker would FAIL withFATAL ERROR: Failed to open exclude file "/usr/local/share/excludes/iso-snapshot-exclude.list" because No such file or directory. I never saw this happened before during my 2+ years with antiX liveUSB maker, but I managed to bypass it, by manually copying an existing remaster-snapshot-exclude.list into iso-snapshot-exclude.list and then liveUSB maker becomes happy.
7. Reboot with the new customized liveUSB.Guess what?
* No “Switch to Grub Bootloader” is displayed. (This is not really a surprise to me now.)
* And then I chose the first menu entry, trying to simply boot the new customized antiX 19.3. Now I see something I do NOT expect:Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0) ...and the my computer halts.
Feel free to redo my steps above, to keep me honest.
I guess I’d have to stick with my otherwise battle-tested 19.2 customized liveUSB for a longer time.
anticapitalista
You need the latest versions of iso-snapshot-antix and iso-template-antix. See known issues from the release notes: antix-19-3-manolis-glezos-bug-fix-upgrade-isos-available
If you edit /etc/iso-snapshot.conf, and change edit_boot_menu=no to yes, then during the snapshot proedure, a popup appears for user to add the title of the snapshot (plus some other things). Is this broken, skidoo?
Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.
antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.
Xecure
I guess I’d have to stick with my otherwise battle-tested 19.2 customized liveUSB for a longer time.
You can always update and remaster and keep using the 19.2 version now fully updated.
Beware of new firmware updates, in case it creates a regression.About the snapshot issue, I don’t know how to solve (probably anticapitalista’s suggestion), but on the live USB issue, you can simply edit /live/boot-dev/boot/ and replace/edit some of the files there.
I would replace the grub folder with the one on antiX 19.2 iso and add the “switch to Grub bootloader” entry to syslinux/isolinux, copying it from the syslinux/isolinux config (or simply replace the whole boot folder. Justin case, make a backup).antiX Live system enthusiast.
General Live Boot Parameters for antiX.anticapitalista
About the snapshot issue, I don’t know how to solve (probably anticapitalista’s suggestion), but on the live USB issue, you can simply edit /live/boot-dev/boot/ and replace/edit some of the files there.
I would replace the grub folder with the one on antiX 19.2 iso and add the “switch to Grub bootloader” entry to syslinux/isolinux, copying it from the syslinux/isolinux config (or simply replace the whole boot folder. Justin case, make a backup).The latest iso-template-antix includes the bootloader stuff.
Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.
antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.
If you edit /etc/iso-snapshot.conf, and change edit_boot_menu=no to yes, then during the snapshot procedure, a popup appears for user to add the title of the snapshot (plus some other things). Is this broken, skidoo?
It is working perfectly.
I had forgotten the requirement to edit the .conf file
rayluo
You need the latest versions of iso-snapshot-antix and iso-template-antix. See known issues from the release notes: antix-19-3-manolis-glezos-bug-fix-upgrade-isos-available
Thanks for the hint. But, I got another question/problem. How does the iso-snapshot-antix upgrade work (or not work)?
Late last night when I read your message above, I tentatively ran “Start Menu -> Appliications -> antiX -> antiX Updater” (or perhaps I ran “sudo apt upgrade”, and then I did see iso-snapshot-antix 0.3.21 available. Right now I’m trying to do the same thing, for real, but it says “iso-snapshot-antix is already the newest version (0.3.19)”. Is it because the following error message during
apt update?E: Release file for http://la.mxrepo.com/antix/buster/dists/buster/InRelease is not valid yet (invalid for another 4h 55min 45s). Updates for this repository will not be applied.Does this happen often?
anticapitalista
No it doesn’t happen often. Try again.
Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.
antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.
Brian Masinick
@rayloo: There can be differences in the length of time it takes to refresh and update our various repository sites around the world, and that can be due to a variety of circumstances, for example, the network load between our primary site that transfers to the other repositories, relaying updates from a group of primary repositories, one or more repositories or sites where the repositories reside that are offline for planned or unplanned maintenance, any unplanned failures, and there could be other reasons.
I think there were a few issues on a few of our repositories. The note documented the details; what I have mentioned are “potential” things that could happen to any network location; they are usually reliable, but seeing that happen once every 3-4 years could be possible; it shouldn’t happen often and if it does, something in that particular location would need to be either fixed or upgraded. These are just my opinions, based on past experiences working with enterprise grade infrastructures. Failures are not common, but even the best equipment will eventually fail. How well the redundancy, repair and recovery plans are determine whether people will even notice a failure. In financial service networks, it’s rare to even spot a failure UNLESS you are a network engineer in financial services. In free networks with donated equipment, you might occasional see a failure, outage, or information disruption; again, not a common event, but the older the equipment is and the less redundancy present the more likely an event will affect the service.
--
Brian Masinickrayluo
Well then, I’m not in a hurry, so I can wait. Meanhile, it seems that “4 hour 55min” countdown is not intermitten. And in fact, the “apt update” emits another 3~4 errors/countdowns for some other repositories. That would mean hours-long downtime for the entire community, wouldn’t it? Brian you can also try run “apt update” (even if you won’t be intend to install anything), and see if you meet the same error.By the way, it turns out, the current “apt update” error is only on antiX 64 bit. My another machine running antiX 19.2 32bit can run “apt update” without error.(UPDATED from my prior post, with latest test result.)
That “4 hour 55 min” countdown is not intermittent. So, that is a many-hours downtime for the entire community.
1. 5 hours later, I successfully ran “apt upgrade” which includes the latest iso-snapshot-antix and its template.
2. I also edit /etc/iso-snapshot.conf, and change edit_boot_menu=no to yes, then during the snapshot procedure, a popup appears for user to edit the boot menu of the snapshot. I can see the last menu entry is already “switch to grub bootloader”, so I did not need to add or change anything, and I just altered the overall menu title from “Welcome to antiX” to my personalized greeting message.Upon next reboot, I noticed that:
* The “switch to grub bootloader” menu item does show up, finally. Yay! My guess is only step 1 i.e. upgrading the distro (which includes iso-snapshot-antix and its template) would be sufficient for this fix. Not sure whether step 2 i.e. edit_boot_menu=yes is also relevant, but I don’t bother spend another hour to build yet another snapshot to test. So, this “Boot Recovery” topic is considered to have a happy ending from my side, too. 🙂 (The actual Boot Recovery functionality seems not as helpful as I thought, though, but that is a different topic anyway.)
* The overall boot menu title is simply “antix”, not “Welcome to antiX”, nor my personalized title. So, step 2 above seems ineffective, too. But that is not a big deal. Just a FYI here.
All in all, thanks Anticapitalista, Skidoo, Xecure, Brian and the community for all your guidance! I’m now on board to 19.3. 🙂
Brian Masinick
I used the same repo this morning to update one of my antiX instances and all is back to normal. My system is working well.
--
Brian Masinick
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
