- This topic has 19 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated Jul 24-6:04 pm by iznit.
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olsztyn
First I want to be understood:
Unmatched value of antiX is that it is resource efficient and flexible, with easy to use tools needed to assemble and maintain individual customized instances. Due to the fact that all these factors are found in one place is IMHO uncommon in Linux world and makes antiX very suitable for Live implementations, where such antiX Live USB stick can be plugged into any machine and it just works well and fast.
The above was my understanding and experience. However the lesson I have just been taught, as reported in the following thread, indicates I took too much for granted, and that keeping backup copies at multiple stages of making changes is critical:So, Live-USB-Maker is a great tool as it is (I am not complaining at all) but the lesson I learned uncovers a wrinkle which seems to prompt a question: How to dependably clone a Live USB.
Live-USB antiX instance created on one machine may run fine another machine (although different video card) but if you clone (from running system) on the second machine such clone may not run correctly on the first machine.
What I realize in trying to understand this surprising phenomenon is that cloning ‘from running system’ is not the same as cloning USB stick. Since booting on the second machine may result in running system with different video driver configuration due to different video card, such ‘clone from running system’ may inherit video driver configuration of the cloning machine and booting such ‘cloned’ instance on the first (original) machine the may not work, such as not load correctly the original Nouveau driver.
Now this is only my conjecture of this malfunctioning, so I may be wrong in such interpretation…
However, if LUM ‘clone from running system’ does not maintain universality and may result in USB stick that may not be usable as the original was, then the important question is:
So, is there a way to produce a faithful and dependable clone of the antiX Live-USB so it would be working exactly as the original?
Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks and Regards…Live antiX Boot Options (Previously posted by Xecure):
https://antixlinuxfan.miraheze.org/wiki/Table_of_antiX_Boot_Parameters
Brian Masinick
It’s possible to physically copy an entire media using a UNIX and Linux tool called dd.
Our Live USB tools may incorporate some or all of this capability but I have not explored their full potential capability.
If you have several open USB ports you may be able to copy directly from one media device to another.
Failing that you can copy in place from media to disk and back to another device.
The low level dd command definitely has the ability to do this but you do have to be very careful with it’s use. If you get the syntax wrong you can write over something important or wipe something clean.
Sidebar:. dd is an excellent tool to clean a system; it can zero out data, put all 0 or one on an entire device so it’s extremely powerful and therefore requires understanding and respect to use it properly. Don’t use it until you know that it works and how it works. Despite it’s power the syntax is reasonable to learn; I’m simply issuing a caution about what can happen if it’s not used correctly.
Plenty of good documentation on the Internet about it and I recommend getting comfortable with the proper way to use it.
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Brian MasinickThanks very much for the suggestion. The importance of such capability will make me become familiar with this tool, of course…
I understand you mean dd command line and not dd method on Live-USB-Maker, which I think would still carry the host system video configuration of the cloned ‘running system’ to target stick…
Regards…- This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by olsztyn.
Live antiX Boot Options (Previously posted by Xecure):
https://antixlinuxfan.miraheze.org/wiki/Table_of_antiX_Boot_ParametersBobC
Why not just keep a copy of the original ISO so you can burn a fresh copy of the original if needed?
Why not just keep a copy of the original ISO so you can burn a fresh copy of the original if needed?
Live USB instance to be cloned is composed to include all kinds of customization and software as well as updates. Using the original ISO would mean to rebuild from scratch each time, which is quite time consuming.
If there was a way to create ISO image from such carefully composed Live-USB, that would be a good solution. I was hoping to use ISO Snapshot for this but having tested it does not exactly work the required way.
I remember anti mentioned at some point in the past when I was testing ISO Snapshot for this purpose that is is meant to be for snapshotting installed systems, not Live.Live antiX Boot Options (Previously posted by Xecure):
https://antixlinuxfan.miraheze.org/wiki/Table_of_antiX_Boot_ParametersYes, I am suggesting having a master system installed and keeping it up to date, and generating a new ISO to distribute from it periodically, and then burning copies of it.
Anyway, that’s how I do it here.
Yes, I am suggesting having a master system installed and keeping it up to date, and generating a new ISO to distribute from it periodically, and then burning copies of it.
Anyway, that’s how I do it here.
Are you saying it works for you? You mean you can Snapshot ISO from installed system and use such ISO to create Live USB?
I would be very interested how it can be done…
I know I can use Frugal for that and treat such Frugal as Master system to generate Live USB instances using Live USB Maker. I did not know I could make ISO Snapshot to accomplish this from installed system though…
In any case ISO Snapshot would be great if it could be used for backing up Live instances…Live antiX Boot Options (Previously posted by Xecure):
https://antixlinuxfan.miraheze.org/wiki/Table_of_antiX_Boot_ParametersI have a “master” for 486 and one for x64. I keep a few older copies of each in case of trouble, and to be exact, before I make changes, I do a snapshot. The system seems to be designed to work from general ones, not personal. That means needing the /etc/skel folder setup correctly or doing something separately with /home like using aptik or other backup/restore system.
Once my changes are done and tested, I create an iso file. I then burn the iso file to a USB 3.0 SSD. This takes less than 5 minutes total for both steps.
I can then install that on another system (possibly as a frugal install) or use is as a live flashdrive. I can create those for as many machines as I like.
I think you need to experiment and figure out what will work for your situations.
- This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by BobC.
Once my changes are done and tested, I create an iso file. I then burn the iso file to a USB 3.0 SSD. This takes less than 5 minutes total for both steps.
I can then install that on another system (possibly as a frugal install) or use is as a live flashdrive.
Thanks for the info on process you are using…
I have two questions:
– What are you using to burn ISO Snapshot to USB? Rufus?
– When you are referring to using such burned to USB SSD ISO as being used as Live, is this in fact Live or this is an installed on USB system? As far as my understanding is there is a big difference, such as Live architecture is primarily read from USB, to minimize writes to only necessary and requested, while Installed on USB system acts the same way as installed on hard drive or SATA connected SSD, so free to do unlimited writes as typical for installed system. Also installed system is much larger as it is not compressed, while Live and Frugal are highly compressed, the advantage being to minimize writes and keeping stable size. In your case you are using SSD, so writes do not matter much though…
I noticed that the terminology ‘Live’ is often used for installed systems on USB whether they are actually Live of Installed architecture…
In any case thanks and Regards. I will resume trying ISO Snapshot for Live architecture, which was not successful in the past for me but getting pretty close…Live antiX Boot Options (Previously posted by Xecure):
https://antixlinuxfan.miraheze.org/wiki/Table_of_antiX_Boot_ParametersI create the iso from the control centre iso snapshot option
I burn it with the control centre live usb maker
I did try running from usb with persistence and running from frugal. Nothing really wrong with them, but you need to make sure how you do it works for your situation/needs.
- This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by BobC.
I create the iso from the control centre iso snapshot option
I burn it with the control centre live usb maker
Thank you! This is the specifics I was looking for…
Thanks and Regards…Live antiX Boot Options (Previously posted by Xecure):
https://antixlinuxfan.miraheze.org/wiki/Table_of_antiX_Boot_ParametersOn the create iso is where you need to decide general or personal. If you say general, no user ids or data get copied, so what is in /etc/skel determine what will be in the user’s home directory when its installed.
On the create iso is where you need to decide general or personal. If you say general, no user ids or data get copied, so what is in /etc/skel determine what will be in the user’s home directory when its installed.
Understood. Thanks again.
Live antiX Boot Options (Previously posted by Xecure):
https://antixlinuxfan.miraheze.org/wiki/Table_of_antiX_Boot_ParametersModdIt
Hi all, maybe of some help.
on creating Personal ISO, then running from stick I have often been unable to login with user credentials,
this has happened to users who reported that ISO creation would not work.
After I asked if anyone had been backing up their work and school systems by the way, so most had no backup or were unable to get it running live correctly. Bad.Yesterday I had a minor problem with getting icewm to run. The system Started with fluxbox and refused to change
to ICEWM.First thought was a problem with the ISO creation, I did get the warning it was too big to boot depending on BIOS. When I looked at the ISO with a file manager my home was present as expected.
I was able to login as root but not as user, after using the passwd command to set my user password with bash in fluxbox. (Right click on desktop gave me a menu on otherwise naked screen).
On reboot I was able to login with my username and all customization usable.
- This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by ModdIt.
Yesterday I had a minor problem with getting icewm to run. The system Started with fluxbox and refused to change
to ICEWM.Well, perhaps ISO Snapshot is smarter than expected and automatically chooses the best possible window manager for you…
Jokes aside, I had experienced some idiosyncrasies of ISO Snapshot the way it works with Live instances, as I reported some time earlier this year, but in light of some encouraging results reported by BobC in this thread I want to revisit testing of ISO Snapshot for Live USB, so afresh I understand under what conditions it can be made dependable and what are the limitations.
Perhaps this is triggered by discovery that output of Live-USB-Maker cloning from running system appears to be affected by machine on which you run it, as reported in a separate thread…
So cloning a Live system seems requiring my better understanding of these tools…Live antiX Boot Options (Previously posted by Xecure):
https://antixlinuxfan.miraheze.org/wiki/Table_of_antiX_Boot_Parameters
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