Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Daniel Frey]

On 02/18/18 12:25, Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 11:10:38 -0800, Daniel Frey wrote:
> 
>> I started moving away from Grub2 mostly because on my EFI computers it
>> was booting in blind mode so you couldn't see what was going on while
>> booting.
> 
> I moved away from it on my EFI computers simply because I could!
>  
>> The thing I hate is that the grub2 configuration generator generates
>> 5000 line config files and if it doesn't do exactly what you want it's a
>> real pain in the arse to do something simple like rename a loader entry.
> 
>> So I've been making my own config files that are much more brief.
> 
> The generators are only shell scripts. I wrote my own which generate
> much shorter configs that do what I want, and removed the executable bit
> on the original scripts.
>  
> 

Well, just an update. refind wasn't using the video properly in my NUC
either, but after a couple hours of messing around I found a solution
that doesn't boot in blind mode (i.e. I can actually see the text
console when it boots up.) This is a manual config that is easy to
maintain, not the godawful config the scripts generate.

Thought I'd share it.

Dan

 grub.cfg 
timeout=5
default=0

# Declare where the Grub modules are located
set prefix=(hd0,gpt2)/grub

# Load EFI video drivers. This device is EFI so keep the
# video mode while booting the linux kernel.
insmod efi_gop
insmod font
if loadfont ${prefix}/fonts/unicode.pf2
then
insmod gfxterm
set gfxmode=auto
set gfxpayload=keep
terminal_output gfxterm
fi

# Declare boot entries below this line
menuentry 'Gentoo 4.9.95' {
root=hd0,gpt2
linux /boot/kernel-4.9.95-gentoo quiet root=/dev/sda4
}

Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Frank Steinmetzger]

On Sun, Feb 18, 2018 at 07:11:23PM -0600, R0b0t1 wrote:

> >> Please be careful, sir! The SysRescCD releases are not signed. The
> >> Russians might be able to get you!
> >
> > That's not really an issue as neither Peter nor I is able to vote in US
> > elections ;-)
> >
> 
> Not to take the joke too far, but they're funding political groups all
> over Europe.

Pff...
And you think the other side™ does not? Of course, their interference into
the internal affairs of other states is "only for the good cause", as some
high-level shmuck recently testified.

-- 
Gruß | Greetings | Qapla’
Please do not share anything from, with or about me on any social network.

The problem with FORTRAN jokes is that they never fit into a single li


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Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Neil Bothwick]

On Mon, 19 Feb 2018 07:10:03 +0200, zless wrote:

> On top of that my nvme disk is not seen in the busybox recovery shell 
> in order to try to manually mount the encrypted container.
> I think the nvme things are modules inside the initrd and 
> that doesn't get loaded.

If you're in busybox the initramfs must have been loaded. Are the modules
you need in there? With dracut you can use lsinitrd to check the
contents. If so, maybe you need to modprobe them.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

"There are some ideas so idiotic that only an intellectual could believe
them" George Orwell


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Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[zless]

În ziua de duminică, 18 februarie 2018, la 20:09:33 EET, Neil Bothwick a scris:
> I mount the sysrescd ISO and copy these files to /boot/sysrescd
> 
> initram.igz
> rescue64
> sysrcd.dat
> sysrcd.md5
> version
> 
> The entry for systemd-boot is
> 
> title System Rescue Cd 5.2.0
> version   5.2.0
> linux /sysrescd/rescue64
> options   subdir=sysrescd setkmap=uk rootpass=XXX
> initrd/sysrescd/initram.igz


Wow, thank you or this. I wouldn't have thought to do it.

I was about to give up because I found the culprit: 
full disk encryption (including /boot).

The way I see it: grub will ask for the password and will load the kernel 
but after that the bootup scripts won't account that the iso is hidden inside
a luks container.

On top of that my nvme disk is not seen in the busybox recovery shell 
in order to try to manually mount the encrypted container.
I think the nvme things are modules inside the initrd and 
that doesn't get loaded.

Anyway back to work for another day thanks to your suggestion ;)

Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[R0b0t1]

On Sun, Feb 18, 2018 at 10:50 AM, Neil Bothwick  wrote:
> On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 09:55:01 -0600, R0b0t1 wrote:
>
>> >> There's also a way to boot systemrescuecd from a bootloader that
>> >> doesn't support ISO loading, like the systemd UEFI boot manager (aka
>> >> gummiboot).
>> >
>> > I just plug in the SysRescCD USB-3 stick.
>> >
>> > Much less complication  ;)
>> >
>> > --
>> > Regards,
>> > Peter.
>> >
>> >
>>
>> Please be careful, sir! The SysRescCD releases are not signed. The
>> Russians might be able to get you!
>
> That's not really an issue as neither Peter nor I is able to vote in US
> elections ;-)
>

Not to take the joke too far, but they're funding political groups all
over Europe.

Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Peter Humphrey]

On Sunday, 18 February 2018 15:13:52 GMT Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 14:32:54 +, Peter Humphrey wrote:
> > > You can also add extra boot options, like setting the keymap to avoid
> > > the boot process pausing to ask for your choice.
> > > 
> > > There's also a way to boot systemrescuecd from a bootloader that
> > > doesn't support ISO loading, like the systemd UEFI boot manager (aka
> > > gummiboot).
> > 
> > I just plug in the SysRescCD USB-3 stick.
> > 
> > Much less complication  ;)
> 
> If you can find the USB stick when you need it. This way sysrescd is
> always available without having to sift through all the rubbish on my
> desk.
> 
> And yes, I prefer a scripted solution to actually tidying my desk ;-)

I get my desk tidied for me every fortnight, like it or not, when my cleaner 
organises me. Ir seems not to have occurred to her that the reason that 
everything is always in the same place when she comes it that that's where I 
want it.   :)

-- 
Regards,
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Neil Bothwick]

On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 11:10:38 -0800, Daniel Frey wrote:

> I started moving away from Grub2 mostly because on my EFI computers it
> was booting in blind mode so you couldn't see what was going on while
> booting.

I moved away from it on my EFI computers simply because I could!
 
> The thing I hate is that the grub2 configuration generator generates
> 5000 line config files and if it doesn't do exactly what you want it's a
> real pain in the arse to do something simple like rename a loader entry.

> So I've been making my own config files that are much more brief.

The generators are only shell scripts. I wrote my own which generate
much shorter configs that do what I want, and removed the executable bit
on the original scripts.
 

-- 
Neil Bothwick

The dark ages were caused by the Y1K problem.


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Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Daniel Frey]

On 02/18/18 10:09, Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 09:54:07 -0800, Daniel Frey wrote:
> 
>> I'd also tried getting the Gentoo LiveCD to boot via grub (although this
>> was almost two years ago) and never got it to boot. I don't remember if
>> I tried to get SysRescueCD to work either... on my newer EFI machines
>> I've been ditching Grub2 for refind.
> 
> I used the systemd bootloader but I did try with refind, and it turns out
> I still have it installed. Here is the sysrescd.conf that I include from
> refind.conf
> 
> menuentry "System Rescue Cd" {
>   icon EFI/refind/icons/os_sysrescd.png
>   loader /sysrescd/rescue64
>   initrd /sysrescd/initram.igz
>   options "subdir=sysrescd setkmap=uk rootpass=XXX"
> }
> 
> I mount the sysrescd ISO and copy these files to /boot/sysrescd
> 
> initram.igz
> rescue64
> sysrcd.dat
> sysrcd.md5
> version
> 
> The entry for systemd-boot is
> 
> title System Rescue Cd 5.2.0
> version   5.2.0
> linux /sysrescd/rescue64
> options   subdir=sysrescd setkmap=uk rootpass=XXX
> initrd/sysrescd/initram.igz
> 
> 

Thanks for the tips.

I started moving away from Grub2 mostly because on my EFI computers it
was booting in blind mode so you couldn't see what was going on while
booting.

After messing with that now for an hour or so I've resolved that (on my
new laptop which I hadn't bothered moving to refind yet. So maybe I'll
go back to grub2.

The thing I hate is that the grub2 configuration generator generates
5000 line config files and if it doesn't do exactly what you want it's a
real pain in the arse to do something simple like rename a loader entry.

So I've been making my own config files that are much more brief. Now
that I've addressed the video problem (and I've also managed to boot
Windows 7 installed as EFI on a separate nvme drive with a manual
config) I'll mess with the booting from ISO again.

I wonder if I left enough in my /boot partition to do this, though...

Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Neil Bothwick]

On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 09:54:07 -0800, Daniel Frey wrote:

> I'd also tried getting the Gentoo LiveCD to boot via grub (although this
> was almost two years ago) and never got it to boot. I don't remember if
> I tried to get SysRescueCD to work either... on my newer EFI machines
> I've been ditching Grub2 for refind.

I used the systemd bootloader but I did try with refind, and it turns out
I still have it installed. Here is the sysrescd.conf that I include from
refind.conf

menuentry "System Rescue Cd" {
icon EFI/refind/icons/os_sysrescd.png
loader /sysrescd/rescue64
initrd /sysrescd/initram.igz
options "subdir=sysrescd setkmap=uk rootpass=XXX"
}

I mount the sysrescd ISO and copy these files to /boot/sysrescd

initram.igz
rescue64
sysrcd.dat
sysrcd.md5
version

The entry for systemd-boot is

title   System Rescue Cd 5.2.0
version 5.2.0
linux   /sysrescd/rescue64
options subdir=sysrescd setkmap=uk rootpass=XXX
initrd  /sysrescd/initram.igz


-- 
Neil Bothwick

It's not a bug, it's tradition!


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Description: OpenPGP digital signature

Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Daniel Frey]

On 02/18/18 08:50, Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 09:55:01 -0600, R0b0t1 wrote:
> 
 There's also a way to boot systemrescuecd from a bootloader that
 doesn't support ISO loading, like the systemd UEFI boot manager (aka
 gummiboot).  
>>>
>>> I just plug in the SysRescCD USB-3 stick.
>>>
>>> Much less complication  ;)
>>>
>>> --
>>> Regards,
>>> Peter.
>>>
>>>  
>>
>> Please be careful, sir! The SysRescCD releases are not signed. The
>> Russians might be able to get you!
> 
> That's not really an issue as neither Peter nor I is able to vote in US
> elections ;-)
> 
> 

I nearly spit out my tea this morning after reading this, thanks for the
morning humour!

I'd also tried getting the Gentoo LiveCD to boot via grub (although this
was almost two years ago) and never got it to boot. I don't remember if
I tried to get SysRescueCD to work either... on my newer EFI machines
I've been ditching Grub2 for refind.

Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Neil Bothwick]

On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 09:55:01 -0600, R0b0t1 wrote:

> >> There's also a way to boot systemrescuecd from a bootloader that
> >> doesn't support ISO loading, like the systemd UEFI boot manager (aka
> >> gummiboot).  
> >
> > I just plug in the SysRescCD USB-3 stick.
> >
> > Much less complication  ;)
> >
> > --
> > Regards,
> > Peter.
> >
> >  
> 
> Please be careful, sir! The SysRescCD releases are not signed. The
> Russians might be able to get you!

That's not really an issue as neither Peter nor I is able to vote in US
elections ;-)


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Q. Why do women have orgasms?
A: It gives them one extra reason to moan.


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Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[R0b0t1]

On Sun, Feb 18, 2018 at 8:32 AM, Peter Humphrey  wrote:
> On Sunday, 18 February 2018 02:10:46 GMT Neil Bothwick wrote:
>> On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 00:44:05 +0200, zless wrote:
>> > I've grown a bit tired by this already. Before I will try your and
>> > Neil's suggestions I will test my luck with the Sysrescuecd iso.
>> > It seems that more people are interested in this and are reporting
>> > success.
>>
>> submenu "SystemRescueCd 64 bit options" {
>> menuentry "SystemRescueCd with default options" {
>> linux (loop)/isolinux/rescue64 isoloop=$isofile
>> initrd (loop)/isolinux/initram.igz
>> }
>>
>> menuentry "SystemRescueCd with all files cached to memory" {
>> linux (loop)/isolinux/rescue64 isoloop=$isofile docache
>> initrd (loop)/isolinux/initram.igz
>> }
>> }
>>
>> You can also add extra boot options, like setting the keymap to avoid the
>> boot process pausing to ask for your choice.
>>
>> There's also a way to boot systemrescuecd from a bootloader that doesn't
>> support ISO loading, like the systemd UEFI boot manager (aka gummiboot).
>
> I just plug in the SysRescCD USB-3 stick.
>
> Much less complication  ;)
>
> --
> Regards,
> Peter.
>
>

Please be careful, sir! The SysRescCD releases are not signed. The
Russians might be able to get you!

Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Neil Bothwick]

On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 14:32:54 +, Peter Humphrey wrote:

> > You can also add extra boot options, like setting the keymap to avoid
> > the boot process pausing to ask for your choice.
> > 
> > There's also a way to boot systemrescuecd from a bootloader that
> > doesn't support ISO loading, like the systemd UEFI boot manager (aka
> > gummiboot).  
> 
> I just plug in the SysRescCD USB-3 stick.
> 
> Much less complication  ;)

If you can find the USB stick when you need it. This way sysrescd is
always available without having to sift through all the rubbish on my
desk.

And yes, I prefer a scripted solution to actually tidying my desk ;-)


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Frog philosophy: Time's fun when you're having flies.


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Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Peter Humphrey]

On Sunday, 18 February 2018 02:10:46 GMT Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 00:44:05 +0200, zless wrote:
> > I've grown a bit tired by this already. Before I will try your and
> > Neil's suggestions I will test my luck with the Sysrescuecd iso.
> > It seems that more people are interested in this and are reporting
> > success.
> 
> submenu "SystemRescueCd 64 bit options" {
> menuentry "SystemRescueCd with default options" {
> linux (loop)/isolinux/rescue64 isoloop=$isofile
> initrd (loop)/isolinux/initram.igz
> }
> 
> menuentry "SystemRescueCd with all files cached to memory" {
> linux (loop)/isolinux/rescue64 isoloop=$isofile docache
> initrd (loop)/isolinux/initram.igz
> }
> }
> 
> You can also add extra boot options, like setting the keymap to avoid the
> boot process pausing to ask for your choice.
> 
> There's also a way to boot systemrescuecd from a bootloader that doesn't
> support ISO loading, like the systemd UEFI boot manager (aka gummiboot).

I just plug in the SysRescCD USB-3 stick.

Much less complication  ;)

-- 
Regards,
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Neil Bothwick]

On Sun, 18 Feb 2018 00:44:05 +0200, zless wrote:

> I've grown a bit tired by this already. Before I will try your and 
> Neil's suggestions I will test my luck with the Sysrescuecd iso. 
> It seems that more people are interested in this and are reporting 
> success.

submenu "SystemRescueCd 64 bit options" {
menuentry "SystemRescueCd with default options" {
linux (loop)/isolinux/rescue64 isoloop=$isofile
initrd (loop)/isolinux/initram.igz
}

menuentry "SystemRescueCd with all files cached to memory" {
linux (loop)/isolinux/rescue64 isoloop=$isofile docache
initrd (loop)/isolinux/initram.igz
}
}

You can also add extra boot options, like setting the keymap to avoid the
boot process pausing to ask for your choice.

There's also a way to boot systemrescuecd from a bootloader that doesn't
support ISO loading, like the systemd UEFI boot manager (aka gummiboot).


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Top Oxymorons Number 23: Sweet sorrow


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Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[zless]

În ziua de sâmbătă, 17 februarie 2018, la 10:44:03 EET, R0b0t1 a scris:
> The difference being a change in parameter name. isoloop is now
> isoboot. If that fails look at
> https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-7719674.html#7719674, but it
> seems to contain the same changes.

Thank you for your findings. Unfortunately it still doesn't work 
with the same issue: will not find/mount the root device.

After booting I can't even mount /dev/ram0 manually at the busybox 
prompt and this looks like a bigger issue to me.

> 
> Having read all of that again this does seem like the fix. If that
> *still* doesn't work, recursively grep the unpacked ISO file for
> either isoloop or isoboot to find the location in the script you
> should be looking at.

I've grown a bit tired by this already. Before I will try your and 
Neil's suggestions I will test my luck with the Sysrescuecd iso. 
It seems that more people are interested in this and are reporting 
success.

> 
> 
> On Fri, Feb 16, 2018 at 1:34 PM, zless  wrote:
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I'm trying to have the Gentoo Live CD ISO as a recovery media in grub.
> >
> > I tried all the options I could think off in a custom grub menu entry like
> > this:
> >
> > menuentry "Gentoo ISO" {
> > set cmdline="root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc dokeymap looptype=squashfs 
> > loop=/image.squashfs cdroot initrd=gentoo.igz BOOT_IMAGE=gentoo"
> > loopback loop /path/to/iso/install-amd64-minimal-20180206T214502Z.iso
> > linux  (loop)/isolinux/gentoo $cmdline isoloop=/image.squashfs 
> > initrd=gentoo.igz vga=791 BOOT_IMAGE=gentoo
> > initrd (loop)/isolinux/gentoo.igz
> > }
> >
> > It boots the live CD kernel, it even asks for the keymap but then it fails 
> > to mount the root device.
> >
> > Any idea how to properly boot the iso from grub?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 

Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Neil Bothwick]

On Sat, 17 Feb 2018 02:44:03 -0600, R0b0t1 wrote:

> Having read all of that again this does seem like the fix. If that
> *still* doesn't work, recursively grep the unpacked ISO file for
> either isoloop or isoboot to find the location in the script you
> should be looking at.

That isn't enough because the code you need is in the nit script, which
is inside the initramfs. Loop mount the ISO, cd into an empty directory
and run

zcat ../path/to/gentoo.igz | cpio -id

You can safely ignore any errors about permission to create nodes, you
are not interested in that part.

Then inspect the init script. grep iso init should be enough but some
init scripts source other script or hook files so a bit of detective work
may be needed. I have to do this regularly and there is no simple one
size fits all solution.

I used zcat because the file has a gz extension, but use file to check
the compression type used on the initramfs before running that command.



-- 
Neil Bothwick

UNILINGUAL: American.


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Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[R0b0t1]

I take it you have read
https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-790015-highlight-grub2+iso.html.
This did not work for me either, and it would leave me in the same
place: the root filesystem would not be uncompressed and pivoted to.

I can't remember exactly what the change was, but I think I retrieved
the answer from that thread. Try the entry at
https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-6348023.html#6348023, which is:

menuentry "Gentoo Linux minimal install" {
  loopback loop /boot/iso/install-amd64-minimal-20100408.iso
  linux (loop)/isolinux/gentoo root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc dokeymap
looptype=squashfs loop=/image.squashfs cdroot initrd=gentoo.igz
isoboot=/boot/iso/install-amd64-minimal-20100408.iso
  initrd (loop)/isolinux/gentoo.igz
}

The difference being a change in parameter name. isoloop is now
isoboot. If that fails look at
https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-p-7719674.html#7719674, but it
seems to contain the same changes.

Having read all of that again this does seem like the fix. If that
*still* doesn't work, recursively grep the unpacked ISO file for
either isoloop or isoboot to find the location in the script you
should be looking at.

Cheers,
 R0b0t1

On Fri, Feb 16, 2018 at 1:34 PM, zless  wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I'm trying to have the Gentoo Live CD ISO as a recovery media in grub.
>
> I tried all the options I could think off in a custom grub menu entry like
> this:
>
> menuentry "Gentoo ISO" {
> set cmdline="root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc dokeymap looptype=squashfs 
> loop=/image.squashfs cdroot initrd=gentoo.igz BOOT_IMAGE=gentoo"
> loopback loop /path/to/iso/install-amd64-minimal-20180206T214502Z.iso
> linux  (loop)/isolinux/gentoo $cmdline isoloop=/image.squashfs 
> initrd=gentoo.igz vga=791 BOOT_IMAGE=gentoo
> initrd (loop)/isolinux/gentoo.igz
> }
>
> It boots the live CD kernel, it even asks for the keymap but then it fails to 
> mount the root device.
>
> Any idea how to properly boot the iso from grub?
>
>
>
>
>

Re: [gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[Ian Bloss]

Probably need to pass a uuid to the real root kernel param

On Fri, Feb 16, 2018, 11:34 AM zless  wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm trying to have the Gentoo Live CD ISO as a recovery media in grub.
>
> I tried all the options I could think off in a custom grub menu entry like
> this:
>
> menuentry "Gentoo ISO" {
> set cmdline="root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc dokeymap looptype=squashfs
> loop=/image.squashfs cdroot initrd=gentoo.igz BOOT_IMAGE=gentoo"
> loopback loop /path/to/iso/install-amd64-minimal-20180206T214502Z.iso
> linux  (loop)/isolinux/gentoo $cmdline isoloop=/image.squashfs
> initrd=gentoo.igz vga=791 BOOT_IMAGE=gentoo
> initrd (loop)/isolinux/gentoo.igz
> }
>
> It boots the live CD kernel, it even asks for the keymap but then it fails
> to mount the root device.
>
> Any idea how to properly boot the iso from grub?
>
>
>
>
>
>

[gentoo-user] Boot Gentoo live iso from grub

[zless]

Hello all,

I'm trying to have the Gentoo Live CD ISO as a recovery media in grub.

I tried all the options I could think off in a custom grub menu entry like 
this:

menuentry "Gentoo ISO" {
set cmdline="root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc dokeymap looptype=squashfs 
loop=/image.squashfs cdroot initrd=gentoo.igz BOOT_IMAGE=gentoo"
loopback loop /path/to/iso/install-amd64-minimal-20180206T214502Z.iso
linux  (loop)/isolinux/gentoo $cmdline isoloop=/image.squashfs 
initrd=gentoo.igz vga=791 BOOT_IMAGE=gentoo
initrd (loop)/isolinux/gentoo.igz
}

It boots the live CD kernel, it even asks for the keymap but then it fails to 
mount the root device.

Any idea how to properly boot the iso from grub?