I have posted an update to UberBang on the same SourceForge project page. It now includes the FBXKB keyboard layout switcher system tray icon, and Volumeicon and NM-Applet are now fully functional. Also present are the Openbox, GTK, and icon themes from the latest build of #! 10 "Statler"; however, the default GNOME-Colors-Statler icon theme used seems to not have been copied over correctly, as some icons (e.g. back, forward) appear a little weird. It seems like Elementary-Statler works fine though. Maybe for the next update I'll use that instead.
I read on the #! forums of people trying UberBang and being able to successfully use the live session but not being able to properly install it. With the previous releases I didn't have the time to look into these further; now I have the time, and I can confirm that UberBang doesn't install properly. It seems to be a known problem with Remastersys, but looking on the Remastersys forum didn't yield a whole lot of useful information (I tried one thing, but it led to a segmentation fault (another error type)). If anyone reading this has used and is familiar with Remastersys, please let me know what I should be doing so that UberBang can actually be installed.
In unrelated news, before coming to the Blogger Dashboard page, I often read news on various other tech sites including (but not limited to) TechDirt, Linux Today, Raiden's Realm, and Tech Drive-in. Having done that a couple minutes ago, I would like to let readers know that Raiden's Realm has been hacked; all that's present is scrolling mixed Arabic/English text on a black background.
Showing posts with label live cd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label live cd. Show all posts
2011-01-14
2010-05-03
FOLLOW-UP: Arguments Symptomatic of Occasional Linux Community Dysfunction
In my original article on this, I discussed how Canonical's overbearing nature on distributions derived from Ubuntu is causing those developers to move from an Ubuntu base to something else (usually a Debian base).
A lot of posts on the actual original article on Mark Shuttleworth's comments remarked that it is only a matter of time before Linux Mint (Ubuntu's most popular derivative distribution) would move away from Ubuntu and towards Debian.
Well, folks, I am here to report that these speculations are coming to fruition (at least partly so).
Linux Mint is releasing an LXDE edition for PowerPC-based computers (i.e. old Apple iMac computers) based on Debian 5.0 "Lenny". Hence, this is not given a typical Linux Mint version number as it is not based off of Ubuntu (like the standard Linux Mint releases).
I'm going to guess that as Debian 5.0 is a slightly older operating system (it's about 2 years old), it would provide a more stable and less sluggish base for older computers. However, I would also say that this is a sign of things to come. The Linux Mint developers are also probably developing friction with Canonical, so I would say that eventually the entire Linux Mint project will move over to Debian. I also remember reading somewhere (I think it was DistroWatch) that for the next release, the live CD would be based off of Debian Live (instead of being like an Ubuntu live CD).
In any case, I'm excited to see what Linux Mint has to offer.
A lot of posts on the actual original article on Mark Shuttleworth's comments remarked that it is only a matter of time before Linux Mint (Ubuntu's most popular derivative distribution) would move away from Ubuntu and towards Debian.
Well, folks, I am here to report that these speculations are coming to fruition (at least partly so).
Linux Mint is releasing an LXDE edition for PowerPC-based computers (i.e. old Apple iMac computers) based on Debian 5.0 "Lenny". Hence, this is not given a typical Linux Mint version number as it is not based off of Ubuntu (like the standard Linux Mint releases).
I'm going to guess that as Debian 5.0 is a slightly older operating system (it's about 2 years old), it would provide a more stable and less sluggish base for older computers. However, I would also say that this is a sign of things to come. The Linux Mint developers are also probably developing friction with Canonical, so I would say that eventually the entire Linux Mint project will move over to Debian. I also remember reading somewhere (I think it was DistroWatch) that for the next release, the live CD would be based off of Debian Live (instead of being like an Ubuntu live CD).
In any case, I'm excited to see what Linux Mint has to offer.
2009-11-01
How-To: Make a Multiboot Live USB Stick
This is something that I wanted to do for a while to show those interested what Linux is like on the fly. However, I only finished this yesterday.
The USB stick in question is an 8 GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro.
The distributions used are PCLinuxOS 2009.2 (KDE), Fedora 11 (GNOME), Linux Mint 7 (Xfce), and the latest version of PartedMagic. These are the only distributions I've successfully put on a multiboot live USB stick, so I'll only talk about how to create this step.
In terms of setup before the actual live USB creation process, a few steps must be taken. As far as I know, due to Windows only recognizing FAT and NTFS partitions, the steps I used will only work on Linux. My preferred partition editor is GParted. Also, if you don't have UNetBootin, get it beforehand. Finally, make sure that your computer has a CD-RW drive and that you have spare empty CD-R/CD-RWs.
The first distribution to add is PCLinuxOS.
If there are any existing partitions, remove and replace them with a single FAT32 primary partition covering the entire disk.
Next, download the PCLinuxOS 2009.2 KDE ISO image from the Internet and burn the image to (not on) the CD-R/CD-RW. (If, after this step, the disk is ejected, reinsert it but close any autorun dialogs.)
Next restart the computer and (if necessary, reconfigure the BIOS to) boot from the live CD (that is, the CD with the PCLinuxOS image on it).
After that is all done, go to the PCLinuxOS main menu and click on "Make Live USB". Please make sure that the correct USB stick is being written to (you can check this as root in Terminal through the command "fdisk -l" and determining which USB stick with its free space correctly corresponds to your stick, if you know what I mean).
Restart the computer and, after modifying the BIOS to boot from the USB stick, make sure that the live USB works properly.
If it does, it is time to move on. (Revert the BIOS to boot from the hard disk drive.) If not, make sure that you followed all of the steps listed here in the given order.
To prepare for the remaining distributions, in GParted, trim the primary FAT32 partition with PCLinuxOS on it until there is about 100-150 MB of free space left on that partition. Fill the remaining unallocated space with an extended partition. Finally, fill this extended partition with 2 logical FAT32 partitions of size 850 MB (each), another logical FAT32 partition of size 400 MB, and a logical FAT32 partition that takes up the remainder of the extended partition.
The second, third, and fourth distributions are Fedora, Linux Mint, and PartedMagic. Download all of these respective ISO images from the Internet, and use UNetBootin and the "Disk Image" feature to write the images to the partitions. The Fedora and Linux Mint images should go separately in each of the 850 MB partitions, while the PartedMagic image should go in the 400 MB partition. UNetBootin recognizes partitions by disk drive name and number rather than by size, so to verify which partition is which, as root in Terminal type in "fdisk -l" to know which partition to write to in UNetBootin. After each write, verify that the live USB image works properly by booting from the USB. Each time a new image is written by UNetBootin to a partition, that partition is automatically flagged as bootable.
These steps will not allow you to select from all of the distributions which one to boot from (i.e. from a giant GRUB menu list upon booting). You much change which distribution to boot from manually in GParted by modifying the "boot" flag.
If you followed all of these steps and it all works, you should be good to go! If not, please leave a comment!
The USB stick in question is an 8 GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro.
The distributions used are PCLinuxOS 2009.2 (KDE), Fedora 11 (GNOME), Linux Mint 7 (Xfce), and the latest version of PartedMagic. These are the only distributions I've successfully put on a multiboot live USB stick, so I'll only talk about how to create this step.
In terms of setup before the actual live USB creation process, a few steps must be taken. As far as I know, due to Windows only recognizing FAT and NTFS partitions, the steps I used will only work on Linux. My preferred partition editor is GParted. Also, if you don't have UNetBootin, get it beforehand. Finally, make sure that your computer has a CD-RW drive and that you have spare empty CD-R/CD-RWs.
The first distribution to add is PCLinuxOS.
If there are any existing partitions, remove and replace them with a single FAT32 primary partition covering the entire disk.
Next, download the PCLinuxOS 2009.2 KDE ISO image from the Internet and burn the image to (not on) the CD-R/CD-RW. (If, after this step, the disk is ejected, reinsert it but close any autorun dialogs.)
Next restart the computer and (if necessary, reconfigure the BIOS to) boot from the live CD (that is, the CD with the PCLinuxOS image on it).
After that is all done, go to the PCLinuxOS main menu and click on "Make Live USB". Please make sure that the correct USB stick is being written to (you can check this as root in Terminal through the command "fdisk -l" and determining which USB stick with its free space correctly corresponds to your stick, if you know what I mean).
Restart the computer and, after modifying the BIOS to boot from the USB stick, make sure that the live USB works properly.
If it does, it is time to move on. (Revert the BIOS to boot from the hard disk drive.) If not, make sure that you followed all of the steps listed here in the given order.
To prepare for the remaining distributions, in GParted, trim the primary FAT32 partition with PCLinuxOS on it until there is about 100-150 MB of free space left on that partition. Fill the remaining unallocated space with an extended partition. Finally, fill this extended partition with 2 logical FAT32 partitions of size 850 MB (each), another logical FAT32 partition of size 400 MB, and a logical FAT32 partition that takes up the remainder of the extended partition.
The second, third, and fourth distributions are Fedora, Linux Mint, and PartedMagic. Download all of these respective ISO images from the Internet, and use UNetBootin and the "Disk Image" feature to write the images to the partitions. The Fedora and Linux Mint images should go separately in each of the 850 MB partitions, while the PartedMagic image should go in the 400 MB partition. UNetBootin recognizes partitions by disk drive name and number rather than by size, so to verify which partition is which, as root in Terminal type in "fdisk -l" to know which partition to write to in UNetBootin. After each write, verify that the live USB image works properly by booting from the USB. Each time a new image is written by UNetBootin to a partition, that partition is automatically flagged as bootable.
These steps will not allow you to select from all of the distributions which one to boot from (i.e. from a giant GRUB menu list upon booting). You much change which distribution to boot from manually in GParted by modifying the "boot" flag.
If you followed all of these steps and it all works, you should be good to go! If not, please leave a comment!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)