Re: SOLVED : 2010 Remastering Problem

[oldjim]

Hi
I have my PCLinuxOS 2010,1 on a 98Gb partition, I have used 6Gb leaving me with about 92Gb free, I have followed all your steps, but when I burn my iso to disk it still fails at 98%.
Do you have any ideas as to what I am doing wrong.

Regards Jim

[Neal ManBear]

Jim,
Did you run bleachbit and bleachbit-root first? This is important, especially if you've had a failed remaster attempt.

Did you use the commands -

Code:

df

to make sure of your sizes -
and -

Code:

umount -a

to make sure no media or other partitions were mounted -
and -

Code:

mylivecd name.iso

to create your iso?

[oldjim]

Hi Neal.
Yes I did, I followed you instructions to the letter, but today I discovered a strange thing,
Even tho K3B gave a error message at 98% the DVD still works, and I can still install PCLinuxOS from it, and the install works perfectly.
So I will mark this post as SOLVED, so you can go and worry about some other poor newbi.
Regards Jim

[Neal ManBear]

Jim,
I'm glad you have it working.

[Abraxas]

Hi, I've read the 2010 Remastering thread, essentially the first post by Neal.
2010 Remastering
On page 3, Reply #36 on: 10 September 2010, 13:08:47 »

Support questions on this subject can be posted in this section.

There's no link ?

Anyway hope o.k. to continue in this thread with some enquiries ?

It seems really simple, and essential for me to learn, as I am likely to make a mistake one day.

Just want to be sure I understand the process properly; just a few commands seems so simple 

I'm in my KDE Desktop environment, and just ran 'Systeminfo > 'df' which provided this output.
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda2              20G  2.9G   16G  16% /
/dev/sda3              17G  4.6G   12G  30% /home

I also have PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.6 installed alongside KDE 'MiniMe'.

So, I understand that an .iso is created.

1.) Looking at my free diskspace, do I have enough room to create an .iso of my current System, i.e., root, and /home ?
I can 'move' a few GB's of 'stuff' out of my/home to external hard drive.
2.) I have a CD Burner only, is a CD adequate for the .iso I will make ?
3.) I suppose I'd also login to LXDE and repeat the steps to back it up ? (jumping ahead a bit, sorry)

Apologies for all the questions, but before attempting what I believe is a System 'backup' (?) just want to get it clear in my head that a CD is adequate in size, plus I have comprehended the concept of Remastering.

Thankyou,

francis.

[djohnston]

2.9 GB may be a bit over the line to get a 700MB CD with compression. I can't remember the cutoff size. You can exclude your home directory with the --nodir ^/home/(yourusername) option.

Are you using one of the newer kernels? That will give you xz compression, which will give you the smallest possible iso size. Have you run BleachBit yet? Make sure you do before running mylivecd and see if that 2.9 GB size comes down a bit.

[Abraxas]

2.9 GB may be a bit over the line to get a 700MB CD with compression. I can't remember the cutoff size. You can exclude your home directory with the --nodir ^/home/(yourusername) option.

I see. 2.9 GB is the size of root.
I have 500 GB and 250 GB External hard drives, plus 4 GB, and 8 GB flash drives.
I read the thread about backing up to a Usb Flash drive, but this Remaster seemed easier. Basically just want a 'Backup' which I can restore to the present state. My System is working really, really well.
If I create the .iso I have to have a medium to store it on which is bootable, is that the situation ?
Kernel is: 2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs
No, haven't run BleachBit as yet, had a look.

Just trying to figure best way to go about etching into stone the point I'm at now, it just takes a power outage, or an error on my behalf and I'm back were I was a month ago.
Just had to replace the CMOS battery, it's kind of like how prepared can one be, there's always something that can breakdown, with Software, and Hardware 
Be cool to nail the Software.

[djohnston]

If I create the .iso I have to have a medium to store it on which is bootable, is that the situation ?

No, the iso file can be written anywhere. It does not have to be on a bootable medium. Once you "burn" the iso file to a CD or DVD, that CD or DVD will be bootable. That's how it works.

[Just18]

francis,
             an ISO can be burned to any media from which you can boot ....  provided there is sufficient space for it.

So, if you create an ISO that is larger than 700MBs then you cannot use a CD as the boot media.
You could of course use a DVD as the boot media, or a USB flash stick, if your PC will boot from USB (most later mopdel PCs do).

The size limit of the ISO than can be generated is approx 4GB ....  so no problem with DVD or USB if you hit max size with the ISO.

First things first ......  generate an ISO of your present set up and store that safely somewhere.
It is good practice to run that ISO to be sure you have included everything you intended ....  and omitted all that you do not need.

You 'run' it by 'burning' it to a bootable medium, and use it as a liveCD/DVD/USB.

[Abraxas]

It's real late here in Australia, but ...

I'm in my KDE Desktop environment, and just ran 'Systeminfo > 'df' which provided this output.
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda2              20G  2.9G   16G  16% /
/dev/sda3              17G  4.6G   12G  30% /home

Isn't my root size 2.9GB's ?
I really don't have anything substantial in home. The idea behind this setup was to move items from /home to one of my external drives. Not sure if you have to add the directories in /home, even though I would move most files from those directories; so basically we are at 2.9 GB's which would need to be 'compressed' (?)
Ah, yeah I don't have a BIOS option to boot from USB. CD/DVD only, or HDD.
So I'll see when I get a moment:

First things first ......  generate an ISO of your present set up and store that safely somewhere.
It is good practice to run that ISO to be sure you have included everything you intended ....  and omitted all that you do not need.

1.) Generate the .iso Store it on External Drive.
2.) Take my External drive to friend with a DVD burner, if the 2.9GB's / partition exceeds the 700 MB's capacity for a CD.
I'd have no idea how to trim / .
Anyway first things first, make the .iso, and see what we get.

Thanks all for your help 

[So many questions, sorry...
Say my system did crash, do you overwrite (Install) the .iso into the borked partition ?]

[Just18]

Say my system did crash, do you overwrite (Install) the .iso into the borked partition ?

Once you have proved the ISO is working ==it will boot as a live OS == you can install it just like the original ISO but with your own apps already installed. You would therefore be wiping the bad install and installing anew from your own remaster.

[Abraxas]

Thanks Just19, and djohnston . I get what's what .
Seems I have some backtracking, notetaking, and reading, about how I put together this dual Desktop Environment, was only a matter of weeks ago, with a lot of help.

Plus we're in someone elses 'solved' thread,    

In the meantime I'll be careful not to do anything stupid (To crash my installations)  

I've noted if I keep away from changing anything that says 'Advanced', things work very well  
I am really pleased that everything I could do in Windows; Record Live Music, Live Videos with Webcam, convert Video files to .Avi, upload to my Channel on Youtube, plus more, is totally awesome !! Been a lotta work however. This is not a Static environment. Software is changing all the time, HELP seems to get outdated equally as fast. Thus a big thankyou to support here on the Forum.
I'm gonna shutup and get outa here...
So, when I do attempt a Remaster I'll start a new thread.

Thankyou,

francis