PERSISTENT Frugal install NOT SAVING FILES AND SETTING

[TomSands]

Hallo Geza,

There is a problem regarding your amazing tool, with NO solution on the internet, and I already spent 3 days trying to fix it and find a solution, but with no avail. Therefore I have no other choice than to write you, as you are the creator of the tool:

Unetbootin is an amazing tool. Especially the frugall install option. BUT it's kind of half-baked apparently, as it simply does not work to boot a PERSISTENT Linux Mint Live session from HDD, although I specifically selected in unetbootin "4096MB space between reboots"... I can also see the "casper-rw" file inside the "unetbtn" folder, AND in the linux mint boot menu at startup I can see that it added "-- persistent", but it just does not wanna save my settings and software between reboots.

I read on the internet that I have to change the isolinux.cfg into syslinux.cfg. And on the unetbootin homepage (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/diskimg/readme.txt) I could find the information that I have to add the following line

label unetbootin
  menu label Start Persistent Linux Mint Mode
  kernel /ubnkern
  append initrd=/ubninit file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash persistent --

but it does not work! On the iternet I could also find lots of contradictory information as to where to write the word "PERSISTENT" in the above line, and no matter where I put it, it simply won't save my Linux Mint Live session! Also, I need to know where to put the casper-rw file, as at the moment it is locate din the unetbtn folder, and I do not know whethe rthat is correct? I mean it's there by default, but maybe it should be moved somewhere else?

Also, changes that I do to the syslinux.cfg above are not seen and saved in the boot menu at startup.

So can you please tell me how to make the persistent Linux Mint Live session, that I created with unetbootin, actually work and save???

Thank you in advance.

Tom

[Geza Kovacs (gezakovacs)]

Try copying the casper-rw file over to the root of the hard drive, maybe that'll work?

[TomSands (thomasmiller68)]

Hi Geza,

Thanks for your quick reply, I appreciat eit. But copying the casper-rw file over to the root of the hard drive does not help, either. Well, I mean I copied it to the standard C harddrive partition (called "cd-rom" in the live session mode of linux mint) where my Unetbootin and unetbtn folders are located, as well as the isolinux/syslinux folder...THIS did not help..

OR do you mean I have to copy the casper-rw file to the "/" called "File System" in linux mint live session? But then I only have 1 GB available space there (I only have 2GB of RAM), so there is no space for my 4GB casper-rw.....or how can I increase the / folder to make it incorporate at least a 1 GB casper-rw file in addition to the 1 GB that the system itself needs?

Thanks in advance.

Tom

________________________________
 From: Geza Kovacs <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Monday, 26 August 2013, 0:23
Subject: [Bug 1216712] Re: PERSISTENT Frugal install NOT SAVING FILES AND SETTING

Try copying the casper-rw file over to the root of the hard drive, maybe
that'll work?

--
You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
report.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1216712

Title:
  PERSISTENT Frugal install NOT SAVING FILES AND SETTING

Status in Universal Netboot Installer:
  New

Bug description:
  Hallo Geza,

  There is a problem regarding your amazing tool, with NO solution on
  the internet, and I already spent 3 days trying to fix it and find a
  solution, but with no avail. Therefore I have no other choice than to
  write you, as you are the creator of the tool:

  Unetbootin is an amazing tool. Especially the frugall install option.
  BUT it's kind of half-baked apparently, as it simply does not work to
  boot a PERSISTENT Linux Mint Live session from HDD, although I
  specifically selected in unetbootin "4096MB space between reboots"...
  I can also see the "casper-rw" file inside the "unetbtn" folder, AND
  in the linux mint boot menu at startup I can see that it added "--
  persistent", but it just does not wanna save my settings and software
  between reboots.

  I read on the internet that I have to change the isolinux.cfg into
  syslinux.cfg. And on the unetbootin homepage
  (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/diskimg/readme.txt)  I could find
  the information that I have to add the following line

  label unetbootin
    menu label Start Persistent Linux Mint Mode
    kernel /ubnkern
    append initrd=/ubninit file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash persistent --

  but it does not work! On the iternet I could also find lots of
  contradictory information as to where to write the word "PERSISTENT"
  in the above line, and no matter where I put it, it simply won't save
  my Linux Mint Live session! Also, I need to know where to put the
  casper-rw file, as at the moment it is locate din the unetbtn folder,
  and I do not know whethe rthat is correct? I mean it's there by
  default, but maybe it should be moved somewhere else?

  Also, changes that I do to the syslinux.cfg above are not seen and
  saved in the boot menu at startup.

  So can you please tell me how to make the persist...

[Geza Kovacs (gezakovacs)]

err yes I did mean copying the casper-rw file over to C:\ , surprised that didn't work. or perhaps put it casper-rw onto the root of a USB drive. or download http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/diskimg/512mb.zip and unzip casper-rw from it and try using that instead. maybe the latest linux mint changed something about how it handles persistency, I'll take a look at it sometime next month or so, rather busy right now.

[TomSands (thomasmiller68)]

Hallo Geza,

I understand that you are very busy right now, on your homepage I could see that you have started your PhD studies (Congratulations and wish you all the best!! :-). Great to hear that you will, nevertheless, want to investigate this issue in the near future! And in the meantime I will try out this 512mb file and put it into the unetbtn folder, the root "/" folder and the C: drive (called "cd-rom" drive in linux mint Live session, but has nothing to do with cd-rom).

I think that the issue on hand might have to do with some paths in some linux mint system files that link to incorrect/nonexistent files/folders/directories in mint, given that unetbootin was actually created to work with ubuntu directly, and given that persistency was actually thought to work with users who boot live sessons from USB stick and not HDD, as it seems.

I'm sure all it might take to fix this problem would be to know which files and folders to edit in order to point unetbootin and the unetbootin or distro bootloader to the right direction and the right files specific to the specific distro used by the user. So users could then, no matter what ubuntu-based distro, change the specific file names and paths inside files and adjust these files and folders to suit their distro!

Also, what I would like to know is how can I increase the File System / root folder in my linux mint live session, as it is only 1GB, but I have 6GB available on my C drive, and 2 GB RAM ? Is there a way to increase the File System folder to 2GB, since by using the live system, this file system folder gets filled up rather quickly and the system breaks down/freezes when there is only a 1 GB file system folder...?

Look forward to hearing from you. Have a good day/evening.

Best regards,

Tom

________________________________
 From: Geza Kovacs <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Monday, 26 August 2013, 3:51
Subject: [Bug 1216712] Re: PERSISTENT Frugal install NOT SAVING FILES AND SETTING

err yes I did mean copying the casper-rw file over to C:\ , surprised
that didn't work. or perhaps put it casper-rw onto the root of a USB
drive. or download http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/diskimg/512mb.zip
and unzip casper-rw from it and try using that instead. maybe the latest
linux mint changed something about how it handles persistency, I'll take
a look at it sometime next month or so, rather busy right now.

--
You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
report.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1216712

Title:
  PERSISTENT Frugal install NOT SAVING FILES AND SETTING

Status in Universal Netboot Installer:
  New

Bug description:
  Hallo Geza,

  There is a problem regarding your amazing tool, with NO solution on
  the internet, and I already spent 3 days trying to fix it and find a
  solution, but with no avail. Therefore I have no other choice than to
  write you, as you are the creator of the tool:

  Unetbootin is an amazing tool. Especially the frugall install option.
  BUT it's kind of half-baked apparently, as it simply does not work to
  boot a PERSISTENT Linux Mint Live session from HDD, although I
  specifically selected in u...

[TomSands (thomasmiller68)]

Hallo Geza,

One more thing that I would need to know while experimenting, in order to dramatically minimize the trial and error process; Where exactly do I put the word "persistent" in the syslinux.cfg file, as there is lots of contradictory info on the web, even ubuntu an dlinux gurus contradict each other on official ubuntu pages!!!; So can you please tell me which of the 4 possibilities is the correct one?

1.  label unetbootin
    menu label Start Persistent Linux Mint Mode
    kernel /ubnkern
    append initrd=/ubninit file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash persistent --

2.  label unetbootin
    menu label Start Persistent Linux Mint Mode
    kernel /ubnkern
    append initrd=/ubninit file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash -- persistent

3. label unetbootin
    menu label Start Persistent Linux Mint Mode
    kernel /ubnkern
    append initrd=/ubninit file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed persistent boot=casper quiet splash --

4. label unetbootin
    menu label Start Persistent Linux Mint Mode
    kernel /ubnkern
    append initrd=/ubninit file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper persistent quiet splash --

Thank you.

Tom

________________________________
 From: Geza Kovacs <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Monday, 26 August 2013, 3:51
Subject: [Bug 1216712] Re: PERSISTENT Frugal install NOT SAVING FILES AND SETTING

err yes I did mean copying the casper-rw file over to C:\ , surprised
that didn't work. or perhaps put it casper-rw onto the root of a USB
drive. or download http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/diskimg/512mb.zip
and unzip casper-rw from it and try using that instead. maybe the latest
linux mint changed something about how it handles persistency, I'll take
a look at it sometime next month or so, rather busy right now.

--
You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
report.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1216712

Title:
  PERSISTENT Frugal install NOT SAVING FILES AND SETTING

Status in Universal Netboot Installer:
  New

Bug description:
  Hallo Geza,

  There is a problem regarding your amazing tool, with NO solution on
  the internet, and I already spent 3 days trying to fix it and find a
  solution, but with no avail. Therefore I have no other choice than to
  write you, as you are the creator of the tool:

  Unetbootin is an amazing tool. Especially the frugall install option.
  BUT it's kind of half-baked apparently, as it simply does not work to
  boot a PERSISTENT Linux Mint Live session from HDD, although I
  specifically selected in unetbootin "4096MB space between reboots"...
  I can also see the "casper-rw" file inside the "unetbtn" folder, AND
  in the linux mint boot menu at startup I can see that it added "--
  persistent", but it just does not wanna save my settings and software
  between reboots.

  I read on the internet that I have to change the isolinux.cfg into
  syslinux.cfg. And on the unetbootin homepage
  (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/diskimg/readme.txt)  I could find
  the information that I have to add the following line

  label unetbootin
    menu label Start Persistent Linux Mint Mode
    kernel /ubn...

[Geza Kovacs (gezakovacs)]

pretty sure the first one is correct

1. label unetbootin
    menu label Start Persistent Linux Mint Mode
    kernel /ubnkern
    append initrd=/ubninit file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash persistent --

[TomSands (thomasmiller68)]

OK thank you, but I also tried option number 1 and all other 4 alternatives, and it did not work.  However, to your attention and in order to help you find a solution, its strange that even if I change that line in the syslinux.cfg or isolinux.cfg, and write "...splash persistent --" or no matter what I write there, in the linux mint bot menu it nevertheless shows, by default, "...splash -- persistent"!! However, in the "unetbtn" folder in the C: drive (called "cd-rom" in linux mint live session), there is a file called "menu.lst". So when I edit this file and write "...splash persistent --" it will ONLY THEN also show "...splash persistent --" in the boot menu! However, that still does not help!...I also tried to write there all kinds of combinations in the menu.lst file / the boot menu...all to no avail...

On the internet, some people said it might be possible to somehow extract and modify the "initrd.lz" file in the "casper" folder, in order to tell unetbootin and/or linux where the casper-rw is...but I am no expert as regards coding and I do not know what to write there!!!

But I am pretty sure that unetbootin needs to be told, or needs to tell linux, where exactly casper-rw is in my linux mint live session! I'm sure this would fix the problem! So it would help all people, no matter what ubuntu-based distro, to know how to modify the relevant files, and which files!
Maybe you could include some option in unetbootin to write "put casper-rw there", so that users can decide where they wanna store that file..and unetbootin would then automatically adjust itself!

Thank you. Look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Tom

________________________________
 From: Geza Kovacs <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: Monday, 26 August 2013, 5:28
Subject: [Bug 1216712] Re: PERSISTENT Frugal install NOT SAVING FILES AND SETTING

pretty sure the first one is correct

1.  label unetbootin
    menu label Start Persistent Linux Mint Mode
    kernel /ubnkern
    append initrd=/ubninit file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash persistent --

--
You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
report.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1216712

Title:
  PERSISTENT Frugal install NOT SAVING FILES AND SETTING

Status in Universal Netboot Installer:
  New

Bug description:
  Hallo Geza,

  There is a problem regarding your amazing tool, with NO solution on
  the internet, and I already spent 3 days trying to fix it and find a
  solution, but with no avail. Therefore I have no other choice than to
  write you, as you are the creator of the tool:

  Unetbootin is an amazing tool. Especially the frugall install option.
  BUT it's kind of half-baked apparently, as it simply does not work to
  boot a PERSISTENT Linux Mint Live session from HDD, although I
  specifically selected in unetbootin "4096MB space between reboots"...
  I can also see the "casper-rw" file inside the "unetbtn" folder, AND
  in the linux mint boot menu at startup I can see that it added "--
  persistent", but it just does not wanna save my settings and software
  between reboots.

  I read on the internet that I have to ch...