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Biggen 07-16-2009 09:55 AM

Alien Bob's USB Installer & 64-bit Slack
 
Was going to play around with the 64-bit Slack but I don't have a CD-ROM in the 64-bit machine so I am going to try and use Alien Bob's USB installer script.

I guess since it is still "current" there isn't a 64-bit install script as of yet as I didn't see one on his page. Anyone else try to do this? I suppose I could just wait for the "official" Slack 13 release and then wait for him to "update" his scripts, but was trying to get a head start on things...

linus72 07-16-2009 10:06 AM

Which script are you using?

http://connie.slackware.com/~alien/slackboot/usb/

http://connie.slackware.com/~alien/t...binstall/12.2/

plus usb2disk.sh
http://connie.slackware.com/~alien/tools/

the mini-iso here can easily go on usb too, and is good as a rescue cd/usb too
http://connie.slackware.com/~alien/slackboot/mini/12.2/

there's even a 64mb ram stuff
http://connie.slackware.com/~alien/s...64mb_ram/12.2/

and slackboot too
http://connie.slackware.com/~alien/tools/slackboot/

pxe installers too:)

Biggen 07-16-2009 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linus72 (Post 3609645)

Hey!

I guess I was operating under the assumption that all those scripts were for the 32-bit compiled Slack. Am I wrong? Was looking for the 64-bit version (which I realize isn't out yet. It is still current).

There are some damn fine tools there!

linus72 07-16-2009 11:09 AM

Not sure if for 64bit, my mistake
but maybe can be edited or used when it does come out:)

Biggen 07-16-2009 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linus72 (Post 3609693)
Not sure if for 64bit, my mistake
but maybe can be edited or used when it does come out:)

I was able to contact Alien Bob and he said he would starting working on updating all the USB install scripts soon and would also build a 64-bit script!

Woohoo!

linus72 07-16-2009 11:35 AM

Awesome!
Yea, this is the best Linux forum dude:)

Bruce Hill 07-16-2009 05:09 PM

Did you consider booting with a USB stick and installing from
a local NFS/HTTP/FTP server? I did this on one box this week.

You are running mirror-slackware64-current, aren't you? ;)

Biggen 07-16-2009 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Hill (Post 3610021)
Did you consider booting with a USB stick and installing from
a local NFS/HTTP/FTP server? I did this on one box this week.

You are running mirror-slackware64-current, aren't you? ;)

Bruce,

Here is the problem. My damn Sandisk Cruzer will NOT boot. I think it is a problem with the Cruzer's as I see this same complaint all over the internet. The "dd if=usbboot.img of=/dev/sda bs=512" just won't work for me.


So, here, is what I was thinking:
I am currently using Alien_Bob's script to rsync. It is downloading right now. I can canabalize another machine and steal the CD-ROM out of it and connect it up to my machine that doesn't have one. Then I can copy the 64-current mirror over to my flash drive. Then, I can create a bootable CD that has the installer on it and that *should* give me all the tools I need to get it installed.

Now, I have to figure out how to create a CD boot disk....

linus72 07-16-2009 07:00 PM

what do you need to create the cd bootdisk?
meaning knowledge or what?

Bruce Hill 07-16-2009 07:25 PM

If you have a rsync of -current, did it make ISO images?

If not make one by issuing
Code:

./mirror-slackware64-current.sh -v -f -o CDROM
or change it to "DVD" if you have one of those.

You take that ISO image and burn it to the CD with
Code:

cdrecord -v driveropts=burnfree dev=/dev/hd* /path/to/file.iso
and then eject the CD, then put it back in (don't mount it) and check
the md5sum of the image you burned with
Code:

md5sum /dev/hd*
and check the md5sum of the ISO image with
Code:

less /path/to/ISO-directory/MD5SUM
If they match up, you are Good To Go (TM)

Edit: Are you on a LAN? If so, make the bootable CD before you pull
the drive, and use they mirror you keep for a NFS install. Every install of
Slackware I do, to old or new machines, I do over NFS after booting with
either a DVD (usually) or USB stick (twice). That way you only need CD1
and you have everything else on the other box to get over the LAN.

linus72 07-16-2009 07:40 PM

SEE
there's lots of Slackers here dude
Slack!

This is best forum for slack support

Biggen 07-16-2009 07:53 PM

Bruce,

Alien_Bob's script is still rsync'ing. It was my first pull so it is taking a while. I didn't change anything in his script EXCEPT to tell it to pull the x86_64 current and I put that in a config file. So, if his script defaults to creating the iso's, I guess I will have them when they are done.

Tried a PNY USB stick and that failed to. I give up on USB drives for booting at this point. Either my PowerEdge can't boot to a USB drive properly (even though I am telling it too via the BIOS) or these USB sticks are picky.

Instead of doing it via NFS, I was thinking about copying the mirror/tree over to my 4GB flash drive. I would think that would work as long as I point the installer to the correct location of everything...

So I guess I just need a CD boot disk. If I burn the 1st .iso after the script finishes, would this suffice

Thank you so much for your help, btw! I am still learning!



Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Hill (Post 3610129)
If you have a rsync of -current, did it make ISO images?

If not make one by issuing
Code:

./mirror-slackware64-current.sh -v -f -o CDROM
or change it to "DVD" if you have one of those.

You take that ISO image and burn it to the CD with
Code:

cdrecord -v driveropts=burnfree dev=/dev/hd* /path/to/file.iso
and then eject the CD, then put it back in (don't mount it) and check
the md5sum of the image you burned with
Code:

md5sum /dev/hd*
and check the md5sum of the ISO image with
Code:

less /path/to/ISO-directory/MD5SUM
If they match up, you are Good To Go (TM)

Edit: Are you on a LAN? If so, make the bootable CD before you pull
the drive, and use they mirror you keep for a NFS install. Every install of
Slackware I do, to old or new machines, I do over NFS after booting with
either a DVD (usually) or USB stick (twice). That way you only need CD1
and you have everything else on the other box to get over the LAN.


Bruce Hill 07-16-2009 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggen (Post 3610155)
So I guess I just need a CD boot disk. If I burn the 1st .iso after the script finishes, would this suffice

As long as you can mount the mirror that you're rsyncing from the other
computer. Or if not, just install the pkgs on CD1 then upgrade afterwards.

Biggen 07-16-2009 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Hill (Post 3610159)
As long as you can mount the mirror that you're rsyncing from the other
computer. Or if not, just install the pkgs on CD1 then upgrade afterwards.

I don't know why I couldn't boot the 1st .iso and then mount the flash drive which would contain EVERYTHING. I am not too familiar with the setup program, but I would think I could drop to a console and then mount the USB stick. Then start the setup program again and feed it to the mirror.

linus72 07-16-2009 08:12 PM

zorOS-3.6, slack 12.2 based
has this claim to fame as well as cloning the install too
and more
( http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Syste...OS-46457.shtml )

runs from usb good too
I usually include it in my multidistro toolkits:)

Here are some key features of "ZorOS":

· Linux kernel 2.6.28 (IDE,sata,usb-storage,fs built-in)
· busybox-1.6.0, e2fsprogs-1.41.3, ntfsprogs-2.0.0, reiserfsprogs-3.6.20,
· parted-1.8.8, fdisk-1.2.1, Partimage 0.6.7-stable, ClamAV 0.94.2, testdisk-6.10,
· nmap-4.76, iptables 1.4.2, lynx 2.8.6rel.5, rsync, some script to install tgz packages
· FTP server, FTP, SSH, TFTP and Samba clients, Midnight Commander and mtools
· ZorOS boot manger to boot up 10 primary partitions per HD (new v2.6)

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

· new kernel 2.6.29.4
· pkgtools from -current, with new .txz packages support
· new procedures to install Slackware, Slackware64, Bluewhite64 (also to USB
· disks)
· improved hardware detection and automount
· some bugs corrected

good stuuf!

Bruce Hill 07-16-2009 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggen (Post 3610164)
I don't know why I couldn't boot the 1st .iso and then mount the flash drive which would contain EVERYTHING. I am not too familiar with the setup program, but I would think I could drop to a console and then mount the USB stick. Then start the setup program again and feed it to the mirror.

The installer will not let you mount something later and then choose that
as you $PATH. You could, however, after you finish doing the install,
and before you reboot, issue
Code:

chroot /mnt
which will put your entire new Slackware system live.
Then you could mount the USB stick, issue
Code:

rsync -av /path/to/slackware64 /tmp/ ; cd /tmp/
and then run "pkgtools" and point there. I think.

If pkgtools won't get you there, you can just install the other pkgs
manually from /tmp/slackware64/*/

grissiom 07-16-2009 09:42 PM

Actually I installed my slack64 from a USB disk ;) I modified the scripts on http://connie.slackware.com/~alien/t...binstall/12.2/ . Here is the diff:
Code:

diff -ur 32/create_multipartboot.sh 64/create_multipartboot.sh
--- 32/create_multipartboot.sh  2009-07-17 10:30:13.365323066 +0800
+++ 64/create_multipartboot.sh  2009-05-23 00:58:53.000000000 +0800
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@                                                 
                                                                 
 cat <<"EOT"                                                     
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------#
-# $Id: create_multipartboot.sh,v 1.29 2009/05/22 17:21:58 root Exp root $ #
+# $Id: create_multipartboot.sh,v 1.28 2009/02/26 15:01:50 root Exp root $ #
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------#
                                                                           
 EOT                                                                       
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@
            --exclude testing \
            --exclude usb-and-pxe-installers \
            --exclude zipslack \
-          --exclude slackware/*"
+          --exclude slackware64/*"

 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@
              --exclude testing \
              --exclude usb-and-pxe-installers \
              --exclude zipslack \
-            --exclude slackware/*"
+            --exclude slackware64/*"
 else
  # Just copy all that's there (/testing is not part of 12.2 tree but exclude
  # it anyway, just to be sure we make it fit):
@@ -245,10 +245,10 @@
 # Compose the arguments to the rsync command used further down:
 RSYNCARGS=""
 for p in $ADDPKGS ; do
-  RSYNCARGS="$RSYNCARGS --include slackware/$p "
+  RSYNCARGS="$RSYNCARGS --include slackware64/$p "
 done
 for p in $REMPKGS ; do
-  RSYNCARGS="$RSYNCARGS --exclude slackware/$p* "
+  RSYNCARGS="$RSYNCARGS --exclude slackware64/$p* "
 done
 for p in $SKIPKERNELS ; do
  RSYNCARGS="$RSYNCARGS --exclude kernels/$p "
Only in 64: rsync_usb.sh

Basically adopt to slackware64 folder name. One thing more, after creating the disk, go to the partition that contain packages rename slackware64 to slackware due to the installer still look for packages in that folder. We need a patch for the installer to get rid of this. But I don't know how ;(

Last, if you want to remain the disk as a InstallUSB for slackware and a normal USB disk for windows. You should format the first partition as FAT, second and third partition to hold the boot image and packages. Windows could only recognize first partition of a USB disk...

linus72 07-16-2009 09:45 PM

that's a slacker
adapt, edit, modify, overcome!

Biggen 07-16-2009 10:45 PM

Ok. Hmmm... I was thinking that I could just run the installer and point it to the USB stick for the packages. Guess it isn't that easy. Well, like you said earlier, I could simply make a boot disk, mount the flash, and then run the installer from there...

Just trying to keep from burning a bunch of CD's since the "current" is going to be chaning a lot. Would be easier to make the changes on the USB stick.

One other thing. I got this as I was running Alien_Bobs script:

Code:

file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/build/libXt" (in slackware)
file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/build/xf86-video-i128" (in slackware)
file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/build/xf86-video-savage" (in slackware)
file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/build/xorg-server" (in slackware)
file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/patch/xorg-server/0001-dix-ignore-non-pointer-events-in-XineramaCheckMotio.patch.gz" (in slackware)
file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/patch/xorg-server/Restore_DontZap.diff.gz" (in slackware)

Not sure if it is cause for concern or not. I re-ran the script after it finished to see if it would pick up the missing files but it says "No differences found, exiting"...

Ilgar 07-17-2009 01:40 AM

Recently I did two Slack64-current installations (one being just yesterday), using the USB installer and the (unofficial) current ISOs I grabbed from here:

ftp://ftp.slackware.no/pub/linux/ISO...ent-ISO-build/

All went fine, I'm now running slackware64-current :).

Alien Bob 07-17-2009 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggen (Post 3610270)
One other thing. I got this as I was running Alien_Bobs script:

Code:

file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/build/libXt" (in slackware)
file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/build/xf86-video-i128" (in slackware)
file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/build/xf86-video-savage" (in slackware)
file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/build/xorg-server" (in slackware)
file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/patch/xorg-server/0001-dix-ignore-non-pointer-events-in-XineramaCheckMotio.patch.gz" (in slackware)
file has vanished: "/slackware64-current/source/x/x11/patch/xorg-server/Restore_DontZap.diff.gz" (in slackware)

Not sure if it is cause for concern or not. I re-ran the script after it finished to see if it would pick up the missing files but it says "No differences found, exiting"...

The first time you ran the rsync script, you just hit the Slackware mirror server when it was getting fresh updates. Rsync creates a file-list when it starts and will not check for file additions/changes/removals after that. This causes the "file has vanished" messages later on.

My mirror-slackware-current script checks the ChangeLog.txt for updates. The second time you ran the script, it did not find any changes in the ChangeLog.txt compared to the previous run, so the script assumed it did not have proceed. However, it missed the updated packages that were being added to the Slackware mirror while you ran the script earlier.

You will have to run the script with the extra parameter " -f " to force the script to collect the other updates regardless of the state of the ChangeLog.txt.

Eric

samac 07-17-2009 03:46 AM

Quote:

Now, I have to figure out how to create a CD boot disk....
I wrote a HOWTO for Slackware 11.0 it should give you an idea, but remember it is very out of date, here is a link.

samac

Biggen 07-17-2009 09:39 AM

First off, I want to thank everyone for there help and suggestions!

I burnt the first .iso, hooked up another CD Drive, and of course, it boots nicely. When I get back home, I'm going to try and play with booting from the first .iso and then running the setup via the flashdrive (that has the current-64 mirror on it). If this doesn't work (or, more likely, I can't figure it out) I'll just burn the other two .iso's and be done with it.

As an aside, I tried to copy the mirror from my hard drive to my flash with:
Code:

cp -rp [mirror-directory] /mnt/flash
Everything seems to go well except I get a few errors about "not being able to create symbolic links: Denied"

Alien_Bob - I re-ran the script with the "-f" option. Everything seemed to go well. Those files that "vanashed" are gone from the mirror as of this morning so I believe I am ok.

Ilgar - I would love to be able to do just that, but I can't get my Poweredge to boot from my USB sticks. I have tried two different sticks, different boot scripts, etc... Nada... I am giving up on booting from the flash drive. So far, it has been a total waste of my time.

Grissiom - I'll check into that! Thanks for the tip!

Alien Bob 07-17-2009 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grissiom (Post 3610242)
Actually I installed my slack64 from a USB disk ;) I modified the scripts on http://connie.slackware.com/~alien/t...binstall/12.2/ .

I uploaded a version for Slackware 13.0 (well.. -current at the moment, but it will work for 13.0 too when that gets released).

I may still tweak it a bit more in the near future, but this works for now:

http://www.slackware.com/~alien/tools/usbinstall/13.0/

Set the ARCH variable to "x86_64" in the script, or in your shell's environment, if you are going to create a USB installer for slackware64.

Eric

linus72 07-17-2009 08:10 PM

Thanks Alien
is that for 64 or 32?
or both

Biggen 07-17-2009 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alien Bob (Post 3611317)
I uploaded a version for Slackware 13.0 (well.. -current at the moment, but it will work for 13.0 too when that gets released).

I may still tweak it a bit more in the near future, but this works for now:

http://www.slackware.com/~alien/tools/usbinstall/13.0/

Set the ARCH variable to "x86_64" in the script, or in your shell's environment, if you are going to create a USB installer for slackware64.

Eric

Awesome! Thanks Eric! Now, if I can figure out why my box won't boot to USB's I'll be making some real progress

linus72 07-17-2009 09:15 PM

Biggen
you mean your pc won't boot from usb
or can't boot from usb?
or what?

Quote:

Now, if I can figure out why my box won't boot to USB's I'll be making some real progress

Biggen 07-17-2009 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linus72 (Post 3611367)
Biggen
you mean your pc won't boot from usb
or can't boot from usb?
or what?

I think it is a bios problem. I can select boot from USB, but it won't no matter how I make the stick.

I am content not to even mess with it anymore as I have wasted several hours trying to figure it out...

linus72 07-17-2009 10:10 PM

Mmm. did you try using any bootmanagers?

my ext3 grub 4gb usb is running now from a pc that won't boot from usb
doesn't even have a bios setting to boot usb:)

I use a special cd I cut full of bootmanagers and Plop usually works
especially if you install it to mbr temperarily and when you install a distro or whatever grub/lilo overwrites it

Bruce Hill 07-17-2009 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linus72 (Post 3611323)
Thanks Alien
is that for 64 or 32?
or both

Please slow down and read a bit more carefully ;)

Quote:

Set the ARCH variable to "x86_64" in the script, or in your shell's environment, if you are going to create a USB installer for slackware64.


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