[Solved] The generic Linux installer is incompatible with Ubuntu + fixing LILO/exFAT

[ncmprhnsbl]

I don't know how Shellcheck misses this (it does!),

indeed, it's more concerned about the unquoted $(whoami) inside the test..but not about the garbage command ...are split usernames even allowed? quoted it anyway now.
another fixed again version:
Porteus-installer-for-Linux.com md5sum: 65dd04e797492b04aba34c40abba6753 (all the previous links are the same file)

one other thing i noticed looking at the makeself github issues was a possible case of /tmp being mounted in such a way that doesn't allow execution.
the simplist solution being a workaround by the user either using the --target /to/some/place or setting TMPDIR=/to/some/place , which could be mentioned in the docs.

[jjr]

Marking as solved again

one other thing i noticed looking at the makeself github issues was a possible case of /tmp being mounted in such a way that doesn't allow execution.
the simplist solution being a workaround by the user either using the --target /to/some/place or setting TMPDIR=/to/some/place , which could be mentioned in the docs.

Oh I didn't think of that. ;_;

Extracting to UnknownFS will always be a minefield.

that's what AppImage was designed to completely avoid (by mounting embedded image)...and I think Type 1/iso9660 is basically universal. But maybe not worth the effort... nntr

edit: Thank you again for all your work here

[ncmprhnsbl]

Thank you again for all your work here

you welcome , but really, thank you, your solutions were the main driver in fixing this longstanding issue

[jjr]

/tmp being mounted in such a way that doesn't allow execution.

minefield ... AppImage was designed to completely avoid (by mounting embedded image)

That probably made me sound like an idiot, since the AppImage itself has to be executable on FAT.

But it can be done 'cleanly' in sh the same way Makeself works.
Tested and working proof-of-concept below, with error checking and build commands.

Much tidier than the monstrous Makeself script.
But I'm sure you don't want to maintain a separate project like this..
NNTR

template.com (30 lines):

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh
AUTORUN="./.porteus_installer/installer.com"
AUTORUN_ARGS=
MOUNTPOINT="/var/run/porteus_installer_mnt-$(cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid)"  # /var/run = process lifetime scope; clears on reboot
SKIP=30
INSTALL_DIR="$(cd -- "$(dirname -- "$0")" > /dev/null 2>&1 ; pwd -P )"
SELF_PATH="$INSTALL_DIR/$(basename -- "$0")"
export INSTALL_DIR  # safer target than USER_PWD, to prevent user from accidentally modifying system disk
USER_PWD="$(pwd)"
export USER_PWD

fail() { echo >&2 "$1"; exit 1; }

# Validate environment
[ $(whoami) = 'root' ] || fail "This tool requires root privileges."
[ -f "$SELF_PATH" ] || fail "Failed to locate the script being run."
mkdir -p "$MOUNTPOINT" || fail "Failed to create mountpoint directory."

# Set trap to auto-unmount on script exit
trap "umount '$MOUNTPOINT' 2>/dev/null; rmdir '$MOUNTPOINT' 2>/dev/null" EXIT INT HUP TERM ABRT QUIT PIPE

# Mount the embedded image
OFFSET="$(head -n$SKIP "$SELF_PATH" | wc -c | tr -dC '0-9')"
mount -t iso9660 -o loop,exec,ro,offset=$OFFSET "$SELF_PATH" "$MOUNTPOINT" || fail "Mount command failed."
# Enter subshell to avoid holding the mountpoint open with chdir
(
	cd "$MOUNTPOINT" || fail "Couldn't chdir to image mountpoint."
	"$AUTORUN" $AUTORUN_ARGS "$@" || fail "Installer exited with error $?"
)
exit $?
#________ISO9660_ROCKRIDGE_IMAGE_DATA_CONTAINING_porteus_installer________

Build:

Code: Select all

ISOROOT="/path/to/dir/containing_.porteus_installer"
chmod -R +x "$ISOROOT"
mkisofs -o image.iso -rational-rock -no-pad -A IDATA -V IDATA "$ISOROOT"

LNUM=$(grep -n '^#________ISO9660' template.com | cut -d: -f1)
sed "s/^SKIP=.*/SKIP=$((LNUM-1))/g;/^#________ISO9660/d" template.com > Porteus-installer-for-Linux.com
cat image.iso >> Porteus-installer-for-Linux.com

Run:

Code: Select all

sudo sh Porteus-installer-for-Linux.com

edit: checksum validation is easy to add ofc

[jjr]

INSTALL_DIR=...
SELF_PATH=...

fixed
edit 2024/03/10: fixed (again) to support pathnames that start with "-"

also better exit code propagation and cleanup

[jjr]

Found out adding -no-pad reaches ~580KB (official is ~380KB), which stings less for the zero-extraction/safety benefit.

I'm sorry I am probably talking to myself.

[Ed_P]

I enjoy seeing your attention to details jjr.

[jjr]

I enjoy seeing your attention to details jjr.

ty that was sweet of you

[M. Eerie]

I am probably talking to myself

I am following this thread with utmost attention. There is so much to learn from it...

[nanZor]

i think xfs is now supposed to be supported syslinux anyway.. does anyone actually used xfs any more? (apart from in a porteus save.dat)

I am right now with XFS as my changes partition. Along with a 500mb swapfile on it. Just simply cut my stick in half with fat32/xfs. Kind of reliving some old Knoppix days with reiserfs for it's "self healing" properties if someone yanks the stick out, or power outage kind of thing. Not so much worried about writes, especially with the EXIT: cheatcode. So far so good.

Thing is, I make my numerous Porteus sticks from within Porteus itself - total gparted party etc. But I've got Lubuntu on the internal drives of a few machines, so I'll be testing this out from the thread info!

[nanZor]

So I checked this out on Lubuntu 22.04 and see the craziness too. BUT!

Gparted Live also has an optional "copy n paste" zip file option, instead of an iso-burn - similar style of install that Porteus uses, and it too fails.

ncmprhnsbl - your modified installer above works on the Lubuntu test! I was able to make a bootable Porteus stick with your mod in Lubuntu! Nice.

Thing is - as super easy as a Porteus install is, the Lubuntu user would have to know how to use an archiver instead of mounting the iso. There is also a superflous [BOOT] directory showing up in the archiver along with regular boot directory. Then there is the stick being identified with UUID instead of the usual sdXx. AND, the user would have to know how to become root with the sudo -s method. No plain su or sudo root here.

On *buntu, they sure don't make installing Porteus to a stick easy, when it is the easiest thing to do!

[jjr]

FYI, there's something weird/wrong going on in this installer....

I was avoiding looking at the logic too deeply, partly because I didn't want to find more invasive work than the trivial fixes appropriate for an outsider. (Dumb logic on my part, maybe.)

But I'm adding SYSLINUX's GPT-BIOS support to the Windows and Linux installers for myself (for >2 TiB drives), so I "took mental ownership" of the installer / rewriting it with full review.

To summarize, the installer (both old and current 2024-02-23):

• Relies on PRT being sometimes empty in order to avoid damaging user data.
• Relies on PRT being always non-empty and valid.
• Never, in fact, makes it possible for PRT to ever be empty (neither with the original definition, nor the current one).

Bottom-line: It would be rare for this to affect anyone. But I spent half the day trying to make heads or tails of it, so going to post anyway. In detail:

1. It fails to avoid destroying device data when a user installs Porteus to a non-partitioned device, such as a whole-device XFS.
   
   Which is probably nobody. But the original code is intended to either (a) protect against corrupting a non-partitioned FS or (b) avoid overwriting a custom MBR:
   
   Notice it avoids burning the MBR to sector 0 if $PRT is empty:

   Code: Select all

   if [ "$PRT" ]; then
   	# Setup MBR:
   	dd if="$bin"/mbr.bin of="$DEV" bs=440 count=1 conv=notrunc >/dev/null 2>&1
   

   I don't know which one of the above was the author's intention (a or b), but it doesn't achieve either. Neither the original nor current definition of PRT could ever have been an empty string, so the test is useless.
   .
2. This error check seems to be nonsense:

   Code: Select all

   DEV=/dev/$(lsblk -ndo pkname "$PRT")
   #...
   if [ -z "$(echo "$DEV" | xargs)" ]; then
   	echo "Current unit $MPT was not mounted correctly. ...
   

   Odd use of xargs aside(?), DEV will never be empty..
   .
3. Another wrong error check, 'jeopardizing user data', which relies on PRT being empty:

   Code: Select all

   if [ -z "$PRT" ] && [ "$FS" = xfs ]; then
   	echo
   	echo "LILO cannot be installed on a device formatted with XFS as this"
   	echo "filesystem would be destroyed. Please create partition on $DEV"
   	...
   

----------------
I was going to say, if you wanted just to avoid corrupting a non-partitioned filesystem, you could use lsblk's behavior of returning an empty parent kernel device when PRT is not a partition.

You'd simply replace the faulty error check in location (2) with something like this:

Code: Select all

DEV="/dev/$(lsblk -ndo pkname "$PRT")"
if [ ! -b "$DEV" ]; then
	DEV="$PRT"
	PRT=""
fi

Then both of those tests for an empty PRT would make some sense. But there are problems with that:

• Again, other code relies on PRT never being empty.
• It would also allow a whole-disk filesystem to fall through into LILO/extlinux and (I presume) report that it "successfully" installed Porteus, when in fact the computer won't boot without an MBR. Bogus again.

(These could be anyone's fault -- or series of people -- who might've modified the code w/o noticing regressions. Things happen.)

[edit: snipped]

Anyway, the installer above (2024-02-23) should work as expected for practically everyone , so unless you want to ask/arbitrate fanthom's original intention and redesign to achieve it, you might as well leave it be...

Thank you for reading my large waste of time for today.
nntr...

[Ed_P]

Thank you for reading my large waste of time for today.

[ncmprhnsbl]

FYI, there's something weird/wrong going on in this installer....

I was avoiding looking at the logic too deeply, partly because I didn't want to find more invasive work than the trivial fixes appropriate for an outsider. (Dumb logic on my part, maybe.)

But I'm adding SYSLINUX's GPT-BIOS support to the Windows and Linux installers for myself (for >2 TiB drives), so I "took mental ownership" of the installer / rewriting it with full review.

thanks for your continued interest in this GPT-BIOS support sounds like something others might find useful and "with full review" is welcome..
for a more complete history i'll post here the original (fanthoms work i presume) and the one you call 'old' ..
most of these changes were committed in one go (with the commit message: "Updated installer, included support to nvme devices") apart from the arch specific extlinux and root escalation parts and then the uuid injection bit.
this seems to be where at least some of the weirdness appears.
original installer.com:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash
# Porteus installation script by fanthom.

function check(){
if [ ! `which $1` ]; then echo "$1" >> /tmp/.sanity; fi
}

check grep
check sed
check sfdisk

## Failed sanity check
if [ -f /tmp/.sanity ]; then
	clear
	echo "The following utilities are required and missing from your system:"
	echo
	cat /tmp/.sanity
	echo
	echo "Please install necessary packages and run the installer again."
	rm /tmp/.sanity
	sleep 1
	rm -rf $bin 2>/dev/null
	exit
fi

# Allow only root:
if [ `whoami` != root ]; then
    echo
    echo "Installer needs root's privileges to run"
    sleep 1
    rm -rf $bin 2>/dev/null
    exit
fi

# Gather all required information:
# - partition to which we are installing
# - partition number
# - device
# - folder where partion is mounted
# - folder where installation is performed
# - folder where ISO is unpacked
# - filesystem

PRT=`df -h . | tail -n1 | cut -d" " -f1`
echo "$PRT" | grep -q mmcblk && PRTN=`echo $PRT | sed s/[^p1-9]*//` || PRTN=`echo $PRT | sed s/[^1-9]*//`
[ "$PRTN" ] && DEV=`echo $PRT | sed s/$PRTN//` || DEV=$PRT
MPT=`df -h . | tail -n1 | cut -d% -f2 | cut -d" " -f2-`
IPT=`pwd`
PTH=`echo "$IPT" | sed s^"$MPT"^^ | rev | cut -d/ -f2- | rev`
FS=`grep -w $PRT /proc/mounts | head -n1 | cut -d" " -f3`
bin="$IPT/.porteus_installer"
extlinux_conf="$IPT/syslinux/porteus.cfg"
lilo_menu="$IPT/syslinux/lilo.menu"
log="$IPT/debug.txt"

# 'debug' function:
debug() {
[ "$LOADER" ] || LOADER=lilo
cat << ENDOFTEXT > "$log"
device: $DEV
partition: $PRT
partition number: $PRTN
partition mount point: $MPT
installation path: $IPT
subfolder: $PTH
filesystem: $FS
bootloader: $LOADER
error code: $1
system: `uname -n` `uname -r` `uname -m`
mount details: `grep -w "^$PRT" /proc/mounts`
full partition scheme:
`fdisk -l`

ENDOFTEXT
[ $LOADER = lilo -a "$1" ] && cat "$lilo_menu" >> "$log"
}

# 'fail_check' function:
fail_check() {
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo
    echo 'Installation failed with error code '"'$1'"'.'
    echo 'Please ask for help on the Porteus forum: www.porteus.org/forum'
    echo 'and provide the information from '$log''
    echo
    echo 'Exiting now...'
    sleep 1
    rm -rf $bin 2>/dev/null
    debug $1
    exit $1
fi
}

# 'update_config' function:
update_config() {
echo
echo "Installer detected that Porteus is being installed to the subfolder $PTH"
echo
echo "Press Enter to allow the installer to edit $1"
echo "The following actions will be taken:"
echo "- the old from= cheatcode will be removed (if it exists)"
echo "- from=$PTH cheatcode will be added"
echo "- changes=/porteus cheatcode will be replaced with changes=$PTH/porteus"
echo
echo "If you do not want the installer to update the bootloader config then press"
echo "Ctrl+c to exit, update the configuration file manually and run the installer"
echo "again with the -s (skip) flag like this:"
echo "./linux-installer.com -- -s"
echo
echo "Press Enter to proceed or Ctrl+c to exit."
read abook
# Remove old 'from=' cheatcode:
sed -r 's/from=([^\ ]*.)//' -i "$1"
# Inject new 'from=' cheat:
if [ "$2" = lilo ]; then
    sed -r 's^append\ =\ "^append\ =\ "from='$PTH'\ ^g' -i "$1"
else
    sed -e s^initrd.xz\ ^initrd.xz\ from=$PTH\ ^g -i "$1"
fi
# Update 'changes=' cheat:
sed -e s^changes=/porteus^changes=$PTH/porteus^g -i "$1"
echo "Updated $1"
}

# Set trap:
trap 'echo "Exited installer."; rm -rf $bin; exit 6' 1 2 3 9 15

clear
echo "                             _.====.._"
echo "                           ,:._       ~-_"
echo "                               '\        ~-_"
echo "                                 \        \\."
echo "                               ,/           ~-_"
echo "                      -..__..-''   PORTEUS   ~~--..__"""
echo
echo "==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--"
echo
echo "Installing Porteus to $PRT"
if ! `echo $* | egrep -qo "\-a( |\$)"`; then
    echo "WARNING: Make sure this is the right partition before proceeding."
    echo
    echo "Type 'ok' to continue or press Ctrl+c to exit."
    read abook
    while [ "$abook" != ok ]; do
	echo "Type 'ok' to continue or press Ctrl+c to exit."
	read abook
    done
fi

echo "Flushing filesystem buffers..."
sync

if [ "$PRTN" ]; then
    # Setup MBR:
    dd if=$bin/mbr.bin of=$DEV bs=440 count=1 conv=notrunc >/dev/null 2>&1
    fail_check 1

    # Make partition active:
    sfdisk -A $DEV $PRTN >/dev/null 2>&1
    fail_check 2
fi


if echo "$FS" | egrep -q 'ext|vfat|msdos|ntfs|fuseblk|btrfs'; then
    echo
    echo "Using extlinux bootloader."
    LOADER=extlinux
else
    echo
    echo "The default Porteus bootloader (extlinux) does not support"
    echo "the $FS filesystem - using LILO for the installation."
    if [ -z "$PRTN" -a "$FS" = xfs ]; then
	echo
	echo "LILO cannot be installed on a device formatted with xfs as this"
	echo "filesystem would be destroyed. Please create partition on $DEV"
	echo "or reformat it with other linux filesystem and repeat the installation."
	echo "Exiting now..."
	sleep 1
	rm -rf $bin 2>/dev/null
	exit
    fi
    if `echo $* | egrep -qo "\-f( |\$)"`; then
        LILO=MBR
    else
	if echo "$FS" | grep -q xfs; then
            echo
            echo "By default Porteus installs LILO to the boot sector of a partition, ie /dev/sdb1"
            echo "When a partition is formatted with the XFS filesystem then LILO can only"
            echo "be installed to the Master Boot Record of a device. For more information, read:"
            echo "http://xfs.org/index.php/XFS_FAQ#Q:_Does_LILO_work_with_XFS.3F"
            echo "Please consider reformatting this partition to a different filesystem,"
            echo "such as ext4, and then run the installer again."
            echo
            echo "Press Enter to install LILO to the MBR of $DEV or press Ctrl+c to exit."
            read abook
            LILO=MBR
        fi
    fi
fi

if [ "$LOADER" = extlinux ]; then

# Install extlinux:
$bin/extlinux.com -i "$IPT"/syslinux >/dev/null 2>&1
fail_check 3

# Update bootloader config if installing to a subfolder:
if [ "$PTH" ]; then
    if ! `echo $* | egrep -qo "\-s( |\$)"`; then
        if ! `echo $* | egrep -qo "\-a( |\$)"`; then
            update_config "$extlinux_conf"
        else
            # Remove old 'from=' cheatcode:
            sed -r 's/from=([^\ ]*.)//' -i "$extlinux_conf"
            # Inject new 'from=' cheat:
            sed -e s^initrd.xz\ ^initrd.xz\ from=$PTH\ ^g -i "$extlinux_conf"
            # Update 'changes=' cheat:
            sed -e s^changes=/porteus^changes=$PTH/porteus^g -i "$extlinux_conf"
            echo
            echo "Updated $extlinux_conf"
        fi
    else
        echo
        echo "Skipped updating of $extlinux_conf"
    fi
fi

else

# Create lilo.menu:
cat << ENDOFTEXT > "$lilo_menu"
boot=$PRT
prompt
#timeout=100
large-memory
lba32
compact
change-rules
reset
install=menu
menu-scheme = Wb:Yr:Wb:Wb
menu-title = "Porteus Boot-Manager"
ENDOFTEXT
sed '1,/#--do-not-delete-me--#/d' "$IPT"/syslinux/lilo.conf >> "$lilo_menu"

# Update paths to vmlinuz and initrd:
sed -e s^DO_NOT_CHANGE^"$IPT"/syslinux^g -i "$lilo_menu"

# Install to MBR instead of partition:
if [ "$LILO" = MBR ]; then
    echo
    echo "Installing to the MBR of $DEV"
    sed -r s^boot=$PRT^boot=$DEV^g -i "$lilo_menu"
fi

# Update 'from=' and 'changes=' cheats if installing to a subfolder:
if [ "$PTH" ]; then
    if ! `echo $* | egrep -qo "\-s( |\$)"`; then
        if ! `echo $* | egrep -qo "\-a( |\$)"`; then
            update_config "$lilo_menu" lilo
        else
            # Remove old 'from=' cheatcode:
            sed -r 's/from=([^\ ]*.)//' -i "$lilo_menu"
            # Inject new 'from=' cheat:
            sed -r 's^append\ =\ "^append\ =\ "from='$PTH'\ ^g' -i "$lilo_menu"
            # Update 'changes=' cheat:
            sed -e s^changes=/porteus^changes=$PTH/porteus^g -i "$lilo_menu"
            echo
            echo "Updated $lilo_menu"
        fi
    else
        echo
        echo "Skipped updating of $lilo_menu"
    fi
fi

# Install LILO:
$bin/lilo.com -P ignore -C "$lilo_menu" -S "$IPT"/syslinux -m "$IPT"/syslinux/lilo.map >/dev/null 2>&1
fail_check 4

fi

echo
echo "Installation finished successfully."
echo "You may reboot your PC now and start using Porteus."
echo "Please check the /boot/docs folder for additional information about"
echo "the installation process, Porteus requirements and booting parameters."
if [ "$LOADER" = extlinux ]; then
    echo "In case of making tweaks to the bootloader config,"
    echo "please edit: $extlinux_conf file."
else
    echo "In case of making tweaks to the bootloader config,"
    echo "please edit: $IPT/syslinux/lilo.conf file"
    echo "and run the installer again as LILO needs to reload it's configuration."
fi

if `echo $* | egrep -qo "\-d( |\$)"`; then
    echo
    echo "Debug log has ben saved as $log"
    debug
fi

if ! `echo $* | egrep -qo "\-a( |\$)"`; then
    echo
    echo "Press Enter to exit."
    read abook
fi

# Delete installator files:
rm -rf $bin 2>/dev/null

exit 0

newer pre your fixes installer.com

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash
# Porteus installation script by fanthom.

# Switch to root:
if [ `whoami` != root ]; then
	echo "Please enter root's password below:"
	su -c "$0 $PWD"
    exit
fi

if [ "$1" != "" ]; then
	cd "$1"
fi

function check(){
if [ ! `which $1` ]; then echo "$1" >> /tmp/.sanity; fi
}

check grep
check sed
check sfdisk

## Failed sanity check
if [ -f /tmp/.sanity ]; then
	clear
	echo "The following utilities are required and missing from your system:"
	echo
	cat /tmp/.sanity
	echo
	echo "Please install necessary packages and run the installer again."
	rm /tmp/.sanity
	sleep 1
	rm -rf $bin 2>/dev/null
	exit
fi

PRT=/dev/`echo $PWD | cut -d/ -f3`
MPT=/mnt/`echo $PWD | cut -d/ -f3`
DEV=/dev/`lsblk -ndo pkname $PRT`
PRTN=`echo ${PRT#"$DEV"} | sed 's/[^0-9]*//g'`
if [ -z `echo $DEV  | xargs` ]; then
	echo "Current unit $MPT was not mounted correctly. Please unplug and plug it again or reboot your system."
	exit 1
fi
IPT=`pwd`
FS=`grep -w $PRT /proc/mounts | head -n1 | cut -d" " -f3`
bin="$IPT/.porteus_installer"
extlinux_conf="$IPT/syslinux/porteus.cfg"
lilo_menu="$IPT/syslinux/lilo.menu"
log="$IPT/debug.txt"

# find $ARCH and use appropriate extlinux
ARCH=$(uname -m)
if [ "$ARCH" = "x86_64" ]; then
	extlinux="extlinux.x64"
else
	extlinux="extlinux.x32"
fi

# 'debug' function:
debug() {
[ "$LOADER" ] || LOADER=lilo
cat << ENDOFTEXT > "$log"
partition: $PRT
partition mount point: $MPT
installation path: $IPT
filesystem: $FS
bootloader: $LOADER
error code: $1
system: `uname -n` `uname -r` `uname -m`
mount details: `grep -w "^$PRT" /proc/mounts`
full partition scheme:
`fdisk -l`

ENDOFTEXT
[ $LOADER = lilo -a "$1" ] && cat "$lilo_menu" >> "$log"
}

# 'fail_check' function:
fail_check() {
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo
    echo 'Installation failed with error code '"'$1'"'.'
    echo 'Please ask for help on the Porteus forum: www.porteus.org/forum'
    echo 'and provide the information from '$log''
    echo
    echo 'Exiting now...'
    sleep 1
    rm -rf $bin 2>/dev/null
    debug $1
    exit $1
fi
}

# Set trap:
trap 'echo "Exited installer."; rm -rf $bin; exit 6' 1 2 3 9 15

clear
echo "                             _.====.._"
echo "                           ,:._       ~-_"
echo "                               '\        ~-_"
echo "                                 \        \\."
echo "                               ,/           ~-_"
echo "                      -..__..-''   PORTEUS   ~~--..__"""
echo
echo "==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--==--"
echo
echo "Installing Porteus to $PRT"
if ! `echo $* | egrep -qo "\-a( |\$)"`; then
    echo "WARNING: Make sure this is the right partition before proceeding."
    echo
    echo "Type 'ok' to continue."
    read abook
    if [ "$abook" != ok ]; then
		exit 0
    fi
fi

echo "Flushing filesystem buffers..."
sync

if [ "$PRT" ]; then
    # Setup MBR:
    dd if=$bin/mbr.bin of=$DEV bs=440 count=1 conv=notrunc >/dev/null 2>&1
    fail_check 1

    # Make partition active:
    sfdisk -A $DEV $PRTN >/dev/null 2>&1
    fail_check 2
fi

if echo "$FS" | egrep -q 'ext|vfat|msdos|ntfs|fuseblk|btrfs'; then
    echo
    echo "Using extlinux bootloader."
    LOADER=extlinux
else
    echo
    echo "The default Porteus bootloader (extlinux) does not support"
    echo "the $FS filesystem - using LILO for the installation."
    if [ -z "$PRT" -a "$FS" = xfs ]; then
		echo
		echo "LILO cannot be installed on a device formatted with xfs as this"
		echo "filesystem would be destroyed. Please create partition on $DEV"
		echo "or reformat it with other linux filesystem and repeat the installation."
		echo "Exiting now..."
		sleep 1
		rm -rf $bin 2>/dev/null
		exit
    fi
    if `echo $* | egrep -qo "\-f( |\$)"`; then
        LILO=MBR
    else
		if echo "$FS" | grep -q xfs; then
            echo
            echo "By default Porteus installs LILO to the boot sector of a partition, ie /dev/sdb1"
            echo "When a partition is formatted with the XFS filesystem then LILO can only"
            echo "be installed to the Master Boot Record of a device. For more information, read:"
            echo "http://xfs.org/index.php/XFS_FAQ#Q:_Does_LILO_work_with_XFS.3F"
            echo "Please consider reformatting this partition to a different filesystem,"
            echo "such as ext4, and then run the installer again."
            echo
            echo "Press Enter to install LILO to the MBR of $DEV or press Ctrl+c to exit."
            read abook
            LILO=MBR
        fi
    fi
fi

if [ "$LOADER" = extlinux ]; then
	# Install extlinux:
	$bin/$extlinux -i "$IPT"/syslinux >/dev/null 2>&1
	fail_check 3
else
	# Create lilo.menu:
cat << ENDOFTEXT > "$lilo_menu"
boot=$PRT
prompt
#timeout=100
large-memory
lba32
compact
change-rules
reset
install=menu
menu-scheme = Wb:Yr:Wb:Wb
menu-title = "Porteus Boot-Manager"
ENDOFTEXT
	sed '1,/#--do-not-delete-me--#/d' "$IPT"/syslinux/lilo.conf >> "$lilo_menu"

	# Update paths to vmlinuz and initrd:
	sed -e s^DO_NOT_CHANGE^"$IPT"/syslinux^g -i "$lilo_menu"

	# Install to MBR instead of partition:
	if [ "$LILO" = MBR ]; then
		echo
		echo "Installing to the MBR of $DEV"
		sed -r s^boot=$PRT^boot=$DEV^g -i "$lilo_menu"
	fi

	# Install LILO:
	$bin/lilo.com -P ignore -C "$lilo_menu" -S "$IPT"/syslinux -m "$IPT"/syslinux/lilo.map >/dev/null 2>&1
	fail_check 4
fi

# Delete installator files:
rm -rf $bin 2>/dev/null

# Insert UUID in initrd
if [ -e $MPT/boot/syslinux/initrd.xz ]; then
	mkdir /tmp/porteus-installer
	cd /tmp/porteus-installer
	cp $MPT/boot/syslinux/initrd.xz .
	xz -d < initrd.xz | cpio -i >/dev/null 2>&1
	rm initrd.xz
	lsblk -no UUID $PRT > uuid
	find | cpio -H newc -o | xz --check=crc32 --x86 --lzma2 > ./initrd.xz
	cp ./initrd.xz $MPT/boot/syslinux/
	rm -fr /tmp/porteus-installer
fi

clear

echo "Installation finished successfully."
echo "You may reboot your PC now and start using Porteus."

echo
echo "Press Enter to exit."
read abook

exit 0

at the time my only review was to test that it 'worked'

[jjr]

original installer.com:

Oh, wow!

So fanthom's original work actually had none of these issues -- nor even issue #1 from the Original Thread Post.

He's actually using df similar to how I suggested (in fact, his tail was a good idea, but my -P is what guarantees POSIX output format):

Code: Select all

PRT=`df -h . | tail -n1 | cut -d" " -f1`

Someone changed that to the broken cut-slash method that caused the bug:

Code: Select all

PRT=/dev/`echo $PWD | cut -d/ -f3`

Also the "$PRT" tests were originally "$PRTN" by him, which makes much more sense. (Someone changed them and broke it.) He also didn't have the meaningless $DEV test there.

However, someone (maybe same person) upgraded to using lsblk..pkname, which was a great improvement over his sed'ing to get DEV.

So I guess these versions should be merged, if only a little.

GPT-BIOS support sounds like something others might find useful and ...

OK, I'll aim to make a post eventually, when I'm comfortable with it.

For Linux it's straightforward. sfdisk, instead of setting the Active flag, must set the Legacy BIOS Bootable attribute that the syslinux gptmbr.bin (instead of mbr.bin) scans for, and that's basically it (besides testing the table type).

For Windows, I don't have a Win32 devel environment, so I had to hex-patch syslinux.exe swapping its embedded mbr.bin with gptmbr.bin and re-checksum. (Explained here.)

Then remove the -a (set Active) flag from inside Porteus-installer-for-Windows-GPT.exe.

But it seemed unwise to try to script diskpart in Batch to set the Legacy BIOS Bootable attribute, esp. since the WMIC command-line utility to get disk#/part# is deprecated as of Windows 10, Microsoft pushing everyone to PowerShell to access WMI.

So the user would have to set the attribute manually (in diskpart), which Microsoft pretends doesn't exist, but it does work if you add 15 zeros:

Code: Select all

gpt attributes=0x0000000000000005

So not very user-friendly.

[edit: snipped.. some incorrect info]