Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 11 May 2022, 13:24
I'm still trying to figure out a way to get Porteus to boot on my converted Chromebook (General chat - "Chromebook converted to Linux lappy").
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Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
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Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 11 May 2022, 15:10
My Porteus USB drive boots on my UEFI Windows notebook. The drive is formatted as FAT32 and it has the EFI Porteus directory on it, in addition to all the other Porteus ISO directories.
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 11 May 2022, 18:20
Thanks Ed! Yeah, I'm down to my last option, it seems, to get Porteus to boot on this converted Chromebook. Looking like it will need some kind of command-line to boot when @ the UEFI Shell prompt. Mainly just a test machine 'n the added BIOS doesn't offer a lot of options. No biggie, but figured I'd give it one last try...Porteus would be perfect on it, IMHO.
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 12 May 2022, 00:57
Ok, since we're down to last options ...
Since much of this depends upon the Mr.Chromebox tweaks, have you tried just using the default developer mode, and NOT relying on Mr.Chromebox. Ie, enough to just get into developer mode, enabling usb boot and trying that *without* any of his specialized tweeking?
It's the first thing I recommend when trying to use a chrome* system. Try the defaults in the machine first.
OR - how about this "trick" - bypassing the front end boot system with a so-called "multibooter", which has it's own front end for boot, and then starts up the iso itself?
Most multibooters are intended for a convenient way to pile iso's onto a bootable stick with it's own front-end, and then you cherry pick which iso you want to start.
I don't need that myself, HOWEVER, in situations where there could be corner-cases in the UEFI boot system, it may be worth it to try using a multibooter with just Porteus on it to see if you get anywhere.
Of course, YMMV, and if it breaks, you get to keep both pieces. It does NOT mean that the distro of the multibooter itself is broken.
For instance, you may want to try the YUMI-UEFI multibooter and put Porteus onto it. The latest is 0.0.4.5 I believe, which I just tested with Porteus X86/64 RC3. YUMI-UEFI is "Porteus aware" and unarchives the iso properly onto the stick. It is a windows-only utility I'm afraid.
There are others, like Ventoy, but I haven't had success with RC3 yet.
Give YUMI-UEFI a shot, choose Porteus in the dropdown, browse to the Porteus Iso and let it do it's thing. Unmount / eject nicely when done, and restart.
YUMI-UEFI may get you past that weird corner-case between Mr.Chromebox hardware tweaks and Porteus.
Since much of this depends upon the Mr.Chromebox tweaks, have you tried just using the default developer mode, and NOT relying on Mr.Chromebox. Ie, enough to just get into developer mode, enabling usb boot and trying that *without* any of his specialized tweeking?
It's the first thing I recommend when trying to use a chrome* system. Try the defaults in the machine first.
OR - how about this "trick" - bypassing the front end boot system with a so-called "multibooter", which has it's own front end for boot, and then starts up the iso itself?
Most multibooters are intended for a convenient way to pile iso's onto a bootable stick with it's own front-end, and then you cherry pick which iso you want to start.
I don't need that myself, HOWEVER, in situations where there could be corner-cases in the UEFI boot system, it may be worth it to try using a multibooter with just Porteus on it to see if you get anywhere.
Of course, YMMV, and if it breaks, you get to keep both pieces. It does NOT mean that the distro of the multibooter itself is broken.
For instance, you may want to try the YUMI-UEFI multibooter and put Porteus onto it. The latest is 0.0.4.5 I believe, which I just tested with Porteus X86/64 RC3. YUMI-UEFI is "Porteus aware" and unarchives the iso properly onto the stick. It is a windows-only utility I'm afraid.
There are others, like Ventoy, but I haven't had success with RC3 yet.
Give YUMI-UEFI a shot, choose Porteus in the dropdown, browse to the Porteus Iso and let it do it's thing. Unmount / eject nicely when done, and restart.
YUMI-UEFI may get you past that weird corner-case between Mr.Chromebox hardware tweaks and Porteus.
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 12 May 2022, 02:51
I can't go back to Chrome OS after MrChromebox...if I recall correctly. It was on a 32GB eMMC drive that CloudReady OS is now on. For other Linuxes I am using the SD card slot or a USB.
Yeah, I have tried the Ventoy, which I actually like more than YUMI; however, I will also give YUMI a try now. I have Clonezilla 'n GParted permanently on Ventoy and the both boot on the converted lappy.
Am headed to bed, but will look over all the tips here again, and definitely give YUMI a try now! Thanks!
UPDATE: Before posting this...decided to at least give YUMI 2.0.6.7 (yes, old old!)...it didn't work. Then downloaded YUMI-UEFI 0.0.4.5 and it worked!
\o/ ’Hippity hip Hoorah’ \o/ Now I'll go to bed 'n see what I can do wid it tomorrow...thanks again!
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 12 May 2022, 05:59
RIGHT ON! Yeah, YUMI comes in 3 different flavors now. Regular, UEFI, and the latest exFAT (which I haven't tried) in case you have some massive usb stick.
I get them from pendrivelinux site, and not any other 3rd party.
Note that the Porteus configs you will probably modify and so forth will be found in the
directory. At least for my LXDE version.
YUMI belongs to the multibooters that actually unarchive and rewrite an iso to the stick, rather than others that boot the iso directly.
You may also want to see if a slightly older MULTIBOOT 9.20 utility which also extracts and rewrites the iso to usb stick works for you too. Windows and linux support.
I'm glad it worked for you! I use the multibooter trick once in awhile on various things to try and catch that weirdo hardware/uefi corner-case that will tear your hair out.
I get them from pendrivelinux site, and not any other 3rd party.
Note that the Porteus configs you will probably modify and so forth will be found in the
Code: Select all
/multiboot/Porteus-LXDE-v5.0rc3-x86_64YUMI belongs to the multibooters that actually unarchive and rewrite an iso to the stick, rather than others that boot the iso directly.
You may also want to see if a slightly older MULTIBOOT 9.20 utility which also extracts and rewrites the iso to usb stick works for you too. Windows and linux support.
I'm glad it worked for you! I use the multibooter trick once in awhile on various things to try and catch that weirdo hardware/uefi corner-case that will tear your hair out.
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 12 May 2022, 10:28
PROBLEM with YUMI! How the heck do I save my changes?
Not in the usual config file that Porteus uses. THIS is why non-standard methods like multibooters can drive developers absolutely crazy. You have to put your Porteus-hacker hat on.
After you have booted into the live environment, let's assume you are going to use the provided gui utility to create your changefile. Let's assume it is going to be a simple savefile.dat for your fat32 stick.
After creating it, instead of modifying the usual Porteus config files for the change, you have to manually edit a GRUB FILE THAT YUMI MAKES instead to point to the changes (or savefile.dat).
Which means you lose the beautiful boot splash screen with options that the Porteus devs created and it boots real quick into the live environment bypassing it. Your only option is to make manual edits.
Here's the file you manually edit (in my case the lxde version)
This grub.cfg is written by Yumi, not Porteus. Nevertheless you simply find the linux line, and after the path= path, add a space and extend the line with your
Where sdaX is your actual device name.
Now when you reboot, Porteus knows where to find your changes or savefile.dat file.
Do it once, and it's not so bad. But if you weren't hip to this, you would suddenly find yourself in a twisty maze of grub, syslinux, and porteus config files, all alike. Pick up lamp. Throw lamp at troll.
Not in the usual config file that Porteus uses. THIS is why non-standard methods like multibooters can drive developers absolutely crazy. You have to put your Porteus-hacker hat on.
After you have booted into the live environment, let's assume you are going to use the provided gui utility to create your changefile. Let's assume it is going to be a simple savefile.dat for your fat32 stick.
After creating it, instead of modifying the usual Porteus config files for the change, you have to manually edit a GRUB FILE THAT YUMI MAKES instead to point to the changes (or savefile.dat).
Which means you lose the beautiful boot splash screen with options that the Porteus devs created and it boots real quick into the live environment bypassing it. Your only option is to make manual edits.
Here's the file you manually edit (in my case the lxde version)
Code: Select all
/multiboot/Porteus-LXDE-v5.0rc3-x86_64/grub.cfgCode: Select all
changes=/mnt/sdaX/path/to/your/savefile.datNow when you reboot, Porteus knows where to find your changes or savefile.dat file.
Do it once, and it's not so bad. But if you weren't hip to this, you would suddenly find yourself in a twisty maze of grub, syslinux, and porteus config files, all alike. Pick up lamp. Throw lamp at troll.
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 12 May 2022, 17:47
Are you sure you "have to"? Have you tried changing the porteus.cfg file instead? Changing the porteus.cfg file's "APPEND changes=/porteus" to "APPEND changes=/porteus/your.savefile.dat" should work, once the file is created.
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 12 May 2022, 21:17
Heh, this is why from a developer standpoint, you have to make *sure* that the end user with a problem isn't holding back on a non-standard "unauthorized" way to boot it. Always ask so you don't chase your tail.
And still as of RC3, we have TWO possible config files: porteus.cfg and porteus-LXDE-v5.30rc3.cfg, which at a glance show the #changes= option. Which to choose as to where to put it? That alone is sometimes confusing when you see it as an option in the file. And this is just for the "standard" installation method - not even YUMI-UEFI.
So this makes it even worse with the multibooters which rewrite their own grub files where the changes= option actually gets picked up from!
Check it out - burn a YUMI-UEFI stick and choose a flavor of RC3. If there is a better way for configuration I'm all ears.
Hint: When first booting with YUMI-UEFI, and presented with it's own menus, I did the standard "E" for edit, to reveal what IT was basing it's own configuration from to pull up Porteus. AHA!
It's great to know since you might be able to help a friend in the same boat with some funky hardware / uefi that Porteus just misses in a corner-case - like Karmi's Chromebook.
And still as of RC3, we have TWO possible config files: porteus.cfg and porteus-LXDE-v5.30rc3.cfg, which at a glance show the #changes= option. Which to choose as to where to put it? That alone is sometimes confusing when you see it as an option in the file. And this is just for the "standard" installation method - not even YUMI-UEFI.
So this makes it even worse with the multibooters which rewrite their own grub files where the changes= option actually gets picked up from!
Check it out - burn a YUMI-UEFI stick and choose a flavor of RC3. If there is a better way for configuration I'm all ears.
Hint: When first booting with YUMI-UEFI, and presented with it's own menus, I did the standard "E" for edit, to reveal what IT was basing it's own configuration from to pull up Porteus. AHA!
It's great to know since you might be able to help a friend in the same boat with some funky hardware / uefi that Porteus just misses in a corner-case - like Karmi's Chromebook.
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 12 May 2022, 21:53
Again, here's the problem from the developer side - how many non-standard boot methods can you support in case of a problem?
Is the user trying to use MULTIBOOTUSB 9.20 and not YUMI-UEFI? What is *that* rewritten config file that should be used to pick up the changes= option?
Heh, you can see why multibooters are pretty much scorned from the developer end - even though they work, it is more or less up to the end user to support themselves if things don't work out of the box. You get to keep both pieces if it breaks.
Unfortunately, sometimes devs can get tricked by the "distroX doesn't boot!", not realizing that end-users are sometimes witholding - mostly innocently - that they are outside the boundaries of any normal support expectations with non-standard methods.
Is the user trying to use MULTIBOOTUSB 9.20 and not YUMI-UEFI? What is *that* rewritten config file that should be used to pick up the changes= option?
Heh, you can see why multibooters are pretty much scorned from the developer end - even though they work, it is more or less up to the end user to support themselves if things don't work out of the box. You get to keep both pieces if it breaks.
Unfortunately, sometimes devs can get tricked by the "distroX doesn't boot!", not realizing that end-users are sometimes witholding - mostly innocently - that they are outside the boundaries of any normal support expectations with non-standard methods.
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 12 May 2022, 22:00
I am talking about the porteus.cfg file that comes with Porteus and it's in the Porteus's /boot/syslinux/ directory. I don't know anything about personalize cfg files users or user apps create. If YUMM creates a Porteus cfg file I suspect it's cfg file will support the change I suggest also. If you or Karmi post the YUMi boot file they use it would help determine which cfg file it uses.
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 12 May 2022, 22:20
Ah, YUMI-UEFI is based on grub, not syslinux. In the course of unarchiving and rewriting the iso to stick, it knows a little bit about Porteus, looks at the files and locations, but of course there are no changes= option when it writes its very own grub.cfg file for the first time.
Thus, the config is in
/multiboot/Porteus-LXDE-v5.0rc3-x86_64/grub.cfg
Please, burn a stick with YUMI-UEFI first-hand to find out.
Otherwise, we end up in what I'm talking about - chasing our tales on what *should* work when looked at only from a logical standpoint, and not a physical reality. Wasting devs time (if they get involved), and confusing end-users even more with shoulda' / coulda's
Ed - you're good - but physically burn a YUMI-UEFI (or multibootusb 9.20) and see. Otherwise we end up in confusing conjecture.
Thus, the config is in
/multiboot/Porteus-LXDE-v5.0rc3-x86_64/grub.cfg
Please, burn a stick with YUMI-UEFI first-hand to find out.
Otherwise, we end up in what I'm talking about - chasing our tales on what *should* work when looked at only from a logical standpoint, and not a physical reality. Wasting devs time (if they get involved), and confusing end-users even more with shoulda' / coulda's
Ed - you're good - but physically burn a YUMI-UEFI (or multibootusb 9.20) and see. Otherwise we end up in confusing conjecture.
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 12 May 2022, 22:48
Ok, Ed's going to make me work for it.
Here is the custom YUMI-UEFI grub.cfg file. Towards the bottom, you'll see where I manually added the changes= option to point to my mychanges.dat. That's the only thing I had to add, presumably, any other customizations for boot should I want later on.
Of course I first had to create and choose a location for this file, which I did with the Porteus Savefile Manager utility.
If you chased around with the standard Porteus configs, you'd be pulling hairs, because this grub boot file is created after YUMI-UEFI analyzes the Porteus ISO as delivered, which doesn't have any end-user options like changes=.
Like I say, the casual user might get tripped up in a twisty maze of paths and configs when a multibooter which analyzes and rewrites things is acting as the primary front-end.
Here is the custom YUMI-UEFI grub.cfg file. Towards the bottom, you'll see where I manually added the changes= option to point to my mychanges.dat. That's the only thing I had to add, presumably, any other customizations for boot should I want later on.
Of course I first had to create and choose a location for this file, which I did with the Porteus Savefile Manager utility.
Code: Select all
# Menu Entry Created by YUMI
insmod png
insmod part_msdos
insmod fat
insmod ntfs
insmod ext2
#set root='hd0,msdos1'
set root --label MULTIBOOT --hint hd0,msdos1
#the following two lines allow the default entry to boot without displaying a menu (default)
set timeout=0
set TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
if loadfont /boot/grub/fonts/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod efi_gop
insmod efi_uga
insmod vbe
insmod vga
insmod gfxterm
terminal_output gfxterm
fi
if background_image /boot/grub/yumi.png ; then
set color_normal=white/black
set color_highlight=yellow/dark-gray
set menu_color_highlight=yellow/black
set menu_color_normal=white/blue
else
set menu_color_normal=white/blue
set menu_color_highlight=yellow/black
fi
set default=2
menuentry "[Reboot]" {reboot}
menuentry "< Go back to the Main Menu"{configfile /EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg}
menuentry "Porteus-LXDE-v5.0rc3-x86_64" {
#set gfxpayload=keep
linux /multiboot/Porteus-LXDE-v5.0rc3-x86_64/boot/syslinux/vmlinuz from=/multiboot/Porteus-LXDE-v5.0rc3-x86_64 changes=/mnt/sda1/porteus/changes/mychanges.dat
echo "Loading - This may take several seconds..."
initrd /multiboot/Porteus-LXDE-v5.0rc3-x86_64/boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
}Like I say, the casual user might get tripped up in a twisty maze of paths and configs when a multibooter which analyzes and rewrites things is acting as the primary front-end.
Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 12 May 2022, 23:10
Try booting the USB stick after changing the porteus.cfg file as I suggested.
And posting the /multiboot/Porteus-LXDE-v5.0rc3-x86_64/grub.cfg file that you have would be interesting to see.
With the steps to create a bootable Porteus USB drive so simple I don't see why someone would need an app like YUMMY.
1. Format the drive as FAT32.
2. Copy ALL the files and folders in the Porteus ISO to the drive.
3. Run the Porteus-installer on the drive.
Drive will boot on BIOS and EFI systems.
I'm surprised the app disregards the Porteus menu's APPEND line for each menu.
You're a mind reader namZorAdded in 5 minutes 27 seconds:
You need to relook at your ISO's /boot/syslinux/porteus.cfg file. Each menu has an APPEND line and the one for the GUI is:
Code: Select all
APPEND changes=/porteusBTW I use GRUB2WIN's grub2 menus to boot my various systems. Here are some of my USB drive menus.
Code: Select all
menuentry " Porteus 5.0 USB - AF'" --class slackware --class icon-porteus {
set porteus_parms="volume=33 reboot=cold extramod=/Modules" #;cinnamon" # changes=EXIT:/changes/porteussave.dat"
set bootdrv=$root
search -f /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz --set=root
if [ $root != $bootdrv ]; then
linux /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz $porteus_parms
initrd /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
else
echo "----------------------------------------"
echo USB drive NOT found.
echo
sleep -v -i 10
fi
set root=$bootdrv
}
menuentry " Porteus 5.0 USB - EFI" --class slackware --class icon-porteus {
set bootmgr=/EFI/boot/bootx64.efi #grubx64.efi # bootx64.efi
set bootdrv=$root
search -f $bootmgr --set=root
if [ $root != $bootdrv ]; then
chainloader $bootmgr
else
echo "----------------------------------------"
echo USB drive NOT found.
echo
sleep -v -i 10
fi
set root=$bootdrv
}
menuentry " Porteus 5.0 USB - syslinux" --class slackware --class icon-porteus {
# https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/73564/chainload-syslinux-from-grub2-show-syslinux-cfg-menu
set bootmgr=/boot/syslinux/isolinux.bin
set bootdrv=$root
search -f $bootmgr --set=root
if [ $root != $bootdrv ]; then
syslinux_source $bootmgr
syslinux_configfile /boot/syslinux/porteus.cfg
else
echo "----------------------------------------"
echo Porteus drive NOT found.
echo
sleep -v -i 10
fi
set root=$bootdrv
}Can Porteus be booted from the UEFI Shell option?
Posted: 13 May 2022, 00:18
Y'all lost me. Anyway, the only way I've been able to boot any Porteus 5 or 4 Cinnamon on this converted Chromebook is nanZor's Yumi-UEFI suggestion. Even Porteus USBs working on other computers...Clonezilla Porteus clones...fat32...fat32/ext4...every other tested way that has worked for me on other computers all failed on - as nanZor calls it: "weirdo hardware/uefi corner-case." My other two favorite Distros - Fedora 36 Cinnamon 'n Puppy Linux 9.5 had not problems. Ventoy wid Clonezilla & GParted worked fine, but Porteus not so...even an old standard YUMI 2.0.6.7 didn't work. No biggie tho...I'll keep piddling wid it since this conversion was/is for testing.
Today I deleted CloudReady OS from the installed 32GB eMMC drive (too much like Chrome OS) and have made one test try wid Porteus on it - i.e. copied EFI & BOOT & Porteus folders to it...didn't work. Oh, I do so many tests I forget what I have done...in this case, today I also tried using Porteus Installer desktop app & then the boot > Porteus-installer-for-Linux MS-DOS app ... MS-DOS!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Is Linux still using that!?
Do y'all have Microsoft's permission?
I see lots of suggestions in this thread that I haven't tried yet, but they are listed here now so I have a reference point for more testing. Read where Porteus 5 stable is due this month, so may do most of the new tests then.
Newly released ISOs are stacking up on me, e.g. EuroLinux 8.6 (11 GBs...make that 11.4 GBs) 'n still testing Fedora 36 Cinnamon (GUI dnfdragora package manager has been *VASTLY* improved), and tomorrow morning will download AlmaLinux 8.6 when my ISP speeds are better (it is over 10 GBs). Porteus will handle all the formatting 'n reformatting 'n such for those tests.
Thanks y'all!!!
Today I deleted CloudReady OS from the installed 32GB eMMC drive (too much like Chrome OS) and have made one test try wid Porteus on it - i.e. copied EFI & BOOT & Porteus folders to it...didn't work. Oh, I do so many tests I forget what I have done...in this case, today I also tried using Porteus Installer desktop app & then the boot > Porteus-installer-for-Linux MS-DOS app ... MS-DOS!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Is Linux still using that!?
Do y'all have Microsoft's permission?I see lots of suggestions in this thread that I haven't tried yet, but they are listed here now so I have a reference point for more testing. Read where Porteus 5 stable is due this month, so may do most of the new tests then.
Newly released ISOs are stacking up on me, e.g. EuroLinux 8.6 (11 GBs...make that 11.4 GBs) 'n still testing Fedora 36 Cinnamon (GUI dnfdragora package manager has been *VASTLY* improved), and tomorrow morning will download AlmaLinux 8.6 when my ISP speeds are better (it is over 10 GBs). Porteus will handle all the formatting 'n reformatting 'n such for those tests.
Thanks y'all!!!