Installation to already used partition with NTFS

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Фест
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Installation to already used partition with NTFS

Post#1 by Фест » 01 Feb 2019, 22:37

Hello!

Is it possible to install Porteus from liveusb to already used internal hdd with NTFS and make it the main system?
I'm trying to understand now what is 'frugal' installation and how to working with grub4dos(or the same) for this. Is this right way?

Anyway, Porteus Installer creating folder with some files, like 'boot'(includes 'docs', 'syslinux' folders), 'porteus'('base'), files 'Porteus-installer-for-win', 'porteus-v3.2' etc.

Is it installation at all? And then how could I make this partition/folder an active to boot when I start the machine?

While the installation process there saids:
Any existsing data on this drive will remain intact, however if you choose the option below to run the bootloader then only Porteus will boot from this device
So why it not works? Could it be because of NTFS?
Then in the guide says that
Porteus can be installed on it's own partition, or it can be installed side by side with Windows or another Linux OS on the same partition.
...
If your drive is formatted with a Windows file system (e.g. FAT or NTFS), none of the changes you make your system will survive between reboots(Porteus will dafault to 'Always fresh' mode)
wich from I understand that it should be works on NTFS but not save user data. (use to make some 'data' file)

Thanks so much!

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Re: Installation to already used partition with NTFS

Post#2 by Ed_P » 02 Feb 2019, 05:48

Well, you don't have to install it to run it. :)

I run Porteus from my NTFS partition and I have it as a boot option. I just don't install it, I run it as ISOs.

If using grub4dos something like this works.

Code: Select all

set ISOx=Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64-nu.iso

# menu entries

title Porteus 3.1 LXQT ISO        \n187MB\n %ISOx%
find --set-root                       /ISOs/%ISOx%
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0   /ISOs/%ISOx% (0xff) 
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz    from=/ISOs/%ISOx%  extramod=UUID:F789-E55C/porteus3.1/Modules volume=40 reboot=cold ramsize=80%  
initrd /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
If using Grub2Win this works.

Code: Select all

submenu     'Porteus 4.0'       --class submenu   --class icon-porteus   --class custom_001  {
#
# start-custom-code
# Set the timeout for the submenu
set timeout=30

set gfxpayload=1024x768

     set linux_folder=/porteus4.0
     if [ -f /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz ]; then linux_folder=""; fi
#    LXQT  MATE  OPENBOX  XFCE
     set iso=/ISOs/Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64.iso
#     set iso=/ISOs/Porteus-OPENBOX-v4.0-x86_64.iso
     set extramods="extramod="
#     set iso=/ISOs/porteus-4.0rc5-x86_64-20180318.iso
#     set extramods="extramod=$linux_folder/003Modules;"

menuentry " Porteus 4.0 ISO - AF" --class slackware   --class icon-porteus  {

     set boot_parms="volume=33 reboot=cold $extramods "

     search -f $iso --set=root
     loopback loop $iso
     linux  (loop)/boot/syslinux/vmlinuz from=$iso $boot_parms
     initrd (loop)/boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
     }

menuentry " Porteus 4.0 ISO"       --class slackware   --class icon-porteus  {

#     set boot_parms="volume=33 reboot=cold noload=xfce load=cinn $extramods$linux_folder/Modules resolution=1600x900"
#     set boot_parms="volume=33 reboot=cold $extramods$linux_folder/Modules changes=EXIT:$linux_folder/changes/porteussave.dat 3"
     set boot_parms="volume=33 reboot=cold $extramods$linux_folder/Modules noload=cinnamon changes=EXIT:$linux_folder/changes/porteussave.dat"

     search -f $iso --set=root
     loopback loop $iso
     linux  (loop)/boot/syslinux/vmlinuz from=$iso $boot_parms
     initrd (loop)/boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
     }
I save my Porteus modules and changes on the NTFS drive in folders named Modules and changes and reference them in my boot parms. My changes are save in a Porteus Savedat file named porteussave.dat that I create when I boot Porteus the 1st time.

hth :)
Ed

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Re: Installation to already used partition with NTFS

Post#3 by Rava » 05 Feb 2019, 01:42

Hi Фест,

on my most recent hardware PC, a 4 GB 8core notebook, I have SM-Witless OS7 preinstalled, and I hardly ever use that OS (maybe once or twice a year), but I still wanted to keep it since I paid for it anyway.
Back then, years ago, I researched the issue of W7 and dual booting with Linux and found that the only solution back then was using grub4dos.

I even use the sda1 partition, which is W7 boot and backup partition to have all puppy, TinyCore and Porteus OS data. Okay, I hardly ever run Puppy or TinyCore, even when both are nice OS by themselves. But in any case, it is good to have some additional minimal Linux available.

Here are the setup files and changes I made. I will mark changes that I made but that I deem a potential risk for the stability of W7 in bold and explain why I deem this a potential risk.

Lets start with /mnt/sda1/Boot

Code: Select all

guest@porteus:/mnt/sda1/Boot$ l [a-z][a-z]-[A-Z][A-Z] -d
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 cs-CZ
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 da-DK
drwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2010-05-14 13:49 de-DE
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 el-GR
drwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2010-05-14 13:49 en-US
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2015-03-05 06:14 es-ES
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 fi-FI
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 fr-FR
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 hu-HU
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 it-IT
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 ja-JP
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 ko-KR
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 nb-NO
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 nl-NL
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 pl-PL
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 pt-BR
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 pt-PT
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 ru-RU
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 sv-SE
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 tr-TR
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 zh-CN
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 zh-HK
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root 0 2012-02-24 05:05 zh-TW
Since my W7 is a German one, I removed all W7 "locales" but the German de-DE and the en-US from its Boot folder by removing the folders and replacing these by empty files.

This is one such change I deem potential dangerous!

Just removing the folders would result in W7 to just restore these on the next bootup, but replacing these with empty files (empty files not use any space on the drive, these are just entries in the directory, nothing more) keeps W7 from messing with these things. Be aware that you have to adjust which folders to replace and which to keep, if you use any other language in your Windoze-Whatever version you want to keep than en-US, you have to keep that very "locales" folder intact. Still, this is an advanced move and I take no responsibility whatsoever for any user removing any WitlessOS files in such a manner like I did. I never experienced any issues with W7, but I could not speak for any other W7 but mine, any W8, W9 or W10 or any upcoming W versions to behave the same benign way when it comes to such low level hacking.

I installed all kernels and initrd's into /Boot as well:

Code: Select all

guest@porteus:/mnt/sda1/Boot$ ls -1 initrd* vmlinuz*
initrd.xz_Porteus_4.0_x86_64
initrd_quirkyNOP120.gz
vmlinuz64
vmlinuz64_is_TinyCorePure64-6.3
vmlinuz_Porteus_4.0_x86_64
vmlinuz_quirkyNOP120
Be aware that I omit Porteus dev kernel and initrd in the above info. Also, "vmlinuz64_is_TinyCorePure64-6.3" is an empty file, it just tells me to which OS the not explicitly renamed kernel "vmlinuz64" belongs to.

Now for the setup of W7 and grub4dos/neoGRUB. I did quite some setup using the neoGRUB tools, sadly, I cannot find all of the setup by just browsing the /mnt/sda2 directory. I added a OS selection to the W7 boot menu (using the neoGRUP setup tool), and the standard selection being "Linux", which then loads the neoGRUB menu.lst.

This setup of the W7 OS selection I cannot find running Porteus, but you find enough HOWTOs for setting up neoGRUB to dual boot any preinstalled W and Linux, I just followed the instructions to a T.

Now for some entries in the /mnt/sda2/NST/menu.lst

Code: Select all

title Back to Menu
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
boot
This entry should bring you back to the W7 OS selection menu where you can choose between Linux (which would bring you back again to the menu.lst of neoGRUB) and the W-whatever version you might have preinstalled. When I recall right, the Back to menu entry was part of the original menu.lst as created by neoGRUB and it is best to just keep it there.

Code: Select all

title Porteus 4.0 x86-64 XFCe
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/Boot/vmlinuz_Porteus_4.0_x86_64 from=/mnt/sda1/Porteus_4.0/ ramsize=40% zram=25% timezone=Europe/Berlin volume=75% kmap=de 3
initrd (hd0,0)/Boot/initrd.xz_Porteus_4.0_x86_64
boot
This is my entry for Porteus 4.0 x86-64 XFCe. Be aware that it uses the kernel and initrd renamed and installed as listed above, and also uses a non standard initial folder for the Porteus main modules. Initially, the one Porteus version using the standard /porteus/ folder was 3.1, but I removed that many months ago due to not enough space on /mnt/sda1, since it is only a 1.5G partition, that holds all my Linux distros, and also the needed files for W7.

Code: Select all

title Puppy quirkyNOP-120 (on /dev/sda1)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/Boot/vmlinuz_quirkyNOP120 root=/dev/sda2 ro vga=normal  root=/dev/ram0 pmedia=atahd
initrd (hd0,0)/Boot/initrd_quirkyNOP120.gz
boot
My Puppy quirkyNOP entry.

Code: Select all

title TinyCorePure64-6.3 mit X
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/Boot/vmlinuz64 loglevel=3 cde 
initrd (hd0,0)/Boot/corepure64.gz
boot
My TinyCorePure entry.

I omitted the several Porteus dev version entries, but you get the drift. You can install as many different Linux variants as you want, either by using the individual files like I did, or the whole ISO way as Ed_P mentioned above. I usually prefer the individual files approach, since it lets me easily fine adjust individual modules for Porteus, and I like being able to add, update or remove modules that are missing, unneeded or outdated, e.g. installing the custom NVIDIA kernel GPU drivers without the need of creating a custom ISO for just that one machine. Or adding mtPaint, or updating mtpaint, or any such changes. :)


HTH! :D
Cheers!
Yours Rava

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Re: Installation to already used partition with NTFS

Post#4 by Ed_P » 05 Feb 2019, 04:24

Rava wrote:
05 Feb 2019, 01:42
I omitted the several Porteus dev version entries, but you get the drift. You can install as many different Linux variants as you want, either by using the individual files like I did, or the whole ISO way as Ed_P mentioned above. I usually prefer the individual files approach, since it lets me easily fine adjust individual modules for Porteus, and I like being able to add, update or remove modules that are missing, unneeded or outdated, e.g. installing the custom NVIDIA kernel GPU drivers without the need of creating a custom ISO for just that one machine. Or adding mtPaint, or updating mtpaint, or any such changes. :)
I can assure you Rava I never rebuild my Porteus ISOs and I add, update and remove modules like drivers, browsers, addons, or etc. I put the modules I want/need into a folder I named Modules and add the folder to my boot parms with extramods= and exclude modules with the noload= parm.

My Modules folder:

Code: Select all

guest@porteus:~$ ls /mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/*.xzm
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/003-jssouza-180702.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/007-printing-x86_64-2018-02-23.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/AisleRiot-3.22.4-x86_64-don.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/Minwaita.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/firefox-52.9.0esr-x86_64-1.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/flashplayer-plugin-32.0.0.114-x86_64-1.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/jre-8u201-x86_64-1.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/keepassx-2.0.3-x86_64-1alien.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/leafpad-0.8.18.1-x86_64-2_slonly.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/mtpaint-3.40-x86_64-2gvEd_P.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/pix-1.8.2-1.fc28.x86_64.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/qt-4.8.7-x86_64-6.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/tightvnc-1.3.10-x86_64-1_slonly.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/tree-1.7.0-x86_64-1.xzm*
/mnt/sda6/porteus4.0/Modules/xmahjongg-3.7-x86_64-don.xzm*
guest@porteus:~$ 
And I have been doing this for awhile. :)

Code: Select all

guest@porteus:~$ ls /mnt/sda6/ISOs/?orteus*.iso
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-CINNAMON-v3.2.2-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-Kiosk-3.7.0-i586.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64-nu-r.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64-nu.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-OPENBOX-v4.0-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-OPENBOX-v4.0rc4-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-i486-nu.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-i486.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-x86_64-nu.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-XFCE-v4.0.0-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-XFCE-v4.0rc1-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-XFCE-v4.0rc4-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/porteus-4.0-x86_64-20180415.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/porteus-nemesis-v3.5-lxde-x86_64.iso*
guest@porteus:~$ 
You should try it, when you're done testing your Vulnerability scanners :lol:
Ed

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Re: Installation to already used partition with NTFS

Post#5 by Rava » 05 Feb 2019, 04:30

Ed_P wrote:
05 Feb 2019, 04:24
I can assure you Rava I never rebuild my Porteus ISOs and I add, update and remove modules like drivers, browsers, addons, or etc. I put the modules I want/need into a folder I named Modules and add the folder to my boot parms with extramods= and exclude modules with the noload= parm.
But you will have some space lost, when there are more than a small module not used from the original ISO.

Like I said, there is not that much space to spare on a W-boot & backup sda1 partition. :)

The good thing with Porteus is, there are many ways to get to Rome, and we can choose which one suits us best. :D
Cheers!
Yours Rava

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Re: Installation to already used partition with NTFS

Post#6 by Ed_P » 05 Feb 2019, 04:39

Rava wrote:
05 Feb 2019, 04:30
Like I said, there is not that much space to spare on a W-boot & backup sda1 partition. :)
I don't use the sda1 partition, other than for EFI support for Grub2Win. Or my C: partition.

Do note my prior post's update. :)
Ed

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Re: Installation to already used partition with NTFS

Post#7 by Rava » 05 Feb 2019, 04:42

Ed_P wrote:
05 Feb 2019, 04:24
And I have been doing this for awhile. :)

Code: Select all

guest@porteus:~$ ls /mnt/sda6/ISOs/?orteus*.iso
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-CINNAMON-v3.2.2-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-Kiosk-3.7.0-i586.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64-nu-r.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64-nu.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-OPENBOX-v4.0-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-OPENBOX-v4.0rc4-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-i486-nu.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-i486.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-x86_64-nu.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-XFCE-v4.0.0-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-XFCE-v4.0rc1-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-XFCE-v4.0rc4-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/porteus-4.0-x86_64-20180415.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/porteus-nemesis-v3.5-lxde-x86_64.iso*
guest@porteus:~$ 
I am sure all these would never fit on my 1.5GB sda1 W boot and backup partition. :lol:
Including the needed files for puppy and TinyCore and W7, which also take space.
Cheers!
Yours Rava

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Re: Installation to already used partition with NTFS

Post#8 by Ed_P » 05 Feb 2019, 04:57

They aren't on my sda1 drive. They are on my sda6 drive. And those were just the Porteus ISOs. I boot other systems.

Code: Select all

/mnt/sda6/ISOs/2016-12-13-pixel-x86-jessie.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/APorteus-MULT-v17.12.05-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/APorteus-v17.12.16-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/GoboLinux-015-i686.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/MX-16_x64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Parrot-lite-3.6_amd64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/PhoenixOSInstaller_v3.0.3.459_x86_x64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-CINNAMON-v3.2.2-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-Kiosk-3.7.0-i586.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64-nu-r.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64-nu.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-OPENBOX-v4.0-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-OPENBOX-v4.0rc4-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-i486-nu.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-i486.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-x86_64-nu.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-XFCE-v4.0.0-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-XFCE-v4.0rc1-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Porteus-XFCE-v4.0rc4-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/R-DriveImage_6.1.6107_OEMKit..iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/REPAIR_DISC_WINDOWS_10_64_BIT.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/REPAIR_DISC_WINDOWS_7_64_BIT.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/REPAIR_DISC_WINDOWS_8_64_BIT.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Recovery.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/Windows.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/abSlak_100216.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/android-x86_64-8.1-rc2.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/antiX-16.1_x64-full.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/cd140201.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/debian-9.5.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/devuan_ascii_2.0.0_amd64_desktop-live.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/gparted-live-0.30.0-1-i686.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/pebuilder.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/porteus-4.0-x86_64-20180415.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/porteus-nemesis-v3.5-lxde-x86_64.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/runtimelivecd.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/slackware64-live-xfce-current.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/slitaz-4.0.iso*
/mnt/sda6/ISOs/ubuntu-18.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso*
guest@porteus:~$ 
And none on my sda1 drive. You should try using ISOs. Being compressed they take less space than the installed files. ;)
Ed

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