Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post here if you are a new Porteus member and you're looking for some help.
Portland Z
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Distribution: Porteus 5.0rc3

Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#1 by Portland Z » 20 Sep 2021, 10:38

Hello, I don't know if it is a newbie Question. I have setup Porteus 5.0rc3 for my personal needs. Then I tried to make an iso of the OS. So I run make_iso.sh.
It works and the iso was made. But when i copy it to the ventoy partition an try to start it, after the bootmenu screen the booting fails.
First i thought the iso is bad. But then I tried different original isos of several desktops version 5.0rc3. They don't work too. But the Porteus 4.0 releases work all.
I tried LinuxWelt edition, cinnamon and xfce. Means all 5.0rc3 don't work, all 4.0 versions work.

The error message is: "Porteus data not found. You are using an unsupported boot device (SCSI or old PCMCIA). Workarround : Copy the directory /porteus from your boot device
to an ide/SAta disk, e.g. to /mnt/sda1/porteus or C:\porteus. Then try to boot again. Make sure That your boot parameters (cheatcodes) are correct."

I don't want to copy Porteus to an other disk. Is there a solution. I mean an other solution, than setting up a new OS with Porteus 4.0 ?

Rapha_
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Distribution: Xfce 4.12 - 5.rc3 - x86_64
Location: France

Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#2 by Rapha_ » 20 Sep 2021, 12:14

Hello Portland Z,

I had the same problem as you with Ventoy / Porteus 5.0rc3

The only way I found to boot on it was to modify the "porteus.cfg" file like here :
Sujet : Boot failure on the last 2 ISO images v5.0rc2 and v5.0rc3

But Ventoy is good for testing, much less for configuring a Porteus live as you can really do by simply installing it on an usb key

Portland Z
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Distribution: Porteus 5.0rc3

Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#3 by Portland Z » 20 Sep 2021, 14:45

LABEL Option_ISO
MENU LABEL Option Iso
KERNEL /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz
INITRD /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
APPEND from=/dev/sdb1/Porteus-XFCE-v5.0rc3-x86_64.iso
TEXT HELP
from=/dev/sdb1/Porteus-XFCE-v5.0rc3-x86_64.iso
ENDTEXT

That means there will be a new entry in the boot menu. And if i have two hard disks and the USB drive is the third, I have to write from=/dev/sdc1/Porteus5rc3.iso instead.
Why /dev ?

Rapha_
Shogun
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Posts: 238
Joined: 12 Jun 2021, 21:59
Distribution: Xfce 4.12 - 5.rc3 - x86_64
Location: France

Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#4 by Rapha_ » 20 Sep 2021, 16:07

Portland Z wrote:
20 Sep 2021, 14:45
i have two hard disks and the USB drive is the third,
what do you mean ?
I have to write from=/dev/sdc1/Porteus5rc3.iso instead.
I think you are right
(it would be me, I would make several menu alternatives )


it depends on which device is connected at a given time...

il you are on linux try this, to know more :

Code: Select all

lsblk -f

or this (as root) :

Code: Select all

blkid

For a sure boot whatever the connected device, you must use :

Code: Select all

from=UUID:STrING-0F-ChARACtERS/path/folder/to.iso

Portland Z
White ninja
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Joined: 08 Sep 2021, 08:11
Distribution: Porteus 5.0rc3

Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#5 by Portland Z » 20 Sep 2021, 19:43

To my amazement, it actually works. Unfortunately, the changes are not included. Everything that is in the changes directory. Settings for all browsers. The desktop changes, etc. Only the modules and additional programs, that I have saved are there. It would be perfect if "changes" were also loaded.

Rapha_
Shogun
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Joined: 12 Jun 2021, 21:59
Distribution: Xfce 4.12 - 5.rc3 - x86_64
Location: France

Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#6 by Rapha_ » 21 Sep 2021, 13:15

I think with Ventoy, you can do that

Make 3 folders in the first Ventoy partition :

/porteusV5/rootcopy/
/porteusV5/modules/
/porteusV5/optional/

Then, modify "porteus.cfg" of the ISO image file like this :

Code: Select all

LABEL Option_ISO
MENU LABEL ISO (Porteus-XFCE-v5.0rc3)
KERNEL /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz
INITRD /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
APPEND from=/dev/sdc1/Porteus-XFCE-v5.0rc3-x86_64.iso rootcopy=/mnt/sdc1/porteusV5/rootcopy/ extramod=/mnt/sdc1/porteusV5/modules/ kmap=de
TEXT HELP
    from=/dev/sdc1/Porteus-XFCE-v5.0rc3-x86_64.iso 
    rootcopy=/mnt/sdc1/porteusV5/rootcopy/ 
    extramod=/mnt/sdc1/porteusV5/modules/
    kmap=de
ENDTEXT

After thet, all your desktop, other software settings can be configured manually or saved in your :

Code: Select all

/porteusV5/rootcopy/home/guest

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Ed_P
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Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#7 by Ed_P » 21 Sep 2021, 16:58

I boot ISOs and to save my changes I suggest you:
1. Create a save.dat file using the Porteus Savefile Manager. (menu>Admin>)
2. Add the changes= cheatcode to your APPEND boot parm.

I use the changes=EXIT option so nothing gets saved until I shutdown Porteus. Less overhead when running and I can loose changes I make that screw up my system and I don't want to keep. :D

Another option with this approach is you can create a safe mode boot option that includes your changes and prevents more changes. Once you have the system configured the way you want and the changes saved, copy the save.dat file to another file with the name extension .xzm added to it, like cp porteussave.dat mychanges.xzm. Copy the xzm file to your modules folder and boot without the changes= cheatcode. :good:

No need for rootcopy with this approach. :)
Ed

Portland Z
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Distribution: Porteus 5.0rc3

Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#8 by Portland Z » 22 Sep 2021, 12:18

"I boot ISOs and to save my changes I suggest you:
1. Create a save.dat file using the Porteus Savefile Manager. (menu>Admin>)
2. Add the changes= cheatcode to your APPEND boot parm."
Yes, I tried that yesterday. I made a custom.dat in Porteus Savefile manager and copied it to a Fat32 Partition
of the USB Stick (not the ventoy partition) Please take a look at my command in porteus.cfg:

APPEND from=/dev/sdc1/iso/Porteus5rc3.iso changes=/mnt/sdc3/custom.dat kmap=de

The error_log says: "The changes location is not writable. This may be because the changes path is located on a read-only filesystem."
I don't understand this, because the Partition is writable.

in the porteus Settings Center, in Save Settings i tried to create a xzm module with my changes. But there comes an error too: "Sorry /mnt/sdc1/porteus is not writeable. You must save your changes module some place that's writable."

I tried it on many hard disk drives, which are writeable. Maybe because it is not ext4?

"changes=EXIT" I don't know how to use it.

"copy the save.dat file to another file with the name extension .xzm added to it, like cp porteussave.dat mychanges.xzm. "
What do you mean? Simply rename my Customs.dat file? I have never copied a file to another file. I copied a file to a folder, but not to a file. Is mychanges.xzm a container file? How can I produce such a file?

Portland Z
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Distribution: Porteus 5.0rc3

Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#9 by Portland Z » 22 Sep 2021, 14:59

Ok. I did what you said. In a Terminal (root) I entered: cp custom.dat mychanges.xzm and the mychanges.xzm was made. I copied it to /modules. Made an iso. But when i booted from the iso my personal settings were not loaded. I deleted changes= in porteus.cfg

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Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#10 by Ed_P » 22 Sep 2021, 17:45

Ok, I'm a little confused at this point. You were unable to write to your custom.dat file but then copied it to a mychanges.xzm file which you moved to your /modules folder as root and created an iso with it. :hmmm:

1st the custom.dat file. Put it on the same partition as the iso file in a folder named /changes. And while your at it create a folder named /modules next to it.
2nd change your APPEND line to be:
APPEND from=/dev/sdc1/iso/Porteus5rc3.iso changes=/changes/custom.dat kmap=de

Let see how these work.
Ed

Portland Z
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Distribution: Porteus 5.0rc3

Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#11 by Portland Z » 22 Sep 2021, 18:37

You were unable to write to your custom.dat file but then copied it to a mychanges.xzm file which you moved to your /modules folder as root and created an iso with it.
No. Producing the .dat file with Porteus Save file Manager works. Converting to a .xzm file with cp xy.dat xy.xzm works too. Then I copy the xy.xzm file to the porteus/modules folder, where the other .xzm Modules are. Then i make an iso with make_iso.sh. This iso goes to the ventoy USB stick. But it doesn't work. Only the raw system boots without my changes.
1st the custom.dat file. Put it on the same partition as the iso file in a folder named /changes. And while your at it create a folder named /modules next to it.
2nd change your APPEND line to be:
APPEND from=/dev/sdc1/iso/Porteus5rc3.iso changes=/changes/custom.dat kmap=de
Let see how these work.
Ok. I try it.

Portland Z
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Distribution: Porteus 5.0rc3

Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#12 by Portland Z » 23 Sep 2021, 09:21

With APPEND from=/dev/sdc1/iso/Porteus5rc3.iso changes=/mnt/PorteusV5/changes/changes.dat kmap=de
the changes in the live system are saved. That's a step forward. But the old changes were not transferred. I suppose that the "Save File Manager"
saves an empty changes.dat file. All future changes will be saved but not the old.

I tried in the "Porteus Settings Center" - "Save your Current Session" - "Save your current session to a module, file or folder. Useful for setting Porteus how you like it" I choose the changes.dat file , than you can select "add to file" or "remove former changes". If i click - Ok - the dialog box freezes. In both cases. Is that a bug or did i something wrong?

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Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#13 by Ed_P » 23 Sep 2021, 15:05

:%)
The Save File Manager creates an empty .dat file, the execution of Porteus writes to the empty file changes which are saved when shutting down Porteus, the booting of Porteus reads the updated .dat file. If the old changes are not present when booting something is wrong.

Questions:

1. The Ventoy system uses grub2 to boot ISOs does it support tailoring the grub2 menu it creates?
2. Ventoy formats the drive to exFAT. Does the drive boot on UEFI systems because I think UEFI only supports FAT32.
3. Do you need Ventoy to boot other ISOs on the USB drive? Installing Porteus to a USB drive is not that hard.
4. The ISO is on /dev/sdc1 what drive is /mnt/PorteusV5 on?

Try: APPEND from=/dev/sdc1/iso/Porteus5rc3.iso changes=/PorteusV5/changes/changes.dat kmap=de
Ed

Portland Z
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Distribution: Porteus 5.0rc3

Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#14 by Portland Z » 23 Sep 2021, 15:59

Have you understood, that i have porteus installed on USB stick (nr.1) with ext4. There everything runs fine. But I want to make an Iso of this stick to put it on an ventoy (exfat) USB stick (nr. 2) and i don't want to loose all of my past settings.
The Save File Manager creates an empty .dat file, the execution of Porteus writes to the empty file changes which are saved when shutting down Porteus,
Ok. I thought it saves all of my settings i have made in USB stick 1. in the past. But ist saves only the new settings. [USB1 and USB2]
1. The Ventoy system uses grub2 to boot ISOs does it support tailoring the grub2 menu it creates?
The changes i make in the Porteus.cfg are displayed in the Welcome screen. [USB1 and USB2]
2. Ventoy formats the drive to exFAT. Does the drive boot on UEFI systems because I think UEFI only supports FAT32.
I boot the stick in legacy mode not uefi. But i don't think that is the problem, because ventoy boots porteus, bodhi, MXlinux, Win pe, Hirens boot DVD. [USB2- ventoy]
3. Do you need Ventoy to boot other ISOs on the USB drive?
Yes. [USB2-Ventoy]
Installing Porteus to a USB drive is not that hard.
no, it is not hard and i did it. See above.[USB1]
4. The ISO is on /dev/sdc1 what drive is /mnt/PorteusV5 on?
The same. I made a mistake in the last post. I forgot /sdc1
"APPEND from=/dev/sdc1/iso/Porteus5rc3.iso changes=/mnt/sdc1/PorteusV5/changes/changes.dat kmap=de"
Try: APPEND from=/dev/sdc1/iso/Porteus5rc3.iso changes=/PorteusV5/changes/changes.dat kmap=de
I tried it first. That doesn't work [on USB2].
"APPEND from=/dev/sdc1/iso/Porteus5rc3.iso changes=/mnt/sdc1/PorteusV5/changes/changes.dat kmap=de" This one works on USB2, but it only saves future settings and don't preserves my old settings[on USB2]. It's a fresh system[USB2], but all of my future settings [on USB2] are saved.
Last edited by Portland Z on 23 Sep 2021, 17:01, edited 1 time in total.

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Running Porteus 5.0rc3 on a ventoy USB

Post#15 by Ed_P » 23 Sep 2021, 16:34

When you refer to your old settings are you referring to those from your USB install of Porteus or the prior boot of the Ventoy Porteus system?

On the APPEND line try changing the /mnt/sdc1/ to /dev/sdc1/.

Ok I've been googling ventoy and found this link: https://www.ventoy.net/en/plugin_grubmenu.html which may be an easier approach than remaking the ISO over and over. At least for me helping you. :D

When I boot my ISOs any config changes I need or files that I want I add outside the ISO and to my grub2 menus. And my grub2 menus are manually adjusted outside of the app that created them. On my sda6 drive I have my ISOs and my changes and Module folders, along with a bunch of others, and I refer to them via boot cheatcodes. This is my menu for recording changes (with my junk removed).

Code: Select all

set timeout=30

set default=1

     set linux_folder=/porteus5.0
#     set iso="/ISOs/Porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0rc1-86_64.iso"
#     set iso="/ISOs/Porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0rc2-86_64.iso"
     set iso="/ISOs/Porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0rc3-x86_64.iso"

menuentry " Porteus 5.0rc3 ISO - changes="  --class slackware   --class icon-porteus  {

     set bootparms="volume=33 reboot=cold extramod=$linux_folder/Modules;$linux_folder/rc3Modules changes=EXIT:$linux_folder/changes/50rc3save.dat noload=kde;jinn;lxqt;xfce;lxde;mate;open;mychanges;menu1" 

     search -f $iso --set=root
     loopback loop $iso
     linux (loop)/boot/syslinux/vmlinuz      from=$iso $bootparms
     initrd (loop)/boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
     }
Your Ventoy menu I suspect looks similar to this one:

Code: Select all

menuentry " Porteus 5.0 USB - syslinux" --class slackware --class icon-porteus {

     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
     }
Ed

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