Tiny Core Linux
General TC => General TC Talk => Topic started by: helander on January 06, 2010, 07:38:31 AM
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With the current frequency of new TC/MC releases creating new remasters for each release becomes an issue for me. I have found a way to deal with this that makes it very simple to get a remastered version of a new release.
In principle this is what I do:
- I create an initramfs that contains the stuff special for my remaster
- I use a bootloader in the syslinux family and specify the initrd as both the original (tinycore.gz or microcore.gz) and my own additional initramfs (e.g. myown.gz).
- The bootloader will then load both initramfs files and once the boot is completed the two initramfs:es are merged into memory
The nice thing is that when a new TC/MC release is available I just have to replace the tinycore.gz/microcore.gz with the one from the new release and I do not have to do anything with my remaster additions that are contained in myown.gz
The method depends on the capabilities of the syslinux family bootloaders to load multiple initramfs:es. This capability is lacking in Grub but there is a remedy for users of Grub; it's just a matter of creating a Grub boot entry that will chainload your syslinux family bootloader.
In case others would be interested in this I would be happy to share the details of how to set it up. Maybe creating an article on the wiki ?
Kind Regards
Lars
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I encourage you to do so. Please share.
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I encourage you to do so. Please share.
Wiki page created:
Direct link
http://wiki.tinycorelinux.com/tiki-index.php?page=Dynamic+root+filesystem+remastering
Or navigate via Wiki Start -> Remastering -> Dynamic root filesystem remastering
/Lars
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In case others would be interested in this I would be happy to share the details of how to set it up. Maybe creating an article on the wiki ?
Lars
I am definitely interested. This would save lots of time and headache. Please share details.
Thank you.
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OK, I will do so
/Lars
Thanks, looking forward to learning your modulated approach.
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Note that I updated my earlier post with a wiki link, but I supply it here too :)
http://wiki.tinycorelinux.com/tiki-index.php?page=Dynamic+root+filesystem+remastering
Have fun
Lars
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I like this approach, and am using something very similar on my laptop that I have no hard drive acces to and I dislike messing with usb devices on a machine I simply use to post extensions with and surf the web. Extra initrd files for /opt/tce extensions or extra files to pack into the remaster is very portable between releases and convenient when for whatever reason you don't have read/write available storabe space.
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I like this approach, and am using something very similar on my laptop that I have no hard drive acces to and I dislike messing with usb devices on a machine I simply use to post extensions with and surf the web. Extra initrd files for /opt/tce extensions or extra files to pack into the remaster is very portable between releases and convenient when for whatever reason you don't have read/write available storabe space.
Jason, could you provide some details on the method you are using?
/Lars
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I have it scripted in the programming and scripting section. It is similar to this but stays in iso format.
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Thanks, it looks nice. Why not pack your tool into an extension so that it is easy to add to a system ?
/Lars
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Custom scripts that do things like remaster need to stay in the programming and scripting section. That keeps them easily accessible for modifications by the author among other things.
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Hi Lars,
Your wiki is beautifully written; easy to follow. And, thank you for including the grub (optional).
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Hi Lars,
Your wiki is beautifully written; easy to follow. And, thank you for including the grub (optional).
Your feedback is highly appreciated :). Thanks.
/Lars