QV Frugal install using QV-installer

[williwaw]

(the procedure previously posted here has been removed, as it has been superseded by the development of QV-installer.
viewtopic.php?p=116393#p116393)

The easiest way to make a frugal install of QV onto a previously romatted drive is to boot into a dedicated QV USB created with dd. For those who prefer a GUI for dd rather using the command line,

you can download EasyDD from https://bkhome.org/linux/easydd-write-i ... drive.html

[williwaw]

Not all boot loaders are have the same btrfs support when Quantim Vis (QV or qv) is installed frugally.

A frugal install of qv consists of two files (initrd and vmlinuz) and the directory qv-xxxxx which contains btrfs subvolumes.

qv-xxxxxx needs to be located in the top level of a btrfs formatted partition.

initrd and vmlinuz can be located in a btrfs partition ONLY if your bootloader supports booting from a btrfs partition.
grub-2.02 will not boot qv with initrd and vmlinuz located in a btrfs partition.
grub-2.06 is capable of booting with initrd and vmlinuz located in a btrfs partition.
testing is needed for grub-2.04 and rEFInd.

at present none of the commonly used puppy grub2 projects supply grub-2.06, but it can be installed with a
debian CD

Also, the 2.06 files can be found at viewtopic.php?p=104876#p104876

Those wishing to boot a frugal install with Limine should see
viewtopic.php?p=116787#p116787

[williwaw]

Still researching ways to use dd to duplicate a downloaded img directly into the internal SSD BTRFS partition without having to install to a USB intermediately. Perhaps it's feasible to somehow break the QV download into two images?

edit: this post is superceded by the introduction of qv-installer

[Caramel]

Still researching ways to use dd to duplicate a downloaded img directly into the internal SSD BTRFS partition without having to install to a USB intermediately. Perhaps it's feasible to somehow break the QV download into two images?

Not completely tested:

The simplest way to break the img file is to use 7zip (available in Void packages)

# 7zip x qv-240403-amd64.img

7-Zip (z) 23.01 (x64) : Copyright (c) 1999-2023 Igor Pavlov : 2023-06-20
64-bit locale=fr_FR.UTF-8 Threads:2 OPEN_MAX:1024

Scanning the drive for archives:
1 file, 1265631232 bytes (1207 MiB)

Extracting archive: qv-240403-amd64.img
--
Path = qv-240403-amd64.img
Type = MBR
Physical Size = 1265631232

Everything is Ok

Files: 3
Size: 1264582656
Compressed: 1265631232

3 files was created 0.img, 1.img and 2
0.img is the sector boot + the first partition
1.img is the btrfs partition
2 is "data" (maybe redundant data from the sector boot ?)

Another way is to use dd
fdisk -l provides the the necessary numbers

# fdisk -l qv-240403-amd64.img
Disque qv-240403-amd64.img : 1,18 GiB, 1265631232 octets, 2471936 secteurs
Unités : secteur de 1 × 512 = 512 octets
Taille de secteur (logique / physique) : 512 octets / 512 octets
taille d'E/S (minimale / optimale) : 512 octets / 512 octets
Type d'étiquette de disque : dos
Identifiant de disque : 0xc5fcfb76

Périphérique Amorçage Début Fin Secteurs Taille Id Type
qv-240403-amd64.img1 * 2048 32767 30720 15M ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32
qv-240403-amd64.img2 32768 2469887 2437120 1,2G 83 Linux

Here for the second partition, Start (=Début in French) is 32768, Sectors is 2437120

The command is of the form dd if=qv-240403-amd64.img skip="Start" count="Sectors" of=btrfspartition.img,
here

Code: Select all

dd if=qv-240403-amd64.img skip=32768 count=2437120 of=btrfspartition.img

with the option bs="number" to accelerate, but I don’t know which "number" is the best.

[BarryK]

I have written an installer, named 'qv-installer'.
It will be in the next release, but if you want to try it now, it is attached, with false ".gz".

You need to download the latest 'qv-<date>-amd64.img' file, and open a terminal:

Code: Select all

# ./qv-installer qv-<date>-amd64.img

I tested on my old Compaq Presario, which no longer has Windows. It has grub4dos. I booted QV from usb-stick, with the qv-*.img file on it, as well as the new qv-installer script and ran Gparted to create a 32GB btrfs partition.

Then ran qv-installer, and finally edited the menu.lst file:

Code: Select all

title QV (sda1/qv240407)
  find --set-root uuid () 3f8f077d-7a7d-4e7a-9cb5-a8b94e1f1c87
  kernel /qv240407/vmlinuz rw wkg_uuid=7cf5af56-9935-4369-a066-c76b078cdea1 wkg_dir=qv240407/
  initrd /qv240407/initrd

Works great. Pleasant surprise how well it runs on the old Compaq. FF takes 6 seconds to start, that's ok.

[Caramel]

I have written an installer, named 'qv-installer'.

Thanks @BarryK . I just tested. I installed qv next to the prevoius "manual" installation.

The script is very verbal and might scare some people, but when you have already formatted partitions, it's very easy. (The addition to the bootloader is less simple for the beginners)

Just a additional note : I saw that df is not recommended with the btrfs partitions to calculate the free space (https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Btrfs)

[williwaw]

I have written an installer, named 'qv-installer'.
It will be in the next release.....

Timely addition!

script seems to mount sda6 (a freshly created btrfs partition), but complains "ERROR failed to mount the btrfs partition /dev/sda6"
pmount shows sda6 being mounted, (and pmount also showed sda6 being unmounted just prior to the last command given.)
the use case is putting qv vmlinuz and initrd all in the same partition

will reboot and try again.

Code: Select all

# ./qv-installer qv-*
QV Installer is a partly-manual and partly-automatic script to install QV into the partitions of an internal drive. Or, an external (USB) drive if you wish.
The first option to get out of the way, is if you want to install QV to the entire drive, internal or external, this script is not appropriate. Instead use 'EasyDD', that you will find in the Setup category of the menu (or open a terminal wherever you have downloaded the QV drive-image file and run it; for example '# easydd qv-200421-amd64.img'

Continuing in this script, you have a drive with partitions, and you want to install QV into one or more of those partitions...

This script is for installing QV to a Windows computer, with x86_64 CPU; that is, Intel or AMD 64-bit CPU. Before continuing, you need to know what type of BIOS firmware it has. Nearly all PCs manufactored from 2012 onwards will have UEFI firmware; prior to that most will be traditional BIOS. You must know which one your PC has.

For traditional BIOS PCs, you must install a bootloader. QV Installer does not install a bootloader; you must do that yourself. The choices are GRUB v1, GRUB v2, GRUB4DOS, Syslinux, LILO, and Limine.
If you already have Linux installed, then there will be a bootloader. Most mainstream Linux distributions will install GRUB. If you already have a bootloader, then a new menu entry can be made in it for booting QV.
Note that QV has 'Limine Installer', to install the Limine bootloader, though note it is a work-in-progress so use at your own risk. Limine Installer can be found in the Setup category of the menu.

For UEFI PCs, you would normally also need to install a bootloader. However, the UEFI firmware does have a basic bootloader builtin; what this does is look for vfat partitions with the 'esp' flag set, and will offer to boot from one of those.
There will already be an esp boot partition, for booting Windows or Linux; however, if you create another one, just for QV, then the UEFI bootloader will detect it and it becomes a choice to boot from.

Another factor to consider; if your PC has Windows installed, Windows will not be happy if you do something like use Gparted (the partition manager tool in QV) to say shrink the partition Windows is installed in and create a esp boot partition and a btrfs partition to install QV. Windows has its own Partition Manager, and this must be used if you want to shrink the Windows partition. After freeing up space on the drive, then you can use Gparted.

Decisions, decisions! Fully digest the above paragraphs, and if necessary abort this script and create the required partitions. Something else important to consider, before continuing this script:
QV is going to be installed into a partition with btrfs filesystem; however, most bootloaders do not recognize btrfs partitions. Or even if they do, there may be issues. QV has two files required for bootup; vmlinuz (the Linux kernel) and initrd. It is recommended to put these into a vfat boot partition; easily found by the bootloader.
As mentioned above, with a UEFI PC you could create a new esp boot partition and put those files into it. Or, use an existing boot partition -- but then, does it have enough free space? vmlinuz is about 7.5MB and initrd about 7.1MB -- so will need at least 15MB free space.
So, think about the boot partition as well, before continuing with this script.

Something else to consider! Some mainstream Linux distributions, such as Fedora or OpenSuse, by default run in a btrfs partition. Others, such as Debian, default to running in a ext4 partition.
So, if you have already installed a Linux distribution that has created a btrfs partition, then you are likely good-to-go for installing QV. Reason is, QV will install into a directory in the already-existing btrfs partition, leaving the rest of the partition as-is.
If you have a PC with only Windows, has never had Linux installed, then you might want to consider going this route; install Fedora or OpenSuse first. These have sophisticated installers, that will do most things automatically, and you will end up with partitions that you can use to install QV. And the Linux installer will also have installed a bootloader, probably GRUB v2.

Press ENTER key to continue, anything else to abort: 

Please enter the partition to install QV. This may already have a btrfs filesystem; if not,the partition will be wiped and a btrfs filesystem created.
If there is already an existing btrfs filesystem, existing content will be kept. QV will just install into a folder in the partition.
(ex: sdc2): sda6

Please enter the boot partition.
Files vmlinuz and initrd will be installed here.
Note, you can enter same as above; however, the bootloader must be able to recognize a btrfs partition. Recent GRUB2 and rEFInd can handle this, but there may be issues.
If you don't have a bootloader installed, or don't want to use it, use Gparted to create a new vfat esp boot partition, recommend 32MB size -- do that, then continue here.
(Technical detail: if PC has Windows installed, may need to use Windows Partition Manager to first create some free space in the drive)
(ex: sda1): sda6

mount: mounting /dev/sda6 on /mnt/sda6 failed: Resource busy
ERROR failed to mount the btrfs partition /dev/sda6
Press ENTER to abort: # 

pmount.png (182.57 KiB) Viewed 2279 times

Edit:second try after reboot.

same behavior as before, but when rerunning the script and choosing sda1 (fat32) for a boot partition, the script completes and qv boots.

Code: Select all

# ./qv-installer qv-2*
QV Installer is a partly-manual and partly-automatic script to install QV into the partitions of an internal drive. Or, an external (USB) drive if you wish.
The first option to get out of the way, is if you want to install QV to the entire drive, internal or external, this script is not appropriate. Instead use 'EasyDD', that you will find in the Setup category of the menu (or open a terminal wherever you have downloaded the QV drive-image file and run it; for example '# easydd qv-200421-amd64.img'

Continuing in this script, you have a drive with partitions, and you want to install QV into one or more of those partitions...

This script is for installing QV to a Windows computer, with x86_64 CPU; that is, Intel or AMD 64-bit CPU. Before continuing, you need to know what type of BIOS firmware it has. Nearly all PCs manufactored from 2012 onwards will have UEFI firmware; prior to that most will be traditional BIOS. You must know which one your PC has.

For traditional BIOS PCs, you must install a bootloader. QV Installer does not install a bootloader; you must do that yourself. The choices are GRUB v1, GRUB v2, GRUB4DOS, Syslinux, LILO, and Limine.
If you already have Linux installed, then there will be a bootloader. Most mainstream Linux distributions will install GRUB. If you already have a bootloader, then a new menu entry can be made in it for booting QV.
Note that QV has 'Limine Installer', to install the Limine bootloader, though note it is a work-in-progress so use at your own risk. Limine Installer can be found in the Setup category of the menu.

For UEFI PCs, you would normally also need to install a bootloader. However, the UEFI firmware does have a basic bootloader builtin; what this does is look for vfat partitions with the 'esp' flag set, and will offer to boot from one of those.
There will already be an esp boot partition, for booting Windows or Linux; however, if you create another one, just for QV, then the UEFI bootloader will detect it and it becomes a choice to boot from.

Another factor to consider; if your PC has Windows installed, Windows will not be happy if you do something like use Gparted (the partition manager tool in QV) to say shrink the partition Windows is installed in and create a esp boot partition and a btrfs partition to install QV. Windows has its own Partition Manager, and this must be used if you want to shrink the Windows partition. After freeing up space on the drive, then you can use Gparted.

Decisions, decisions! Fully digest the above paragraphs, and if necessary abort this script and create the required partitions. Something else important to consider, before continuing this script:
QV is going to be installed into a partition with btrfs filesystem; however, most bootloaders do not recognize btrfs partitions. Or even if they do, there may be issues. QV has two files required for bootup; vmlinuz (the Linux kernel) and initrd. It is recommended to put these into a vfat boot partition; easily found by the bootloader.
As mentioned above, with a UEFI PC you could create a new esp boot partition and put those files into it. Or, use an existing boot partition -- but then, does it have enough free space? vmlinuz is about 7.5MB and initrd about 7.1MB -- so will need at least 15MB free space.
So, think about the boot partition as well, before continuing with this script.

Something else to consider! Some mainstream Linux distributions, such as Fedora or OpenSuse, by default run in a btrfs partition. Others, such as Debian, default to running in a ext4 partition.
So, if you have already installed a Linux distribution that has created a btrfs partition, then you are likely good-to-go for installing QV. Reason is, QV will install into a directory in the already-existing btrfs partition, leaving the rest of the partition as-is.
If you have a PC with only Windows, has never had Linux installed, then you might want to consider going this route; install Fedora or OpenSuse first. These have sophisticated installers, that will do most things automatically, and you will end up with partitions that you can use to install QV. And the Linux installer will also have installed a bootloader, probably GRUB v2.

Press ENTER key to continue, anything else to abort: 

Please enter the partition to install QV. This may already have a btrfs filesystem; if not,the partition will be wiped and a btrfs filesystem created.
If there is already an existing btrfs filesystem, existing content will be kept. QV will just install into a folder in the partition.
(ex: sdc2): sda6

Please enter the boot partition.
Files vmlinuz and initrd will be installed here.
Note, you can enter same as above; however, the bootloader must be able to recognize a btrfs partition. Recent GRUB2 and rEFInd can handle this, but there may be issues.
If you don't have a bootloader installed, or don't want to use it, use Gparted to create a new vfat esp boot partition, recommend 32MB size -- do that, then continue here.
(Technical detail: if PC has Windows installed, may need to use Windows Partition Manager to first create some free space in the drive)
(ex: sda1): sda6

mount: mounting /dev/sda6 on /mnt/sda6 failed: Resource busy
ERROR failed to mount the btrfs partition /dev/sda6
Press ENTER to abort: # 
# ./qv-installer qv-2*
QV Installer is a partly-manual and partly-automatic script to install QV into the partitions of an internal drive. Or, an external (USB) drive if you wish.
The first option to get out of the way, is if you want to install QV to the entire drive, internal or external, this script is not appropriate. Instead use 'EasyDD', that you will find in the Setup category of the menu (or open a terminal wherever you have downloaded the QV drive-image file and run it; for example '# easydd qv-200421-amd64.img'

Continuing in this script, you have a drive with partitions, and you want to install QV into one or more of those partitions...

This script is for installing QV to a Windows computer, with x86_64 CPU; that is, Intel or AMD 64-bit CPU. Before continuing, you need to know what type of BIOS firmware it has. Nearly all PCs manufactored from 2012 onwards will have UEFI firmware; prior to that most will be traditional BIOS. You must know which one your PC has.

For traditional BIOS PCs, you must install a bootloader. QV Installer does not install a bootloader; you must do that yourself. The choices are GRUB v1, GRUB v2, GRUB4DOS, Syslinux, LILO, and Limine.
If you already have Linux installed, then there will be a bootloader. Most mainstream Linux distributions will install GRUB. If you already have a bootloader, then a new menu entry can be made in it for booting QV.
Note that QV has 'Limine Installer', to install the Limine bootloader, though note it is a work-in-progress so use at your own risk. Limine Installer can be found in the Setup category of the menu.

For UEFI PCs, you would normally also need to install a bootloader. However, the UEFI firmware does have a basic bootloader builtin; what this does is look for vfat partitions with the 'esp' flag set, and will offer to boot from one of those.
There will already be an esp boot partition, for booting Windows or Linux; however, if you create another one, just for QV, then the UEFI bootloader will detect it and it becomes a choice to boot from.

Another factor to consider; if your PC has Windows installed, Windows will not be happy if you do something like use Gparted (the partition manager tool in QV) to say shrink the partition Windows is installed in and create a esp boot partition and a btrfs partition to install QV. Windows has its own Partition Manager, and this must be used if you want to shrink the Windows partition. After freeing up space on the drive, then you can use Gparted.

Decisions, decisions! Fully digest the above paragraphs, and if necessary abort this script and create the required partitions. Something else important to consider, before continuing this script:
QV is going to be installed into a partition with btrfs filesystem; however, most bootloaders do not recognize btrfs partitions. Or even if they do, there may be issues. QV has two files required for bootup; vmlinuz (the Linux kernel) and initrd. It is recommended to put these into a vfat boot partition; easily found by the bootloader.
As mentioned above, with a UEFI PC you could create a new esp boot partition and put those files into it. Or, use an existing boot partition -- but then, does it have enough free space? vmlinuz is about 7.5MB and initrd about 7.1MB -- so will need at least 15MB free space.
So, think about the boot partition as well, before continuing with this script.

Something else to consider! Some mainstream Linux distributions, such as Fedora or OpenSuse, by default run in a btrfs partition. Others, such as Debian, default to running in a ext4 partition.
So, if you have already installed a Linux distribution that has created a btrfs partition, then you are likely good-to-go for installing QV. Reason is, QV will install into a directory in the already-existing btrfs partition, leaving the rest of the partition as-is.
If you have a PC with only Windows, has never had Linux installed, then you might want to consider going this route; install Fedora or OpenSuse first. These have sophisticated installers, that will do most things automatically, and you will end up with partitions that you can use to install QV. And the Linux installer will also have installed a bootloader, probably GRUB v2.

Press ENTER key to continue, anything else to abort: 

Please enter the partition to install QV. This may already have a btrfs filesystem; if not,the partition will be wiped and a btrfs filesystem created.
If there is already an existing btrfs filesystem, existing content will be kept. QV will just install into a folder in the partition.
(ex: sdc2): sda6

Please enter the boot partition.
Files vmlinuz and initrd will be installed here.
Note, you can enter same as above; however, the bootloader must be able to recognize a btrfs partition. Recent GRUB2 and rEFInd can handle this, but there may be issues.
If you don't have a bootloader installed, or don't want to use it, use Gparted to create a new vfat esp boot partition, recommend 32MB size -- do that, then continue here.
(Technical detail: if PC has Windows installed, may need to use Windows Partition Manager to first create some free space in the drive)
(ex: sda1): sda1
ERROR /dev/sda6 must not be mounted. Unmount it then rerun this script.
# ./qv-installer qv-2*
QV Installer is a partly-manual and partly-automatic script to install QV into the partitions of an internal drive. Or, an external (USB) drive if you wish.
The first option to get out of the way, is if you want to install QV to the entire drive, internal or external, this script is not appropriate. Instead use 'EasyDD', that you will find in the Setup category of the menu (or open a terminal wherever you have downloaded the QV drive-image file and run it; for example '# easydd qv-200421-amd64.img'

Continuing in this script, you have a drive with partitions, and you want to install QV into one or more of those partitions...

This script is for installing QV to a Windows computer, with x86_64 CPU; that is, Intel or AMD 64-bit CPU. Before continuing, you need to know what type of BIOS firmware it has. Nearly all PCs manufactored from 2012 onwards will have UEFI firmware; prior to that most will be traditional BIOS. You must know which one your PC has.

For traditional BIOS PCs, you must install a bootloader. QV Installer does not install a bootloader; you must do that yourself. The choices are GRUB v1, GRUB v2, GRUB4DOS, Syslinux, LILO, and Limine.
If you already have Linux installed, then there will be a bootloader. Most mainstream Linux distributions will install GRUB. If you already have a bootloader, then a new menu entry can be made in it for booting QV.
Note that QV has 'Limine Installer', to install the Limine bootloader, though note it is a work-in-progress so use at your own risk. Limine Installer can be found in the Setup category of the menu.

For UEFI PCs, you would normally also need to install a bootloader. However, the UEFI firmware does have a basic bootloader builtin; what this does is look for vfat partitions with the 'esp' flag set, and will offer to boot from one of those.
There will already be an esp boot partition, for booting Windows or Linux; however, if you create another one, just for QV, then the UEFI bootloader will detect it and it becomes a choice to boot from.

Another factor to consider; if your PC has Windows installed, Windows will not be happy if you do something like use Gparted (the partition manager tool in QV) to say shrink the partition Windows is installed in and create a esp boot partition and a btrfs partition to install QV. Windows has its own Partition Manager, and this must be used if you want to shrink the Windows partition. After freeing up space on the drive, then you can use Gparted.

Decisions, decisions! Fully digest the above paragraphs, and if necessary abort this script and create the required partitions. Something else important to consider, before continuing this script:
QV is going to be installed into a partition with btrfs filesystem; however, most bootloaders do not recognize btrfs partitions. Or even if they do, there may be issues. QV has two files required for bootup; vmlinuz (the Linux kernel) and initrd. It is recommended to put these into a vfat boot partition; easily found by the bootloader.
As mentioned above, with a UEFI PC you could create a new esp boot partition and put those files into it. Or, use an existing boot partition -- but then, does it have enough free space? vmlinuz is about 7.5MB and initrd about 7.1MB -- so will need at least 15MB free space.
So, think about the boot partition as well, before continuing with this script.

Something else to consider! Some mainstream Linux distributions, such as Fedora or OpenSuse, by default run in a btrfs partition. Others, such as Debian, default to running in a ext4 partition.
So, if you have already installed a Linux distribution that has created a btrfs partition, then you are likely good-to-go for installing QV. Reason is, QV will install into a directory in the already-existing btrfs partition, leaving the rest of the partition as-is.
If you have a PC with only Windows, has never had Linux installed, then you might want to consider going this route; install Fedora or OpenSuse first. These have sophisticated installers, that will do most things automatically, and you will end up with partitions that you can use to install QV. And the Linux installer will also have installed a bootloader, probably GRUB v2.

Press ENTER key to continue, anything else to abort: 

Please enter the partition to install QV. This may already have a btrfs filesystem; if not,the partition will be wiped and a btrfs filesystem created.
If there is already an existing btrfs filesystem, existing content will be kept. QV will just install into a folder in the partition.
(ex: sdc2): sda6

Please enter the boot partition.
Files vmlinuz and initrd will be installed here.
Note, you can enter same as above; however, the bootloader must be able to recognize a btrfs partition. Recent GRUB2 and rEFInd can handle this, but there may be issues.
If you don't have a bootloader installed, or don't want to use it, use Gparted to create a new vfat esp boot partition, recommend 32MB size -- do that, then continue here.
(Technical detail: if PC has Windows installed, may need to use Windows Partition Manager to first create some free space in the drive)
(ex: sda1): sda1


Copying vmlinuz and initrd into /mnt/sda1
copied into folder qv240403
Populating /mnt/sda6/qv240403/1/@qv/
this may take awhile...
Create subvolume '/mnt/sda6/qv240403/1/@qv'

Installed.

Final notes:
If you need to make a bootloader menu entry, pass these parameters on the kernel command line:
wkg_uuid=f16f7d6a-5dfa-48f2-99e1-580f4e56b623 wkg_dir=qv240403/
# 

when mounting a partition with pmount, the partition icon changes to the icon with the orange x in the upper right
when a partition is mounted with the script, the icon remains unchanged

[BarryK]

Here is an improved qv-installer
Also, it is internationalized.
Attached, with false ".gz"

[williwaw]

everything in sda6 example:

Please enter the partition to install QV. This may already have a btrfs
filesystem; if not,the partition will be wiped and a btrfs filesystem created.
If there is already an existing btrfs filesystem, existing content will be
kept. QV will just install into a folder in the partition.
(ex: sdc2): sda6

Please enter the boot partition.
Files vmlinuz and initrd will be installed here.
Note, you can enter same as above; however, the bootloader must be able to recognize a btrfs partition. Recent GRUB2 and rEFInd can handle this, but there may be issues.
(ex: sda1): sda6

Copying vmlinuz and initrd into: /mnt/sda6
also EFI directory, limine.cfg and limine.sys
Populating: /mnt/sda6/qv240403/1/@qv/
this may take awhile...
Create subvolume '/mnt/sda6/qv240403/1/@qv'

Installed.
umount: can't unmount /mnt/sda6: Invalid argument

Press ENTER for notes about the bootloader:

Note: the script exits with an umount error, but the mount command, rox and pmount shows that is the partition is unmounted

if the frugal install is placed in a qv240403 dir shouldn"t the initrd and vmlinuz be there also?
limine is for chainloading?

p.png (59.29 KiB) Viewed 2058 times

[Caramel]

everything in sda6 example:
...
Note: the script exits with an umount error, but the mount command, rox and pmount shows that is the partition is unmounted

In qv-installer, after the copy of the files, the boot and working partitions are unmounted :

Code: Select all

busybox umount /mnt/${BOOT_DEV}
busybox umount /mnt/${WKG_DEV}

In your choice BOOT_DEV = WKG_DEV = sda6 :

Code: Select all

busybox umount /mnt/sda6
busybox umount /mnt/sda6

sda6 is unmounted by the first line, so the second line provides an error but it does not matter.

if the frugal install is placed in a qv240403 dir shouldn"t the initrd and vmlinuz be there also?
limine is for chainloading?

If grub2 has no problem with btfrs, vmlinuz and initrd could be in the btfrs partition.
Limine can not read in this partition(even if it is located inside it) so it can not see these files and can not launch qv. But it should be able to be used normally for launch other OS or chainload to other bbootmanagers located in fat or ext4 partitions.

[williwaw]

sda6 is unmounted by the first line, so the second line provides an error but it does not matter.

thats understandable, not an issue really,

if the frugal install is placed in a qv240403 dir shouldn"t the initrd and vmlinuz be there also?
limine is for chainloading?

If grub2 has no problem with btfrs, vmlinuz and initrd could be in the btfrs partition.

to clarify my concern, if one were to have multiple frugals in the btrfs partition, then the subfolder qv240403 should contain the initrd and vmlinuz unless these files never change between versions.

[BarryK]

sda6 is unmounted by the first line, so the second line provides an error but it does not matter.

thats understandable, not an issue really,

if the frugal install is placed in a qv240403 dir shouldn"t the initrd and vmlinuz be there also?
limine is for chainloading?

If grub2 has no problem with btfrs, vmlinuz and initrd could be in the btfrs partition.

to clarify my concern, if one were to have multiple frugals in the btrfs partition, then the subfolder qv240403 should contain the initrd and vmlinuz unless these files never change between versions.

I have fixed both of those issues. Will upload latest qv-installer soon.

[williwaw]

using qv-installer to repurpose an existing ext4 partition:
the instructions say "the partitions will be wiped"
but an error instructed to use the -f option. ( I dont think I did that right) as the output didnt look hopeful, but it worked! and the generated boot stanzas for grub2 also work well.

Code: Select all

# qv-installer /mnt/sda2/qv-240409-amd64.img
~
~
~
Please enter the partition to install QV. This may already have a btrfs filesystem; if not,the 
partition will be wiped and a btrfs filesystem created.
If there is already an existing btrfs filesystem, existing content will be kept. QV will just 
install into a folder in the partition.
(ex: sdc2): sda4

Please enter the boot partition.
Files vmlinuz and initrd will be installed here.
Note, you can enter same as above; however, the bootloader must be able to recognize a btrfs partition. Recent GRUB2 and rEFInd can handle this, but there may be issues.
(ex: sda1): sda1

Will now format this partition as btrfs: /dev/sda4
Press ENTER to continue: 
btrfs-progs v6.5.1
See https://btrfs.readthedocs.io for more information.

ERROR: /dev/sda4 appears to contain an existing filesystem (ext4)
ERROR: use the -f option to force overwrite of /dev/sda4
ERROR, aborting.




# qv-installer /mnt/sda2/qv-240409-amd64.img
~
~
~
Please enter the partition to install QV. This may already have a btrfs filesystem; if not,the 
partition will be wiped and a btrfs filesystem created.
If there is already an existing btrfs filesystem, existing content will be kept. QV will just 
install into a folder in the partition.
(ex: sdc2): sda4 -f
/bin/qv-installer: line 170: [: /dev/sda4: binary operator expected

Please enter the boot partition.
Files vmlinuz and initrd will be installed here.
Note, you can enter same as above; however, the bootloader must be able to recognize a btrfs partition. Recent GRUB2 and rEFInd can handle this, but there may be issues.
(ex: sda1): sda1
blkid: invalid option -- 'f'
Try 'blkid --help' for more information.

Will now format this partition as btrfs: /dev/sda4 -f
Press ENTER to continue: 
btrfs-progs v6.5.1
See https://btrfs.readthedocs.io for more information.

Performing full device TRIM /dev/sda4 (20.00GiB) ...
NOTE: several default settings have changed in version 5.15, please make sure
      this does not affect your deployments:
      - DUP for metadata (-m dup)
      - enabled no-holes (-O no-holes)
      - enabled free-space-tree (-R free-space-tree)

Label:              QVWKG
UUID:               2f215e13-ba5c-43c2-a8f6-da84e4afb771
Node size:          16384
Sector size:        4096
Filesystem size:    20.00GiB
Block group profiles:
  Data:             single            8.00MiB
  Metadata:         DUP             256.00MiB
  System:           DUP               8.00MiB
SSD detected:       yes
Zoned device:       no
Features:           extref, skinny-metadata, no-holes, free-space-tree
Checksum:           crc32c
Number of devices:  1
Devices:
   ID        SIZE  PATH
    1    20.00GiB  /dev/sda4

mkdir: unrecognized option: f
BusyBox v1.36.1 (2023-05-18 22:31:00 UTC) multi-call binary.

Usage: mkdir [-m MODE] [-p] DIRECTORY...

Create DIRECTORY

	-m MODE	Mode
	-p	No error if exists; make parent directories as needed
ERROR: cannot access '-f': No such file or directory

Copying vmlinuz and initrd into: /mnt/sda1
copied into folder: qv240409
mkdir: unrecognized option: f
BusyBox v1.36.1 (2023-05-18 22:31:00 UTC) multi-call binary.

Usage: mkdir [-m MODE] [-p] DIRECTORY...

Create DIRECTORY

	-m MODE	Mode
	-p	No error if exists; make parent directories as needed
cp: invalid option -- '/'
Try 'cp --help' for more information.
cp: invalid option -- '/'
Try 'cp --help' for more information.
Populating: /mnt/sda4 -f/qv240409/1/@qv/
this may take awhile...
btrfs subvolume create: exactly 1 argument expected, 2 given
btrfs property set: too many arguments: 4 but at most 3 expected
cp: invalid option -- '/'
Try 'cp --help' for more information.

Installed.
umount: can't unmount /mnt/sda4: Invalid argument

when booting a frugal of 240409 with grub2, where both the FS and initrd and vmlinuz are contained in the qv240409 folder on a btrfs partition, grub now complains "Compression type 0x3, not supported, need to load the kernel first", maybe something to do with the compression change?
Updating grub2 is not as easy as using frugalpup or grubrconfig as they use earlier version of grub, and perhaps 2.04 is called for? https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... ug/1931595

I only mention it here for those who might run into this error. Putting vmlinuz and initrd in the works out fine.
anyone know of an updated grub2 installer?

[BarryK]

using qv-installer to repurpose an existing ext4 partition:
the instructions say "the partitions will be wiped"
but an error instructed to use the -f option.
...
when booting a frugal of 240409 with grub2, where both the FS and initrd and vmlinuz are contained in the qv240409 folder on a btrfs partition, grub now complains "Compression type 0x3, not supported, need to load the kernel first", maybe something to do with the compression change?
Updating grub2 is not as easy as using frugalpup or grubrconfig as they use earlier version of grub, and perhaps 2.04 is called for? https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... ug/1931595

I only mention it here for those who might run into this error. Putting vmlinuz and initrd in the works out fine.
anyone know of an updated grub2 installer?

I have inserted "-f" in line 208:

Code: Select all

 #20240410 -f to force if existing f.s. detected...
 mkfs.btrfs -f -L QVWKG --uuid ${UUID2} /dev/${WKG_DEV}

Yes, I have read about grub2 having issues with btrfs, and that is warned of in QV Installer.
I don't know the history of btrfs and grub2 -- perhaps the issues fixed in latest release of grub2 -- but anyone who has grub already installed in their PC will have an older version.
Maybe I should emphasize the warning a bit more.

[williwaw]

Yes, I have read about grub2 having issues with btrfs, and that is warned of in QV Installer.
I don't know the history of btrfs and grub2 -- perhaps the issues fixed in latest release of grub2 -- but anyone who has grub already installed in their PC will have an older version.
Maybe I should emphasize the warning a bit more.

warning seems adequate

qv-240409 , when deployed entirely into a btrfs partition will boot with grub2.06

[BarryK]

I hunted around, found this, saying that grub 2.04 will support btrfs with zstd compression:

https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?53227

Anyway, I have edited qv-installer, changed the text to say that grub 2.06 or later is required, to be on the safe side.
2.06 was released 3 years ago.

[Clarity]

Grub2 v2.12 is better suited for your distro as it focuses on updated and current technologies that also work with all PCs.

Nothing wrong with v2.06, but you know the efforts in BTRFS as this is new and Grub2 also is keeping up with this filesystem as well for booting PCs.

[nnriyer]

Unable to digest all these. Please provide some simple technique or work around for install grub. Is possible to install from package manager or terminal etc ?

[BarryK]

Unable to digest all these. Please provide some simple technique or work around for install grub. Is possible to install from package manager or terminal etc ?

Look at this, grub2config:

viewtopic.php?t=3360

I have never tried it.

[rockedge]

I have never tried it.

I have Grub2config 2.0.2 in KLV-Airedale and KLV-Spectr and it works well. The boot stanza's it creates are not yet modified enough for Kennel Linux specific syntax but it works well setting up Grub2 enough that manual additions are easy enough to modify the grub.cfg

I can say grub2config will work on Void Linux based systems.

[don570]

Grub 2.02 works if you follow the suggestion of qv-installer app and put vmlinuz and initrd in partition sda1
which is formated ms-fat

_________________________________________

I followed the samba fix of BarryK and it worked.
However when I click the APPLY button in Easyshare app
I get warning window and error in testparm.log

Code: Select all

Load smb config files from GЏzU
Error loading services.

But share with my Chromebook does set up when I run script
rc.samba
_______________

smb.conf. file is different --> two shares are created

Extra share

Code: Select all

# The following share was created by the setup samba shared folder script.
[Don]
path = /media/Don
read only = no
force user = root
guest ok = yes

[nnriyer]

Sir

Is it possible to load QV from btrfs partition through our old boot loader "refind". I also read somewhere that to cheat windows efi boot with file linux boot file (grubx64.efi). HP laptop wont any boot loader. See below link: (Post No.1). How to do it. Only grubx64.efi file is required to rename after replace the windows efi file or any other steps required?

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php ... nto%20Grub.

[williwaw]

Sir

Is it possible to load QV from btrfs partition through our old boot loader "refind".

It should be but, have you seen this?
viewtopic.php?p=104876#p104876

[nnriyer]

Please note that i am a layman only. I have downloaded 2 grub. gz and unzipped. However, not found cfg file inside folder, in order to add boot stanza of QV. Please elaborate.

[williwaw]

Please note that i am a layman only. I have downloaded 2 grub. gz and unzipped. However, not found cfg file inside folder, in order to add boot stanza of QV. Please elaborate.

the gz was supplied as an update to viewtopic.php?t=337
if you are updating an earlier version of grub. you should already have the earlier grub.cfg
if coming from a different bootloader, run diskpup or frugal pup first, then update