nicOS-Utility-Suite

[amethyst]

@amethyst Oddest thing happened! While using the utilities to remaster the base SFS on a "instance" of F96-CE created using @wiak's wd_multi script, the utility script managed to delete the entire /mnt/sdc1/TestPup directory containing 10 frugally installed instances of F96-CE_5-alpha3.

Funny thing, I had done 10 or more remasters with no problems when suddenly in the last attempt, the partition icons all began to change as the partitions disappeared! The OS became unstable and froze, when I realized it was actually gone!

In summary, the utility suite managed to delete the entire directory /mnt/sdc1/TestPup/, which contains /mnt/sdc1/TestPup/F96-CE_5-alpha3/instance0, /mnt/sdc1/TestPup/F96-CE_5-alpha3/instance1, /mnt/sdc1/TestPup/F96-CE_5-alpha3/instance2...... during a remaster process!

For a moment of panic it appeared that the suite managed to delete the entire 4 partitions of a 1 terabyte HDD, but it only deleted the /mnt/sdc1/TestPup/ directory and it's complete contents of 10 frugally installed Puppy's

I'll take a guess and say your windows manager crashed or a bug with JWM. There's nothing in the script that would delete that directory of yours. BTW - JWM shows odd behaviour for me too sometimes (crashes), especially when running low on RAM. Not the most stable windows manager in the world.

[wiak]

For a moment of panic it appeared that the suite managed to delete the entire 4 partitions of a 1 terabyte HDD, but it only deleted the /mnt/sdc1/TestPup/ directory and it's complete contents of 10 frugally installed Puppy's

I presume that utility suite is fine having Puppy booting from a sub-sub-directory (rather than just one level down)? Actually I think it ends up being a sub-sub-sub directory in above arrangement for each instance.

[rockedge]

@amethyst Yes one of the oddest occurrences I've experienced lately! No idea on what happened or why exactly. Couldn't perform any diagnostics since the entire collection was just gone.

I had just started the remaster base SFS process and watched how suddenly the partition icons switched to a yellow oh-no icon one by one, the machine fans went into high gear and the OS froze solid. This all happened while running the remaster.

This has never ever happened like this before. I had to hard stop the machine by holding the power button down. Rebooted into another system and examined what had happened. This is when I discovered the deletion of the entire 10 frugal installations.

One question is the OS being remastered is instance1 which is all just symlinks to the actual system in instance0 !! Do you think that the symlinks are part of the cause?

@wiak the structure is /mnt/sdc1/TestPup/F96-CE_5-alpha3/instance0, /mnt/sdc1/TestPup/F96-CE_5-alpha3/instance1, /mnt/sdc1/TestPup/F96-CE_5-alpha3/instance2 and so on and so forth....

./wd_multi 10 3 was the command used to create. But I had done like 7 remasters using the same set up same program, all successful.

I was remastering the base rootfs of /mnt/sdc1/TestPup/F96-CE_5-alpha3/instance1/puppy_fossapup64_9.6.sfs which is in reality a symlink to /mnt/sdc1/TestPup/F96-CE_5-alpha3/instance0/puppy_fossapup64_9.6.sfs

[wizard]

@galen

See this post for an alternate method to remaster.

viewtopic.php?t=11305

wizard

[amethyst]

One question is the OS being remastered is instance1 which is all just symlinks to the actual system in instance0 !! Do you think that the symlinks are part of the cause?

Didn't your previous 10 remasters work as mentioned?

[rockedge]

Yes the remasters were working though sometimes some weird results. That's what makes it odd. It was working nice and safely mostly with predictable results, then this complete very specific deletion occurred.

EXTREMELY worrisome that it destroyed 10 frugal installs all by it's self without any apparent reason.

[amethyst]

Yes the remasters were working though sometimes some weird results. That's what makes it odd. It was working nice and safely mostly with predictable results, then this complete very specific deletion occurred.

EXTREMELY worrisome that it destroyed 10 frugal installs all by it's self without any apparent reason.

Maybe it works weird because it's for Puppys and you are using it for KL? So my advice will be NOT to use it if you have problems with it.

[rockedge]

I am working on a Puppy Linux F96-CE_5 which is a very current woof-CE generated Fossapup64. I booted and and with no save folder/file, made some installs of updated PET packages for Fossapup64 and F96-CE then again with no save yet ran the remaster of the base SFS

So my advice will be NOT to use it if you have problems with it.

there is not a single remaster script that is 100%. I have remastered in every which way possible since 2010 I think I could figure that out.

Crazy is I never initiated nicOS remaster to start to actually remaster. I was going through the set up configuration selecting check boxes in the GUI. Going back to adjust a setting and going again forward and it began to go haywire.

@amethyst I wrote this topic for the benefit of improving the package. Figure if 95% of the time it works OK it's a winner. I can always use something else, and perhaps forget I mentioned anything, matter of fact I could always delete the topic if it's useless and the experience reading it is annoying.

[Clarity]

... I wrote this topic for the benefit of improving the package. ...

I support this position. It emphasizes what I feel we should do when unusual circumstances appear in use of ANY products built for use in the forum. As well, we SHOULD report, even, if we see or envision improvements in product use-behavior or to change negative behavior if found to exist.

I am not calling out an unfavorable position on this Suite; rather, if a conditions arises and it has any appearance that the product might have somehow influenced it, the flag 'should be' raised for investigation or at least a mere evaluation. It is what I think most of us find appropriate.

Just a thought

[amethyst]

@rockedge

made some installs of updated PET packages

Can your issues be related to the changes in the package manager? I have had problems with pets uninstalling themselves in Fossa96CE.viewtopic.php?p=114606#p114606.

[fr-ke]

@rockedge wrote

Yes one of the oddest occurrences I've experienced lately! No idea on what happened or why exactly.

I had the same experience!

Normally I use a different working area (partition) than the partition on which the Puppy to be remastered is located. Unfortunately not in this case!
On an nvmedevice it was just a moment and everything was gone.

I don't remember exactly whether it was a remasatering or a Save2SFS that I ran.

I attributed it to the fact that the partition in question was mounted once by clicking on the desktop under its partition name and a second time using .pet as /mnt/home.
For this reason I didn't pursue it further. However, since then I have made sure to use an empty partition as the working area.

[amethyst]

So what has changed in Fossa96CE that we have all these error reports now? Do you have the same issues when running the builtin remaster script of Fossa96CE (I don't know if the builtin remaster script gets updated every time there is a new Puppy release)? My remaster scripts are basically based on the builtin remaster script as it was with Bionic (obviously with the intention that it could be useful for remastering older and newer Puppys). Are the results different using my alternative script in the suite, etc? BTW - If you have lots and lots of RAM, use ramdisk as the working area (much faster too).

[fr-ke]

@amethyst

If the partition from which the Puppy was started is mounted twice, whether as /mnt/home or another mount point, then redundant copying of certain files appears to occur.

e.g. /mnt/nvme0n1p3/tmp/root/.config/rox.sourceforge.net/OpenWith/.application_pdf/nvme0n1p3/tmp.....

Aborted with kill results in the entire partition being deleted.
Tried under BookwormPup64-10.0.6
.

It doesn't work any better under Bionicpup64_8.0.
I aborted /mnt/nvme0n1p3/PuppyRemasterpuppy_bionicpup64_8.0.sfs at 8GB size.
The remastering would certainly have continued until the partition overflowed.

[fr-ke]

@amethyst

If the system partition is mounted multiple times, the deletion process should take place at the beginning.
Attached is a screenshot after I canceled the remastering process right after it started.

The system directory has already been deleted.

[amethyst]

What the hell is nvme..,.? Anyways - try the builtin remaster script of the specific version of the distribution you are using and use that if it works for you.

[fr-ke]

nvme = sda just faster.

No problem at all with your RemasterScript, I'm happy and satisfied with it - thank you!

After something similar to @rockedge happened to me, I tried to explain it in a comprehensible way.
This may also have been the reason for the deleted partition that @rockedge reported.

I set up my OS for daily use using a series of petfiles.
Among other things, a partition is automatically mounted as home.
The situation that arose for me was that the partition from which I got the pet files and the system partition (Puppy frugally installed) were the same.

After this partition was mounted twice during preparation for the remaster by installing the pet file to automatically load the partition during the startup process, it was deleted by the subsequent remaster, using the same partition as the working partition.

I've done it this way many times, but always with a different working partition during the remastering process, so I didn't have any problems.