Lubuntu live iso

[feelslikeautumn]

I'm sure somebody has done something like this before, but I couldn't find one. So I've created a lubuntu live/desktop ISO for raspi2 and 3. It means you can get a working system without having to mess around formatting cards. I find live ISOs really useful - very good when you break something!

Would anybody be interested in this? If so, can you recommend a way of sharing my large-ish ISO file? I have a onedrive account, but from past experience it tends to fall down if a link is popular.

Thanks

[Martin Frezman]

Just to clarify, so we're clear from the start:

Are you using ".iso" and ".img" synonymously/interchangeably - as it quite common on this forum?

I ask because I've actually done some thinking about this - about how one could actually use a .ISO file on a Raspberry Pi. It is an interesting question.

[pcmanbob]

Having thought about this live linux OS's are normally supplied as an iso to be burnt on to a CD/DVD and run from such.

The raspberry pi runs its OS from an SD card so needs an img file to be load on to the SD card.

if you wish to install one of the ubuntu OS's on a pi I would just go here https://ubuntu-pi-flavour-maker.org/download/
and download which ever version I wanted as an img file and load that on to the SD card in the same way as I would raspbian no formatting required.

Not doubting your intentions but I don't know you from adam why would I want to use an OS img from you ?

[feelslikeautumn]

I've already built it. Yes it's an ISO file. You either extract the contents to your fat formatted sd card or USB flash drive, or you boot the actual ISO file via the necessary bootloader files.

[feelslikeautumn]

To answer the points raised in more detail:

I ask because I've actually done some thinking about this - about how one could actually use a .ISO file on a Raspberry Pi. It is an interesting question.

The usual way to boot a file is to use grub2 (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2/ISOBoot ). If anybody has got grub2 working in a 32bit arm userspace/kernel I would ***very*** much like to hear from them. I'm not sure if U-boot can drill into an ISO file.

At the moment the way I have it working is to use the usual rpi boot process, kernel and initrd loaded and then the debian-installer/casper package scans for the ISO file. I haven't done anything fancy to make this work, it is standard stuff.

linux OS's are normally supplied as an iso to be burnt on to a CD/DVD and run from such

Most laptops don't come with a cd/DVD drive, they'll be installing via a sd card or USB drive, just like the rpi.

The raspberry pi runs its OS from an SD card so needs an img file to be load on to the SD card.

The 3 can boot from USB too! All rpi distro's seem to use dd which nukes the card. If you are installing to a USB drive with stuff on it that you want to keep you need a better way. dd is also a pain from windows. If you are using the rpi as a desktop machine then you want the same installation process as other desktop machines. There is no reason for this not to happen.

if you wish to install one of the ubuntu OS's on a pi I would just go here https://ubuntu-pi-flavour-maker.org/download/

The point is I don't want to install. I needed the capability of a live ISO to fix something. Not everybody has access to another Linux machine to fix their broken rpi system.

Btw, those flavour makers are not pure Ubuntu systems.

Not doubting your intentions but I don't know you from adam why would I want to use an OS img from you ?

Well I am Adam, I hope that clears it up! but seriously, that's a fair point and it amazes me that people are willing to download and use something from a random person on the internet. If you want to make your own it's pretty easy.

[feelslikeautumn]

More adventures in ubuntu land - Xubuntu arm64!

[feelslikeautumn]

Slightly different from the opening post. This is lubuntu 17.04 for the raspberry pi 3 only - arm 64!

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AvHY_kl4hMB4e6zadBGWgyymUpI

md5sum: 6567c12872fd2974793e8b696ab0b185 lubuntu-17.04-desktop-arm64+pi3.iso
sha256sum: a691442086f09268aafaf10892656831ab59a52f74bc1625d8d7b402613e0c85 lubuntu-17.04-desktop-arm64+pi3.iso

Extract the contents (don't use DD) to a fat partition. Make sure you copy the hidden ".disk" folder. Or if you want to boot the iso file, then these are the bootloader/kernel files you need:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AvHY_kl4hMB4eckxNr90Ei0LFno

The iso can be on a different partition or device to the bootloaders (all partitions are automatically scanned). If the iso is buried in a directory tree then edit the cmdline.txt with the details.

The config.txt should be readable on a windows machine.

Note on booting you'll be looking at the rainbow screen for 10-15 seconds before a noticable change.

If you want to install, then use:

Code: Select all

ubiquity --no-bootloader

and choose the "something else" option at the partitioning stage. Useful mount points are /cdrom and /isodevice for when you manually create your bootloader partition at the end of the install.

[r3d4]

I'm sure somebody has done something like this before, but I couldn't find one. So I've created a lubuntu live/desktop ISO for raspi2 and 3.
It means you can get a working system without having to mess around formatting cards.

Unless you are selling preformated SDcards the only way to put an image on an SD that i know of is to format it.

So I've created a lubuntu live/desktop ISO for raspi2 and 3.

Considering raspberrypi foundation's stated porpoise is education
perhaps? you could detail the methods (scripts?) used to create this image .

[feelslikeautumn]

Unless you are selling preformated SDcards the only way to put an image on an SD that i know of is to format it

It's not an image. That's the whole point. You stick the iso file on any old existing partition and you boot it into a fully working system. SD cards come pre formatted, so nope you do not need to format!

Considering raspberrypi foundation's stated porpoise is education
perhaps? you could detail the methods (scripts?) used to create this image .

Well I am certainly of the opinion that the best way to learn is to investigate and try things yourself. I'm happy to answer questions though. Look up debians live-build (well documented) and the live-cd-rootfs package (you just need the scripts from the auto folder). I'll probably add something to the ubuntu live cd customisation wiki pages about using them.

Everything on the iso is stock ubuntu packages, except one text file to make the wifi work and the latest bootloader files.

[rpdom]

SD cards come pre formatted, so nope you do not need to format!

Unless the card is 64GB or greater, in which case the pre-format is exFAT and unusable on a Pi.

[feelslikeautumn]

Unless the card is 64GB or greater, in which case the pre-format is exFAT and unusable on a Pi.

I don't know anything about exFAT, but it is worth saying that of course the bootloaders have to be on a partition that is readable from a pi. Once the kernel/initramfs is loaded, then you are in the linux world and most partition types are supported.

[mattmiller]

I'm totally confused by this thread

In my mind, .iso are for CD/DVD

I (and I suspect many others) don't have CD/DVD drives connected to their Pi

So, for us muggles, how can we try out this Lubuntu live distro?

[feelslikeautumn]

If it helps, think of an iso file like a zip file. It's just a convenient way of moving a number of files together. The debian installer/live build packages can work with the unextracted iso file so that is why I have used it.

There is nothing complicated here. You either:

a) extract the contents of the iso to the device you want to boot from.

or

b) if you want to boot the unextracted iso file then you need the zip file of rpi bootloader/kernel files

[mattmiller]

There is nothing complicated here. You either:

a) extract the contents of the iso to the device you want to boot from.

Ok
I have an SD card
How do I extract the contents of the iso onto it?

[procount]

On Windows, I would use something like Virtual Clonedrive https://www.elby.ch/en/products/vcd.html or a similar program to mount the ISO file as a disk drive. Then you can copy the files off. There are probably similar programs on Linux that will do this.
But (IIUC) I think that is unnecessary if you want to boot it as a live distro.

I must have a try with this. It looks interesting. I suppose the distro is treated as a readonly file system, with a unionfs or ramfs mounted on top to store files temporarily in live mode, similar to the original Raspbian X86 distro.

[mattmiller]

Let me explain my confusion

OP implies they've made a Lubuntu PI2/3 OS

But as an iso

All other Pi OSes come as .img that is written to and SD card on another machine and then put into a Pi to boot up

How can we get from this iso to a bootable SD card for the Pi

[feelslikeautumn]

Windows 8 and 10 has native mounting of ISO files. Pretty sure mac os x had had the ability for ages. Linux certainly does. So I'm not sure what the problem is? If you are still using windows 7 or vista then just go for option b. Some of the USB flash writing tools may work too, but it depends how they work.

[procount]

I tried it. It works.
Here are some step by step instructions so you can do it too.
1. Use SD formatter to format your SD card as FAT32.
2. Unzip the contents of the boot.zip file to the SD card (the contents should look familiar)
3. Copy the Lubuntu iso file to the SD card. Do not extract it, nothing - just copy it as it is.
4. Boot the SD card in your Pi3.
That's it.
But it's a LIVE distro so I guess you have to store any data files you create on an external USB stick. The SD card is mounted r/w at /isodevice so that could also be used.

There is an icon on the desktop to install the distro.
EDIT: I haven't tried that yet. Don't use it!
Open LXTerminal from the System Tools menu instead and type

Code: Select all

ubiquity --no-bootloader

Then ask @feelslikeautumn cos I haven't a clue.

An ISO is just another file format, like an IMG file but different.
An Image file does not just have to be copied to an SD card using dd to be used. You can mount it directly using offsets to get to the required partitions, or use kpartx which will do it all for you. I guess this 'casper' tool is doing just that - mounting the iso file as a readonly file system and overlaying a unionfs to store (temporarily) any files that get changed (but these changes will probably be lost on next boot).

Not all OSes have to be delivered as an IMG file. For example, NOOBS uses tar.xz file format for most of the OSes it installs. This is just another alternative.

[feelslikeautumn]

Thanks procount you did a better job of explaining it than I did!

Just a couple of things though: the link is for pi 3 only. If you want to install then use the command I gave. There is a bit of manual moving of files needed to setup the bootloader partition. I'll explain if anyone gets to that point.

[mattmiller]

@procount Ta - all looks clear except for

2. Unzip the contents of the boot.zip file to the SD card (the contents should look familiar)

What boot.zip file?

[mattmiller]

@procount Ta

Note: Files are referenced here for others to find

viewtopic.php?p=1201582#p1201582

[r3d4]

It's not an image. That's the whole point.

0) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_image

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_table

Arguably & afaik the partition table IS what defines the format of a disk so if you over write that with the iso image you are in fact RE-formating the (whatever) disk .

Well I am certainly of the opinion that the best way to learn is to investigate and try things yourself. I'm happy to answer questions though.

Glad to hear it

I have some scripts derived from the LiveCDCustomization and im aware i could do something similar. ( and infact have done so )

My intrest is more along the lines of reproducibility
see also the distro and packagmanager mentioned in this post
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=191308&p=1201431#p1201351

[feelslikeautumn]

You can do all sorts of fancy things with ISO files and embedded partition tables - http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~libburnia- ... ectors.txt

None of that is done here.

[HWZealot]

Thanks for Aarch64 Lubuntu OS provided, really useful!
I followed the instructions and successfully run the LIVE OS.
I try to install the Lubuntu with "ubiquity --no-bootloader", but now for the last point, how to create a bootloader to make this OS bootable for Pi3?
Thank you !

[feelslikeautumn]

Sorry only just spotted this and I'm not near a pi at the moment so these instructions are a bit vague.

On /cdrom there should be an overlay directory, a couble of .dtb files, bootcode.bin, fixup.dat files, start.elf files, config.txt and cmdline.txt. You want to copy these to your bootloader partition.

On the installed system, have a look in the /boot directory. There should be files vmlinuz and initrd.img (these are symlinks to real files). You want to copy these to your bootloader partition. Because fat32 doesn't support symlinks the real files should hopefully be copied which is what you want.

Now you need to edit config.txt so that "kernel=vmlinuz" and "initramfs initrd.img followkernel"

Finally, edit cmdline.txt. This normally is something like "root=blah-blah quiet splash" where you need to put something sensible instead of blah-blah