New method for creation of SoaS USB sticks

[lfaraone]

The current method of creating SoaS sticks is not standardized, and many different ways are incompatable with one another, unreadable from outside of their local context, or both.

Therefore, we should standardize on a new tool and method to create SoaS sticks. This is required to accomplish ticket #598.

[CarolineM]

The boot-helper is related to a new installer method for this reason: our current method of formatting and installing SoaS on USB sticks cannot be read by the boot-helper. LVM snapshots are difficult to read outside of the context (in this case the kernel used in SoaS) in which they were created. Therefore, I suggested that we simply have raw EXT3/whatever on the flash drive, and mount them directly rather than using LVM.

[FGrose]

See this post, ​http://n2.nabble.com/Reflections-on-giving-a-Sugar-Demo-tp3164674p3166378.html

[FGrose]

SoaS project has these blueprints in launchpad:

• ​http://blueprints.launchpad.net/soas/+spec/installation-support,
• ​http://blueprints.launchpad.net/soas/+spec/one-cd-solution.

[FGrose]

Some may not realize that soas-strawberry.iso burnt to CD-ROM can be booted and used to install the image to a USB device. See ​http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick/Resources#Install_Methods item 3. 1.

The development SoaS image .iso files should include the current version of the livecd-iso-to-cd shell script for the Fedora version base to enable this feature routinely. (SoaS3-200909271154.iso seems to have an out-of-date version.)

We should also write this file to the root of the USB device at the time of the installation so that it is available from the USB device to help with further propagation of the image.

[satellit]

It looks like ext3 formatting may be more robust in a USB
​http://lwn.net/Articles/322823/
But if we use a real ext3 file system for soas then liveusb-creator scripts will not work

[sascha_silbe]

Bulk change distribution=SoaS -> component=SoaS

[sdz]

What's the status here? Any objections if I close it as a duplicate of #1798?

[FGrose]

Replying to sdz:

What's the status here? Any objections if I close it as a duplicate of #1798?

#1798 is all about overlay corruption, a separate issue from installation methods, although different methods have different vulnerabilities.

[satellit]

see ​http://bugs.sugarlabs.org/ticket/2445 as suggestion for interim solution

[satellit]

AN IDEA
Live USB Creating USB

for netbooks without a CD/DVD drive:

Format an 8GB or 16Gb USB with 2 partitions.
/dev/sdb1 fat 16 FEDORA boot flag
/dev/sdb2 fat 32 My Files

Place this USB in fedora desktop and start liveusb-creator
select:
Fedora-14-i686-Live-SoaS.iso on your desktop
set slider to 1200 persistence
select /sdb1 Fedora USB as Target Device
Create Live USB

Remove and reinsert this 2 partition USB in your desktop and copy your soas live.iso's to
My Files USB mounted on desktop
(this 2nd partition 4GB will hold at least 4 different live USB.iso's)
remove USB ( eject both MY Files and Fedora USB's)

Boot with the 2 partition Live USB
yum install liveusb-creator
start live usb creator on USB
[BROWSE] /Computer/mediaMy Files/ xxxx.iso (open)
[Target Device]select the target 2nd USB you just inserted (fat 16 FEDORA)
set [Persistence Storage] by moving slider
[Create Live USB]
*This 2 partition USB is a Portable Live USB Creator you can carry in your pocket*
Boot it and create Live USB's anywhere.

[satellit]

​http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Creation_Kit#Building_a_bootable_USB
In MacBook Air Works fine

[pbrobinson]

SoaS uses liveinst and anaconda which is standardised in Fedora on which SoaS is based. The standard means of customisation work fine and if you wish to use other methods that are unsupported that's fine but you mileage may vary. There are a number of new means of installing that will debut with SoaSv5