DSL Remastering HOWto, Fairly definitive.

Forum: DSL Ideas and Suggestions
Topic: DSL Remastering HOWto, Fairly definitive.
started by: Philly

Posted by Philly on Nov. 06 2003,16:08

There Are some pre-requisits.
Hardware :
Processor :266 allows for ISO generation speeds in 10-20 minutes.
Ram: More than 96mb, Probly could do it easily with 256mb
Hard drive: 2gigs or more; really handy to have a multi boot HD with either another OS with a cd burning app right on it, or the ability to transfer via network to a system with cd burnin stuff.
CD burner.

Software:
A DSL source CD & A Knoppix CD OR
A DSL cd remastered with MKisofs.
Dpkg for DSL,

Documentation :
< http://www.knoppix.net/docs/index.php/KnoppixRemasteringHowto >
This guide also assumes some DSL/linux knowledge.

Ok here's How I do it, use the above link to knoppix for some reference.
HERE's What works for Me
1) Boot onto A dsl cd, DO NOT HD-INSTALL
Open a term, switch to root

mount your partition,
I like to mount things rather than in /mnt/hdX#
I make folders right on the root like "/pa"

In /pa "mkdir /source /cd"
in both of these /pa/source , /pa/cd "mkdir KNOPPIX"
cd /cdrom/KNOPPIX
there should be like 3 files, one is "KNOPPIX"
cp everything else : "cp boot* /pa/cd/KNOPPIX; cp mkfloppy.bat /pa/cd/KNOPPIX"
"cp -Rp /KNOPPIX/* /pa/source/KNOPPIX" -This copies the DSL files to the HD thus skipping the Cloop problem somepeople encounter.
Then I like to either copy the dpkg-tar into /pa/source/KNOPPIX/, Just to have it for use while your
At this point you could either
"chroot /pa/source/KNOPPIX "
then : "mount -t proc /proc proc"

OR umount the HD, reboot onto a fullsize KNOPPIX, and THEN
"chroot /pa/source/KNOPPIX "
and : "mount -t proc /proc proc"

From the KNOPPIX guide above once you update that dpkg, (while chrooted) You can follow all it's steps to add, and minus packages. and I think if you DL stuff that needs to be "maked" it makes to the Chroot.
Heck stick with that guide through their cleanup suggestions, orelse DSL gets FAT fast.. ANd maybe jon can suggest ways to re-remove dpkg once we're done.
and don't forget before you un chroot (ctrl -d) to "umount /proc"

Where DSL gets tricky is the making of the image, so I'll set-out some specialized commands.
First thing, you need to make an ISO, this is where building a dsl with mkisofs is DANG HANDY! if you have mkisofs, skip to 2), and skip 2b, 3b
1) umount the hd, reboot dsl and insert that KNOPPIX cd.
In a terminal in that Knoppix mount your hd partition to a folder, /pa for our uses, you won't need to create /pa/source or /pa/cd.

2)
mkisofs -R -U -V "KNOPPIX.net filesystem" -P "KNOPPIX www.knoppix.net" -hide-rr-moved -cache-inodes -no-bak -pad /pa/source/KNOPPIX > /pa/KNITTEN (or I like to use some odd all caps filename)

2b) SKIP IF YOU HAVE MKISO, and HAVEN'T LOADED KNOPPIX
Umount the HD reboot switch cd's to you DSL cd. At terminal mount your hd back to PA

3) MUST BE BOOTED TO DSL and have your development partition mounted for this, the integral "clooping" to work.
"/usr/bin/create_compressed_fs /pa/KNITTEN 65536 > /pa/cd/KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX "

3b) Again, skip if you started with MKISO
umount the hd, reboot dsl and insert that KNOPPIX cd.
mount your hd partition to /pa

4)
"cd /pa/cd/master "
Here's the Clincher :
mkisofs -pad -l -r -J -v -V "KNOPPIX" -b KNOPPIX/boot.img -c KNOPPIX/boot.cat -hide-rr-moved -o /pa/knoppix.iso /pa/cd/master

BOOM
That dumps an Iso to /pa
Probly need to reboot to an OS with a cdburner, and burn that ISO.

On a machine, using a DSL with mkisofs this could be done, within an hour, on a 2.4ghz system, with plenty of hd space, and a gig of ram, I can prep an ISO to burn ready in like 30 minutes, not counting apt-get, and package handling.
shoot thats the meat and taters, critique plz!

Posted by Philly on Nov. 20 2003,19:28

well has any one tried that to see if they can re-master DSL? i left out alot of hullabaloo like switching to root to mount stuff, and or resetting the root password so you can switch to being root, rather than "sudo"ing everything.

Posted by porte64 on Nov. 27 2003,11:24

Well the fact that you managed to present the whole
procedure in only one page is great.
And many users are intersting by custumizing and
slightly extending the DSL distro this way !!!
I will try it soon.

Being a newcomer to DSL and Debian, I have a couple
of questions however:

*** about the customization step ***
- at which step may one fully customize DSL ?
- can i freely customize or am i forced to use .deb packages ?
- suppose i want to add a program which is to reside
in /usr/local/bin after my custom distro is booted:
what path should i use (/usr/local/bin,
/pa/usr/local/bin, /pa/source/...) ?

*** about the prerequisites ***
may i do the whole process from scratch with:
- a bootable media (CD, USB key) with official DSL distro
- mkisofs and dpkg on a separate external media (USB key, floppy)
--> by the way, i presume this dpkg tool is the one available at
< http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/dpkg.tar.gz >
But unfortunately that link is dead.

Paul

Posted by firefly2442 on Mar. 30 2004,07:11

Can you do it without the Knoppix cd and just use the DSL cd?