------------
grml2usb installs grml on a given partition of your usb device and makes it
-bootable.
-
-grml2usb provides multi-iso support, meaning you can specify several grml ISOs
-on the command line at once and select the grml flavour you would like to boot
-on the bootbrompt then. Notice that the default ISO (that's when pressing just
-enter on the bootprompt or wait until the timeout matches) will be the *first*
-one specified on the grml2usb command line.
+bootable. It provides multi-iso support, meaning you can specify several grml
+ISOs on the command line at once and select the grml flavour you would like to
+boot on the bootbrompt then. Note that the *first* ISO specified on the grml2usb
+command line will become the default one (that's the one that will boot when
+just pressing enter on the bootprompt or wait until the boot timeout matches).
Options
-------
be find any lilo executable the statically compiled version of the grml2usb
Debian package (see /usr/share/grml2usb/lilo/lilo.static.[amd64|i386]) is taken.
- *--mbr*::
-
-Install a default master boot record (MBR) on the device.
-
*--quiet*::
Do not output anything but just errors on console.
Grabbing the source
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- git clone git://git.grml.org/grml2usb.git
+ % git clone git://git.grml.org/grml2usb.git
Developers Debugging Hints
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To play with grml2usb you can avoid using a real device via a loopback file
setup, like:
- dd if=/dev/zero of=~/loopback bs=1M count=100 # adjust size to your needs
- losetup /dev/loop1 ~/loopback
+ # dd if=/dev/zero of=~/loopback bs=1M count=100 # adjust size to your needs
+ # losetup /dev/loop1 ~/loopback
Then create according partitions either running for example:
- echo -en "n\np\n1\n\n\n t \n 6\n a\n1\n w\n" | fdisk /dev/loop1
+ # echo -en "n\np\n1\n\n\nt\n6\na\n1\n w\n" | fdisk /dev/loop1
or:
- parted /dev/loop1 -s "mkpart primary fat16 0 -1s mkfs 1 fat16"
+ # parted /dev/loop1 -s "mkpart primary fat16 0 -1s mkfs 1 fat16"
Finally create a filesystem and execute grml2usb as needed:
- mkfs.vfat /dev/loop1
- grml2usb --bootloader-only --mbr /grml/isos/grml-small_2008.11.iso /dev/loop1
+ # mkfs.vfat /dev/loop1
+ # grml2usb --bootloader-only /grml/isos/grml-small_2008.11.iso /dev/loop1
+
+Performance tracing
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+ # blktrace -d /dev/sdb -o - | blkparse -i -
+ # grml2usb grml_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
+
+Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
+--------------------------------
+
+What's the difference between grml2hd and grml2usb?
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+grml2hd installs a running grml system to a harddisk. When rebooting the
+harddisk installation can be modified and changes will find their way to the
+harddisk immediately. grml2usb copies just the compressed chroot filesystem
+(being the squashfs file), some further informational files and a bootloader to
+your device. This way you don't need as much space as with a harddisk
+installation (just a USB device with >=ISO size) and when rebooting the system
+your changes will be lost (even though a persistent root feature is
+work-in-progress). Think of using a better CD version: booting is (usually)
+faster, you don't need to burn a new CD when a new ISO version arrives (just
+install the new ISO using grml2usb) and you can carry additional files on a
+writable medium with yourself.
+Why do I have to use a FAT16 filesystem?
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+You have to use a FAT16 filesystem if you consider using syslinux (being the
+default). Syslinux currently does not support any other filesystems. If you want
+to use another filesystem (like ext2/3) consider using the --grub option
+instead.
+
+I think I've got a really cool idea!
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Please <<X7,report it to the author>>. Or even better: send us a patch.
+
+I've found a bug!
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Please <<X7,report it to the author>>. Please provide usage examples and output
+of your grml2usb commandline (consider using the "--verbose" option).
Usage examples
--------------
the one being the default (when just pressing enter or waiting until the timeout
is reached).
- # grml2usb --fat16 --mbr /home/grml/grml_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
+ # grml2usb --fat16 /home/grml/grml_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
-Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdb1, install MBR on /dev/sdb and
-format partition /dev/sdb1 with FAT16 filesystem.
+Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdb1 and format partition /dev/sdb1 with
+FAT16 filesystem.
# grml2usb --grub /home/grml/grml_2008.11.iso /dev/sdb1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdb1 and use "lang=de ssh=mysecret" as
default bootoptions.
+Online Ressources
+-----------------
+
+Check out the link:http://grml.org/grml2usb/[grml2usb webpage] and the
+link:http://git.grml.org/?p=grml2usb.git[grml2usb git repository].
+
Bugs
----
-Please report feedback, link:http://grml.org/bugs/[bugreports] and wishes link:http://grml.org/contact/[to the grml-team].
+Please report feedback, bugreports and wishes <<X7,to the author>>.
+[[X7]]
Author
------
Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>
projects / grml2usb.git / blobdiff