Discussion:
Boot installed system from Slackware Live
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Tuxedo
2018-09-19 08:06:28 UTC
Permalink
Hello,

Can Slackware Live be used to boot into an existing HD Slackware
installation?

Having downloaded and made a Slackware Live USB from a slackware64-live-
current.iso image, the version uname returns is 4.14.68 #2 SMP Wed Sep 5.

Slackware current is working on the system and boots fine via LILO, but in
case of an emergency boot failure, such as if regular MBR booting might
break for whatever reason, an alternative booting method will be needed.

The version uname returns for the HD installed Slackware current is 4.14.67
#2 SMP Fri Aug 24.

Can for example booting of the HD version be done simply by entering certain
parameters at the 'boot:' prompt of the live version?

The regular flash boot stick created at the HD installation stage doesn't
work because the flash disk creation process is not compatible with
LVM+LUKS.

Regular booting of the HD installed Slackware is done via an unencrypted
/boot partition at /dev/nvme0n1p2, which contains the following:

README.initrd
System.map
System.map-generic-4.14.67
System.map-huge-4.14.67
boot.10300
boot_message.txt
coffee.dat
config
config-generic-4.14.67.x64
config-huge-4.14.67.x64
elilo-ia32.efi
elilo-x86_64.efi
grub
initrd-tree
initrd.gz
inside.bmp
inside.dat
lost+found
map
onlyblue.bmp
onlyblue.dat
slack.bmp
tuxlogo.bmp
tuxlogo.dat
vmlinuz
vmlinuz-generic
vmlinuz-generic-4.14.67
vmlinuz-huge
vmlinuz-huge-4.14.67


The /etc/lilo.conf file on /dev/nvme0n1p3 as used when installing LILO to
MBR on /dev/nvme0n1 contains the following:

# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
lba32 # Allow booting past 1024th cylinder with a recent BIOS
boot = /dev/nvme0n1

# Append any additional kernel parameters:
append=" "
prompt
timeout = 50
# Normal VGA console
vga = normal

# ramdisk = 0 # paranoia setting
# End LILO global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz-generic-4.14.67
initrd = /boot/initrd.gz
root = /dev/cryptvg/root
label = Linux
read-only # Partitions should be mounted read-only for checking
# Linux bootable partition config ends
# Windows bootable partition config begins
other = /dev/nvme0n1p1
label = Windows
# map-drive = 0x80
# to = 0x81
# map-drive = 0x81
# to = 0x80
table = /dev/nvme0n1
# Windows bootable partition config ends

Thanks for any ideas how to start the system in case of an MBR boot failure.

Tuxedo
root
2018-09-19 17:02:17 UTC
Permalink
Post by Tuxedo
Hello,
Can Slackware Live be used to boot into an existing HD Slackware
installation?
Having downloaded and made a Slackware Live USB from a slackware64-live-
current.iso image, the version uname returns is 4.14.68 #2 SMP Wed Sep 5.
Some of my responses to you have assumed that the kernel in the
installed system was the same as that in the recover system. I
see that has not always been a valid assumption.

I boot my system into /dev/nvme0n1p1 but I have an unencrypted
vanilla system and I have no experience with the variations
you use.

I was unable to get lilo to boot into so I went to grub. I
posted into this group a program to take a lilo.conf and
write an equivalent grub.cfg. FYI, here is my /boot/grub/grub.cfg:

set timeout=10
set vga=791
menuentry 'N1:k4.15.2' {
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root=UUID 4b425c75-bac7-417e-8290-758eb8147f43
linux /boot/k4.15.2 load_ramdisk=1 root=UUID=4b425c75-bac7-417e-8290-758eb8147f43 prompt_ramdisk=0 ro printk.time=0 vt.default_utf8=0 gfxpayoad=1024x768x64
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}

menuentry 'B1:k4.15.2' {
root='(hd1,1)'
linux /boot/k4.15.2 load_ramdisk=1 root=/dev/sdb1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ro printk.time=0 vt.default_utf8=0 gfxpayoad=1024x768x64
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}


menuentry 'A1:k4.15.2' {
#search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root '(hd0,1)'
root='(hd0,1)'
linux /boot/k4.15.2 load_ramdisk=1 root=/dev/sda1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ro printk.time=0 vt.default_utf8=0 gfxpayoad=1024x768x64
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}

menuentry 'A2:k4.15.2' {
#search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root '(hd0,2)'
root='(hd0,2)'
linux /boot/k4.15.2 load_ramdisk=1 root=/dev/sda2 prompt_ramdisk=0 ro printk.time=0 vt.default_utf8=0 gfxpayoad=1024x768x64
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}

menuentry 'A4:k4.15.2' {
#search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root '(hd0,4)'
root='(hd0,4)'
linux /boot/k4.15.2 load_ramdisk=1 root=/dev/sda4 prompt_ramdisk=0 ro printk.time=0 vt.default_utf8=0 gfxpayoad=1024x768x64
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}


grub has its own recovery if the MBR is damaged.

On my system I have spinning disks /dev/sda and /dev/sdc, an ssd /dev/sdb and
the M.2 ssd which is my operating system. My MBR is on /dev/sda and I
have found I cannot install grub onto /dev/sda from the M.2 partition.
I never bothered to resolve that, if I have to change the MBR I
boot into /dev/sda1 and run grub install from there.

Now, back to your problem.

lilo has the option to use a lilo.conf file different from /etc/lilo.conf

If you boot into LiveSlak you can try mounting your M.2 system and
run lilo with the -C option pointing to the /etc/lilo.conf on
the M.2 system.

Experimenting with any such recovery runs the risk of damaging the
boot sector and locking you out of your system.

Since I have so many spare partitions I downloaded the iso of
your installed system and installed that on my system. I
installed it after burning the iso to a DVD. I was able
to use that DVD to boot into the system installed from
that DVD. I simply used the method shown on the screen
when booting from the DVD. In this case I used
huge.s root=/dev/sdc4 rdinit=ro

I don't know how this might work you your encrypted system.
I'm not even sure you have a DVD drive on your system?

I think I remember that you transferred the system to
a USB drive. If you have a DVD drive try burning the
iso to that and trying the above.

I seem to remember that you are on your second (or more)
installs of your system. On the first try you skipped
the usb recovery option. Did you try that on your
second install? If you did, and you are not able to
use that usb recovery it is unlikely that the DVD
boot will work either.

BTW, motherboards differ and the different BIOSes may
not treat the M.2 ssd the same way. I suppose you are
using the MBR on the M.2 device and I am not.
jrg
2018-09-19 17:54:02 UTC
Permalink
Post by root
Post by Tuxedo
Hello,
Can Slackware Live be used to boot into an existing HD Slackware
installation?
Having downloaded and made a Slackware Live USB from a slackware64-live-
current.iso image, the version uname returns is 4.14.68 #2 SMP Wed Sep 5.
Some of my responses to you have assumed that the kernel in the
installed system was the same as that in the recover system. I
see that has not always been a valid assumption.
I boot my system into /dev/nvme0n1p1 but I have an unencrypted
vanilla system and I have no experience with the variations
you use.
I was unable to get lilo to boot into so I went to grub. I
posted into this group a program to take a lilo.conf and
set timeout=10
set vga=791
menuentry 'N1:k4.15.2' {
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root=UUID 4b425c75-bac7-417e-8290-758eb8147f43
linux /boot/k4.15.2 load_ramdisk=1 root=UUID=4b425c75-bac7-417e-8290-758eb8147f43 prompt_ramdisk=0 ro printk.time=0 vt.default_utf8=0 gfxpayoad=1024x768x64
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}
menuentry 'B1:k4.15.2' {
root='(hd1,1)'
linux /boot/k4.15.2 load_ramdisk=1 root=/dev/sdb1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ro printk.time=0 vt.default_utf8=0 gfxpayoad=1024x768x64
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}
menuentry 'A1:k4.15.2' {
#search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root '(hd0,1)'
root='(hd0,1)'
linux /boot/k4.15.2 load_ramdisk=1 root=/dev/sda1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ro printk.time=0 vt.default_utf8=0 gfxpayoad=1024x768x64
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}
menuentry 'A2:k4.15.2' {
#search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root '(hd0,2)'
root='(hd0,2)'
linux /boot/k4.15.2 load_ramdisk=1 root=/dev/sda2 prompt_ramdisk=0 ro printk.time=0 vt.default_utf8=0 gfxpayoad=1024x768x64
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}
menuentry 'A4:k4.15.2' {
#search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root '(hd0,4)'
root='(hd0,4)'
linux /boot/k4.15.2 load_ramdisk=1 root=/dev/sda4 prompt_ramdisk=0 ro printk.time=0 vt.default_utf8=0 gfxpayoad=1024x768x64
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}
grub has its own recovery if the MBR is damaged.
On my system I have spinning disks /dev/sda and /dev/sdc, an ssd /dev/sdb and
the M.2 ssd which is my operating system. My MBR is on /dev/sda and I
have found I cannot install grub onto /dev/sda from the M.2 partition.
I never bothered to resolve that, if I have to change the MBR I
boot into /dev/sda1 and run grub install from there.
Now, back to your problem.
lilo has the option to use a lilo.conf file different from /etc/lilo.conf
If you boot into LiveSlak you can try mounting your M.2 system and
run lilo with the -C option pointing to the /etc/lilo.conf on
the M.2 system.
Experimenting with any such recovery runs the risk of damaging the
boot sector and locking you out of your system.
Since I have so many spare partitions I downloaded the iso of
your installed system and installed that on my system. I
installed it after burning the iso to a DVD. I was able
to use that DVD to boot into the system installed from
that DVD. I simply used the method shown on the screen
when booting from the DVD. In this case I used
huge.s root=/dev/sdc4 rdinit=ro
I don't know how this might work you your encrypted system.
I'm not even sure you have a DVD drive on your system?
I think I remember that you transferred the system to
a USB drive. If you have a DVD drive try burning the
iso to that and trying the above.
I seem to remember that you are on your second (or more)
installs of your system. On the first try you skipped
the usb recovery option. Did you try that on your
second install? If you did, and you are not able to
use that usb recovery it is unlikely that the DVD
boot will work either.
he claims it won't work due to LVM + LUKS - I don't know what that means.
But the recover USB breaks if it can't find the kernel it wants or if is
looking in the wrong place for it.
Post by root
BTW, motherboards differ and the different BIOSes may
not treat the M.2 ssd the same way. I suppose you are
using the MBR on the M.2 device and I am not.
I don't understand his use of lilo AND elilo on the same system.
Tuxedo
2018-09-20 07:10:38 UTC
Permalink
root wrote:

[...]
Post by root
Some of my responses to you have assumed that the kernel in the
installed system was the same as that in the recover system. I
see that has not always been a valid assumption.
I had downloaded the current SlackLive a bit after having downloaded
Slackware's current media used to install the system with.
Post by root
I boot my system into /dev/nvme0n1p1 but I have an unencrypted
vanilla system and I have no experience with the variations
you use.
Creating a boot stick has always worked well in the past, I'm not sure why
it doesn't on the set up. Maybe because of the new SSD or maybe the LVM &
LUKS setup is the cause, or a combination.

LILO's autoconfig after install did not work out of the box, as 'boot =
/dev/123' assumend three characters after '/dev/' so /dev/nvme0n1 was
truncated and became '/dev/nvm' but that was easy enough to spot and fix.

LILO should be good for for my purpose as I don't need any extra
functionality or want added complexity associated with Grub. But maybe LILO
is falling behind with certain up-to-date hardware options.
Post by root
I was unable to get lilo to boot into so I went to grub. I
posted into this group a program to take a lilo.conf and
[...]
Post by root
Now, back to your problem.
lilo has the option to use a lilo.conf file different from /etc/lilo.conf
If you boot into LiveSlak you can try mounting your M.2 system and
run lilo with the -C option pointing to the /etc/lilo.conf on
the M.2 system.
I'm not sure what the M.2 device is or how to address it via LiveSlak.
Post by root
Experimenting with any such recovery runs the risk of damaging the
boot sector and locking you out of your system.
It sounds risky even to try in case it might break a working setup. Or at
least, before trying, it should be a good idea t copy everything in
unencrypted /boot partition which could thereafter be replaced.
Post by root
Since I have so many spare partitions I downloaded the iso of
your installed system and installed that on my system. I
installed it after burning the iso to a DVD. I was able
to use that DVD to boot into the system installed from
that DVD. I simply used the method shown on the screen
when booting from the DVD. In this case I used
huge.s root=/dev/sdc4 rdinit=ro
The same method may not be available as I used the conventient Unitbootin to
create the installable media. My screen may appear different. When loading
the USB, the starting screen is:

Default
huge.s
kms.s
speakup.s
memtest
Slackware 15.0 huge kernel
Slackware 15.0 huge.s kernel (use KMS console)
Detect/boot any installed operating system

Press [Tab] to edit options

(Note: The "Detect/boot any installed operating system" option does not do
anything.)

I press tab while at for example the huge.s option. An inset editable
command string appears as follows (with the command prompt being the '>'
Post by root
/kernels/huge.s/bzImage initrd=/EFI/BOOT/initrd.img load_ramdisk=1
prompt_ramdisk=0 rw printk.time=0 nomodeset SLACK_KERNEL=huge.s

Appending root=/dev/nvme0n1p2 (being the unecrypted boot partiton) does not
Post by root
huge.s root=/dev/nvme0n1p2 rdinit=ro
... loads the Slackware installer.
Post by root
I don't know how this might work you your encrypted system.
I'm not even sure you have a DVD drive on your system?
I think I remember that you transferred the system to
a USB drive. If you have a DVD drive try burning the
iso to that and trying the above.
I've not had a working CD/DVD reader/writer for years.
Post by root
I seem to remember that you are on your second (or more)
installs of your system. On the first try you skipped
the usb recovery option. Did you try that on your
second install? If you did, and you are not able to
use that usb recovery it is unlikely that the DVD
boot will work either.
On the first install I managed to create the recovery USB by rerunning the
relevant section in the CONFIGURE part of the installer, or via the
installed system just by the program that runs the USB creation.

On the second installation I completed the USB stick creation as is normally
done when installing any new system. The effects of both sticks are the
same. I concluded that Slackware's rescue USB creation is simply not working
with my system configuration. Perhaps the resulting USB tried to boot the
encrypted volume but withouut unlocking it, causing a kernel panic.
Post by root
BTW, motherboards differ and the different BIOSes may
not treat the M.2 ssd the same way. I suppose you are
using the MBR on the M.2 device and I am not.
Yes, I use the MBR but have no idea how it's working compared to more
traditional systems and regular HDs.

I've never had an MBR/LILO broken, so I hope for the best while trying to
plan for the worst... I'm just a little worried about making system updates
while I don't have a USB booting alternative.

For now, with a recent Slackware current installed, I guess most things are
up-to-date. In fact, I remember having had more post-install issues on a
previous and regular 14.2 installation than with the latest current install.
Once the hard part of installation and configuration has been done,
Slackware current is surely the best Linux distro there is!

Tuxedo

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