[FAQ]: Generating images on PC

[macmpi]

Is there any way to patch images directly from a server without the need of Berryboot or Raspberry Pi device?

Yes any (Debian) Linux PC can generate images: just run any of the following installXXXX script to create the desired image.
Following commands will download each install script.

curl -Ls --output installVolumio2 https://bit.ly/InstVolumio2; chmod u+x installVolumio2
curl -Ls --output installLibreELEC https://bit.ly/InstLibreELEC; chmod u+x installLibreELEC
curl -Ls --output installLakka https://bit.ly/InstLakka; chmod u+x installLakka

Then you may execute relevant installXXXX script issuing relevant command (./installVolumio2 for instance).
Produced image file then just needs to be transferred to your berryboot media.
Such images will benefit from built-in auto-update feature, so no need to use scripts again for later releases.

Note: berryboot's cmdline.txt MUST set bootdev= parameter to point to the used berryboot boot partition such as mmcblk0p1 (if booting from SD) or sda1 (if booting from USB).
User will need to set that once, or image will refuse to run. (this is due to a current berryboot limitation)

[agoldcheidt]

Hi @macmpi, thank you so much, I'll start to adding in my website those images with your scripts.

[macmpi]

Ok. Let me know how it goes.
Make sure you warn users about the cmdline.txt requirement in some installation note.

[Forusim]

@agoldcheidt : Any news on this? I would really appreciate an image for the latest lakka 2.1 version.

[macmpi]

@Forusim you can easily create the image by yourself, following the instructions here

[agoldcheidt]

Hey @Forusim @macmpi it work but I'm working on a way to add that required line on the cmdline.txt automatically, I already have an idea to do it, when this is done, I'll publish these images on my website.

[macmpi]

Hi.
It is not advised to set the parameter automatically at this point, as it very much depends on user's particular setup, and is hard to guess.
If user is on "baseline" setup (all on SD), then bootdev will point to SD, but if user is on USB setup, bootdev could be SD or match boot partition name on USB depending on circumstances...

I hope Berryboot setup routine will improve USB boot management and always set this parameter accordingly.

[agoldcheidt]

Hi @macmpi,

It is not advised to set the parameter automatically at this point, as it very much depends on user's particular setup, and is hard to guess.

You can set that parameter automatically, I believe I found a way to do this, all you need is the command sed and grep. From what I understand, the cmdline.txt file have the parameter "datadev" and your script need the parameter "bootdev" if I get it right, both paratemers should have the same value, ie: mmcblk0p1, sda1, etc. The idea is simple, "clone" the parameter "datadev" and replace it with "bootdev".

[macmpi]

nope bootdev and datadev do NOT point to the same partition.

[agoldcheidt]

@macmpi, oh I see, yes it should point to the boot partition. From my point of view, I think an automatically fix can be done, how about to put an script in the rc.local file (in the modified image) to identify partitions and according to the results, generate the appropiate parameter?

[h4de5]

@macmpi : I can confirm that the scripts above do work on WSL (windows 10 subsystem linux).
I am booting from an iscsi target - can you tell me what I have to set into bootdev=? is it still mmcblk0p1?

[macmpi]

@h4de5 thanks for your interest in these scripts.
While your "guests" OSes will be on iscsi (datadev side), I assume your Pi indeed boots berryboot kernel & UI off SD card (unless you made a very special configuration manually): therefore you should set bootdev=mmcblk0p1.

Note: I will soon release scripts update that relaxes this mandatory bootdev= declaration.
I'm holding it, waiting on an upcoming busybox 1.30 stable release and it's hopeful integration on a next berryboot release...
If those are too long to happen, I will release independantly.

[h4de5]

it works. must have had a typo before! thanks again!
unfortunatelly - after a restart it says the assets are gone :(

[macmpi]

Please note that as-of scripts version 1.5, setting bootdev is NOT mandatory anymore if Pi boots off SD card (default usecase).
In such case, former users should remove bootdev=mmcblk0p1 statement from cmdline.txt, as keeping it will prevent berryboot 20190612 from booting.