Please test MX LiveUSB "F7 Save" feature

[BitJam]

LiveUSBs made with UNetbootin or with the antix2usb app should have an "F7 Save" menu in the bootloader instead of an "F7 DPI" menu which is on the LiveCD. This feature will not appear on LiveUSBs that were made with the "dd" command because those LiveUSBs have a read-only file system (just like a CD).

Here is the first draft of the documentation for this feature:

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o F7 Save
   (LiveUSB)
   This can save all your menu selections and typed-in boot
   parameters as the new defaults.  It is a very easy way to
   quickly customize a LiveUSB for language and timezone.

    menus
        Use the current menu selections as the defaults.

    custom
        Create a new main menu entry using any boot codes you
        have entered manually.  If you don't enter any boot codes
        then a custom entry won't be made.

    both
        Use the current menu selections as the defaults and also
        create a custom main menu entry.

    reset
        Remove any custom main menu entry and restore the
        original menu defaults.

I think this is a really cool feature that we might want to advertise more but first let's make sure it is all working as advertised. Even if it is all working, perhaps your experience will help us improve the documentation.

If one Language option works then they all should work. The same is true of Time Zone and Console. But for the other menus (Options, Video Mode) it would be great if every entry were tested to see if it gets saved. Although AFAIK there is no reason for the "check md5" or "check fs" options to be saved. There are some known imperfections in the system if typed-in options conflict with options from the menus. In this case neither one will be saved. One way to test the custom main menu entry feature is to just type in a made-up bootcode, "my-bootcode" or whatever. This will be flagged as unknown but that won't hurt anything nor should it interfere with the saving.

The saving happens early in the boot process. There is visual feedback on the screen but unfortunately the modem program that was added to RC2 fills the boot screen with useless messages, scrolling everything else off screen. (In my personal opinion we should ditch that program on the grounds of it being rude and obnoxious). You can try to mitigate this in three ways:

• Use the "F6 Console" menu to increase the console resolution
• Use the "bp=9" boot parameter to pause the boot process. Use ctrl-d to continue.
• Look in the log files under /var/log/live/. Most things that get printed to the screen
  early on should show up in files under there.
• You can also increase the amount of feedback with the "verb=7" boot option although
  this won't help with the scrolling off-screen problem.

IMO the best way to test all of this is with a frugal install on VirtualBox because then you don't have to keep rebooting your machine. But AFAIK there is not yet a fully automated script for doing a frugal install either in VirtualBox or outside of it.

[malspa]

This must have been put in for RC2? I don't see "F7 Save" in the bootloader menu in RC1 (flash drive done with Unetbootin) -- only "F7 DPI".

[chippy52]

Using liveusb made with UNetbootin was a no go here.

[anticapitalista]

Using RC2 and antix2usb app.

F7 appears with the options.

Any changes to F2 (localisation) seems to stick on reboot (I tried 2 Spanish and Greek).
F3 changes (Timezone) appeared correctly in the menu, but the boot didn't change to chosed TZ (I tried Athens and London)
F4 changes (Various) all seemed to work bar toram. There was an error about nowhere to save gfxboot (or something like that)
F5 changed to vesa and it correctly stuck on next boot.
F6 console resolution changed and did stick on next boot.

Manual changes didn't stick (not sure if they are meant to). I tried dpi=100 and mirror=gr

Don't have time tonight to test further. Will do so tomorrow (and with Unetbootin).

Added: To confirm that using unetbootin and RC2 fails to show the F7 save options (It shows dpi)

[zeeone]

No go with unetbootin ISO burn RC2 using the live cd.

Will try it again to burn from Kwheezy or something.

[BitJam]

Thanks for the feedback! For those who used Unetbootin, please try the following to enable the "F7 Save" menu. Boot the LiveUSB and then run:

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echo 1 | sudo tee /live/boot-dev/boot/syslinux/gfxsave.on

The sudo command will prompt you for your *user* password. The command will also print "1" on the screen as well as creating the gfxsave.on file. That file needs to contain at least one byte in order to work. What is in it does not matter.

That file was missing in the RC2 iso and I know it used to enable "F7 Save" on UNetbootin LiveUSBs.

[dolphin_oracle]

I'm a little late to this thread, but i did try BitJam's command above with a LiveUSB made with unetbootin, and the f7 save menu did appear on the next boot.
***edit***

by the way, once I got a save menu, my expierence was similar to anti's. most menu options stuck, but not toram.

[BitJam]

Brilliant D.O.! Thanks. I picture you flying around wearing a cape.

[chippy52]

Worked a treat here also. All changes were retained.

[BitJam]

I think I fixed the timezone problem. I've attached a file init.gz. Gunzip this file and copy it to the /live/boot-dev/boot/syslinux/ directory. The problem with the timezone was that the new default was displayed in the menu but the timezone was not actually getting set to the new default. The unzipped init file should have:

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size: 99170
 md5: b934537cf69afe5e88436aee452fd530

If these don't match then don't use it. It is possible to break your LiveUSB if you copy over the wrong file. You might want to make a backup copy of the original file just in case.

I have not yet been able to replicate the other two problems: "toram" not sticking and not creating a new entry in the main menu. They both seem to work here. You should be able to trigger the main menu problem by typing in a boot parameter such as "mirror=us" and then using Save --> both. You should also be able to trigger the "toram" bug by also selecting "F4 Options" --> "to ram". There should be a fairly extensive log file at /var/log/live/gfxsave.log or something like that. I'd like to see that log file right after you trigger these two problems. The best thing to do is to upload the log file. I think you will need to either change the extension to ".txt" or add the ".txt" extension to get the forums to accept the file for upload.