Well...its sad to see that mandriva ships with a broken mklivecd script

As for remastering from a hard-disk install, I am aware that I could compile my own kernel WITH support for the squashfs filesystem (and any other filesystems required), but I can't be bothered doing that just for this project.

This list is from mindwave who is at the following link
http://mandrivausers.org/index.php?showuser=17932. I have added some additions for clarity.
If there is something you don't understand, then please drop me a line, so that I can clarify it for you!
Please also appreciate that there doesn't seem to be anyone working on 2008 at the moment, so 2007.1's kernel will become absolute in a sense but that wont be for some time yet! Some extra comments are highlighted in red. The files you are copying and pasting I have highlighted in blue just for ease of reference later on!

Step 28 is not now needed. I haven't personally tested it. You only need step28 if installing to USB!



What if I want to create my OWN cd from my OWN install?
1)This assumes you want to use a 'normally installed Mandriva 2007.1 systems without using the 'remaster on the fly method' and without installing MCNL to the hard drive.
a.This can be used on ANY type of a Mandriva install.
b.If you have Mandriva Free, Mandriva ONE or Mandriva Power pack, it doesn’t matter.
c.What DOES matter is NOT installing anything that you don’t need, so I’ll try and give you some things to watch out for as we go along.
2)These are the basic steps that I used to start from a clean Mandriva 2007.1 Spring installation.
a.This will also make it ready to build a LIVE CD/DVD out of the HD install using the mklivecd and MCNL scripts.
b.I can only verify that this method works with the 2007.1 Spring versions, I haven’t tested it on an earlier version or anything being worked on in the cooker.
c.This setup MAY seem a little confusing because you will perform many of the steps from a system that has been booted with YOUR hard drive installed MDV, and you will also perform several of the steps ONLY from the system running the Toronto system, as booted from the disk created in the next step.
d.One of the things that makes the ORIGINAL set of instructions so confusing is that if you follow them step by step you will be flipping back and forth between your Hard drive install and a Toronto based system a LOT.
e.This is due to the compression used in creating the Toronto CD; you can’t dig down into it as you would a normal installation cd.
3)You will need to download and burn the ISO image of Toronto
a. You’ll want to go here: http://www.mcnlive.org/download.htm to get the Toronto ISO.
i.There MAY be a newer version than Toronto by the time you read this.
ii.Hopefully I will update this, but if not MCNL is pretty good at maintaining older versions on file.
iii.Once you have the ISO downloaded use whatever burning software you want to turn the ISO into a bootable disk (look for “burn image”)
4)When you go to install your version of Mandriva 2007.1 you will want to do a “custom” partition.
a.Although Mandriva does a great job of creating partitions and things automatically, but most times those partitions are too numerous and the wrong sizes for what we need.
b.When you get to the part where you create your partitions you only need 2 of them created and formatted.
i.The FIRST is your PRIMARY partition; this is where EVERYTHING will live. It should be labeled “/” ONLY and formatted in a Linux native (ext3)
1.This can be whatever size you need, make sure you leave yourself some ROOM to work.
2.At THIS level, my own drive is partitioned to 50GB and everything works fine
3.You do NOT need any extra /home partitions
ii.Your Second partition, the system could handle if it wants, and that’s a Linux Swap partition. Typically it shouldn’t be much bigger than a few GB, in the windows world it’s calculated as 2x your ram.
1.In Linux it’s even more flexible than that, and you can create it as small or large as you want, too small and your HD spins too much.
5)Once you have installed your Mandriva system you will want to go into MCC and make sure that you have installed all drakxtools and drakconf.
a.The drakxtools take care of the hardware detection.
b. Be sure to install the standard kernel or the standard legacy kernel, or the official updated kernel.
c. A kernel from contrib won't work.
d.But if you run a standardized install you should be safe, HOWEVER you may want to hold off on any “updates” until after your system is stable.
(comment: When you install Mandriva 2007.1 you can add your additional packages at the same time. If you want just a lightweight version of Mandriva, then don't add too much - for example games and such like.)
6)Add the software sources main and contrib., you can also add the additional resources if you would like.
a. There are several methods, one of the simplest for ME is to use EASY-URPMI from www.mandrivausers.org
b.Once you navigate to mandrivausers.org in the upper right corner is the link for Easy-URPMI.
c.Although you only NEED to setup your MAIN and CONTRIB I always take the opportunity to setup all my rpm sites while I’m here.
d.However 2 things to consider:
i.Since were going for an light installation, I would definitely take advantage of using the compression offered by easy urpmi
ii.Also I don’t really suggest the ‘cooker’ or other experimental areas for setup, as you can EASILY grab some VERY untested updates that could cause major headaches down the line.
(comment: Stay away from backports as well.)
e.Otherwise, stepping through the menus will pretty much give you everything you need.
f.Once you have stepped through it all you will end up with a page that has all your sites setup in a particular series of steps, beginning with URPMI.
7)Once you have reached that point, you will want to leave that window where it is and open a terminal/console
a.If you don’t have an icon on your desktop you should be able to go to start/system/terminals or it could be listed as /shells
b.There are MANY different shells, they all pretty much do the same thing, which ever you choose should do the trick.
c.With your new console window open you’re now looking at a command line interface, by typing su <enter> and the root password, you’ll be able to change almost anything and everything on your system, so BE CAREFUL!
8)You are now logged into the CLI as root, go to your web window, the one with easy-urpmi displayed, and highlight all the code in the box.
a.Once it’s highlighted, select edit/copy from the menu bar at the top of your browser.
b.Click back to your terminal/console and hit edit/paste that will save you a LOT of typing and make sure it’s all 100% correct.
c.This will paste the entire code from the easy-urpmi into your terminal, hit <enter> and you will see the system “go out” to the internet and update your sources.
(Comment:You can copy and paste individual lines of code if you want to see the result in stages. Otherwise copy all the code and run it all at once)
9)As soon as your sources are updated you can close your web browser, but return to your terminal window and type urpmi mklivecd <enter>
a. This will install the broken mklivecd scripts from /contrib and it will also install all dependencies.
b. To FIX that you’ll want to copy all mklivecd scripts from Toronto on to your Hard drive installation.
i.This isn’t as hard as it sounds, if you know what you’re looking for and WHERE!
ii.Personally I found it easiest to copy ALL of these items onto a small (256mb) USB key and just keep that around for creating these types of disks.
1.You could use a floppy or burn them to a CD, for me USB keys are small, light and they auto mount quite nicely.
10) If you choose this method I would suggest that at this point you power your system OFF and plug in your USB key. You will also want to insert the Toronto CD that was created in step 3 into your cdrom drive.
11) Once you power your system back up you will automatically be logged in as guest, the password for Guest is Guest.
a.Also please note that the default ROOT password is root.
12)WARNING: what I’m about to tell you accounts to heresy for most folks and you will receive MUCH grief if you spread this around. But as this is merely a simple how-to, I like to keep things SIMPLE.
13) Open up the terminal window, and when you get to the CLI type su <enter> and the password is root
14) Then type kdesu conqueror <enter>
a.This will launch the Konqueror Web/File browser in ROOT mode allowing you to navigate anywhere and copy anything (you’ll thank me later).
15)Move konqueror over a little and double click the “devices” icon.
a.This should show you a link to your USB key (if you went that route), as well as your HD installed partition.
b.Your HD installation will probably come up as “56gb storage” or something along those lines, indicating the size in the name.
c.Feel free to go to Configure your Computer/Mounting Points and mount the USB and HD install, but it’s usually not required.
16)Once you have your external devices open you will want to use the Konqueror that you opened in step 14 to drill down to /usr/sbin in your Toronto or root system.
a.Once in that directory copy the scripts mklivecd and hwdetect over to your USB key (again if you’ve gone that route) and into the /usr/sbin directories on your hard drive installation
b.You will get an overwrite warning, and that’s to be expected, go ahead and agree.
17)Next you will want to dig down to /usr/share and then copy the entire mklivecd directory to the same location on your hard drive installation, and your USB key (comment: there are 3 files in share)
18)After you have finished that you will, once again using the edition of Konqueror you opened in step 14 to drill down to /etc/rc.d and copy the rc.sysinit script and paste it to the same locations on your Hard drive install and your USB key.
19)After you have finished that you will, once again using the edition of Konqueror you opened in step 14 to drill down to /etc/rc.d.init.d and copy the halt script and paste it to the same locations on your Hard drive install and your USB key.
a.BTW it is perfectly OK to open more than one copy of Konqueror under root, I’ve had to create several of these by hand and I usually have 2 or 3 copies open at once, it makes the whole cut and paste thing much easier.
20)Copy the file /usr/lib/syslinux/flash.jpg from Toronto to the main usr/lib/syslinux/ in your Hard Drive installed area.
a.If you cant find flash. jpg (I never have) don’t sweat it, you will get a small error on boot, but that’s all. (comment: There is now a flash.jpg in the attached MCNL directory)
b. Alternatively you can create your own isolinux boot background.
c. It is a normal 640x480 jpg file.
21)If you want the special MCNLive scripts, all the “backup, persistent, re master scripts etc.
a.Using a Konquerors like that one you created in step 14 open up one over the Toronto root and go to /usr/local/bin and copy everything to your USB and or your Hard drive install. (comment: there are 8 files)
b.On your hard drive install, basically, you will want to copy ALL of the scripts from the Toronto folder into your hard drive’s /usr/local/bin
22)This SHOULD complete everything you need to do with the Toronto install cd, so at this point you can do a start/shutdown/restart on your system, Toronto should eject itself.
a.Once the cd ejects you can remove, press <enter> and your hard drive based system will boot up.
23)Once you have your hard drive install logged in and ready you need to open the MCC (start/system/configuration/configure your computer) and then go to Software and the installation section.
24) Once you have the search box available type in draklive-install and have the MCC see if it can find it in the repositories that you created in step 6.
a.This file is what will allow you to reinstall your Live CD/DVD back onto your hard drive in the case of an emergency.
b.On the off chance that MCC does NOT find it you can attempt a TERMINAL based install.
i.Open a console
ii.Type su <enter> root <enter>
iii.And then type urpmi draklive-install
(comment: the package the computer should find is “draklive-install-0.5-1mdv2007.1.noarch.rpm.” Install that version! Then you take the file from sbin MCNL “draklive-install” and replace it with the on you have installed on the computer – which you will also find in usr/sbin. The reason for this is if you use another version the computer will keep trying to update to the one you have installed above. You are, in fact replacing only the script and not the whole program!)
c.This SHOULD run through a series of command line installs that will actually install the draklive
d.If THAT still doesn’t work you SHOULD finally be able to get a copy from here: http://www.mcnlive.org/down/ but since this is a privately maintained site there’s no telling how long this information will be available.
i.If you choose to download it from the mcnlive site, when it downloads, MY recommendation is to SAVE it to your USB stick THEN let MCC install it. That way you will always have a copy.
ii.If you choose open when you double click on the name it will ask if you want to open it with the “installer” if you say yes, MCC will do its best to get everything installed for you.
25)Next you will need to download this syslinux prepackage and install it:
a.Once again this can TYPICALLY be done from the MCC/Software Install area
b.Occasionally you will have better luck going through the KONSOLE and using urpmi syslinux <enter>
c.HOWEVER, in some cases neither method will work and you will once again need to download a hard copy of that from:
d.http://home.tiscali.nl/berenstraat/mcnl/ and look for the file:
i.syslinux-3.36-5mcnl2007.1.i586.rpm
ii.Realize again that this is a privately hosted server so I would grab this and keep it safe.
iii.Also, this is a non-patched syslinux package with the vesa menu feature.
26)From here you will want to install the dependencies and the packages for zenity and bc
a.Very simply from your console type su <enter>
b.Put in your root password <enter>
c.Then type urpmi zenity <enter> which will grab the files from the net.
d.Then from the same Konsole window type urpmi bc
e.You’ll see the files roll by with their dependencies again and it will end at a command prompt
27) As we did earlier, I would recommend that you open a console type su <enter> and then kdesu conqueror <enter> this will open a ROOT controlled file browser as before.
28)Once that’s up you should navigate your way to /etc/ and look for a file called mtools.conf.
a.Once you find that RIGHT CLICK on that file and choose OPEN WITH and then choose whatever text editor is available to you (usually it will be Kate)
b.Scroll all the way to the end of the file and add the line: MTOOLS_SKIP_CHECK=1
29)AT this point everything should be in place, reboot your hard drive install and you should be ready to go!
30) BUT how can you be sure? Well NOW its time to make your VERY own live cd/DVD of your personally installed Linux system
31)Once your system is up and you have logged in there are a few things to verify before we start.
32) First off make sure you have NO other drives/partitions mounted.

a.This setup will NOT discriminate, and I’m SURE that there is a simple way around doing this, but I don’t know it yet so here’s what I do.
b.My main hard drive is a 320GB SATA drive, I use 50GB for my primary “/” system, so the remaining I format ext3 and give a weird mount point
c.The weird mount point is so that I can always find it.
d.In my case its /usr3
e.BEFORE I remaster MY installed system, I always go into MCC (start/system/configure your computer) and MOUNT points and unmount that drive.
i.This drive contains all my downloaded files and data and SHARED drives, so I don’t really need to carry it around with me.
ii.Leaving this device mounted will ALSO frequently make the resulting ISO way to big, and sometimes the mklivecd command will break in the middle as well.
33)Open a Konsole window and from the cli enter su <enter>, enter your root password (for your installed hard drive system) and hit enter
34)Then type the command df <enter> and this will display the SIZE of your installed system as well as the fact of whether you have any additional drives/partitions installed
a.You SHOULD only see one drive/partition listed something like /mnt/root / 2.4GB used 54GB free
b.Everyone’s hard drive install will look a little different, this is what MINE looks like.
c.As you can see my ENTIRE hard drive installed system in the “/” drive of my 56GB partition is only taking up 2.4GB and the remaining space is free
d.Remember the goal is not really to FILL that 56GB’s, that’s just work space and room to build my ISO’s
e.However it ALSO leaves me PLENTY of room to add anything that I want
35)Please don’t think I’m running a strictly barebones system, I have Gimp, Open Office, Audacity, amarok, Thunderbird, Opera and Pan installed, in addition to the traditional software that goes into a hard drive install.
a.However I DON’T have any games installed, another place to look is in the locales area. This is where MDV installs all the foreign languages.
i.Since I have barely mastered English that’s the only one I’m worried about/
b.You SHOULD be able to open MCC and un install the rest of the language support, but since I live in FL. I leave Spanish installed as well.
c.If you DO uninstall any of them WATCH the dependencies that are being uninstalled as well. You may need them later.
36)Once you know how big your installed system is, and you are pretty sure that with compression it will fit on a CD or DVD, it’s time to create your OWN!
37)While logged in as root (the su you performed earlier) at the cli type mklivecd --verbose mydate.iso <enter>
a.I include the date in the title of almost ALL my ISO’s, just because after you roll a few of them your gong to want to know hoe to use them!
b.Once you hit enter you SHOULD see a small welcome package and the, thanks to the --verbose command you should see a line fly by about EVERYTHING that is happening.
c.If you need some more options mklivecd –help should list everything available
38)There should be a series of statements that fly by as your ISO is created, for the first few re masters I would suggest that you watch these.
a.You can learn the process and maybe next time YOU can write the step by step instructions, or at least correct them!
b.Also it’s a GREAT place to watch for errors
c.When all is said and done, the last sentence before you are released to your CLI will be something along the lines of my082007.iso written 857000kb
d.That’s indicating that the ISO is written properly and takes up about 850MB, too big for a CD, grab a blank DVD
e.Insert the blank media in your drive and double click on the ISO image, usually it’s in your HOME directory, unless you pointed it elsewhere.
39)If you chose to install K3b or some other cd/DVD burner it should launch and in a few minutes you’ll have a FRESH copy of your own PERSONAL desktop on a live cd/DVD.
40)My suggestion is that you should re insert the disk, reboot the system and make SURE it works.
a.You may get a VALID written confirmation, and what appears to be a valid ISO, but when you try and RUN it, it fails.
b.Better to find that out NOW, then when you’re COUNTING on it for a restore.
41)Most of the errors that I have encountered have revolved around 2 things
a.The first is the image is TOO big.
i.When you do a df how much room does your whole Linux install take? I’ve worked with installs as large as 7.1 GB.
ii.Is there anything that you CAN or should remove before you start rolling?
1.For example I use firefox on almost every single pc I have, windows or Linux, but in THIS case I find that it brings a LOT of extra stuff with it, so for me Opera works just fine.
a.You could EVEN make a case for using just plain old Konqueror, but I have found some issues that occur with certain secure websites (my bank for example)
2.Another good example is Mail clients, I am a frequent user of Thunderbird, my wife likes Evolution, but it pulls in a LOT of GNOME with it.
a.So maybe a look at Kontact in conjunction with Kmail is the answer?
3.Then there is the issue of games.
a.Face it, they take up a LOT of space
b.‘nuff said
iii.Also if you do a LOT of remastering like I do, you need to clean out some temp files every now and then.
1. for example /tmp/mklivecd.XXX is where failed builds live, and they eat up space QUICKLY
b.One of the other issues I FREQUESNTLY run into has to do with the mklivecd scripts not working correctly.
i.Remember we INTENTIONALLY installed the BAD broken scripts and then recopied a set of GOOD ones over the top.
ii.I’ve done this a DOZEN times and invariable every 3rd time, I fubar something in the copy and end up with a strange error.
1.HOWEVER, the good news is that IF you receive THIS error: ERROR: Unable to mount loop filesystem
Dropping you to a limited shell.
2.I can GUARANTEE that you need to reinstall your mklivecd scripts.
3.Matter of fact I typically will start from the top and work my way down through it all (except the HD install, that I’ll leave alone)
4.NOW You see why I suggest keeping all those files you download and copy in a safe 3rd area for reinstall purposes.


I installed 2007.1 and can’t login as ROOT!
1) The battle for ROOT/GUI logins continue!
2) Search ANY forum for ANY distribution and mention that you want to login
to KDE or GNOME as root, and the FLAME WARS will begin.
3) For some reason this is a VERY polarizing subject and to solve everything Mandriva has decided to make the standard installation without this ability.
4) Fear not, one of the reasons we USE open source is to change and personalize it in any way that we NEED, regardless of popular opinion.
5) This WILL require some Command Line work and some text editing skills
6) Open a terminal
7) From the command line type SU <enter> then the ROOT password <enter>
8) from the CLI cd /etc
9) that will put you in the etc subdirectory
10) then cd /kde
11) That will put you in /etc/kde
12) then cd/kdm
13) That will place you in /etc/kde/kdm subdirectory
14) Once there you will want to open a text editor, you can use ANY, but vi is installed in almost every Mandriva setup.
15) The file you’re looking for is kdmrc so vi kdmrc will open the file and ready it for editing
16) Once the file is open there are several methods of navigation, the simplest is to merely use your arrow keys to scroll through the file
17) You are searching for the line that says: AllowRootLogin=false
(please note Linux IS case sensitive)
18) From the END of the line backspace over the word false and set it =true
19) Again this is the SIMPLEST method, the current manual for vi is over 362 pages so there is a LOT of methods to use.
20) ESC will take you into command mode with a : at the bottom of the screen
21) from :wqall will WRITE your changes and QUIT all in one!
22) Again there are MANY different ways to do ANYTHING, this is just a simple one.
23) From here the NEXT time you login you will be allowed to login as ROOT
24) As a constant reminder that you ARE ROOT, your wallpaper will be RED.
25) The reason many folks don't agree with a root gui login is the sheer amount of mistakes that can CRIPPLE a PC logged in that way, so be careful!
(comment: most of what mindwave says is true. When you have done your first .iso and it works – then store it in a safe place. Before you do your next one add extras you want, personalize your settings etc and then create you next one. If when you run “df” you find your drive is getting too large, don't worry!! Even if you are up around 4GB that isn't a problem if you have used the compression option when using Easy Urpmi your iso image will be around 1.5GB. The thing is when you are installing to your hard drive you are more interested in keeping your settings etc, so that you don't have to start from Zero again!! Sorry, running on!! What ever you need give me or mindwave a shout.
One last thing! When you are about to create your next .iso check the files you have copied haven't been written over. Go through the check list from 16-26. Doesn't hurt to be careful. Don't install rosegarden it will break your creating .iso's!!)

Wow, and this is the easy way?

The way I do it:
- Install one main system, the one you will be working on
- Install a second system, which will be the live cd at the end. This has to be on 1 single partition!!
- Install mklivecd from contrib on the main system, and mount the second system.
- Copy the mklivecd scripts from the Toronto cd (you can do this directly from the iso, just mount the livecd.sqfs file with "mount -o loop -t squashfs"), and replace the original scripts with those.

Now, run mklivecd --verbose --root=/mnt/path/to/your/second/install livecd.iso

That's it! Really!


Now, if you'd like to install extra packages on the second install, don't boot into it, just use "urpmi --root=/mnt/path/to/your/second/install"