Check /etc/default/grub for GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 or anything with GRUB_HIDDEN.

I finally got around to checking this a few days ago. I couldn't find anything I did that caused the GRUB menu to disappear (which makes sense since it was working fine before the upgrade). Not knowing what to do, I purged several GRUB packages and then installed them again in order to start over with the default configuration files. It didn't help; the GRUB menu is still invisible.

On a whim, I decided to install rEFInd. Using rEFInd, I could see that GRUB is being started from EFI\debian\grubx64.efi. rEFInd also gave me the option of booting from EFI\grub\grubx64.efi, but that was completely broken and didn't do anything. Although rEFInd didn't help me solve this problem, I like it and will probably keep it installed.

For the lightdm background, set it in /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf

Since you said you could fix it, I booted and reinstalled the bootloader with

grub-install --bootloader-id=devuan

and it updates the bootloaders in EFI/debian instead of making a devuan directory. That's the first time I've seen that happen, but I've been seeing unexpected behavior in grub for a few years, so I'm not too surprised. And after that, it boots correctly.

I don't know why it doesn't work from the installer. It runs the same commands.

2. Another 'I don't know'. When I've tried it in the past, both language and keyboard settings persisted. When I get a chance, I can try it again.

(1) The iso boots well with efi in Qemu. But if installed to a Qemu VM with efi and runit, it does not boot. I could fix it with bootrepair-antix.

(2) The language settings do survive the installation, but not the keyboard setting. This could be fixed by
# dpkg-reconfigure console-setup  (all settings were ok - only had to confirm all the settings)
# update-initramfs -u  (to make keyboard settings permanent)

Thanks for the fixes. New isos are up.

maybe I wasn't clear. 1065-refracta-lang is working correctly while the standard live-config option for locales is not working

I know exactly what you mean and saw it. It's because refracta-lang exits if locales= was used but only after running the older lightdm fix, which has issues in Excalibur. The latest 1065-refracta-lang does it differently (in ~/.xsessionrc not /etc/X11/Xsession.d/). This seems to work in all cases.

EDIT I did try running with 'locales=en_GB.UTF-8 nocomponents=refracta-lang' (refracta-lang disabled, no .xsessionrc). The correct locale was set for user but on relogin the lightdm switcher failed to reset the new session to en_US, even though ~/.dmrc was updated. Therefore the bug still exists but can be fixed in ~/.xsessionrc ..

One odd thing. In the VM I'm using to make the snapshots, the lightdm puts the widgets on the left side of the top bar, but in the live isos, they're on the right.

I see that the standard live-config options for locales no longer works. Only the keyboard layout changes. I'll have to hack the boot menu on the next build.

Try this first. 1065-refracta-lang included a fix for lightdm (or xfce?) language issues https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo … bug=765077 .. still unresolved. It doesn't work properly now.

I tried doing a similar thing using ~/.xsessionrc instead. So far and here it works for both lang= and locales= ..

Updated script: https://paste.debian.net/1412140/ (it might need some more edit).

I changed the line in /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf

indicators=~session;~language;~clock;~power

to:

indicators=~session;~language;~layout;~spacer;~clock;~power

I now get a keyboard switcher in lightdm login screen. A lot of options but it seems possible to set a shortlist.

- Fixed lightdm as indicated. Note: lightdm-gtk-greeter allows you to select the locale, slick-greeter allows you to select the keyboard. I don't know how to get either one to do both. (I like the look of slick-greeter)

- Added lines to /etc/pmount.allow (and hacked refractasnapshot and installer to deal with the nvme line)

#/dev/sd[a-z][0-9]*
#/dev/nvme[0-9]n[0-9]p[1-99]

- Diverted xfce background image

inkscape -l deepsea_173556_640x480.png -o deepsea.svg

dpkg-divert --rename --divert /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-x.svg.distrib /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-x.svg

ln -s deepsea.svg xfce-x.svg

- Added libmtp-runtime and modified /etc/udev/rules.d/90-alsa-restore.rules

- Unchecked the box in desktop settings for showing fixed drives. (That box is new, thanks.)

- Thunar mounts disks. In the case of encrypted disks, it says it failed after you give the password, but the /dev/mapper device appears and clicking on it mounts it.

The rat seems inconsistent. Sometime I see it and sometimes not.

Strangely, the custom background shows in qemu, usb or grub boot you get the rat. Similar issue to https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=7133&p=2 .. Seems upstream is uninterested in fixing that. But we can locally, in chroot:

# Convert a copy of /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/deepsea_173556_640x480.png to svg (used png2svg)
# Copy the new svg to /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/deepsea.svg .. Then (in chroot):

dpkg-divert --divert /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-x_orig.svg --rename /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-x.svg
cd /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce
ln -s deepsea.svg xfce-x.svg

Language selector fix (even better to see a keyboard selector also) done here in chroot:

sed -i 's/#indicators=.*/indicators=~session;~language;~clock;~power/' /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf

The mtp boot noise is fixed by installing libmtp-runtime. The alsa error fix is as https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=7400

Updated 1065-refracta-lang : https://paste.debian.net/1411823 .. Remember to name it correctly and +x it.

BTW there is no point showing fixed-disk icons on the desktop if they give no information and mount permission is denied!

EDIT How does Thunar actually do mounts? This needs sorting to assist use as a rescue image

Not sure where mpv went.

I'm not seeing the error messages - they're flying by too fast. I'm guessing the alsa error is for 90-alsa-restore.rules. I can add the corrected file for that.

The rat seems inconsistent. Sometime I see it and sometimes not.

Fixes are welcome, thanks. I almost uploaded another iso for the nocsd, but I decided to wait in case there was something else.

I just now added mpv, jmtpfs, mtp-tools, f2fs-tools.

However:

The live-config script (/usr)/lib/live/config/1065-refracta-lang needs updating for this version
Language selector doesn't show in lightdm greeter
There is no preinstalled video player
Default xfce background xfce-x.svg (The Rat) shows rather than intended custom background
pmount for fixed disks and mmcblk* doesn't work
Udev boot error message noise (mtp and alsa)

There are simple fixes for all the above, done and tested OK here in a rebuilt ISO.