Downloaded the 1.0 Devuan RC liveCD iso file
Mounted the iso and extracted the initrd, vmlinuz and /live/filesystem files from that
Starting from a empty /dev/sda1, formatted to ext3, set the boot flag on, gave the partition a label of 'persistence'
grub4dos bootloader installed (that creates grldr and menu.lst files) to that partitions MBR
Created a persistence.conf file containing

echo / union >persistence.conf
echo >>persistence.conf

Moved the iso extracted initrd and vmlinuz files to the / folder
Created a /live folder and moved the filesystem.squashfs file into that folder
Created a /live/jessieamd64xfce file for the bootloader to be able to 'find'

In effect that creates a HDD installed liveCD type setup, that can be booted. Its also the persistence partition that liveCD type boot can save changes to. The same single partition is a boot, save and main filesystem containing partition. If you create a file type swap file then it can even also be the "swap partition".

cd to the live folder and extracted its content
unsquashfs -f -d /mnt/sda1 filesystem.squashfs

Edited menu.lst to look like

# menu.lst
color white/blue black/cyan white/black cyan/black
#splashimage=/tempest.xpm
timeout 3
default 0

title Devuan PERSISTENCE RW
find --set-root /live/jessieamd64xfce
kernel /devuan/vmlinuz boot=live username=devuan rw showmounts persistence persistence-label=persistence persistence-storage=filesystem
initrd /devuan/initrd

title Devuan PERSISTENCE RO
find --set-root /live/jessieamd64xfce
kernel /devuan/vmlinuz boot=live username=devuan rw showmounts persistence persistence-read-only persistence-label=persistence persistence-storage=filesystem
initrd /devuan/initrd

title Devuan FILESYSTEM ONLY RO
find --set-root /live/jessieamd64xfce
kernel /devuan/vmlinuz boot=live username=devuan
initrd /devuan/initrd

With those three boot choices you can either boot the content of the filesystem.squashfs only (third one in the list) but where no changes will persist across reboots, which is handy if other files get corrupted. Or you can boot where all changes are preserved as they're made (first one in the list); Or boot where changes aren't preserved across reboots (second one in the list). 2 and 3 are very similar at first, but if you boot RW and make changes then they'll be stored in the persistence partition (i.e. in my case sda1 partition files), which might then be booted read-only (1) that sees those prior changes (that will make it different from if you'd booted the unchanged version i.e. (3) that uses filesystem.squashfs).

2 and 3 are great for trying things out, perhaps some changes, and then being able to reboot without those changes being preserved. 1 is good for booting up, making changes (perhaps updates) and then perhaps rebooting using 2 or 3 again so that no further changes are preserved.

You can take that a step further, and set it up to boot as though a full install. Just add a chain from the grub4dos menu.lst to Grub's menu.lst (or whatever). Handy for when a kernel update occurs as persistence type boots don't usually cater for such kernel updates.

I use that all the time. Mostly I only boot (1) style to initially set things up the way I like and then I use (2) style so that I boot the exact same factory fresh/pristine version each and every time. Then when updates are apparent I'll boot (1) again and apply those updates

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade

and then reboot back to (2) again

If things turn bad and there are problems, I'll boot (3) style (original setup).

If a kernel update is required I'll boot as though a full install and apply the updates before booting (2) again.

(2) is a pain in that no changes aren't preserved across reboots. So browser bookmarks, orage calendar entries ... etc changes are all lost. However if you move the HOME folder to another partition then any changes are to that folder tree are preserved (diary/calendar/bookmarks ...etc.).

You can recreate a new /live/filesystem.squashfs at any time. Boot using another linux and
cd to the /live folder and run something like

mksquashfs /mnt/sda1 filesystem.squashfs -e live

mksquashfs and unsquashfs requires that squashfs-tools to have been installed from the repository
(apt-get install squashfs-tools).

So far I've setup
Kodi (multimedia)
Skype (telephone calls)
MasterPDFEditor (pdf editor)
Openshot (along with blender and inkscape that are required for it to work properly) for video editing
Audacity for sound editing

along with the more usual Libre office suite already being installed ...etc

Tweaked the layout to how I like (pretty much a empty canvas (desktop) ready to have work files dropped into, and with the more common programs I use in the panel. pavucontrol installed ... and sound/images all working great (listen/watch youtube in firefox whilst playing radio station using kodi ...etc.)

clickable thumbnails