Fujitsu Lifebook U728 + Devuan 4

ralph.ronnquist · 2023-10-29 09:03:14

That'd raise the firewall regardless of the administration command, i.e. both "start" and "stop", which might not be ideal.

And, for dnsmasq, remember youl'll need to configure its upstream as it otherwise would want to use /etc/resolv.conf.

nahkhiirmees · 2023-10-29 14:54:57

nahkhiirmees wrote:

I guess i should have changed tables rules and install+configure dns stuff *before* i started removing unnecessary packages. The removal of unnecessary packages caused removal of iptables also and after that things went kind of complicated.
Anyways, dd or cp from hdd to sdd is still an option.

Btw, this time i didn't configure dnsmasq or iptables by hand. Instead i extracted files from tar, "cd /;tar -f /somedir/archive.tar -x ./etc".
First it seemed like a good way to save time. Not necessarily if the files are rotten like the scripts are.

Tried also that "dd trick". No problems with copying "dd if=/dev/external_disk/partition of=/dev/internal_disk/partition" . Or with "cp -a /external/dir /internal/dir". Some of the ssd's partitions weren't exactly same size as the hdd's.

But making grub boot from those extra-partitions was a problem.
Tried copying vmlinuz and initrd from hdd's version of /boot to ssd's /boot and reconfiguring grub ... once or twice i started getting complaints about shim. Had to reinstall Chimaera to get rid of those complaints. (Maybe grub-install could have fixed the problem also.)

On the other hand, chrooting into hdd's version of /-partition+mkinitramfs -o /boot/initrd.img.new + update-grub ... didn't ruin grub, but that new initrd didn't work either. I got many messages like "UUID=12356-789-xxx...". So it looks like the new initrd couldn't find the root partition at all.

Is there a way i can configure initrd so that it doesn't use UUID:s for anything at all? The situation is very simple: underlying device for root partition is /dev/sdax , cryptsetup inside initrd should use that to make /dev/root_partition available. How do i say this simple thing to that idiotic initrd?

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2023-10-29 15:01:12)

nahkhiirmees · 2023-10-29 15:43:09

In /etc/default/grub there's keyword GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID . But somehow i doubt that commenting or uncommenting it would help.
I suspect that there is some kind of hardware+software-combination which makes a simple thing complicated, like during 2008 with Debian.

Have to try again tonight. Before i went to sleep, i erased the EFI partition as a last resort, didn't know what else to do. Now i have to find out if i can get out of that partitioning process with EFI erased. I'm worried that i have to re-install windows to Fujitsu so that i can get a proper EFI-partition back. Yuck.

aluma · 2023-10-29 17:47:07

This reads like a thriller!

I apologize, I don’t have a Fujitsu Lifebook U728, but on my Lenovo s205 I deleted all the Win partitions, formatted it under MBR and installed Linux (different).

In my experience, the success of the installation depends on the combination of the BIOS-method of writing to a flash drive-installation program. I can give an example with Slackware, when its live clone was installed without problems, but I was never able to launch live Slackware itself.

Fujitsu Lifebook U728 is certified by Suse, I think any other Linux should work.
https://suse.com/nbswebapp/yesBulletin. … ber=146983

Why not try downloading any Devuan live image and play with it before installing?
As a long-time follower of Kde-Tde, I used Exe GNU/Linux, it works out of the box.

Regards.

Last edited by aluma (2023-10-29 17:47:34)

nahkhiirmees · 2023-10-29 22:49:47

nahkhiirmees wrote:

I guess i should have changed tables rules and install+configure dns stuff *before* i started removing unnecessary packages. The removal of unnecessary packages caused removal of iptables also and after that things went kind of complicated.
Anyways, dd or cp from hdd to sdd is still an option.

Friday night it came clear to me that my "new desktop" is not working anymore. Much more trouble than it is worth. So i started to work on that Fujitsu. First i tried to make a temporary install, see how far i can go on , before dd'ing /home and / from hdd. Experiment didn't go that well. Partly because there may be something wrong with those configuration files i extracted. And partly because i copied wrong iso into stick. In july, the one that had "f89ac..." as hash worked. I mean worked with my desktop. Easy hardware.

The iso that i tried first this weekend, https://files.devuan.org/devuan_chimaer … esktop.iso didn't work as well (w/ Fujitsu).

Now i have erased previous partitions in Fujitsu and made a working EFI partition with windows10 install iso (yuck). And used daedalus amd64 desktop iso in rescue mode to copy /boot and / from hdd. When trying to grub-install /dev/sda inside that copied partition, i ran into error "/boot/grub/x86-64-efi:no such file or directory". So either i run grub-install again from the installer environment or install efi-version of grub into that /-partition. Let's see how it goes.

One thing i noticed with Daedalus: the manual partition tool was getting my way when trying to do things. How about giving an option to jump into a shell and giving the necessary commands by hand? In the partition menu i mean. To accompany those automatic and manual modes.

This "laptops and memory sticks"-thing is no country for old men.

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2023-10-30 18:18:19)

nahkhiirmees · 2023-10-30 18:08:03

The most recent w10 install iso fixed EFI partition alright. But installed w10 sees changes made with grub-install as a damage and repairs them. (Or that's what the situation looked like last week.)
So i'll need an older version of that .iso. And also few more memory sticks. In theory you can write to them many times. In practice they are write-once-media. Those sticks have a tendency to stop working properly after few rewrites. Optical discs were more reliable.

The super grub disk2, non-hybrid variant, was able to boot from /boot partition. Few times out of several. It would be nice if i could improve that propability somehow.

It is very uncertain if or when i'll get a chance to fix those problems with tables and dns.
I'm not happy about this but it seems that i have to use windows and copy linux stuff inside a virtual machine, and fix things there. Assuming that this particular Fujitsu co-operates with virtualbox or another software.

Lord Anubis needs some new hosts soon. Current ones won't do.

Edit:optical disks with external dvd drive worked a little better than usb sticks. Have to reinstall w10 and D4 someday.

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2023-11-06 19:35:30)

nahkhiirmees · 2023-11-06 19:32:12

ralph.ronnquist wrote:

The base system, which is the same on all, is just a so called "minbase" debootstrap (with a couple of extras). It serves as a starting point for installing the chosen end-user flavour and is not really intended to be an installation end-point.

This sounds intresting. Is there a way i could get "the absolute minimal version of Devuan os" as .iso-file somehow?
I liked the minimal live but i don't completely agree with the choice of packages it has.

rolfie · 2023-11-06 19:51:47

What I always do nowadays: I use the netinstall just to install the basic system utilities, I do not install any DE, they are getting ticked off, or I do not use a mirror or pull the LAN cable, all the same effect.

Then I go and install xorg, lightdm and mate or cinnamon with the option --no-install-recommends. This bring a bare desktop. Then I add what I think I will need with apt.

Andre4freedom · 2023-11-07 13:58:41

An even easier way is to just install the devuan-server...iso, and then do the same as rolfie did....

greenjeans · 2023-11-07 17:31:33

nahkhiirmees wrote:

This sounds intresting. Is there a way i could get "the absolute minimal version of Devuan os" as .iso-file somehow?
I liked the minimal live but i don't completely agree with the choice of packages it has.

Seems like you could install it, delete what you don't want, then install Refracta-Snapshot and Installer and roll your own iso that way, that's basically how I make my own iso's.

nahkhiirmees · 2023-11-08 17:55:28

Note to self:when booting from "super grub2 disk" i got this error msg:"waiting for /dev to be fully populated ... tpm-crb msft0101.00 can't request region from resource [mem 0x9a<something_1> - 0x9a<something_2>]".

nahkhiirmees · 2023-11-08 18:00:23

Btw. should it be possible to install Devuan on a pre-existing partition?

I prefer not to erase/delete/format the / or /home i have copied into Fujitsu's ssd. I know that with Debian there at least was something called "debootstrap". I remember that with that there was an option to skip the partitioning/formatting-parts of the installation process.

Can refractainstaller do that?

rolfie · 2023-11-08 18:49:49

The normal installer can. I never use the live media for installation.

aluma · 2023-11-08 19:52:50

The OS must be installed on a clean, formatted “/” partition.
Nothing good will come from a mixture of the old installation and the new one.

nahkhiirmees · 2023-11-08 21:07:40

Again, i wasn't precise enough with my previous message.

Not planning to make a mixture of new and old /.
The thing is:I don't want do destroy or format my /home-partition on Fujitsu. It will take some time to copy it back from hdd via usb.
I also need to keep the old / around long enough to copy some necessary files from /etc. Now i think that i got the contents for most of those files right, abt 4 months ago.
On the other hand, i think that configuration files i extracted from a memory stick are mostly unusable rotten crap.

Also root on lvm for new / would be nice but not absolutely necessary. Although no need to destroy previous vg containing /home for that.

So, bypassing the partitioning-part in installation process seems like a good idea.

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2023-11-08 21:14:33)

aluma · 2023-11-09 08:17:30

I had a bad experience using refracta.
https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?pid=40379#p40379

Therefore, it is safer to format “/” in advance and first install the entire OS along with /home on this partition, and then move to /home on another disk.

nahkhiirmees · 2023-11-13 19:56:16

I was hoping that i don't have to make backups or restore from hdd again. But i can do it if i really have to.
Btw, one thing i noticed:audio is not working. Tried some youtube videos and i can't hear a thing. Maybe it is just about volume, maybe about something else. Any ideas how to fix that?

Edit. found this:https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=265211 . I'll try that "options snd-intel-dspcfg dsp_driver=1"-thing soon.

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2023-11-14 17:58:24)

nahkhiirmees · 2024-02-24 21:15:11

Some day i have to re-install that Devuan. Getting tired with that "super grub disk 2 method". That disk is getting scratched and external dvd will outlive its usefulness some day.

May of last year, i had w10 install disk that was ancient enough to co-operate with D4. I may have misplaced it somewhere. So Ubuntu install disk may be needed.
There is some highly mysterious dark magic going on with that laptop and its firmware.
W10 install disk seemed to fix some of that weirdness.

nahkhiirmees · 2024-03-17 21:18:28

Looks like i can boot Ubuntu install disk when secureboot is turned on. Let's see if can make a working /boot - partition with it.

nahkhiirmees · 2024-03-17 22:48:03

Made a working /boot and /boot/EFI for Ubuntu. Also made additional partitions and installed Daedalus into one of them.
Tried to chain-boot from Ubuntu's /boot to Daedalus's /boot with:

menuentry chain {
insmod chain
set root=(hd0, part_x)
chainloader +1
}

as grub.cfg in /boot/EFI/ubuntu . Got some EFI-related complaints from GRUB. I hope i got the partition number right in "set root"-line. I mean that part_x should be the /boot of Daedalus.

Also i tried to boot straight into /boot partition of Daedalus with super grub disk. That worked.
So, chain-loading from UEFI with GRUB, is it possible or not?

Also, should there be signed .efi-files inside that Daedalus install disk? I'm starting to think that maybe using that Ubuntu-disk wasn't absolutely necessary step...

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2024-03-17 22:54:09)

nahkhiirmees · 2024-03-18 17:54:01

So, chain-loading from UEFI with GRUB, is it possible or not?

Answering to myself: that would be a no, because https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manua … t-and-shim .
Although i can load grub's configfile from another partition.

Also, should there be signed .efi-files inside that Daedalus install disk?

I'll run "ls -laR $daedalus_boot_dir | grep efi | less" soon. I know that latest Ubuntu server install disk boots, and Daedalus install disk won't, when secureboot is enabled.
This time it looks like "su -" works without problems. Haven't tried any sudo stuff yet.
Would like to find out if i can boot into Daedalus when SB is on.

It would be also nice if i can make SB protect the cntents of Daedalus's /boot somehow. If possible.
I heard rumours about somethings called mokmanager and mokutil...

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2024-03-18 18:27:42)

nahkhiirmees · 2024-03-19 19:58:19

Planning to figure out what mokutil can and cannot do.

It seems that i have to sign vmlinuz and initrd if i want to boot Devuan when SB is enabled. It would be nice if i could sign more than just those. Just in case.

I have also heard about something called EFI-Stub. Can i bypass loading anything from EFI partition with that?

But one step at a time...

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2024-03-19 20:10:50)

nahkhiirmees · 2024-03-19 20:08:59

One thing i noticed with Daedalus: the manual partition tool was getting my way when trying to do things. How about giving an option to jump into a shell and giving the necessary commands by hand? In the partition menu i mean. To accompany those automatic and manual modes.

This week i found the "jump to a shell"-item in Daedalus's installation menu
But maybe there is something that i don't completely understand about that partitioning phase.
I can make encrypted / - partition. And also another encrypted partition and make a "physical volume for lvm" inside that device.

But if i try to make VG and LV's inside that second encrypted partitition, i get complaints about /-partition and can't get past the partitioning phase.

Used Daedalus netinstall.

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2024-03-19 20:10:29)

nahkhiirmees · 2024-03-22 18:02:42

Found these links:

https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=4039
https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=2856

maybe those will be helpful some day. Before that i would like to make lvm, sudo and some other packages work. It seems that i have to install something called libsystemd so that i can install lvm2.https://pkginfo.devuan.org/cgi-bin/pack … =2.03.22-1

Although, if i remember correctly, i'll may have to update initrd in order to enable /home on a logical volume.
I wonder if there is going to be problems with that updated initrd when shim or SB is enabled?

Today i'm not in the mood for writing an initscript to enable lvm after initrd is done.
Edit. i think i saw some lvm-related scripts under /etc/init.d inside virtual machine i made. I installed Chimaera on that vm.

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2024-03-23 13:16:34)

nahkhiirmees · 2024-03-24 01:29:08

I'm between sixes and sevens about that EFI partition(and SB). Maybe i'll bypass that someday(if i can). Boot straight into /boot part instead. With a pre-EFI-era machine that's trivial operation. But maybe not with that Fujitsu.

But I've been also thinking that shim should contain public keys for some distros, right? So with a stock kernel and a one_size_fits_all_initrd there shouldn't be problems with shim when booting those?

... on the other hand, to be able to mount /home from encrypted lvm partition(that is not /) during boot means that initrd has to be modified ...

Edit. I'm under an impression from mokutil-related pages that i can make my own keys with openssl and sign whatever i want on /boot with them. The user_made keys are supposed to go to firmware, right?

Last edited by nahkhiirmees (2024-03-25 03:04:40)

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