Add note about network on LinuxCNC 2.9.8 Debian 13 Trixie PREEMPT-RT ISO

[TLMInit]

When installing LinuxCNC 2.9.8 Debian 13 Trixie PREEMPT-RT ISO from the download page, you need network to install, else the GRUB and systemd bootmanager will fail to install rendering the system unable to boot.

Can we either add a note it needs networking, or better fix the grub installation files to not need networking?

[rmu75]

We will probably need more info about how this fails and what kind of machine you installed and what you mean with "network" (access to internet? debian mirror?)

[grandixximo]

Spun up a VM with no internet, ran the ISO specified, ran graphical installer, next next next all defaults, and got to

tried text installer, still no internet, similar thing

it does seem to require an internet connection to fix this, should put a warning on the download page...

[grandixximo]

@jethornton @sebastiankuzminsky @SebKuzminsky

[grandixximo]

note has been added

[rodw-au]

It is possible to configure linuxcnc-live-build to put all packages into the ISO burnt to the USB stick by editing https://github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc-live-build/blob/bookworm/auto/config but what I've found is that the sources files only point to the dvd so you can't update using apt (until you edit the sources).

[rmu75]

From inspection of /var/log/syslog of a failed install, I have the suspicion it fails because it wants to install os-prober and that package is not included in the iso. I don't know why that isn't included but IMO it would be worth it to generate a new ISO with os-prober included via https://github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc-live-build/blob/trixie/config/package-lists/desktop.list or some other mechanism. Seems I have to find out where README.md will take me... edit: changed link from bookworm to trixie

[grandixximo]

should it not be trixie? links you guys are posting still for bookworm?

[rmu75]

So i tried the trixie build in QEMU (linked to wrong branch in previous post) to include os-prober in desktop.list and it installs and boots OK.

[grandixximo]

Did you make sure you were offline? It install fine with internet without any changes.

[rmu75]

LinuxCNC/linuxcnc-live-build#50

[rmu75]

It still complains if it can't update from a mirror, but you can cancel that step and it installs and boots OK afterwards. I couldn't test a complete original build because for whatever reason the firmware download steps for broadcom b43 and hackrf (why is that included?) don't recognise the http/s proxy and I currently have no machine that could build the ISO and is allowed to talk to the internet directly ;-), so I had to exclude those firmware modules from the build.

[rodw-au]

note os-prober is only needed for dual boot with windows and is not recommended for normal use.
There is no need for it on our ISO.
Far better to add a second drive and dual boot from the bios boot menu. This is how I do it.
The mirror field is prefilled in our ISO. You can prefill out all the fields raised by the installer including setting user name and password (which you can encrypt) in the preseed file
https://github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc-live-build/blob/bookworm/config/includes.installer/preseed.cfg

There is a list of old and obsolete firmware that I think can be removed, I suspect its been carried over for years... Some of the drivers are dependant on flakey third party servers (there is a driver wrapper around it that retrieves the firmware) so sometimes the installer will fail as the server goes down B43 ones from memory). I deleted them when it happened to me.
https://github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc-live-build/blob/bookworm/config/package-lists/firmware.list
So that would explain why you could not run without a network.

[rmu75]

Did you make sure you were offline? It install fine with internet without any changes.

of course I made sure, kvm -nic none ;-)

[rmu75]

note os-prober is only needed for dual boot with windows and is not recommended for normal use. There is no need for it on our ISO. Far better to add a second drive and dual boot from the bios boot menu. This is how I do it. The mirror field is prefilled in our ISO. You can prefill out all the fields raised by the installer including setting user name and password (which you can encrypt) in the preseed file https://github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc-live-build/blob/bookworm/config/includes.installer/preseed.cfg

That may all well be, but the installer tries to install os-prober, doesn't find it on the ISO, tries to download it, and if it can't download, it fails installation of pc-grub. So it is needed as a dependency. And that causes non-booting install if you don't have network when installing.

[rmu75]

There is a list of old and obsolete firmware that I think can be removed, I suspect its been carried over for years... Some of the drivers are dependant on flakey third party servers (there is a driver wrapper around it that retrieves the firmware) so sometimes the installer will fail as the server goes down B43 ones from memory). I deleted them when it happened to me.
https://github.com/LinuxCNC/linuxcnc-live-build/blob/bookworm/config/package-lists/firmware.list
So that would explain why you could not run without a network.

The thing with firmware is a particular problem with my setup building the iso, I don't have a machine ready with new-enough live build that has access to internet without any http proxy. Shouldn't have mentioned it.