Reiser4 minimal liveCDs

Introduction

admin@faskatech.net (Neo2) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:39:23 +0000

These CDs were built with the intent to help people have a fast, reliable, small recovery disk in case they use Reiser4 as a main filesystem. The release was born and is intended for power users, that is: users that know how to deal with the commandline tools (and also users who don't but wish to learn).
I won't be offering support forums (at least for now) and I won't be accepting incoming requests about "how do I...?". There is plenty of documentation available on all of the features that are included in this release. Thus, when highlighting features, known bugs, packages, etc. I'll focus on things that are specific of this release, that is: things that you won't find elsewhere.

This product utilizes TrueCrypt, freely available at http://www.truecrypt.org/

Release Schedule

admin@faskatech.net (Neo2) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:44:18 +0000

Next full release is planned in between the 1st and the 22nd of January, 2010.

Stages get automatically rebuilt starting on the 4th of each month, you should see the newer ones on the 5th at about 4.00 GMT.

This is how I plan to support/release the medias:

one full release every three months (stages+liveCDs)
one build per-month up to stage3 (to include latest updates to the core features of the release)
release dates may vary according to
- kernel development
- gcc availability in the portage tree
- Gentoo release schedules
- these "restrictions" are to avoid a lot of work in means of CPU-time spent re-doing same things over and over
- +-2 weeks from declared schedule (for the reasons above)
If you wish to ask for some package inclusion, I'll setup soon a submission form/page from where you can request things; doing this, please do not ask to include some particular upgrade that's a key feature of the release (gcc, linux-headers, etc.), I'll try to keep every part of the release as updated as possible when it gets published

Features

admin@faskatech.net (Neo2) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:22:26 +0000

LiveCD releases are based off Gentoo Minimal LiveCDs, they feature:

dev-lang/perl
app-crypt/truecrypt
full update of system packages
reiser4-sources (with custom power patches) && reiser4progs
latest unstable gcc
latest unstable glibc
2008.0 pure profile
wider hardware support (mostly PATA/SATA controllers and wireless cards): if the kernel being used for the new release supports new hardware it will be included in the next release as well (ath5k etc...)
various packages

Some have already asked for X/graphics inclusion, my answer has always been "no" for the following reasons:

minimal liveCDs weigh ~100Mb, full liveCDs ~700Mb or more (less pain for users, faster availability)
troubleshooting the base profile with basic settings it's a matter of hours, whereas troubleshooting >700 packages it's a matter of weeks (I don't have such time)
I don't have enough CPU power available to make a big release available to the public in my few spare weeks (2~3 weeks every 3~4 months)

Current set of features

admin@faskatech.net (Neo2) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:14:18 +0000

This is a list of what you'll find in the latest release

Current key features:
- 2.6.33.1 kernel + reiser4
- gcc 4.4.3
- glibc-2.11-r1
- linux-headers-2.6.33
- TrueCrypt 6.3a
Filesystem tools
- sys-fs/dosfstools
- sys-fs/e2fsprogs
- sys-fs/evms
- sys-fs/hfsutils
- sys-fs/lvm2
- sys-fs/ntfsprogs
- sys-fs/jfsutils
- sys-fs/reiser4progs
- sys-fs/reiserfsprogs
- sys-fs/xfsprogs
- sys-fs/xfsdump
- sys-fs/ecryptfs-utils
- sys-fs/btrfs-progs
Applications
- app-admin/testdisk
- app-arch/p7zip
- app-arch/pbzip2
- app-arch/xz-utils
- app-misc/dtach
- app-misc/screen
- app-misc/secure-delete
- app-misc/wipe
- sys-apps/usbutils
- sys-boot/grub
Monitoring
- app-admin/hddtemp
- net-analyzer/bmon
- net-analyzer/iftop
- net-analyzer/packit
- net-analyzer/tcptrack
- net-wireless/wavemon
- sys-apps/pv
- sys-apps/smartmontools
- sys-power/acpitool
- sys-power/powertop
- sys-process/acct
- sys-process/atop
- sys-process/iotop
- sys-process/htop
- sys-process/latencytop
Networking
- net-analyzer/tcptraceroute
- net-analyzer/traceroute

Known Issues

admin@faskatech.net (Neo2) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:48:55 +0000

Since nothing is perfect, here's a list of the known issues with the all the current releases:

FIXED: doesn't allow keymap selection at boot (can be done later with loadkeys )
doesn't have splashscreen/progress bar at boot, no framebuffer decorations
using provided stage3 to install forces you to unmask latest gcc, glibc and linux-headers in /etc/portage/package.keywords right after install to prevent downgrades
if you want to migrate to reiser4 on root partition, you have to edit /etc/init.d/checkroot to avoid fsck segfaults (file available through server); otherwise, you can update e2fsprogs and unmask latest reiser4-progs, that provides compatibility with e2fsprogs (can be "normally" fixed using baselayout-2 + reiser4progs-1.0.6-r2)
Unable-to-include drivers:
- rt2500 wireless drivers (newer ones should be available in-kernel)
- slmodem (not even latest unstable does compile)
- FIXED: acx, acx-firmware (latest acx 0.3.38 doesn't compile)
- FIXED: madwifi-ng, madwifi-ng-tools (latest unstable doesn't compile)

Disclaimer (about TrueCrypt)

admin@faskatech.net (Neo2) — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:43:38 +0000

This section exists only to fully meet the TrueCrypt license (available here).

I am not associated in any way to the TrueCrypt foundation (www.truecrypt.org) and I do not re-distribute copy of the source code or the binary packages as standalone packages.
The TrueCrypt executable is only included in the release in its compiled binary form, not personally patched or modified in any way, taken directly from the Gentoo Official ebuild tree with its set of patches.
These liveCD releases contain only free open source code and all of these packages are bound to the GPL-v2 or GPL-v3 license (link).
I am not trying in any way to advertise my product through the name of the TrueCrypt foundation or its product. I am using the TrueCrypt name with the only intention to make public the availability of TrueCrypt in my product.
When including TrueCrypt as a part of my product, I fully agree with the TrueCrypt License.
Do NOT report bugs of my product to the TrueCrypt authors/developers.

ChangeLog

admin@faskatech.net (Neo2) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:05:17 +0000

Shortly and briefly, the ChangeLog for each release

7th release (2010-03-16)
- 2.6.33.1 kernel + reiser4
- gcc 4.4.3
- glibc 2.11-r1
- linux-headers 2.6.33
- TrueCrypt 6.3a
- Added packages:
  - app-arch/pbzip2
  - app-arch/xz-utils
  - app-misc/dtach
  - app-misc/screen
  - app-misc/secure-delete
  - sys-process/acct
  - sys-process/atop
- Drivers:
  - Re-added acx, acx-firmware, madwifi-ng, madwifi-ng-tools
- Other notes:
  - btrfs-progs is a live snapshot and contains some fixes for the subvolume management (as far as I know, subvolume support is still incomplete)

6th release (2009-09-14)
- 2.6.31 kernel + reiser4
- gcc 4.4.1
- glibc-2.10.1
- linux-headers-2.6.30-r1
- TrueCrypt 6.2a
- "Suspended" drivers:
  - acx, acx-firmware

5th release (2008-04-07)
- 2.6.29.1 kernel + reiser4
- gcc 4.3.3-r2
- glibc-2.9_p20081201-r2
- linux-headers-2.6.28-r1
- TrueCrypt 6.0a
- Added Packages:
  - sys-fs/xfsdump
  - sys-fs/ecryptfs-utils
  - sys-fs/btrfs-progs
- "Suspended" drivers:
  - madwifi-ng (modded the ebuild to compile against 2.6.29.1, but the new kernel release has changed internal structures -> avoiding to fix with broken hand-made patches)
  - madwifi-ng-tools (without madwifi-ng makes no sense)
- Other notes:
  - btrfs has been included, along with the associated btrfs-progs package

4th release (2008-12-20)
- 2.6.27.10 kernel + reiser4
- gcc 4.3.2
- glibc-2.9_p20081201
- linux-headers-2.6.27-r2
- Added packages:
  - app-admin/hddtemp
  - app-admin/testdisk
  - net-analyzer/bmon
  - net-analyzer/packit
  - net-analzer/tcptrack
  - net-wireless/wavemon
  - sys-apps/pv
  - sys-apps/smartmontools
  - sys-process/iotop
- Added drivers:
  - madwifi-ng
  - madwifi-ng-tools
- Removed drivers:
  - ipw3945: latest version does not compile against 2.6.27, the driver has been deprecated in favor of iwlwifi driver mantained by the kernel team
- Other notes
  - keymap selection at boot has been fixed: it was my fault when writing the spec files, I did not realize the connection between the keymaps/consolefont init scripts and the impossibility to keep the selected keymap, that is done earlier at boot (even before rc scripts)
  - madwifi-ng has been reintegrated upon request
3rd release (2008-09-15)
- 2.6.26.5 kernel + reiser4
- gcc 4.3.1-r1
- glibc-2.7-r2
- linux-headers-2.6.26
- Added packages:
  - app-arch/p7zip
  - sys-boot/grub
  - sys-power/acpitool
- Removed drivers:
  - madwifi-ng / madwifi-ng-tools (ath5k is enough mature and madwifi-ng-0.9.4 doesn't compile against 2.6.26)
- Changes over default configuration:
  - e2fsprogs 1.41.1 (with subsequent dependencies: e2fslibs, com_err, ss)
- Other notes:
  - e2fsprogs is included also in stage3, that means you'll have to unmask that also to prevent downgrades (deps also)
2nd release (2008-06-16)
- 2.6.25-reiser4-r5 (based upon 2.6.25.6, don't let the name mislead you)
- gcc 4.3.1
- glibc-2.7-r2
- linux-headers-2.6.25-r4
- modularized whole PATA/SATA stuff (pay attention to new drivers naming scheme if you can't find your drive)
- added all new drivers that have been included in the kernel
- madwifi-ng does work fine (tested)
- Added packages:
  - net-analyzer/iftop
  - sys-power/powertop
  - sys-process/latencytop
- Added drivers:
  - madwifi-ng (latest unstable)
  - madwifi-ng-tools (latest unstable)

1st release (2008-03-23)
- Added drivers:
  - net-wireless/acx
  - net-wireless/acx-firmware (custom ov. ebuild)
  - sys-fs/dmraid
  - sys-fs/ntfs3g (latest unstable)
- Added packages:
  - app-crypt/truecrypt
  - app-misc/wipe
  - net-misc/rsync
  - net-wireless/ndiswrapper
  - sys-apps/usbutils
  - sys-fs/hfsutils
  - sys-fs/parted
  - sys-process/htop
- SCSI emulation, SCSI support and all RAID types are builtin (of course with raid targets support)
- reiser4-sources 2.6.24-r4
- gcc 4.2.3 (unstable)