Neal Gompa got livecd-tools ported to EL8 and discovered that there was a missing line in the centos-release spec file that was causing dnf not to be able to locate modules automatically. That got fixed and was submitted as a fix for the upcoming CentOS 8.1 release. CentOS 8.1 came out today and I upgraded my 8.0 build host and tried to make a livecd with livecd-creator. The media builds successfully but the resulting media has a broken bootloader. When enter is hit or if the countdown is allowed to expire, it doesn't actually try to boot but redisplays the boot menu immediately and starts the countdown again. Broken media was a prediction made by a CentOS developer who said they thought there was something broken in anaconda. So, I'm not sure if where the problem lies. I didn't notice anything in the build output (it seemed normal) that would indicate a direction to look in for the cause of the issue. I don't know why anaconda would be the cause of a broken boot menu. I can provide a copy of the .iso I built for inspection if that would help. Or if anyone has any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this, I'll find time to give it a try and report back. It would be really nice to give livemedia and especially installable livemedia working in EL8.
Have you tried adding "grubby-deprecated" to the package set for the kickstart used as input for livecd-creator?
After you asked, I gave it a try... and this is what I get: Error creating Live CD : Failed to find package 'grubby-deprecated' : no package matched: grubby-deprecated Doing a dnf search for grubby doesn't turn it up. Doing a locate for it on my repo mirror system it only shows up in F30, F31 and Fedora rawhide... no CentOS references. I also mirror EPEL and EPEL Playground. If you can point me at a package that might work, I can download it and add it to my local repo.
I guess this is one of those unfortunate surprises... I thought it might be there because of this: https://koji.mbox.centos.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=4846
Created attachment 1652824 [details] webm video showing the issue Here's a video that shows how the bootloader is stuck.
Could you attach a copy of the flattened kickstart?
Created attachment 1653777 [details] kickstart for sample iso. It %includes package-list-full.txt and repos.txt kickstart for sample iso. It %includes package-list-full.txt and repos.txt With the three files here's the command I use to build: livecd-creator --cache=/root/livecd-creator/package-cache \ -c MontanaCL-8-full-x86_64.ks -f ML-CL8-FULL-0115
Created attachment 1653778 [details] package list package list
Created attachment 1653779 [details] repo list repo list
Neal, Have you been able to gather any useful clues as to what the source and potential fixes might be for this issue? TYL, Scott Dowdle
Did a built today, with all updates applied since I last tried (about a month ago), and it still does the same (broken) thing. :(
I'm still investigating this... :(
(In reply to Neal Gompa from comment #11) > I'm still investigating this... :( Find any clues yet?
CentOS 8.2 came out yesterday... so I did a fresh install... and tried to install livecd-tools... and am getting the following error: [root@ml-c8 ~]# dnf install livecd-tools CentOS 8 Base 32 MB/s | 2.2 MB 00:00 CentOS 8 AppStream 39 MB/s | 5.7 MB 00:00 CentOS 8 PowerTools 9.0 MB/s | 1.9 MB 00:00 CentOS 8 Extras 305 kB/s | 6.7 kB 00:00 CentOS 8 Plus 24 MB/s | 579 kB 00:00 EPEL 8 40 MB/s | 7.0 MB 00:00 EPEL 8 Playground 43 MB/s | 5.4 MB 00:00 Error: Problem: package livecd-tools-27.1-4.epel8.playground.x86_64 requires livecd-iso-to-mediums = 27.1-4.epel8.playground, but none of the providers can be installed - package livecd-iso-to-mediums-27.1-4.epel8.playground.x86_64 requires python-imgcreate-sysdeps(x86-64) = 27.1-4.epel8.playground, but none of the providers can be installed - cannot install the best candidate for the job - nothing provides hfsplus-tools needed by python-imgcreate-sysdeps-27.1-4.epel8.playground.x86_64 (try to add '--skip-broken' to skip uninstallable packages or '--nobest' to use not only best candidate packages) [root@ml-c8 ~]#
(In reply to Scott Dowdle from comment #13) > CentOS 8.2 came out yesterday... so I did a fresh install... and tried to > install livecd-tools... and am getting the following error: > > [...] > Error: > Problem: package livecd-tools-27.1-4.epel8.playground.x86_64 requires > livecd-iso-to-mediums = 27.1-4.epel8.playground, but none of the providers > can be installed > - package livecd-iso-to-mediums-27.1-4.epel8.playground.x86_64 requires > python-imgcreate-sysdeps(x86-64) = 27.1-4.epel8.playground, but none of the > providers can be installed > - cannot install the best candidate for the job > - nothing provides hfsplus-tools needed by Blech, okay, yeah, this is an issue. I think I also have some ideas on the non-bootable issue here, and I'll try to make an update ASAP to address it.
This also applies to Fedora 33. I tried this adding RPMFusion as a repo and the resulting ISO is unbootable. If I use the workstation kickstart file it boots but it still won't start. It says it cant load user workspace 1000 (Sorry at work no full detials) But this is to verify this is not just CentOS but fedora too.
Steven James Drinnan, I can NOT duplicate the issue on Fedora 33. I am able to build all spins I try (which includes CINN, KDE, LXDE, LXQT, MATE, WORK, and XFCE) on Fedora 33 and they work just fine. On F34 (pre-beta at time of writing), I can build everything and it all works with the exception of WORK... which tries to boot... but fails to load systemd-journald, zram0, and systemd-udevd... and then it just gets stuck in a loop trying but failing to load those. My kickstarts are probably a bit outdated and I wonder if updating them will fix it. On CentOS though, you can't even load livecd-tools anymore with your package manager because it is missing some deps.
Did you add RPMfusion repo. Regular kickstart files work fine, but as soon as you add a repo it fails.
SJD, Yes, I do have rpmfusion enabled on my respins and actually pull in quite a few packages from it... although I think only the free repo and not the nonfree... as well as a local repo that contains a few rpms I've gathered from third-parties. You can find my kickstarts here: http://img.cs.montana.edu/linux/montanalinux/config/f33/custom/
Scott Dowdle: Thanks, I'll try them out and compare my ks files to yours. Thanks a lot.
(In reply to Scott Dowdle from comment #18) > SJD, > > Yes, I do have rpmfusion enabled on my respins and actually pull in quite a > few packages from it... although I think only the free repo and not the > nonfree... as well as a local repo that contains a few rpms I've gathered > from third-parties. > > You can find my kickstarts here: > http://img.cs.montana.edu/linux/montanalinux/config/f33/custom/ Hi I gave those a try, for some reason now the LiveUSer wont logon it keeps looping at the GDM screen. Any Ideas? (running in boxes)
Are you using livemedia-creator or livecd-creator to build? I use the later.
(In reply to Scott Dowdle from comment #21) > Are you using livemedia-creator or livecd-creator to build? I use the later. I use livecd-creator. Selinux set to 0. I have been using this prog since fedora 17. But since the new workflow to Workstations I have been encountering errors. In F28 it would make an ISO and run live but when installed the firstrun program to set up users would never complete. Now it would seem the OS doesn't like a live user without a password. It Just loops and puts me back at the GDM screen. Should we chat separately. As this seems like we are hijacking this thread. Although my original program matches the original bug. It must be kickstart error. IE the way that it made. I have some ideas. I may just create a repo and include the packages from RPMfusion manulally. I only have a few. OBS-Studio and youtube-dl. I think are the main ones. Anyway, your thoughts are most helpful.
(In reply to Steven James Drinnan from comment #22) > (In reply to Scott Dowdle from comment #21) > > Are you using livemedia-creator or livecd-creator to build? I use the later. > > I use livecd-creator. > Selinux set to 0. > > I have been using this prog since fedora 17. But since the new workflow to > Workstations I have been encountering errors. In F28 it would make an ISO > and run live but when installed the firstrun program to set up users would > never complete. > > Now it would seem the OS doesn't like a live user without a password. > > It Just loops and puts me back at the GDM screen. > > Should we chat separately. As this seems like we are hijacking this thread. > Although my original program matches the original bug. > > It must be kickstart error. IE the way that it made. > > I have some ideas. I may just create a repo and include the packages from > RPMfusion manulally. I only have a few. OBS-Studio and youtube-dl. I think > are the main ones. > > Anyway, your thoughts are most helpful. I downloaded you prepared ISO. It does start however. 1. It does not present as a live boot. 2. Auto login does not work 3. No icon for install 4. Need to install from comandline Have you any idesa whats wrong with our kickstart files? Steven
Yeah, I know what's wrong with my kickstart file. I haven't kept it updated... and over time the code that does the things you say don't work... has changed and I haven't updated. The code in question is in the %post section. Those things haven't bothered me because I know how to easily overcome that. I should update it. BTW, I build within a KVM VM and keep SELinux on and in enforcing mode.
Lastly, all of the other F33 spins I build work fine.. which includes CINN, KDE, LXDE, LXQT, MATE and XFCE. My goal with wanting to build EL8 live media is to provide XFCE-based live media... as well as MATE and probably others... given the fact that upstream only offers GNOME these days. Unfortunately, it seems getting a working live media build process doesn't seem to be on anyone's radar so perhaps it is time to put the last nail in the coffin.
(In reply to Scott Dowdle from comment #25) > Lastly, all of the other F33 spins I build work fine.. which includes CINN, > KDE, LXDE, LXQT, MATE and XFCE. > > My goal with wanting to build EL8 live media is to provide XFCE-based live > media... as well as MATE and probably others... given the fact that upstream > only offers GNOME these days. > > Unfortunately, it seems getting a working live media build process doesn't > seem to be on anyone's radar so perhaps it is time to put the last nail in > the coffin. It's been pretty difficult for me to nail down the issues around this, and the time I can spend on fixing this has not been as much as I'd like. However, I'm in the middle of refactoring things for AArch64 support, so I think I'll hopefully be able to fix this finally for EL8 at the same time.
RHEL/CentOS 8.3 using livecd-tools from github gives the same result (looping boot menu)
With updates to livecd-tools, this is no longer an issue. Marking as closed... although I have a new bug to file.