[Inx] persistant usb inx - saving?

Peter Garrett inx-one at optusnet.com.au
Wed Jul 29 07:34:43 PDT 2009


On Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:34:58 -0400
Karl Harris <karlh626 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> The inx version installed to a usb stick via the stick installed fine.
> 
> The question I have now is what is supposed to save?

Well, if a *persistent* boot is chosen, most things will be saved...
That includes files that you create or save, and configuration changes,
or updates from the update-inx script (which is kind of a separate
howto - you can find information about that in the list archives:

http://lists.inx.maincontent.net/pipermail/inx-inx.maincontent.net/2009-June/000266.html

Those instructions also apply for a "persistent" boot, now that such a
thing is possible using inxusb...

> 1.  If I save a file to the /home/inx directory, is that supposed to
> be persistant?  I tried rebooting after saving a small text file and
> on reboot the file was not present.

You need to chose the persistent option from the Grub menu on boot.
> 
> 2.  Is the persistant feature supposed to save settings?  I changed
> the menu color layout but on reboot, it defaulted back to the
> original.

Again, that should not happen as long as you choose "persistent"  on
boot. If you accept the default (the first entry), then there will be
no persistence in that session. The same applies for the "To RAM"
option. Only the persistent option uses the the casper-rw partition on
the USB device to save and read settings and changes.

Perhaps I should simply make "persistent" the default, as others have
suggested...

> 3.  Is the grub "persist" menu option the only mode which is supposed
> to be persistant?  On shutdown from each grub boot option, I see a
> message about casper syncing but maybe that is unrelated?

Yes, only the "persistent" option is "persistent", funnily enough  :)
The "casper synching" message always appears, and is not really
relevant. So, in general you want to chose "persistent".
 
> Thanks for any feedback.  I am sure it will help me understand what is
> happening better.

In simple terms, the inxusb script creates 2 partitions on the usb
device. 

The first one is labelled "INX", although that is not
essential. It contains the "casper" files, which are the same as those
on the CD. It also contains, after running the inxusb script, the grub
boot files needed to boot the device. This partition does not change
during a session.

The second partition is labelled "casper-rw". When you boot the
"persistent" option, the system looks for the "casper-rw" label and
uses that partition to save changes. If you have changes from a
previous "persistent" session, they will be read from that partition.

If that is still unclear, don't hesitate to ask for more information :)

It *is* a bit confusing at first - the essential thing is to select
"persistent" on boot unless you want a "volatile" session (one that
disappears in a metaphysical puff of smoke on shutdown or reboot).

Hope that helps... Let us know if you have any further problems. It
would also be good if you could report success, of course ;)

Peter

-- 
"INX Is Not X" Live CD based on Ubuntu 8.04 : http://inx.maincontent.net
Screenshots slideshow: http://inx.maincontent.net/album/1.png.html
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