Call for testing the current daily Groovy iso files

[C.S.Cameron]

Testing the latest mkusb_grub-boot-template-for-uefi-n-bios_fat32_4GB_use-in-wins_2020-09-07.img.xz ISO boot template with today's Groovy daily. Direct booting of the ISO file works okay in BIOS mode but not in UEFI mode. I have not messed with secure boot etc as the UEFI computer is my wife's. A persistent install made with 12.5.7 also worked fine in BIOS mode but not in UEFI mode.

Edit:

On the Gigabyte Brix GB-BXi7-5775R, (UEFI), computer the error is

initramfs unpacking failed
decoding failed

with both the loopback loop ISO install and with the dus persistent install.

[sudodus]

@C.S.Cameron,

Thanks for testing

Please show more details about the failure in UEFI mode. How far did the boot reach and how did it fail? I would like to reproduce the failure mode of your wife's computer, if possible, and from there debug it.

[sudodus]

@C.S.Cameron,

I did some more testing with mkusb_grub-boot-template-for-uefi-n-bios_fat32_4GB_use-in-wins_2020-09-07.img.xz.

Before I extracted/cloned from it to a USB drive with dus in Ubuntu.
Now I extracted/cloned from it to a USB drive with Rufus in Windows,
and copied a Xubuntu 20.04.1 LTS iso file into the first partition 'ISODEVICE' as ubuntu.iso.

In both cases the USB drives work in BIOS mode and UEFI mode in a Dell Latitude E7240 and a Dell Precision M4800.

and with secure boot (and UEFI mode) in a Lenovo V130 and a Toshiba satellite-pro-c850-19w.

So please tell me more details of how it fails for you in UEFI mode.

[C.S.Cameron]

Sorry, I had put this as an edit to my last post:

On the Gigabyte Brix GB-BXi7-5775R, (UEFI), computer the error is

initramfs unpacking failed
decoding failed

This happens with both the Template loopback loop ISO install and with the dus persistent install.

I will zero the USB and try the template again.
I downloaded the Groovy ISO yesterday.

[sudodus]

Sorry, I had put this as an edit to my last post:

On the Gigabyte Brix GB-BXi7-5775R, (UEFI), computer the error is

initramfs unpacking failed
decoding failed

This happens with both the Template loopback loop ISO install and with the dus persistent install.

I will zero the USB and try the template again.
I downloaded the Groovy ISO yesterday.

I have seen those complaints at boot, but it was still possible to continue booting. Did you try to continue, for example by pressing the Enter key (or maybe some other key, that is suggested)?

For these tests I stayed away from Groovy because it is haunted by other problems, and there is a debugging process going on with some fundamentally different daily iso files today (addressing the problem raised by Pete Batard (Akeo).

See Akeo's bug report

and Bug #1886148 reported by Chris Guiver on 2020-07-03: 'failure to boot groovy daily'

So please test an iso file of 16.04.x LTS, 18.04.x LTS or 20.04.1 LTS for these tests.

[C.S.Cameron]

I have tested 16.04.x LTS, 18.04.x LTS or 20.04.1 LTS many times with mkusb_grub-boot-template-for-uefi-n-bios_fat32_4GB_use-in-windows.img.xz. with great success.
(I thought this was a Groovy thread).
I will try these older ones with the new Template-2020-09-07 also.
Must admit I have not seen usbboot as an ext4 partition before, interesting.
I would also be interested in knowing when Michael Hudson-Doyle's fix is ready for testing.
Thomas Schmitt's idea of standardizing OS installers is a little scary.

[sudodus]

@C.S.Cameron,

Yes it is a Groovy thread, and until a couple of days ago, this new template:

mkusb_grub-boot-template-for-uefi-n-bios_fat32_4GB_use-in-wins_2020-09-07.img.xz

worked for me with the current daily Groovy iso files.

But now the iso files are changing so drastically that we must wait a while until it is meaningful to test them with this template. Maybe we will need another template for things to work correctly, maybe will will need different templates for versions <= 20.04 and for >= 20.10.

[sudodus]

I must say, that I am surprised

mkusb version 12.6.1 can create persistent live drives, that boot both in BIOS mode and UEFI mode, also with secure boot from the current daily Xubuntu Groovy iso file. When cloned to a USB drive, this file does not boot in BIOS mode.

See the attached screenshot.

[sudodus]

@C.S.Cameron and @everybody else interested in booting live drives made from Groovy iso files,

Today (Sept 14) I tested the current daily Xubuntu Groovy iso file with the template

mkusb_grub-boot-template-for-uefi-n-bios_fat32_4GB_use-in-wins_2020-09-07.img.xz.

I
- extracted/cloned from it to a USB drive with dus in Ubuntu,
- copied the Xubuntu Groovy iso file into the first partition 'ISODEVICE' as ubuntu.iso,
- created a partition for persistence in the unallocated drive space with gparted: file system:ext4, label:writable.

The USB drive works in BIOS mode and UEFI mode in a Dell Precision M4800.

and with secure boot (and UEFI mode) in a Lenovo V130 and a Toshiba satellite-pro-c850-19w.

---

We can expect more changes of the boot system in the near future, because this Groovy iso file is still not booting in BIOS mode when cloned, but it is very promising that both mkusb and this template can make it boot in BIOS mode.

[sudodus]

Call for testing the current daily Groovy iso files

The current daily Ubuntu Groovy iso file is modified, so that it gets a valid GUID partition table (GPT).

$ ls -l groovy-desktop-amd64.iso
-rw------- 1 sudodus sudodus 2936969216 okt 9 21:15 groovy-desktop-amd64.iso

$ md5sum groovy-desktop-amd64.iso
00cbcce8855c00dd2231077e3a01aebc groovy-desktop-amd64.iso

$ sudo gdisk groovy-desktop-amd64.iso
[sudo] password for sudodus: 
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.3

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present

Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.

Command (? for help): q

After this modification a USB drive with the system cloned from the iso file can boot also problematic Lenovo V series computers, for example my Lenovo V130 laptop, in UEFI mode with secure boot.

I checked that it works also in a Dell Precision M4800 both in BIOS mode and UEFI mode.

There have been many modifications of the boot structure of the Groovy iso files. There may be regressions for computers, that we (the testers involved in squashing the bug) have not tested. Please wait for the next daily Groovy iso file of your favourite flavour of Ubuntu, and test that it can boot correctly in the computers, where you want it to work.

The iso file must be released at or after Oct 9 21:15 for this modification to be there.

Edit 1: See the long story at Bug #1886148 - failure to boot groovy daily

Edit 2: More tests - here is a list of all computers tested by me with the current Ubuntu Groovy system cloned from the iso file. Please note that tested mode shows what is tested, and a missing mode does not indicate failure, only that it was not tested. Booting was successful in all these tests performed today, 2020-10-10.

Computer spec - tested mode
----------------------------------------
Lenovo V130 - UEFI mode secure boot
Lenovo X131e - UEFI mode
Dell Precision M4800 - BIOS & UEFI modes
Dell Latitude E7240 - BIOS & UEFI modes
HP Probook 6450b - BIOS mode
Toshiba Satellite Pro C850-19W - BIOS & UEFI modes (also with secure boot)
VirtualBox 6.1.10_Ubuntu r138449 - iso file emulating optical disk - BIOS mode