Unofficial cheatcode for those who miss the old official home= cheatcode

[utu]

@ Professor Forester

Your observations and the avenue you have opened up here prompt me to
ask a question I could not articulate before. It is the following:

I'm happy enough working with a 2Gb SD Card which emulates a LiveUSB
rendition of Knoppix, currently 6.4.4, with lots of tweaks saved up
in knoppix-data.img. I have 1181 Mb allotted to knoppix-data.img.
I've only used about 240 Mb so far, so economizing for space is not
for me a motivator for any change.

I save my knoppix-data.img occasionally in case of a crash. But
restoring from a crash is a clumsy affair I'd like to improve upon.
A crash is defined as having shut down such that a knoppix-data-img
was written to the SDCard that now won't boot or operate properly.
Recovery for me means deleting the unworkable knoppix-data.img
and replacing it with a saved copy. Requires a CD Knoppix and time.

I'd like to re-master, without all the fuss and real estate usually
associated with it. I'd like to be able to accumulate my tweaks within
the same SD Card into past-knoppix-data.img and current-knoppix-data.img
possibly, by successively, and occasionally incorporating the
past-knoppix-data.img tweaks into the basic Knoppix compressed image
and re-allocating a diminished space for current-knoppix-data.img additions.

This, in essence, might be a mere variation of your idea.
Except here only one medium involved, the single SD Card, or USB device,
if you prefer. It may only require an option in your patch which
enables this to occur when selected by a slightly different cheatcode.

Also, FYI, my laptop thinks the SDCard slot is its USB #3 (out of 4),
and I have not found any resrictions, other than mechanical, in
treating the SD Card as any other USB device.

[Forester]

@ utu san

Much to learn I still have !

You touch upon a number of interesting points that may each merit their own thread but I can find no question mark that delineates the question you articulate.

Why I can't see my camera card from Knoppix is on the list of things to look into some day. Meanwhile a thead that collects together what works already and what doesn't might be handy.

$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0cf2:6250 ENE Technology, Inc.

For me, it may be as simple as adding 0cf2:6250 to a list somewhere.

You have a large knoppix-data.img that is little used. I started with a much more modest 512 Mb image and was alarmed at how fast this space was gobbled up by greedy programs. I am interested in folks' experience and that might be another thread.

Back up and restore of knoppix-data.img could be the topic for yet another thread. I'm still thinking about this but I guess it means messing around with the init script again. * Sigh *

I am new to remastering and I'm deliberately making it hard by using the DVD rather than the CD. I am actively looking into ways of reducing the 'fuss and the real estate requirements' but that's a thread for a different forum.

My 'avenue' ? Do you mean my use of patch to present the changes ? That's hardly new. I use patch as a way of keeping my 'tweaks' separate and reapplying them after a major upgrade. That's another thread and I don't think 'How do I do it ?' is the question you articulate.

Are you referring to my attempt to emulate the old home= cheatcode ? I believe that something like home= should be an option for all, even those who may never need it. I, myself, am not using it at the moment. I've made it public in what I hope is the true Open Source tradition. If someone finds it useful someday, tant meiux, if not, tant pis but the best would be for someone take it and improve on it.

The loss of home=means Knoppix 6 is considerably less versatile that its predecessors and that is regrettable. My 'observation' is the assumption that it is OK to insist the compressed image and the persistent store are in the same directory is a case of 'premature optimisation'. A cardinal sin often committed by projects with resources or time inadequate to the task. If Knoppix is very largely a solo effort, then the Ingenieur has my pity but not my sympathy.

My goal is indeed to simplify (aka make safe by reducing the number of manual steps involved) the process of folding changes recorded in knoppix-data.img into the KNOPPIX image. I think 'Is this possible ?' is your question. That too is another thread and I think you have already started that one.