DynebolicFaq : [http://dynebolic.org/ dyne:bolic homepage]

What is "nesting"?

From the dynebolic [http://dyne.org/~jaromil/dynebolic-man/html/dynebolic-x137.en.html manual]: "The concept is simple: you cannot modify the operating system, you use it as it comes and you update it all in once with new versions, it is a whole compressed file, which is only readable. The writable part, where you store your data and settings, is stored in a separated way, inside another file of variable size which you can store on a usb key or an harddisk. This is a nest. If the nest you stored is found by dyne:bolic while booting, then you use its space for your /home and settings, which are no more lost in volatile RAM at the next boot."

Where can I nest dyne:bolic?

You can create a nest for dyne:bolic into hard disks or USB keys, retrieving the information from the nest each time a dynebolic CD runs on a compatible computer with a nest on hard disk or a USB key.

Can I nest on a floppy?

"Floppy? What's a floppy?"

The minimum nest size is 32Mb; unfortunately, a 1.44Mb floppy DISK isn't big enough.

How can I "nest" dyne:bolic?

You can nest dyne:bolic through the initial splash screen (which can be brought up by left-clicking on the desktop, then right-clicking on the first button on the menu), by selecting "Have More", then selecting "Nesting" and following the on-screen intructions.

Where can I place the nest files?

Nest files and their configuration should always be stored in the root of the filesystem where the nest is placed. That is the only place where dyne:bolic looks at boot. This behaviour may change in future versions.

Can I nest on xxx filesystem?

Although nesting doesn't present problems on either a FAT32 or (of course) on linux partitions, as long as they're IDE devices (the more usual hard disk devices, if it's not SCSI, it's IDE!) or USB keys. Currently NTFS nesting is not supported, due to the unsafety or possible danger in writing to an NTFS filesystem with a GNU/linux OS; there seems to be capability in latest linux kernel versions to support NTFS, but there's always the "(EXPERIMENTAL)" or "(MAY BE DANGEROUS)" tag besides the "NTFS filesystem write" in the kernel's configuration, thus the decision to not support NTFS for the time being. Maybe in future versions of dyne:bolic..?

Ok, so how do I make a filesystem on hard disk that can receive a dynebolic nest?

Great! So you have a hard disk, or partition to dedicate to dyne:bolic? You must first create a filesystem on it:

Be SURE to NOT have important, not backed-up data on the device you want to create the filesystem, because the filesystem and all the data of the device you choose WILL BE OVERWRITTEN! It's the same thing as doing "format" in DOS machines or Windoze.

First of all, you should choose your filesystem; to my knowledge, two filesystems are surely compatible with dyne:bolic (PLEASE UPDATE THIS):

FAT32 or DOSFS and ext2. The first ones are dos-windows filesystems, while the third one is a linux filesystem, and is highly recommended.

Secondly, you must choose in what device will the filesystem reside; the hard disk device could be one of the following ones:

In UNIX-like systems, each device is listed under the subdirectory /dev/, and each device of the IDE channels (which usually contain the cd-roms, dvd-roms, cd-rw drives and hard disks), is named after the scheme read from the bios-setup:

How this devices are setup, depends on how they are connected to the IDE chains, but don't worry to open up your pc yet, since you can do either of two things to identify them:

First method (easier, but needs the pc to be rebooted):

Second method (easier if you know fairly good the names of the devices):

The next step is to create the filesystem on the hard disk that you have chosen.

The command to use for creating a DOSFS filesystem is:

mkdosfs /dev/hdX

while the command to use for making an ext2 filesystem is:

mke2fs /dev/hdX

where /dev/hdX is the hard disk that you want to use for nesting. Your hard disk led should light up for some time, depending on how large the device or partition is; then, the device is ready to receive a dynebolic nest!

IMPORTANT!!! Please type man mkdosfs and man mke2fs on the command line and READ the manuals before doing this operation, especially if you never had experience of linux before. This could save you from a lot of frustration, errors and time badly-spent, for the mere cost of 20 minutes of reading.

If you want to read in-depth specification on filesystems in linux please read the following HOWTO: [http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Filesystems-HOWTO.html Here].

...or the HOWTO on creating partitions inside hard disks: [http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/index.html Here].

How to check your nest and troubleshoot it:

There are several reports of people with trouble saving their configurations on a nest. The most common is when they try to save it on a NTFS partition (frequently found on WinXP, Win2k and WinNT, can't tell about Win2003 but I'm almost sure it uses NTFS as the default filesystem). Remember: nesting only works on ext2 or fat partitions.

If you're certain that your partition is ext2 or fat then check:

If the problem comes while doing the nesting, you should have a look in /var/log/setup/nidifica.log which is the log of "taschino", the software doing the nesting.

If you can't figure out what your problem is, [mailto:dynebolic-subscribe@dynebolic.org subscribe] to the mailing list and [mailto:dynebolic@dynebolic.org post] a question; hopefully somebody will chime in with the respective solution, or at least with some suggestions that can get you closer to the solution.

Remove and replace the nest

I changed my mind about the nest. So I removed it by deleting the file. I can't do a new nest. Any idea to get back on the road??

Instructions for the Mentally (Windows) Challenged

Okay I'm lame, but here is what I did.

Not elegant, but effective. ;)

DanH

I know this FAQ isn't complete, it would be nice to have other things added to it, so please do.

DynebolicFaq : [http://dynebolic.org/ dyne:bolic homepage]

Nesting faq started on 28-10-2003 by Tommy Drum for the community, please update the info where needed!