Can’t boot Debian 10 (Buster) from USB on test raspi! — SOLVED
Begin: Running /scripts/local-block ... done.
Begin: Running /scripts/local-block ... done.
Begin: Running /scripts/local-block ... done.
done.
Gave up waiting for root file system device. Common problems:
- Boot args (cat proc/cmdline)
- Check rootdelay= (did the system wait long enough?)
- Missing modules (cat proc/modules: ls /dev)
ALERT! LABEL=RASPIBOOT does not exist. Dropping to a shell!
BusyBox v1.30.1 (Debian 1:1.30.1-4) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.
(initramfs)
Now it seems that my raspi ROM can handle USB booting (as per above), but the specific USB flash drive which I have prepared with Debian 10 (Buster) on it won’t boot. I assume that the procedure which I followed above now also needs to be done to both of my new USB3.1 flash drives, so that they can boot as well. It seems that it isn’t enough just to update the EEPROM on the raspi device to get this working, I also need to update the individual USB flash drives as well. Derp!
EDIT: As this isn’t specifically a YunoHost-related question, I have posted it on StackExchange as well.
EDIT: This turned out to be caused by a simple misunderstanding. Being that I’m using a Raspberry Pi, I needed to install Raspbian for this to work, not Debian. The point is moot anyway, as there is no easy way to install YunoHost v4.3.4.2 directly on a Raspberry Pi, so I will have to go back to installing v4.1.7.2 and upgrading.
Eek! The differences between Raspberry Pi OS and this Debian 10 Buster are huge! I can’t even login from the command line using the default username pi and password raspberry!
Finally I found out that under Debian we need to login initially as a password-less user root and then change the password straight away. I guess that is a safer way rather than having a default username and password on all raspi devices running Raspberry Pi OS.
Can’t find, nor even install, raspi-config under Debian 10 Buster! — SOLVED
Oh gosh, this is like learning everything from the start again!
“Just install YunoHost v4.3.4.2 on top of Debian 10 Buster”, they said. No problem.
It really isn’t that simple, if I’ve never used Debian 10 Buster for Raspberry Pi before. Everything is different under plain Debian, compared to Raspberry Pi OS / Raspbian.
I need to do the raspi-config step, but Debian for Raspberry Pi doesn’t include raspi-config. I’m probably going to have to edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file first, am I right?
EDIT: Even the sudo command doesn’t exist under Debian! This is so strange!
EDIT: Also, it doesn’t help that whenever I try to look something up specifically about Debian, the top answers always seem to be about Raspbian instead, and the differences I have already found between the two are huge!
EDIT: This turned out to be caused by a simple misunderstanding. Being that I’m using a Raspberry Pi, I needed to install Raspbian for this to work, not Debian. The point is moot anyway, as there is no easy way to install YunoHost v4.3.4.2 directly on a Raspberry Pi, so I will have to go back to installing v4.1.7.2 and upgrading.
My very, very, bad. I mistyped or somehow forgot you were on Raspberry. You need Raspbian 10/Buster image, not pure Debian, to be sure all the appropriate software are installed.
And again, cf. the Debian 11 testing thread, just keep it simple and use YunoHost’s own image and upgrade it. It’s two commands away after post-installation.
Once I have re-done all of my plans, which currently show me as having to install Debian 10 instead of Raspbian; and my GitHub workflow currently showing me as installing v4.3.4.2 instead of v4.1.7.2; then I will do the “two commands away after post-install”. Sorry, I have been trying very hard to get this right the first time, and following all of the instructions that I receive, to the letter. This is a major project for me, and not something that is going to get completed in five minutes. A lot of careful thought and planning has gone into my project. I document everything meticulously. I am on the Autism Spectrum, and this is just how I do things. “Overthinking things” is what I do best!
Understood. To summarize, regarding your RPi, there are two options, by my order of preference:
Use YunoHost’s out-of-date 4.1 image for Raspberry Pi, perform the post install and upgrade your system. Adds around 5 minutes to your workflow.
Use Raspbian 10 image (again, sorry for suggesting pure Debian and waste your time), and use YunoHost’s installation script (with the curl ... | bash command from the documentation). Brings you directly to current 4.3.x version, but the installation script would take noticeably more time.
Thanks, this Debian / Raspbian issue has sent me down a rabbit hole, and now I need to dig my way back out. I’ll probably take another day just to re-jig all of my plans, to set me back onto my original path of installing v4.1.7.2 first, which is what I had tried previously, some 14 days ago with my initial test install of YunoHost. Unfortunately, that upgrade failed rather spectacularly, which is why I was hoping to jump straight to v4.3.4.2 without having to do an upgrade.
I still have some preparation work to do on this project. From what I understand, I won’t be able to actually start the installation of my test environment anyway yet, until my reset request has been actioned. I am re-installing the test-fmds.noho.st domain. I had previously set up that domain just for assessing YunoHost’s features before settling on this project plan. That installation has since been deleted.
I just came across this new post on the Raspberry Pi Stack Exchange, which discusses performance of LUKS encryption using the Adiantum cipher on a Raspberry Pi 4. Also in the same thread was a link to this guide “that explains how to encrypt the SD card of a Raspberry Pi to use LUKS with Adiantum”.
This is an idea for me to pursue later, probably under a future project, such as FMDS2024.
By the way, the word Adiantum is actually taken from real-world biology, not from the fictional geology of James Cameron’s “Avatar” movie, as had been suggested in the SE thread. It seems also that I have a personal connection to Adiantum, as it is the scientific name of the native New Zealand (where I live) maidenhair fern, one specimen of which my wife and I received as a wedding present, many years ago. Sorry, that should have been prefixed with a “useless trivia” warning too, hahaha.
Thanks for that @tituspijean. Being that I’m autistic, I tend to use a very formal and well-defined vocabulary, by nature. I am pedantic and I used to be a “grammar nazi” back in the day, correcting everyone else’s mistakes. Now I just concentrate on fixing my own mistakes, which, to me, stick out like a sore thumb. If my self-documentation here or elsewhere can be recycled into documentation for the YunoHost project itself, then I’ll be very happy to help with that. Everything I post is released under the lesser of a CC0 license, or the default license of the forum / site that I am on at the time.
Plain rsync is a bit off topic in the other thread, let me put it here.
What do you want to back up?
For a backup of the (whole) Debian installation on the SD-card, rsync is less suitable. For that you’d use imaging software. If the goal is ‘minimal fuss, get it backed up till Archivist/Borg is installed’, I’d shut down the server for ten minutes and dd the whole SD-card to the project / backup directory on my workstation.
If the goal is to sync a specific part of the running Debian installation, it works quite straight forward. On your workstation:
$ mkdir -p /home/frittro/yunobackups/backup1/ # or another place of course
$ rsync --progress -a -e ssh frittro@fmds:/home/ /home/frittro/yunobackups/backup1/
$
Source is on the other side of ssh, destination is in the directory on your workstation you reserved for it.
The command is very straight forward, give it a try copying something from one directory to another directory on your workstation (in that case you can still use SSH, but you can also omit the -e ssh frittro@fmds:-part to make a local copy)
Great advice, thanks so much for that. I had been reading elsewhere that a dd image is not a great solution, but it is what I already knew how to do. I thought rsync would be the better solution in this case, but it seems that my initial gut reaction was the correct one this time. Thanks so much for clarifying that. I’ll go back to using dd for now then, until I get Borg Backup installed and working.
I’ll get back into the swing of things here next week. I’m glad that I left an extra week before my first milestone is due! My attention has shifted to organising a memorial service for my mother-in-law, who passed away last year during our COVID lockdowns. Next week I’ll begin the actual YunoHost v4.1.7.2 install on the test Raspberry Pi.
EDIT: It was a lovely afternoon today at the memorial service for Mum. I came home completely tired out (being on the Autism Spectrum, such live social interactions always tire me out), and will be taking tomorrow to recuperate. On Monday I’ll begin my installation of YunoHost, for real!
There is another holdup before I start installing YunoHost. I want to blog about my install as I go, but I also want to earn cryptocurrency from my blog posts about it, so I am creating an account on Hive, which is the new blockchain hardforked from the old Steem blockchain. I’ve hit a little snag with that part, and am just awaiting some advice from the Hive team.
EDIT: Below is a sneak preview of the title image of my first post about YunoHost, on Hive…
EDIT: My Hive account is now live! If anyone is interested, you can follow my blog there, using any HIVE blockchain viewer. I personally prefer Ecency, but any HIVE viewer will work. If you like my content, and if you have your own account on HIVE, please vote me up! It doesn’t cost you anything, but it will get me some cryptocoins for my effort. That is how HIVE works.
Can’t boot Debian 10 (Buster) from USB on 
SOLVED
YunoHost-related question, I have posted it on 
StackExchange as well.
I just came across 
I just 
Borg Backup
Thanks so much for clarifying that. I’ll go back to using 
Hive
Steem blockchain. I’ve hit a little snag with that part, and am just awaiting some advice from the 
Ecency
vote me up! It doesn’t cost you anything, but it will get me some cryptocoins for my effort. That is how HIVE works.