how to get predictible partition sizes with partman ?

Hi,

I try to automatically format the disk during Debian installation with
a "recipe" for partman in preseed.cfg.

I have some difficulties to get partitions the size i want. First of
all, partitions must have a size multiple of 1MiB (1MiB = 2^20 Bytes)
but partman reads sizes in preseed.cfg as expressed in MB (1MB = 10^6
Bytes). As it is not possible to express exactly a multiple of 1 MiB
in MB, partman will have to find the nearest multiple of 1MiB.

I specified the following dummy recipe in preseed.cfg:
d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe string \
20973 100000 20973 ext3 $primary{ } method{ format } format{ }
use_filesystem{ } filesystem{ ext3 }  mountpoint{ / } . \
106 100000   106 ext3 $primary{ } $bootable{ } method{ format }
format{ } use_filesystem{ } filesystem{ ext3 } mountpoint{ /boot } . \
20973 100000 20973 ext3 $primary{ } method{ format } format{ }
use_filesystem{ } filesystem{ ext3 }  mountpoint{ /home  } . \
20973 10000 20973 ext3 method{ format } format{ } use_filesystem{ }
filesystem{ ext3 } mountpoint{ /var } . \
2099 10000  2099 linux-swap method{ swap } format{ } . \
2099 10000 2099 ext3 method{ format } format{ } use_filesystem{ }
filesystem{ ext3 } mountpoint{ /tmp } . \
20973 10000 20973 ext3 method{ format } format{ } use_filesystem{ }
filesystem{ ext3 } mountpoint{ /opt } . \
106 10000 106 ext3 method{ format } format{ } use_filesystem{ }
filesystem{ ext3 } mountpoint{ /foo } . \
0 100   -1 ext3  $primary{ } method{ format } format{ }
use_filesystem{ } filesystem{ ext3 } mountpoint{ /usr } . \

Bug#674561: A patch to improve parsing yaboot.conf

Package: os-prober
Version: 1.53
Tags: patch

os-prober assumes that there is no space around '=' sign for append 
directive in yaboot.conf, while there can be. Therefore, both 
append="some options" and append = "some options" are valid in 
yaboot.conf. This patch fixes this parsing bug.

diff -up os-prober-1.53/linux-boot-probes/mounted/powerpc/40yaboot.parsefix os-prober-1.53/linux-boot-probes/mounted/powerpc/40yaboot
--- os-prober-1.53/linux-boot-probes/mounted/powerpc/40yaboot.parsefix	2012-05-25
15:57:13.477647064 +0430
+++ os-prober-1.53/linux-boot-probes/mounted/powerpc/40yaboot	2012-05-25 16:16:58.844827933 +0430
@@ -74,8 +74,8 @@ parse_yaboot_conf () {
 				kernel="$(dequote "$2")"
 			;;
 			append)
-				shift 1
-				parameters="$(dequote "${line#append=}")"
+				cleanappend=`printf %s "$line" | sed -E 's/append(\s)*=(\s)*//'`
+				parameters="$(dequote "$cleanappend")"
 			;;
 			initrd)
 				initrd="$(dequote "$2")"

Bug#674560: A patch to add support for reading Fedora's grub2 config file

Package: os-prober
Version: 1.53
Tags: patch

Currently, Fedora installs grub2 inside /boot/grub2 rather than 
/boot/grub. Therefore, grub.cfg resides in /boot/grub2/, while os-prober 
assumes that grub.cfg is in /boot/grub/. Therefore, proper boot 
arguments for Fedora installation is not retrieved. This patch provide a 
fix for this problem.

diff -up os-prober-1.53/linux-boot-probes/mounted/common/40grub2.fedorafix os-prober-1.53/linux-boot-probes/mounted/common/40grub2
--- os-prober-1.53/linux-boot-probes/mounted/common/40grub2.fedorafix	2012-05-25
12:52:25.067271268 +0430
+++ os-prober-1.53/linux-boot-probes/mounted/common/40grub2	2012-05-25 12:53:41.552315071 +0430
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ if [ -e "$mpoint/boot/grub/grub.cfg" ] &
     [ "$mpoint/boot/grub/grub.cfg" -nt "$mpoint/boot/grub/menu.lst" ]); then
 	debug "parsing grub.cfg"
 	parse_grub_menu "$mpoint" "$partition" "$bootpart" < "$mpoint/boot/grub/grub.cfg"
+elif [ -e "$mpoint/boot/grub2/grub.cfg" ]; then
+	debug "parsing grub.cfg"
+	parse_grub_menu "$mpoint" "$partition" "$bootpart" < "$mpoint/boot/grub2/grub.cfg"
 fi

 if [ "$found_item" = 0 ]; then

Bug#674481: partman-target: Please remove /proc from generated fstab for wheezy

Package: partman-target
Version: 77
Severity: important
Tags: patch

/proc has been created as part of the default /etc/fstab for
some time.  However, this is not needed, and has been found
to be detrimental in some cases.  /proc is mounted by the
initramfs (if used), or else by the mountkernfs init script,
making the fstab entry redundant.  If the naming of the
filesystem differs to the name used in the initramfs or init
scripts, this can cause the mountall script to fail.
#425199 is an example of this.

Note this obsoletes #378984; mountkernfs now uses the
mount options from /etc/fstab for all filesystems /if present/,
meaning that no special support is required on the part of
the installer, given that the regular initscripts handle this
job in the general case--no special /proc support is required.

In short, removing /proc has zero downside--it's all handled
outside fstab by default, and has been since forever, and we
pick up the settings from /proc should there be an entry there,
so we're both backward compatible /and/ customisable by the
admin.

Regards,
Roger

-- System Information:

Re: Re: Running on rotated screen

Way back in February, Lennart Sorensen wrote:

> Of course the framebuffer has lots of neat options so you could try
> adding a kernel option when booting the installer with:
> 
> fbcon=rotate:1 (for rotate clockwise) or
> fbcon=rotate:3 (for rotate counterclockwise)
> 
> Might work.  But probably only in text mode install, since graphical
> mode does its own thing and fbcon only controls console text on the
> framebuffer device.
> 
> Unfortunately I just tried it, and while it does rotate the kernel
> messages, as soon as the debian installer starts and asks which language
> you want, it has switched back to "normal".

Well, I havn't given up. As you said, using fbcon rotated the screen just great until installer menu is
painted. I dug and found that the script /lib/debian_installer.d/S70menu is "wrapping" the menu with
the program bterm. I interupted the install (using BOOT_DEBUG=3) and edited that script such that it
launched the menu without bterm. Viola! The menu is painted with the desired rotation.

The S70menu script uses bterm if all of the following are true:
A) bterm is present and executable
B) the font it needs is present
C) the variable TERM_UTF8 is set
D) the variable TERM_FRAMEBUFFER is set
E) DEBIAN_FRONTEND is not "gtk"

I was hoping there is a boot parameter that I can change to cause one of those tests to fail. I can only do
fb=false, but that causes too much change: the framebuffer isn't used at all, so I can't rotate.

Bug#674100: [apt] apt-cdrom add generates broken cdroms.list

Package: apt
Version: 0.9.5
Severity: grave
X-Debbugs-Cc: 673997 <at> bugs.debian.org
X-Debbugs-Cc: debian-boot <at> lists.debian.org

apt-cdrom add; appears to be broken with APT 0.9. Although it can return 
success, it seems to only generate broken /var/lib/apt/cdroms.list 
files. Instead of having the normal entries:
> CD::b0d93fa9810fff28368b1b75f8006604-2 "Debian GNU/Linux testing 
> _Wheezy_ - Official Snapshot i386 NETINST Binary-1 20120322-15:25";
> CD::b0d93fa9810fff28368b1b75f8006604-2::Label "Debian GNU/Linux 
> testing _Wheezy_ - Official Snapshot i386 NETINST Binary-1 
> 20120322-15:25";
the generated files contain APT configuration. I'm attaching my current 
cdroms.list.

I first experienced this bug with apt 0.9.3. The bug persists in 0.9.5. 
This was discovered by Miguel Figueiredo <elmig <at> debianpt.org>.

This has an effect on the installer. I believe apt-cdrom add; is run 
when setting up apt. When the install media contains the base system 
(which is the case for netinsts, but not for business cards), the base 
system's installation relies on the iso. This causes APT to fail to 
install the base system. Specifically, base-installer fails to install 
locales, then busybox, which prevents Linux's installation.
I experienced this issue on 2 PCs from the 2 I tested (one laptop, one 
desktop). I tried i386 netinsts from May 20, 21 and 22 and had the same 
problem with all, whether I burned them or put them on a USB key.
Miguel Figueiredo tried to reproduce with a May 22 amd64 netinst and 

Debian installer build: failed or old builds

Debian installer build overview
-------------------------------

Failed or old builds:

* OLD BUILD:    armel May 08 08:10 buildd <at> ancina build_iop32x_netboot 
                http://d-i.debian.org/daily-images/armel/daily/build_iop32x_netboot.log

* OLD BUILD:    armel May 08 08:13 buildd <at> ancina build_iop32x_network-console_glantank 
                http://d-i.debian.org/daily-images/armel/daily/build_iop32x_network-console_glantank.log

* OLD BUILD:    armel May 08 08:19 buildd <at> ancina build_iop32x_network-console_n2100 
                http://d-i.debian.org/daily-images/armel/daily/build_iop32x_network-console_n2100.log

* OLD BUILD:    armel May 08 08:22 buildd <at> ancina build_iop32x_network-console_ss4000e 
                http://d-i.debian.org/daily-images/armel/daily/build_iop32x_network-console_ss4000e.log

* OLD BUILD:    armel May 08 08:24 buildd <at> ancina build_kirkwood_netboot 
                http://d-i.debian.org/daily-images/armel/daily/build_kirkwood_netboot.log

* OLD BUILD:    armel May 08 08:30 buildd <at> ancina build_kirkwood_netboot-gtk 
                http://d-i.debian.org/daily-images/armel/daily/build_kirkwood_netboot-gtk.log

* OLD BUILD:    armel May 08 08:33 buildd <at> ancina build_kirkwood_network-console 
                http://d-i.debian.org/daily-images/armel/daily/build_kirkwood_network-console.log

* OLD BUILD:    armel May 08 08:37 buildd <at> ancina build_orion5x_network-console 
                http://d-i.debian.org/daily-images/armel/daily/build_orion5x_network-console.log

* OLD BUILD:    armel May 08 08:40 buildd <at> ancina build_versatile_netboot 

partman-auto-lvm_43_i386.changes ACCEPTED into unstable

Accepted:
partman-auto-lvm_43.dsc
  to main/p/partman-auto-lvm/partman-auto-lvm_43.dsc
partman-auto-lvm_43.tar.gz
  to main/p/partman-auto-lvm/partman-auto-lvm_43.tar.gz
partman-auto-lvm_43_all.udeb
  to main/p/partman-auto-lvm/partman-auto-lvm_43_all.udeb

Changes:
partman-auto-lvm (43) unstable; urgency=low
 .
  [ dann frazier ]
  * Call update-dev --settle between creating lvs and accessing them
 .
  [ Updated translations ]
  * bo (bo.po) by Tennom
  * Macedonian (mk.po) by Arangel Angov
  * Punjabi (Gurmukhi) (pa.po) by A S Alam
  * Portuguese (Brazil) (pt_BR.po) by Felipe Augusto van de Wiel (faw)

Override entries for your package:
partman-auto-lvm_43.dsc - source debian-installer
partman-auto-lvm_43_all.udeb - optional debian-installer

Announcing to debian-devel-changes <at> lists.debian.org

Thank you for your contribution to Debian.

--

-- 

Bug#673156: wheezy netinst and businesscard images not bootable

The latest builds are bootable, presumably because the syslinux bug cited
above was fixed.  This bug can be closed.

Processing of partman-auto-lvm_43_i386.changes

partman-auto-lvm_43_i386.changes uploaded successfully to localhost
along with the files:
  partman-auto-lvm_43.dsc
  partman-auto-lvm_43.tar.gz
  partman-auto-lvm_43_all.udeb

Greetings,

	Your Debian queue daemon (running on host franck.debian.org)

Processed: block 673625 with 674060

Processing commands for control <at> bugs.debian.org:

> block 673625 with 674060
Bug #673625 [cdebootstrap] cdebootstrap: Does not support InRelease files
673625 was not blocked by any bugs.
673625 was not blocking any bugs.
Added blocking bug(s) of 673625: 674060
> thanks
Stopping processing here.

Please contact me if you need assistance.
--

-- 
673625: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=673625
Debian Bug Tracking System
Contact owner <at> bugs.debian.org with problems