Customized ubuntu-amd-64 image not installing

[aymanim]

Here are the basic repro steps:

Base image: Ubuntu LTS 12.04
Visualization: VirtualBox
Customizer version: 3.2.3

In virtualbox, I create a new VM and installed the vanilla ISO (from ubuntu.com). It installs as expected.

In Customizer, I "Select ISO" of the same ISO and click "Rebuild ISO" without any modifications. It produces another iso which I use to install on another VM in virtualbox.

During the installation, I get the following error in the copying files phase:

Invalid DOS Header Magic
Can't load image file /target/boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-51-generic

Partial stack trace:
File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py" line 739 in install.run()
File "/usr/share/ubiquity/install.py", line 134, in run self.copy_all()
....

Another discrepancy is that during the original ISO installation, Ubuntu asks for 4.4 GB of free space. During the customized ISO installation, Ubuntu asks for ~1.8 GB of free space.

The descriptions are somewhat vague.

If I understand well:

• you had a 64-bit Ubuntu 12.04 ISO
• you had installed that ISO in new VM in VirtualBox [*1]
• you had installed Customizer in that new VM [*2]
• you had loaded an ISO into that Customizer [*3]
• you didn't modify anything, just directly click on "Rebuild ISO"
• you sucessfully produced ISO from Customizer
• you use that produced ISO to install in another new VM in VirtualBox
• during installation, you got errors as described

And assuming above steps are correct,
we also need to know:
[_1] what host system are you using: 32 or 64-bit?
[_2] which branch did you use: master, gambas, devel?
and how did you install: using script, or via PPA?
[*3] what ISO did you use to load into Customizer: the same vanila ISO?

KIndly answer these questions first.

MUBIIN
clearkimura@gmail.com

[aymanim]

[1] Host: Ubuntu Desktop 12.04 LTS x64

[2] Branch: master. Customizer was installed with the dropbox script found here: https://github.com/clearkimura/Customizer/wiki

Note: This installs Customizer to /opt/Customizer which requires superuser access

[3] I was using the same ISO directly from the Ubuntu website: ubuntu-12.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso.

Your understanding is accurate. Some more info: I have tried working directory as /home (default) and also /home/USERNAME/ to isolate permissions issues.

As I mentioned before, a related issue is probably causing the size discrepancy as well. This is a screen shot of the requirements page for the ISO created with Customizer

It asks for at least 1.2 GB available drive space. A vanilla installation for Ubuntu 12.04 Desktop requires ~4.4 GB available drive space

In the "Copying Files" step during installation, this is the error screen:

In the console output, the above mentioned error is described.

So you are running a 64-bit host and using 64-bit ISO.
And you are using stable master branch.
And you sucessfully able to load the LiveCD before installation.

My pre-assumption is, Customizer doesn't seemed to be the problem here.

Since you reports installer crash and disk size discrepancy issue, I
estimate this issue has something to do with the Ubiquity installer or
the VirtualBox emulator.

Here, I will have to ask other questions as well:

[4] Are you using the latest VirtualBox release for your 64-bit host
i.e. via PPA or DEB downloaded from the VirtualBox official site?

[5] Do you have enough virtual disk space created in VirtualBox i.e. 5 GB VDI?

[6] Do you have enough virtual memory set in VirtualBox i.e. 512 MB RAM?

If your answer is all "YES" for above additional questions,
try either one of solutions below (one by one):

[a] disconnect from Internet before installation

[b] choose "Try Ubuntu without installing" menu when booting LiveCD

[c] before installation, remove "ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu" package
from Software Center or Synaptic or simply by typing in Terminal:
sudo apt-get remove ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu
Then only run the installer.

See if either one can solve your issue?

MUBIIN
clearkimura@gmail.com

[fluxer]

Did you choose to delete the boot files?

[fluxer]

Is the issue solved and if yes did you found the cause and solution for it?

I'm closing this issue, since there is no reply from user for quite some time. Unless there is a reply, anyone can choose to reopen this issue if this issue persists.

Marked as Invalid.

[fluxer]

The second issue @aymanim described (see the last two sentences from his initial report) may be true, maybe Ubuntu changed the way the filesystem size is stored (different units?) but I'm not going to test that.

Recent Ubuntu releases calculates the disk size using base 10. Ubuntu 10.10 or newer will now see 1 MB as 1000 bytes. Ubuntu 10.04 or older will still see 1 MB as 1024 bytes.

Aside from above, there are few other unknowns:

• which version of VirtualBox emulator did @aymanim use?
• does 64-bit ISO rebuilded on 64-bit host only works when emulated
  on 64-bit VirtualBox emulator?
• which hard disk format did @aymanim use: VDI, VDMK, VHD, HDD?
• does VirtualBox filesystem contributed to disk size calculation error?

.. and the list goes on.

I had never used 64-bit machine before, so I can't reproduce this issue anyway.

What I can do is, to check the recent Ubuntu release ( i.e. 12.04 ) 32-bit ISO rebuilded on 32-bit host. So far I have only checked the rebuilded ISO can be boot as Live CD on VirtualBox, but I haven't try to install on VirtualBox disk yet.

I don't have Ubuntu ISO images from 10.10 to recent releases because the free LiveCD service has stopped. And I don't download Ubuntu ISO image file anymore because it is now larger than CD size, not suitable for slow connection user like me.

Tested Xubuntu 12.04 32-bit ISO rebuilded in Customizer 3.2.3 instead.
Reproduced steps as follows:

• Succeed to run as Live CD in VirtualBox 32-bit host.
• Ubiquity installer shows 1.4 GB free disk space required.
• Do fresh install to a fixed volume 5 GB VirtualBox ( VDI ) disk image.
• Ubiquity installer did not crash
• Able to reboot and enter into installed system

What can I tell here:

• Other Ubuntu derivatives do not encounter this issue
• Ubiquity installer for Ubuntu derivatives does not crash

And as matter of fact:

• It is true that Ubuntu 12.04 Desktop requires about 5 GB free disk space
• It is true that Ubiquity installer for 32-bit has issue
• But no issue was found with 64-bit installer, according to this comment at askubuntu thread below:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/125280/what-are-the-minimum-system-requirements-for-12-04-lts/125282#125282

Verdict:
I cannot reproduce this issue due to lack of stuffs.
This issue will remain invalid until other users encounter and able to reproduce this issue.

This issue is found to be "Invalid" in earlier findings.
Added "Pending" label, because this issue still lack of information.
I have reopened for other users' feedback.

Some accidential findings indirectly related to this issue, while looking into just solved issue #37 by @fluxer last weekend.

Latest Customizer (gambas3) has been installed successfully on Xubuntu 12.04 (32-bit) virtual machine, under VirtualBox 4.3 (32-bit) emulator, with virtual hard disk created using VDI file format.

Case 1: Fixed allocated VDI

• will be recognized by virtual system as "normal" disk
• boot and login normally
• Customizer able to extract selected ISO properly

Case 2: Dynamically allocated VDI (cloned and resized from Case 1)

• no difference, in terms of system recognition
• boot is abnormal--shows fixing errors at every reboot time but still able to login
• Customizer able to extract, but failed to proceed at random point of progress
  and produced "[x] Unable to unsquash.." like error message

Early findings show that virtual hard disk type has effect on application (Customizer) behaviour when extracting ISO to working directories. However, this needs to be compared with Xubuntu 12.04 (32-bit) on real machine, for above justification. To be confirmed later.

Follow up on accidential findings, while double-confirming issue #37 just now.

Xubuntu 12.04 (32-bit) has been reinstalled on a newly created, "fixed allocated" VDI hard disk.

• Installation of host system is normal.
• Installation of Customizer is normal.
• Extracting ISO is also normal; Successfully extracted Ubuntu Mini Remix 10.04 32-bit, Ubuntu Mini Remix 12.04 32-bit, Linux Mint 13 Cinnamon 32-bit, in turns.

Even without testing on real machine, this reproduction of Case 1 strongly suggests that user should always use "fixed allocated" VDI hard disk whenever using Customizer in virtual machine.

[fluxer]

Maybe this is a bug with ubiquity, you should try with newer version. Try to fetch the ubiquity packages for other release and install them manually in the chroot environment. If that helps then it's a bug in ubiquity.