[darkgr33n]

Hi

Running Acer Revo R3610 with XBMC Live 9.11 on USB.

I'm having a lot of problems at the moment. I can find fixes, but no matter I do, whenever I change a file, as soon as I reboot, the changes are gone.

I'm trying to add a .asoundrc file and trying to alter the timezone.

For the timezone, I go to /etc/default/rcS and change the UST=yes to UST=no, but when I save and reboot, the changes are gone.

I've used both putty, and the terminal window from within XBMC and am using:
sudo nano /etc/default/rcS to ope the file and then just using the ^O to save.

How can I make these changes persist ?

Thanks

[cowfodder]

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=62488

[darkgr33n]

thanks cowfodder, but I've been through that thread and its no help.

there is a post on the subject [#26], with the same problem as me, but there was no answer.

L.Capriotti-

I completed the "touch test.txt" test with putty. I did it once logged in as root and once as xbmc (I didn't know if it mattered). I found the "test.txt" file in the root folder before I rebooted to double check. After I rebooted the machine, I checked for the file and it was gone.

I also tried adjusting the alsamixer again (as root and xbmc) and storing the settings with your "sudo alsactl store" command. After rebooting, those settings were gone as well (back to default).

Any ideas on a next step?

Thanks.

Same as me. At the moment, I'm stuck with the wrong time, without HDMI + S/PDIF sound at the same time, and with having to amend alsamixer everytime i boot up.

[darkgr33n]

perhaps its not possible when using XBMCLive on USB ?

Does anyone know ?

If I have to install ubuntu and XBMC on top of that to get changes made to persist I will.

[Starstream]

Follow this and see if working from Windows, I'm not entirely sure but I think there might be some other issue with editing files on USB there was some chatter in this thread a good while back.

Step 1) Start Putty and type in the IP address of XBMC to connect, leaving all other settings at their default.
username and password = xbmc (or whatever you set during install)

Type in this command "sudo passwd root" <-no quotes, this will prompt you to change the root password so pick xbmc as the password.

Close Putty.

Step 2) Now start Winscp and in the hostname enter in the XBMC IP address
username = root password = xbmc

You now have root access to XBMC Live and can see/edit any folder on the system.

[darkgr33n]

Thanks Starstream

I tried the above, and while it does give me permissions to write / edit files [specifically /etc/default/rcS, /home/xbmc/.asoundrc and ~/live-sn.cpio.gz] as soon as I reboot, all changes/new files are gone again!

So frustrating!

I've read through about 30 pages of the thread you linked to; saw the same code that you referenced, but so far have seen nothing else on file changes not persisting on a USB install.

There was mention of a run-once file that run from a default config, but I think run-once is on first install, not on every reboot. I think!

Thanks for your time, but still no luck for me.

I've read the xbmcfreak version comes with an .asoundrc file, so that could be progress, but I doubt I'll be able to actually edit it and have the changes persist.

note:
the /etc/default/rcS file is to change the time so UST=no [my clock is currently an hour out]
the /live-sn.cpio.gz file is a snapshot file, and i'm hoping when i unmute alsamixer, the changes to that will be stored.

ALso tried gksudo, but it said unrecognised or something. as you can tell, i'm a total linux noob.

[darkgr33n]

there must be a file/setting somewhere that runs through the filestructure and resets everything.

or perhaps none of the changes are commited to the USB stick.

I'm lost

[darkgr33n]

or perhaps its just the 9.11-live-repack that has something in it that wipes any setting.

i also tried changing the owner of the file, but it still gets wiped on reboot

does no-one else running a usb stick have these problems ? perhaps i'm doing something fundamentally wrong ?

[vikjon0]

ok, if you have a live "CD" it will normally don't save any data. The key word here is CD as in CD ROM (read only memory). On a usb memory you can enable "persistance" this could be a bit tricky. If you cannot save a file you dont have persistance.

There is only 3 reasons to use a live installation.
1) It can boot on any hardware
2) It fit on a CD. You should have at least 4G for a full installation.
3) The usb will last longer. But with todays prices, it does not matter?

If you dont want to mess with this run install to disk instead and make a "normal" installation to the USB. Manually partition and skip the swap and you are good to go.

[darkgr33n]

I installed 9.11 to a USB stick as per the instuctions on the wiki [its a 4gb SD card]

The wiki says:

Since a Live CD is booted from read-only]media, it requiring either installation to rewriteable media (i.e. a USB flash drive or hard disk drive) or complete remastering to install additional software or modify and of the existing files.

In contrast to the Live CD, the data contained on the booting device can be changed and additional data stored on the same device. This allows for Live USB/HDD to be used as personal storage, as it allows a user to carry their preferred operating system, applications, and configuration as well as personal files with them, making it easy to share a single system between multiple users.

So it suggests a USB stick should be able to hold file changes ?

I followed the instructions on: http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/xbmc-ion/

Then I SSH in via winSCP / Putty to make the changes to the various files.

I'm on an Acer Revo, so don't have a CD drive at all.

I did consider installing direct on the HDD, but didn't want to lose my existing windows 7 install. plus, whenever I did try "install to disk" I kept getting the error where it looks for a CD-ROM. I read about adding "cdrom-detect/try-usb=true" but that's already there with the 9.11.

I'm so close to having a great setup, but the alsamixer, time and audio problems are continuing to haunt me.

I tried all three methods of creating a permanent storage file as per the wiki, but the linux way fails at the first hurdle; i can't find any step-by-step instruction on how to create a permanent file via toporesize; the third option, the snapshot, seems the easiest, but whenever I create the live-sn.cpio.gz file, as soon as I reboot, its gone again!

[darkgr33n]

Finally!

Turns out I was being dense.

As it was running the ISO from the USB, none of the changes persisted. I realised I needed to actually install live to the USB, rather than just boot from it [thanks vikjon]

I still couldn't get the install to work from a USB stick [kept asking for CD-ROM], so I bought a powered USB CD-ROM cable and used one from an old machine.

Installed directly to my SDCard and now all is well. My time is correct. I have a .asoundrc file [not connected to amp yet to test] and alsamixer has remembered not to mute itself.

Result.

[stepea]

Your not alone, I had the same thing sometime ago - finally dawned on my I was working with an image file rather than a proper installation on the usb stick, reason why my changes never updated

I decided to partition my drive on the Revo and install directly using an XBMC Freak Live cd. Haven't looked back since.

[darkgr33n]

lol, glad i'm not the only one!

i was going to partition the drive, but wasn't 100% sure how to keep my existing windows 7 install.

I tried shrinking the c:\ partition, but that gave 5 partitions and I think the max is 4.

I could have deleted the d:\ partition, but just in case, for £7, I grabbed a 4gb SD card and it seems quick enough for my purposes.

I did the same, and also grabbed the xbmcfreak live version too, rather than the 9.11 I had been using, as it had asoundrc, and supposedly will send audio out to both hdmi and spdif, although i'm yet to test that. just rebuilding my library at the moment.

cheers though, good to know i wasn't alone in my foolishness!

[frank_jarle]

Sorry for bumping this thread, but i have been struggeling with the exact same issue as you and other guys.

Im running off from a Cruzer 8GB usb stick, i do changes i ran apt-get to install to get a perfect system, but upon next reboot it was all gone.

To make it clear one must actually make a Live-CD and then choose to install Live to a USB-stick, upon running Live from the USB-stick any changes should now be kept intackt?

Is my underatanding correct, if so then this should be made a sticky to the forum im sure its many people who wants to run from the USB and at same time do changes to programs on it.

Frank, Norway