[GH-ISSUE #1384] No popular distro live image boots #1962

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opened 2026-03-01 18:37:39 +03:00 by kerem · 10 comments
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Originally created by @qu1ck on GitHub (Dec 27, 2023).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netbootxyz/netboot.xyz/issues/1384

Describe the bug
Live images seem to be completely broken for a good chunk of popular distros.
I tried:

  • Debian 12 kde
  • Debian 12 cinnamon
  • Fedora 39 kde
  • Ubuntu 22.04 xfce
  • Ubuntu 23.04 kde

Not one of them boots, most fail with unable to mount one thing or another.

To Reproduce
Boot any of the above distros

Expected behavior
I should be able to boot something modern

Originally created by @qu1ck on GitHub (Dec 27, 2023). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/netbootxyz/netboot.xyz/issues/1384 **Describe the bug** Live images seem to be completely broken for a good chunk of popular distros. I tried: * Debian 12 kde * Debian 12 cinnamon * Fedora 39 kde * Ubuntu 22.04 xfce * Ubuntu 23.04 kde Not one of them boots, most fail with unable to mount one thing or another. **To Reproduce** Boot any of the above distros **Expected behavior** I should be able to boot something modern
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@OptimusGREEN commented on GitHub (Dec 27, 2023):

I can't get any of the live cd's to work.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1870525639 --> @OptimusGREEN commented on GitHub (Dec 27, 2023): I can't get any of the live cd's to work.
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@jkoelker commented on GitHub (Dec 27, 2023):

The listed distros boot currently with the exception of KDE fedora (which appears to be a dracut issue not requesting the squashfs image correctly, but that's been the case for at least the last two releases), the issue is you probably have not allocated enough ram for the distro's requirements for the live image. Unfortunately over the years distros livecd images have steadily grown.

I have just validated each with 8G:

qemu-system-x86_64 -bios /usr/share/edk2-ovmf/x64/OVMF.fd -cdrom netboot.xyz.iso -m 8G -smp $(nproc)
<!-- gh-comment-id:1870557979 --> @jkoelker commented on GitHub (Dec 27, 2023): The listed distros boot currently with the exception of KDE fedora (which appears to be a dracut issue not requesting the squashfs image correctly, but that's been the case for at least the last two releases), the issue is you probably have not allocated enough ram for the distro's requirements for the live image. Unfortunately over the years distros livecd images have steadily grown. I have just validated each with 8G: ``` qemu-system-x86_64 -bios /usr/share/edk2-ovmf/x64/OVMF.fd -cdrom netboot.xyz.iso -m 8G -smp $(nproc) ```
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@OptimusGREEN commented on GitHub (Dec 27, 2023):

Thanks for the reply.

I can confirm that raising to 8gb ram indeed fixed my issue. great!

<!-- gh-comment-id:1870627824 --> @OptimusGREEN commented on GitHub (Dec 27, 2023): Thanks for the reply. I can confirm that raising to 8gb ram indeed fixed my issue. great!
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@antonym commented on GitHub (Dec 28, 2023):

Thanks @jkoelker, the Live Images do usually just need a lot more memory unfortunately.

There also may be some issues on Fedora that I need to circle back on, because they have steadily grown, I'll need to add the rootfs split logic into the initrds that split out as well:

https://github.com/netbootxyz/netboot.xyz/issues/1214

<!-- gh-comment-id:1870842921 --> @antonym commented on GitHub (Dec 28, 2023): Thanks @jkoelker, the Live Images do usually just need a lot more memory unfortunately. There also may be some issues on Fedora that I need to circle back on, because they have steadily grown, I'll need to add the rootfs split logic into the initrds that split out as well: https://github.com/netbootxyz/netboot.xyz/issues/1214
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@qu1ck commented on GitHub (Dec 28, 2023):

This is what I get on 10GB VM, same result on 16 GB

Ubuntu 23.04 KDE
image

Ubuntu 22.04 xfce
image

Debian 12 cinnamon
image

Debian 12 KDE
image

What am I doing wrong?

<!-- gh-comment-id:1870844118 --> @qu1ck commented on GitHub (Dec 28, 2023): This is what I get on 10GB VM, same result on 16 GB Ubuntu 23.04 KDE ![image](https://github.com/netbootxyz/netboot.xyz/assets/3622532/2a884b35-1d63-4b27-b3d0-32497005c12e) Ubuntu 22.04 xfce ![image](https://github.com/netbootxyz/netboot.xyz/assets/3622532/bc297d58-a7de-4cfc-b256-7458150393fd) Debian 12 cinnamon ![image](https://github.com/netbootxyz/netboot.xyz/assets/3622532/8080c4c9-216f-45b3-8a19-d171bd233c09) Debian 12 KDE ![image](https://github.com/netbootxyz/netboot.xyz/assets/3622532/5cf21091-b39c-4853-b079-0478a92a6e05) What am I doing wrong?
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@antonym commented on GitHub (Dec 28, 2023):

Make sure you are on the newest rev too, either 2.0.75 or rolling boot.netboot.xyz, 2.0.74 had some some bad images that may have been missing curl. I just tried Ubuntu 23.04 KDE and it loaded fine.

Screenshot 2023-12-27 at 11 52 28 PM
<!-- gh-comment-id:1870847959 --> @antonym commented on GitHub (Dec 28, 2023): Make sure you are on the newest rev too, either 2.0.75 or rolling boot.netboot.xyz, 2.0.74 had some some bad images that may have been missing curl. I just tried Ubuntu 23.04 KDE and it loaded fine. <img width="877" alt="Screenshot 2023-12-27 at 11 52 28 PM" src="https://github.com/netbootxyz/netboot.xyz/assets/245007/1f7bd668-cfc2-49f5-a24d-2c73433acc26">
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@qu1ck commented on GitHub (Dec 28, 2023):

Yes, I'm on 2.0.75. Netinst images load fine and same VM loads from live iso's fine.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1870855767 --> @qu1ck commented on GitHub (Dec 28, 2023): Yes, I'm on 2.0.75. Netinst images load fine and same VM loads from live iso's fine.
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@greatwolf commented on GitHub (Dec 29, 2023):

I'm experiencing the same issue as @qu1ck when booting Linux Mint LMDE edition. This is on a laptop with 8gb of ram. His Deb 12 Cinnamon bootup screenshot is what I'm seeing on my laptop during live boot attempt.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1871647232 --> @greatwolf commented on GitHub (Dec 29, 2023): I'm experiencing the same issue as @qu1ck when booting Linux Mint LMDE edition. This is on a laptop with 8gb of ram. His Deb 12 Cinnamon bootup screenshot is what I'm seeing on my laptop during live boot attempt.
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@jkoelker commented on GitHub (Dec 29, 2023):

When ya'll get dumped to the shell, what does /proc/cmdline say? Are you using the github version of everything or are you trying to do self-hosting? If the latter try using the hosted version first, if that works, then its something in your self-hosted setup.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1871650639 --> @jkoelker commented on GitHub (Dec 29, 2023): When ya'll get dumped to the shell, what does `/proc/cmdline` say? Are you using the github version of everything or are you trying to do self-hosting? If the latter try using the hosted version first, if that works, then its something in your self-hosted setup.
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@qu1ck commented on GitHub (Dec 29, 2023):

I am using the official netboot.xyz docker image and I'm caching the init image/squashfs files locally to speed up my boot times.

And you are right, sticking a netboot.xyz.iso into my vm and booting from it I was able to boot into debian 12 cinnamon live image.

Trying some things I was able to boot from my self hosted netboot.xyz if I dropped the cache and reverted config changes that pointed to cache host instead of github downloads.

After some trial and error I found that I didn't cache the "default" squashfs which is not obvious that it is needed. After caching it as well I can boot debian 12 and ubuntu 23.04 but not ubuntu 23.10.

Still, better than nothing.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1872053641 --> @qu1ck commented on GitHub (Dec 29, 2023): I am using the official netboot.xyz docker image and I'm caching the init image/squashfs files locally to speed up my boot times. And you are right, sticking a netboot.xyz.iso into my vm and booting from it I was able to boot into debian 12 cinnamon live image. Trying some things I was able to boot from my self hosted netboot.xyz if I dropped the cache and reverted config changes that pointed to cache host instead of github downloads. After some trial and error I found that I didn't cache the "default" squashfs which is not obvious that it is needed. After caching it as well I can boot debian 12 and ubuntu 23.04 but not ubuntu 23.10. Still, better than nothing.
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