Experimental frugal install

[fehlix]

1. When I do the frugal install I wind up as user "demo", and I probably should have just left that alone. But I tried using MX User Manager to Rename User Account, and it didn't go well. I eventually got it sorted, my user is mxl now, but I'd be happy to do another install and try it again, perhaps give better info on what exactly happened if someone thinks this is important.

Yes, please give more details, so it is reproducible, b/c "... and it didn't go well" doesn't tell much

2. It seems that when I use the startup and shutdown screens for loading and saving rootfs (I'm doing semi-automatic mode) everything is fine, but when I try to use RemasterCC to Save root persistence things go wrong.

The tool is using this command:

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pkexec persist-save

you can also try the cli interface

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sudo persist-save --cli

maybe try this and report any finding.

3. Despite choosing frugal_root on install, the boot paramater created was persist_root. Which (I think) is doing what I want it to do, and when I tried changing it to frugal_root I think maybe it didn't do what I wanted. So, anyway, leaving it persist_root is cool with me. Just wanted to document that here.

Yes, any "frugal" options given would trigger a frugal detection live-process.
The boot parameter frugal_root is a shortcut for "frugal persist_root"
The frugal process would try first to find an available frugal-install and boot into,
and if not found offers to create / make a frugal install.
The generated grub.entry is meant to boot into the existing frugal install.
When using frugal_root instead of "persist_root" the frugal detection
would start to search for an existing frugal install,
by using the default frugal partition label flab="antiX-Frugal"
and the default frugal boot-dir fdir="/antiX-$(uname -r)"
So yes, you can trigger another frugal installation when attempting to boot into an existing
frugal installation.

[trawglodyte]

Yes, please give more details, so it is reproducible, b/c "... and it didn't go well" doesn't tell much

RE: trying to change username from demo on frugal install - short version
as demo - menu>MX tools>User Manager>Rename User Account - demo to mxl, Apply gives the following error.
"failed to rename the user. Please make sure that the user is not logged in, you might need to restart."

but as root - menu>MX tools>User Manager gives the following error.
"You seem to be logged in as root, please logout and log in as normal user to use this program"

And here is the long version, from the beginning with every step.

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boot MX-23.2_x64.iso on USB by Balena Etcher
Advanced Options
    Persistence Options - frugal_root
    Boot Options - checkfs toram fdev=ask hwclock=utc

select the partition (ext4) to add frugal folder
create rootfs - 1 default 8G
create live-usb swap file? n
set password root
set password demo
save-mode - 2 semi-auto

(enter graphical)
    sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade
    sudo apt purge mdadm cryptsetup (errors, decide I just don't need)
    sudo apt purge linux-image-6.1.0-18-amd64 (current issue with NVIDIA, 6.1.0-17-amd64 is fine for me)
    sudo rm -R /lib/modules/6.1.0-18-amd64 (rmdir failed in automated)
    sudo reboot
        Save? y
        Begin? y

Boot into Debian (currently the grub I use)
    terminal in frugal partion
    tar -czvf frugal1.tar.gz antiX-Frugal-6.1.0-17-amd64
    copy/paste text from grub.entry to /boot/grub/custom.cfg (as is for now, no edits)

reboot to "MX 23.2 (Libretto) Frugal Install"

menu>MX tools>User Manager
    Rename User Account> demo to mxl
    "failed to rename the user. Please make sure that the user is not logged in, you might need to restart."

reboot
    Save? y
    Begin? y

(try Rename User Account as demo, same thing)
Options>change auto login>Require password to login

reboot
    Save? y
    Begin? y

login as root
    menu>MX tools>User Manager
    "You seem to be logged in as root, please log out and log in as a normal user to use this program"

reboot
    Save? n

[trawglodyte]

I made a couple videos showing what I wound up with for a frugal install, including backing up and remastering. If anyone is interested.

part 1 - https://odysee.com/@trawg:3/2405121647:e
part 2 - https://odysee.com/@trawg:3/2405121700:0