Wednesday 5 April 2017

isorespin.sh Now With Mint and Cinnamon

UpdateThis work is superseded by my 'isorespin.sh' script which can respin an official ISO suitable for use on Intel Atom devices.


Besides Ubuntu and flavours you can now respin Linux Mint ISOs and if required update them with the latest Canonical build of an upstream kernel and boot them on Cherry Trail and Bay Trail devices with either a 32-bit bootloader or a 64-bit bootloader.

To respin an existing Linux Mint ISO you will need to use a Linux machine with 'squashfs-tools' and 'xorriso' installed (e.g. 'sudo apt install -y squashfs-tools xorriso') and a working internet connection with at least 10GB of free space. Having downloaded an ISO (for example 'linuxmint-18.1-cinnamon-64bit.iso' simply download my (latest version of the) script isorespin.sh and run with the ISO as a parameter (e.g. './isorespin.sh linuxmint-18.1-cinnamon-64bit.iso'). Or to respin and update the kernel include a '-u' or '--update' option (e.g. './isorespin.sh --update linuxmint-18.1-cinnamon-64bit.iso').

For wifi with the RTL8723BS chipset you can either download and run linuxium-install-rtl8723bs.sh which will build the wifi and bluetooth drivers from source but requires a working internet connection or you can download and run linuxium-install-rtl8723bs-binaries-for-4.11.0-rc5.sh which installs prebuilt binaries from the same source but does not require the internet (Update: see more recent posts). This second script only works for the Canonical built upstream kernel defined by the script name.

For wifi using Broadcom chipsets you can download and run linuxium-install-broadcom-drivers.sh which should get wifi and bluetooth working for most of the popular Broadcom chipsets.

The bluetooth service requires 'systemd' to be installed which should be by default on recent ISOs otherwise a manual configuration is required to run the service.

If you have a headphone jack you can update the UCM files once you have an internet connection by downloading and running linuxium-install-UCM-files.sh which provides audio for devices with the 5640 and 5640 chipsets.

For more detailed information see my post Running Ubuntu with an Upstream Kernel on Intel Bay and Cherry Trail Devices and don't forget to donate using the following link http://goo.gl/nXWSGf as everything helps with development costs.

30 comments:

Unknown said...


Hi, first of all thank you very much for sharing your great work! I want to ask you a question, I have a mini-notebook with atom Z3735f with W10 installed and I would like to keep it and I want to know if it is convenient to make a usb with persistence with one of your distributions or I should install ubuntu into a micro SD and boot from there (if this is possible).
Thank you in advance.

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for your work. I was wondering if you would respin the openelec so we could use it on the atom devices with all the fixes?

TabletToughGuy said...

Though its a little off topic here, I wonder if the newly released rc6 kernel will address the suspend problem with Chuwi tablets. From the list of fixes for rc6, do you see anything in there that might address the lack of suspend in Ubuntu on these tablet.

Suspend is a an essential feature of modern computing, so a lack of it is quite crippling. Audio and touch screen are nice but not necessary to get work done (unless of course its audio work).

Thank you for all of your good work made freely available.

Unknown said...

Is it possible to respin a Debian distro?

Unknown said...

Here is my feedback regarding this latest scripts:
- isorespin.sh - will make a regular Ubuntu flavor to boot on EFI32 Tablet, it will update the kernel so AXP288 will work, but audio even if it is supported in the kernel will not work
- linuxium-install-rtl8723bs.sh is not working, is complaining about missing r8723bs.ko (on copy), so tried on different iso, not working on none of them.
- linuxium-install-rtl8723bs-binaries-for-4.11.0-rc5.sh will solve the wi-fi but not the bluetooth

As for me is more important batery level than bluetooth I do the following install
- install a previously patched linuxium image like 16.04 Mate so I can have everything working except AXP288 battery level update
- install V4.11 Kernel so I can have AXP288 to update battery level, audio continue to function but not bluetooth and wi-fi
- apply linuxium-install-rtl8723bs-binaries-for-4.11.0-rc5.sh to solve wi-fi
so in this situation everything works except bluetooth ... if I need it, I boot with other kernel with does not update battery level

Unknown said...

linuxium-install-UCM-files.sh - will solve the audio on respin images, I was not realize this because the phrase start with "If you have a headphone jack", maybe removing that from beginning, and maybe moving that phrase up before wifi (as audio is a more basic computer feature than wi-fi witch come later in computer hardware) will make this obvious for other users.
Thanks,

"If you have a headphone jack you can update the UCM files once you have an internet connection by downloading and running linuxium-install-UCM-files.sh which provides audio for devices with the 5640 and 5640 chipsets."

Super909 said...


Linuxium or anyone else:

Have any of you tried kernel 4.11rc7 yet? I'm wondering if it will fix the suspend problem or any of the other outstanding tablet problems (audio, touch screen, proper screen rotation).

Unknown said...

I used the isorespin script to update the kernel for ubuntu mate and linux mint mate. After booting from the pendrive, I can see the desktop and do all sorts of things except the installer does not start. If I double click the install linux mint or install ubuntu icon, nothing happens. I tried to open ubiquity using terminal but get "pkexec must be setuid root".

I am using isorespin script on a live image. Could that be an issue?

Linuxium said...

I've just published a rewrite of my 'isorespin.sh' script and it now includes adding persistence ... see http://linuxiumcomau.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/creating-personalized-ubuntu-mint-and.html

Linuxium said...

Yes. Please take a look at my latest post http://linuxiumcomau.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/creating-personalized-ubuntu-mint-and.html

Linuxium said...

Please can you retry using the new version of the script posted on http://linuxiumcomau.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/creating-personalized-ubuntu-mint-and.html

Linuxium said...

My latest version of the script (see http://linuxiumcomau.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/creating-personalized-ubuntu-mint-and.html) now allows you to include the UCM script making it easier to install. For bluetooth you might need to use my 'linuxium-install-broadcom-drivers.sh' (see http://linuxiumcomau.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/running-ubuntu-with-upstream-kernel-on.html).

Linuxium said...

I believe they have some development builds specific to Atom devices which may meet your needs.

Linuxium said...

Unfortunately I don't own a tablet so I personally can't check these type of outstanding problems.

Unknown said...

Thanks!!

Bigrednurse said...

I am sorry to be so dumb but I am new to Linux and am having trouble understanding how to do this respin for my cherry trail neo z83-4. Did not know I would be wanting to convert to Linux when I bought it. First respining the iso produces a new iso, then you install it and run the scripts after booting the new iso????
More detailed instructions for us dummies would be appreciated. I have installed cinnamon and love it except for the issues.

Linuxium said...

Wifi doesn't work yet on the Neo Z83-4 yet however audio is possible. You should respin your ISO with the '-u' flag to get the latest kernel. After respinning the ISO you can boot the new ISO as a LiveUSB and use it to install from. Once installed you can download and run the 'linuxium-install-UCM-files.sh' script to complete the audio support.

However if besides the '-u' flag you also use the '-r' and '-s' flags to give persistence together with the '-a' flag to add the 'linuxium-install-UCM-files.sh' script when respinning you can use the resultant ISO as a LivingUSB which means that you can run the 'linuxium-install-UCM-files.sh' script on the USB and you should see their effect (if any) immediately. I say 'if any' as some devices have different audio chips that are still not supported so the script has no effect.

Unknown said...

Hi,
i have downloaded the script. its version 6.03.2. there is no option -a. is it the wrong version? thanks for help!

Linuxium said...

When I introduced the GUI to the script (see the later post) I had to change some of the option names. The old '-a' option is now the '-f' option and a '-h' option will show full usage.

Jacek.S said...

I can not run it. I'm tired of this all day and nothing. Can anyone share a ready iso linux mint file cinamon or lubuntu?

Linuxium said...

Why can you not run it? Have a read of 'http://linuxiumcomau.blogspot.com.au/2017/06/customizing-ubuntu-isos-documentation.html' for a more detailed explanation of how to use my script.

Jacek.S said...

The first start was successful. But the second time the terminal displays "Cannot create logfile 'isorespin.log'.".

Linuxium said...

That is because having run the script it created the log file 'isorespin.log'. Your next run won't start if the logfile is still present as you may need it. The same with a previously respun ISO if one exists it will not overwrite it for security reasons. Obviously if you don't need the earlier logfile you can remove it using 'rm isorespin.log'.

Rich said...

I receive the same response "Cannot create logfile 'isorespin.log'" but isorespin.log does not exist.

Linuxium said...

It looks like you do not have permission to create the logfile. Check by entering 'ls -ld .' from where you are running the script from and see if the directory is 'writable' by your user id.

Rich said...

That's probably it. The directory usr/local/bin belongs to root whereas I am logged in as user "rich". It is writable only to root. Is the solution to change the directory owner to "rich" or to use sudo -i to run as super user?

Rich said...

Correction: I used sudo and the script executed no problem! I used the -atom option and the dd command to put the iso on a usb but my lenovo ideapad 100S is not allowing me to select EFI device when I press Fn-F12 and get the boot menu. It only allows a Windows boot.

Linuxium said...

First don't change the ownership of '/usr/local/bin' but 'cd' to your home directory before running the script so that it can write the log file locally rather than in a system directory.

Then check your BIOS on your device and hopefully there should be an option to allow booting from USBs as likely this is currently not enabled.

Unknown said...

How to resolve ./isorespin.sh: Flag not specified for 'linuxmint-19-cinnamon-64bit.iso'?

Linuxium said...

That documentation might be old as you need to pass the '-i' option as in './isorespin.sh -i linuxmint-19-cinnamon-64bit.iso'. See https://linuxiumcomau.blogspot.com/2017/06/customizing-ubuntu-isos-documentation.html for detailed documentation.

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