Cubic

Cubic error: Unable to create the customized disk image using pre-release ISO

Asked by Jags Desai

I'm getting this error while Cubic tries to "Generate the customized disk image", both from GUI and terminal.

Error: Unable to create the customized disk image

I tried to find logs inside /var/log/ and project directory but couldn't find any.

Host OS: Ubuntu MATE Focal 20.04 64-bit

Cubic version: 2020.7-29-release~202007142249~ubuntu20.04.1

ISO I'm trying to customize: Ubuntu MATE Groovy 20.10 Aug 24, 2020 64-bit

Below is the output from terminal:

````
  • The message is......................... xorriso 1.5.2 : RockRidge filesystem
                                            manipulator, libburnia project.
                                            Drive current: -outdev 'stdio:/home/
                                            admn/Downloads/Cubic2/groovy-
                                            desktop-amd64-2020.08.24.iso' Media
                                            current: stdio file, overwriteable
                                            Media status : is blank Media
                                            summary: 0 sessions, 0 data blocks,
                                            0 data, 68.7g free xorriso : WARNING
                                            : -volid text problematic as
                                            automatic mount point name xorriso :
                                            WARNING : -volid text does not
                                            comply to ISO 9660 / ECMA 119 rules
                                            xorriso : NOTE : -as mkisofs:
                                            Ignored option '-cache-inodes' Added
                                            to ISO image: directory '/'='/home/a
                                            dmn/Downloads/Cubic2/custom-disk'
                                            xorriso : UPDATE : 893 files
                                            added in 1 seconds xorriso : FAILURE
                                            : Cannot find in ISO image:
                                            -boot_image ...
                                            bin_path='/isolinux/isolinux.bin'
                                            xorriso : UPDATE : 893 files
                                            added in 1 seconds xorriso :
                                            aborting : -abort_on 'FAILURE'
                                            encountered 'FAILURE'
````
(See https://bugs.launchpad.net/cubic/+bug/1892752 for the full output).

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This question was originally filed as bug #1892752.

Revision history for this message
Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard) said : 		#1

Converting this bug report into a question, since it isn't a bug in the software.

Revision history for this message
Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard) said : 		#2

Reference Bug #1892752

The issue is that the Daily MATE iso you are using does not have the correct files yet.
This often happens while a release is still in development.
Usually, the last thing they work on is making the release into a bootable / usable live iso.

Revision history for this message
Best Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard) said : 		#3

(1)
Download the new / future / daily ISO:

    "groovy-desktop-amd64.iso" (for example)

Also, download the current *release* ISO:

    "focal-desktop-amd64.iso" (for example)

(2)
On the Start page, create a new project in Cubic.

(3)
Click the Next button to navigate to the Project page.

For the Filename, select "groovy-desktop-amd64.iso" (the new / future / daily ISO).

(4)
Click the Next button to navigate to the Extract page.

(5)
You will see two progress bars as
    (a) the Linux filesystem is extracted, and
    (b) important files from the ISO are copied
Once this completes, you will automatically be taken to the Terminal page.

(6)
On the Terminal page, verify the OS version.

    root@cubic:~# uname -r
    5.4.0-42-generic

    root@cubic:~# lsb_release --all
    No LSB modules are available.
    Distributor ID: Ubuntu
    Description: Ubuntu Groovy Gorilla (development branch)
    Release: 20.10
    Codename: groovy

Note that the kernel version will reflect the kernel your are running on your host machine. The OS version will be 20.10 or "Groovy" (the new / future / daily ISO).

Outside of Cubic, if you check the contents of <Your Cubic Project>/custom-disk/, you will notice that there is no isolinux folder:

    $ ls -1 <Your Cubic Project>/custom-disk/
    boot
    boot.catalog
    casper
    dists
    install
    pics
    pool
    preseed
    README.diskdefines
    ubuntu

(7)
Here's the trick!!...

Click the Back button to navigate to the Project page (again).

For the Filename, select "focal-desktop-amd64.iso" (the the current *release* ISO).

You will notice that the

(8)

Click the "Undo changes to the custom ISO values" button in the header bar (it is just next to the Back button).
This will simply revert the ~values~ in the right "Custom ISO..." side of the Project page, so they reference the previous "Groovy" values instead of "Focal". You can change these to whatever you want.

Click the Next button.

(9)
You will see one progress bar (same as part b of step 5), as
    (b) important files from the ISO are copied

Once this completes, you will automatically be taken to the Terminal page.

(10)
On the Terminal page, verify the OS version has *not* changed.

    root@cubic:~# uname -r
    5.4.0-42-generic

    root@cubic:~# lsb_release --all
    No LSB modules are available.
    Distributor ID: Ubuntu
    Description: Ubuntu Groovy Gorilla (development branch)
    Release: 20.10
    Codename: groovy

Note that the kernel version will reflect the kernel your are running on your host machine. The OS version will ~still~ be 20.10 or "Groovy" (the new / future / daily ISO) and not 20.04, because your OS customizations were ~not~ overwritten!

Outside of Cubic, if you check the contents of <Your Cubic Project>/custom-disk/, you will notice that there is now an ~isolinux~ folder. This was actually copied from the "focal-desktop-amd64.iso"

    $ ls -1 /mnt/ram/Ubuntu/custom-disk
    boot
    casper
    dists
    EFI
    install
    isolinux
    pics
    pool
    preseed
    README.diskdefines
    ubuntu

(11)
Customize your OS as you would like.
On the Generate page, the customized ISO should generate successfully.

Revision history for this message
Jags Desai (jagsdesai) said : 		#4

Thanks Cubic PPA, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
Steve Heckman (steve-heckman) said : 		#5

Hi. Love the tool BTW.

I'm getting the same error but when trying to modify a modified ISO.

Is that possible? Or do I always have to start with an official release ISO?

Revision history for this message
Cubic PPA (cubic-wizard) said : 		#6

Steve,

You should be able to customize an ISO you had previously created using Cubic. (Although, the original customized ISO shouldn't have the problem described in in this Question, if it were successfully generated using Cubic).

Note that best approach to customizing/updating your previous work is to keep your old Cubic project, and just re-open it in Cubic.

However, this may not be practical, especially considering the disk space requirements and the time-lag between distro releases.

In a situation where you do not have your original Cubic project, create a new Project in Cubic, then simply select your previously customized *.iso file on Cubic's project page.

Then, if you are having the same problem described in this Question, follow the steps in Comment #3.