PopOs 22.04 custom iso works like a charm but the install fails.

[tacogerbil]

Describe the bug

After installing a few apps (Edge, inTune, Amazon Workspaces) and basic gnome theme additions.. I create the iso with no other alterations. I read that 22.04 ubuntu based can't use preseeds (It'll fail) so I've been looking for a way to auto install... so I haven't touched anything else yet. Once i have the image created I use Ventoy and boot up (also directly burning the image, ventoy is faster for testing though). Once on the Desktop I have to look for the installer, activate it and perform the install. I'm not that familiar with the required partitions so I always do an automatic install.

To Reproduce Create an iso with something that will increase it's size vs the recover partition size?

Steps to reproduce the behavior. Install apps and create the iso, then install it. Expected behavior

A clear and concise description of what you expected to happen. For whatever voodoo magic Cubic is doing in order to create the bootable media to also take this into account? or skip the recovery partition? I'm not all too familiar with the black magic used here for this awesome app... I'm learning, I just wish I could tell you more 😎 OS Information (please complete the following information):

• OS/Distro Name: [e.g. Ubuntu, Mint, Kubuntu] PopOs
• OS Version [e.g. Ubuntu 21.10] 22.04 LTS (Not the Nvidia release)

Cubic Information (please complete the following information):

• Cubic Version: [e.g. 2021.12.67 from the About dialog, or 2021.12-67-release from dpkg -l]
• 2024.02.86
• ISO Customizing: [e.g. ubuntu-21.10-desktop-amd64.iso] pop-os_22.04_amd64_intel_41.iso
• Download Link: The download link for the ISO you are customizing https://iso.pop-os.org/22.04/amd64/intel/41/pop-os_22.04_amd64_intel_41.iso

Cubic Log: Cubiclog.txt

Cut and paste the log after running cubic --verbose from the command line

Screenshots If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Once it gets to the creation of the recovery partition it fails. This is the log and some screenshots. installer.log The Error/failure

The Partitions as created by the installer

I used GParted to increase the size of the Recovery partition after choosing the option to try the Installation AGAIN, this time choosing the MANUAL method as the partitions were already created on the first failed run (The "Modify Partitions" option).

It completes!!!

[PJ-Singh-001]

Does this happen with an unmodified Pop_OS! ISO?

[PJ-Singh-001]

Tested pop-os_22.04_amd64_intel_42.iso in VirtualBox using Cubic "Experimental" version 2024.08-37-experimental.

I get the following error about the installer not being able to unmount a partition in /media/pop-os/....

[PJ-Singh-001]

@tacogerbil,

I used the partition tool available within the installer to delete the existing partitions and create a new empty partition. Then I selected the "Retry Install" option, and chose the "Erase all" option.

Pop!_OS installed without issue.

Based on this, I suspect the issue I had encountered during testing was due to Pop!_OS, and not Cubic.

Nevertheless, the new version of Cubic likely fixes the problem you had encountered, and it should be released within a few weeks.

If you would like to preview the new release, you can install it as follows. If you choose to try the "experimental" version, you should create a new Cubic project to benefit from the fixes / enhancements.

# Remove release version 2024.02.86 of Cubic.
sudo apt autoremove --purge cubic

# Optionally make sure there are no old files left by apt.
sudo rm -rf /usr/share/cubic

# Remove the Cubic "Release" repository.
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:cubic-wizard/release

# Add the Cubic "Experimental" repository.
sudo apt-add-repository universe
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:cubic-wizard/experimental
sudo apt update

# Install an EXPERIMENTAL version of Cubic.
sudo apt install --no-install-recommends cubic

[tacogerbil]

@tacogerbil,

I used the partition tool available within the installer to delete the existing partitions and create a new empty partition. Then I selected the "Retry Install" option, and chose the "Erase all" option.

Pop!_OS installed without issue.

Based on this, I suspect the issue I had encountered during testing was due to Pop!_OS, and not Cubic.

Nevertheless, the new version of Cubic likely fixes the problem you had encountered, and it should be released within a few weeks.

If you would like to preview the new release, you can install it as follows. If you choose to try the "experimental" version, you should create a new Cubic project to benefit from the fixes / enhancements.

# Remove release version 2024.02.86 of Cubic.
sudo apt autoremove --purge cubic

# Optionally make sure there are no old files left by apt.
sudo rm -rf /usr/share/cubic

# Remove the Cubic "Release" repository.
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:cubic-wizard/release

# Add the Cubic "Experimental" repository.
sudo apt-add-repository universe
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:cubic-wizard/experimental
sudo apt update

# Install an EXPERIMENTAL version of Cubic.
sudo apt install --no-install-recommends cubic

Hello :) The main issue for the ticket was that the intent of using Cubic was to create a standalone install that doesn not require the user to touch anything. I was hoping to use it to automate the process of imaging computers without user interaction. In the current method if the contents of the base iso image is increased by adding additional software, the recovery partition causes the install to fail because the recovery image seems to be preconfigured for a specific size (of the original iso) so it's smaller than it needs to be with the added software. You have to manually interact with the partition editor in order to enlarge it so that the installer can use the partition. The more I think about it it seems it's more Pop than Cubic, forcing a recovery partiton to be made. If tehre was a way to disable the recovery partition if you use Cubic.. it would probably fix the whole thing. I'm still trying to learn enough about this to find a way to do that.