ERROR: [Errno 2] grub-mkrescue failed to create the rescue image about grub2-theme-preview

[hartwork]

Hi @Lowrida , please try running…

grub2-theme-preview --plain-rescue-image --debug --verbose ./

…and share its output, for more context. Thank you!

[Lowrida]

INFO: Appending to fonts to load: unicode.pf2

>>> grub.cfg <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
loadfont $prefix/fonts/unicode.pf2
loadfont $prefix/themes/DEMO/unicode.pf2
insmod all_video
insmod gfxterm
insmod png
insmod tga
insmod jpeg

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  set have_grubenv=true
  load_env
fi
if [ "${initrdfail}" = 2 ]; then
   set initrdfail=
elif [ "${initrdfail}" = 1 ]; then
   set next_entry="${prev_entry}"
   set prev_entry=
   save_env prev_entry
   if [ "${next_entry}" ]; then
      set initrdfail=2
   fi
fi
if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
   set default="${next_entry}"
   set next_entry=
   save_env next_entry
   set boot_once=true
else
   set default="0"
fi

if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
  menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
  menuentry_id_option=""
fi

export menuentry_id_option

if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
  set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
    saved_entry="${chosen}"
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}
function initrdfail {
    if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -n "${partuuid}" ]; then
      if [ -z "${initrdfail}" ]; then
        set initrdfail=1
        if [ -n "${boot_once}" ]; then
          set prev_entry="${default}"
          save_env prev_entry
        fi
      fi
      save_env initrdfail
    fi; fi
}
function recordfail {
  set recordfail=1
  if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
function load_video {
  if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
    insmod all_video
  else
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod ieee1275_fb
    insmod vbe
    insmod vga
    insmod video_bochs
    insmod video_cirrus
  fi
}

insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root  922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
fi
if loadfont /grub/fonts/terminus16.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=auto
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
  set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
  set lang=nl_NL
  insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_gpt
insmod ext2
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root  922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
fi
insmod gfxmenu
loadfont ($root)/grub/themes/mint-msi/terminus14.pf2
loadfont ($root)/grub/themes/mint-msi/terminus16.pf2
loadfont ($root)/grub/themes/mint-msi/terminus18.pf2
insmod png
set theme=($root)/grub/themes/mint-msi/theme.txt
export theme
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ] ; then
  set timeout=30
else
  if [ x$feature_timeout_style = xy ] ; then
    set timeout_style=menu
    set timeout=15
  # Fallback normal timeout code in case the timeout_style feature is
  # unavailable.
  else
    set timeout=5
  fi
fi
play 480 440 1
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
function gfxmode {
	set gfxpayload="${1}"
	if [ "${1}" = "keep" ]; then
		set vt_handoff=vt.handoff=7
	else
		set vt_handoff=
	fi
}
if [ "${recordfail}" != 1 ]; then
  if [ -e ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt ]; then
    if [ ${grub_platform} != pc ]; then
      set linux_gfx_mode=keep
    elif hwmatch ${prefix}/gfxblacklist.txt 3; then
      if [ ${match} = 0 ]; then
        set linux_gfx_mode=keep
      else
        set linux_gfx_mode=text
      fi
    else
      set linux_gfx_mode=text
    fi
  else
    set linux_gfx_mode=keep
  fi
else
  set linux_gfx_mode=text
fi
export linux_gfx_mode
menuentry 'Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-5e739765-f8e9-478f-af0c-8321cef1ad7c' {
	recordfail
	load_video
	gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
	insmod gzio
	if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
	insmod part_gpt
	insmod ext2
	if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
	  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root  922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
	else
	  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
	fi
	linux	/vmlinuz-5.13.0-27-generic root=UUID=5e739765-f8e9-478f-af0c-8321cef1ad7c ro  nosplash
	initrd	/initrd.img-5.13.0-27-generic
}
submenu 'Geavanceerde opties voor Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-5e739765-f8e9-478f-af0c-8321cef1ad7c' {
	menuentry 'Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon, met Linux 5.13.0-27-generic' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.13.0-27-generic-advanced-5e739765-f8e9-478f-
		recordfail
		load_video
		gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
		insmod gzio
		if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root  922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		fi
		echo	'Laden van Linux 5.13.0-27-generic...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-5.13.0-27-generic root=UUID=5e739765-f8e9-478f-af0c-8321cef1ad7c ro  nosplash
		echo	'Laden van initiële RAM-schijf...'
		initrd	/initrd.img-5.13.0-27-generic
	}
	menuentry 'Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon, met Linux 5.13.0-27-generic (recovery mode)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.13.0-27-generic-recovery-5e7
		recordfail
		load_video
		insmod gzio
		if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root  922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		fi
		echo	'Laden van Linux 5.13.0-27-generic...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-5.13.0-27-generic root=UUID=5e739765-f8e9-478f-af0c-8321cef1ad7c ro recovery nomodeset dis_ucode_ldr 
		echo	'Laden van initiële RAM-schijf...'
		initrd	/initrd.img-5.13.0-27-generic
	}
	menuentry 'Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon, met Linux 5.13.0-25-generic' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.13.0-25-generic-advanced-5e739765-f8e9-478f-
		recordfail
		load_video
		gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
		insmod gzio
		if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root  922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		fi
		echo	'Laden van Linux 5.13.0-25-generic...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-5.13.0-25-generic root=UUID=5e739765-f8e9-478f-af0c-8321cef1ad7c ro  nosplash
		echo	'Laden van initiële RAM-schijf...'
		initrd	/initrd.img-5.13.0-25-generic
	}
	menuentry 'Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon, met Linux 5.13.0-25-generic (recovery mode)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.13.0-25-generic-recovery-5e7
		recordfail
		load_video
		insmod gzio
		if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root  922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		fi
		echo	'Laden van Linux 5.13.0-25-generic...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-5.13.0-25-generic root=UUID=5e739765-f8e9-478f-af0c-8321cef1ad7c ro recovery nomodeset dis_ucode_ldr 
		echo	'Laden van initiële RAM-schijf...'
		initrd	/initrd.img-5.13.0-25-generic
	}
	menuentry 'Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon, met Linux 5.13.0-23-generic' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.13.0-23-generic-advanced-5e739765-f8e9-478f-
		recordfail
		load_video
		gfxmode $linux_gfx_mode
		insmod gzio
		if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root  922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		fi
		echo	'Laden van Linux 5.13.0-23-generic...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-5.13.0-23-generic root=UUID=5e739765-f8e9-478f-af0c-8321cef1ad7c ro  nosplash
		echo	'Laden van initiële RAM-schijf...'
		initrd	/initrd.img-5.13.0-23-generic
	}
	menuentry 'Linux Mint 20.3 Cinnamon, met Linux 5.13.0-23-generic (recovery mode)' --class linuxmint --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-5.13.0-23-generic-recovery-5e7
		recordfail
		load_video
		insmod gzio
		if [ x$grub_platform = xxen ]; then insmod xzio; insmod lzopio; fi
		insmod part_gpt
		insmod ext2
		if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root  922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		else
		  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 922a1a96-2aac-4f14-87f0-a967678fe0fd
		fi
		echo	'Laden van Linux 5.13.0-23-generic...'
		linux	/vmlinuz-5.13.0-23-generic root=UUID=5e739765-f8e9-478f-af0c-8321cef1ad7c ro recovery nomodeset dis_ucode_ldr 
		echo	'Laden van initiële RAM-schijf...'
		initrd	/initrd.img-5.13.0-23-generic
	}
}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux_zfs ###
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux_zfs ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/35_fwupd ###
### END /etc/grub.d/35_fwupd ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
submenu "Live ISO's" --class kaos {
  menuentry "Mint 20.3 EDGE (5.13)  PERSISTENT" --class linuxmint {
    set gfxmode=auto
    insmod gfxterm
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod part_gpt
    terminal_output gfxterm
    set gfxpayload=keep
    set isofile="/images/linuxmint-20.3-cinnamon-64bit-edge-513.iso"
    loopback loop (hd4,gpt2)$isofile
    linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=$isofile noprompt noeject nosplash persistent
    initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
  }
  menuentry "Mint 20.3 EDGE (5.13)" --class linuxmint {
    set gfxmode=auto
    insmod gfxterm
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod part_gpt
    terminal_output gfxterm
    set gfxpayload=keep
    set isofile="/images/linuxmint-20.3-cinnamon-64bit-edge-513.iso"
    loopback loop (hd4,gpt2)$isofile
    linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=$isofile noprompt noeject nosplash
    initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
  }
  menuentry "Gparted live" --class steamos {
    set isofile="/images/gparted-live-1.1.0-8-amd64.iso"
    loopback loop $isofile
    linux (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live config union=overlay username=user components noswap noeject vga=788 ip=192.168.1.101 net.ifnames=0 toram=filesystem.squashfs findiso=$isofile
    initrd (loop)/live/initrd.img
  }
}### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f  ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
  source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/99_uefi-firmware ###
menuentry 'UEFI BIOS' $menuentry_id_option 'uefi-firmware' {
	fwsetup
}
### END /etc/grub.d/99_uefi-firmware ###

submenu 'Reboot / Shutdown' {
    menuentry Reboot { reboot }
    menuentry Shutdown { halt }
}

set default=0
set timeout=30
terminal_output gfxterm
set theme=$prefix/themes/DEMO/theme.txt
>>> grub.cfg <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

INFO: Found OVMF image at '/usr/share/OVMF/OVMF_CODE.fd'.
# grub-mkrescue --directory=/usr/lib/grub/x86_64-efi --xorriso xorriso --output /tmp/tmp8qs57tyh/grub2_theme_demo.img boot/grub/themes/DEMO/=/boot/grub
xorriso 1.5.2 : RockRidge filesystem manipulator, libburnia project.

Drive current: -outdev 'stdio:/tmp/tmp8qs57tyh/grub2_theme_demo.img'
Media current: stdio file, overwriteable
Media status : is blank
Media summary: 0 sessions, 0 data blocks, 0 data, 8186m free
Added to ISO image: directory '/'='/tmp/grub.kG30Ee'
xorriso : UPDATE :     289 files added in 1 seconds
libisofs: FAILURE : Access to file is not allowed
xorriso : FAILURE : Grafting failed:  '/boot/grub/themes/DEMO/fonts/Ubuntu-C-20.pf2' = '/boot/grub/fonts/Ubuntu-C-20.pf2'
xorriso : UPDATE :     777 files added in 1 seconds
xorriso : aborting : -abort_on 'FAILURE' encountered 'FAILURE'
grub-mkrescue: fout: `xorriso` invocation failed
.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/admin/.local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/grub2_theme_preview/__main__.py", line 479, in main
    _inner_main(options)
  File "/home/admin/.local/lib/python3.8/site-packages/grub2_theme_preview/__main__.py", line 447, in _inner_main
    raise OSError(errno.ENOENT, '%s failed to create the rescue image' % command)
FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] grub-mkrescue failed to create the rescue image
ERROR: [Errno 2] grub-mkrescue failed to create the rescue image

[Lowrida]

My /tmp is 8gb and after a reboot it is clean and if i use sudo then it only works 1 time.. after that it exceeds the /tmp capacity. How big is that image???
But i get a window with the grub prompt.. see screenshot.

[hartwork]

@Lowrida my grub2_theme_demo.img over here is about 8MB in size over here. All files from the folder passed as an argument will be included in that image. I used ./ above in grub2-theme-preview --plain-rescue-image --debug --verbose ./ for convenience only. If you folder was beyond 4 GB, that would explain.

So booting a rescue shell in QEMU works, good. Can you try again with a real theme? E.g. I would do grub2-theme-preview --debug --verbose /usr/share/grub/themes/Axiom/ and then study its output for clues.

[Lowrida]

Yes, it works! But there are a few things..

1. I get this error at the end:
   'qemu-system-x86_64: warning: host doesn't support requested feature: CPUID.80000001H:ECX.svm [bit 2]'

2. The quality of the background image is very poor in comparison when i do a real boot.

3. The progressbar image is not at the correct place.

[hartwork]

Yes, it works!

@Lowrida cool, thanks for reporting back!

But there are a few things..

1. I get this error at the end:
   'qemu-system-x86_64: warning: host doesn't support requested feature: CPUID.80000001H:ECX.svm [bit 2]'

Nothing to worry about to much, other than maybe performance. Two ideas:

• Try passing --no-kvm to grub2-theme-preview and see if it changes anything
• Try adding -cpu host inside the Python code and see if it changes anything.

2. The quality of the background image is very poor in comparison when i do a real boot.

Please check if passing a custom resolution a la --resolution=1024x768 gets you better image quality. What's the resolution of the related background image?

3. The progressbar image is not at the correct place.

I would need more info for any real chance on a idea why that would be happening. Can we rule out a bug in the theme?

PS: What is the current understanding of why grub2-theme-preview failed back when you first created this ticket? Was it because of theme folder size?

[Lowrida]

Passing --no-kvm did remove the error.
The resolution option did nothing. My resolution is 3440x1440 (ultra wide 34"), but i tried different resolutions.
Also i like qemu to start automatic in fullscreen, but i don't know how? What qemu program is started by your program?

I can send you the theme.txt or complete theme if you want? It is still in progress and i am working on the progressbar, but i got tired of rebooting every time, that's why i was searching for a preview tool.
But i had the top position and the left position already correct. I only needed to size the height and wide.. but i noticed in your preview tool it is at a complete different place!

Why i opened the ticket at first.. I don't know why that error appeared?
I don't think it was the theme folder size because i used the correct path before i opened the ticket. That size problem came after you paste your command to try and i 1 on 1 copy/paste it and therefor i was adding the complete root into the image instead of only the theme folder! My /tmp is a 8GB part of 32GB ram.. so i guess the complete root does not fit in /tmp! ;)

[Lowrida]

The theme as it is so far..

mint-msi.tar.gz

[hartwork]

Passing --no-kvm did remove the error.

@Lowrida cool, thanks for reporting back.

The resolution option did nothing.

I tried with your theme with a custom resolution and it worked over here, so it may have to do with the grub config you're using: What the argument does it is inserts a line like set gfxmode=1000x1000 into the grub config put into the rescue image. Maybe it's the not in the right place for your case. If you want to debug and fix that part together, my vote for a dedicated ticket.

Also i like qemu to start automatic in fullscreen, but i don't know how?

That's probably possible with QEMU somehow.

What qemu program is started by your program?

That depends on your hardware archtecture, see

grub2-theme-preview/grub2_theme_preview/__main__.py

Lines 326 to 328 in 5194569

	if options.qemu is None:
	import platform
	options.qemu = 'qemu-system-%s' % platform.machine()

I can send you the theme.txt or complete theme if you want? It is still in progress and i am working on the progressbar, but i got tired of rebooting every time, that's why i was searching for a preview tool. But i had the top position and the left position already correct. I only needed to size the height and wide.. but i noticed in your preview tool it is at a complete different place!

I'm afraid I cannot help with debugging at that level. I have lots of other things to do.

Why i opened the ticket at first.. I don't know why that error appeared? I don't think it was the theme folder size because i used the correct path before i opened the ticket. That size problem came after you paste your command to try and i 1 on 1 copy/paste it and therefor i was adding the complete root into the image instead of only the theme folder! My /tmp is a 8GB part of 32GB ram.. so i guess the complete root does not fit in /tmp! ;)

Okay, let me ask a different way: What is needed more in your eyes to fix and close issue "grub-mkrescue failed to create the rescue image"?

[Lowrida]

I tried with your theme with a custom resolution and it worked over here, so it may have to do with the grub config you're using: What the argument does it is inserts a line like set gfxmode=1000x1000 into the grub config put into the rescue image. Maybe it's the not in the right place for your case. If you want to debug and fix that part together, my vote for a dedicated ticket.

Ok, so i open a new ticket for this?

grub2-theme-preview/grub2_theme_preview/__main__.py

Lines 326 to 328 in 5194569

	if options.qemu is None:
	import platform
	options.qemu = 'qemu-system-%s' % platform.machine()

Ah ok, that's what i wanted to know, which program is used. I have multiple qemu-* files... and i know not enough about qemu to asume automatically what file is used. I see that --full-screen can be used with qemu. But how do you use your --qemu COMMAND ??
--qemu --full-screen
--qemu full-screen
--qemu=--full-screen
--qemu=full-screen
--qemu=-full-screen
--qemu -full-screen

They all don't work!

I can send you the theme.txt or complete theme if you want? It is still in progress and i am working on the progressbar, but i got tired of rebooting every time, that's why i was searching for a preview tool. But i had the top position and the left position already correct. I only needed to size the height and wide.. but i noticed in your preview tool it is at a complete different place!

I'm afraid I cannot help with debugging at that level. I have lots of other things to do.

Then your program is not useful for me, because i expected it to show all parts of a theme on the right place. What is the point then to continue?

Okay, let me ask a different way: What is needed more in your eyes to fix and close issue "grub-mkrescue failed to create the rescue image"?

Ah ok. In that case, this ticket can be closed, because the first problem is solved!

[hartwork]

I tried with your theme with a custom resolution and it worked over here, so it may have to do with the grub config you're using: What the argument does it is inserts a line like set gfxmode=1000x1000 into the grub config put into the rescue image. Maybe it's the not in the right place for your case. If you want to debug and fix that part together, my vote for a dedicated ticket.

Ok, so i open a new ticket for this?

If you you like and can help with debugging it or can share --debug output so we can see where the line goes for you, then yes.

grub2-theme-preview/grub2_theme_preview/__main__.py

Lines 326 to 328 in 5194569

	if options.qemu is None:
	import platform
	options.qemu = 'qemu-system-%s' % platform.machine()

Ah ok, that's what i wanted to know, which program is used. I have multiple qemu-* files... and i know not enough about qemu to asume automatically what file is used. I see that --full-screen can be used with qemu. But how do you use your --qemu COMMAND ?? --qemu --full-screen --qemu full-screen --qemu=--full-screen --qemu=full-screen --qemu=-full-screen --qemu -full-screen

They all don't work!

They don't, yes. From playing with full QEMU screen mode options over here now — e.g. display gtk,full-screen=on, I can tell it won't be easy and fun to use, probably a waste of time.

I can send you the theme.txt or complete theme if you want? It is still in progress and i am working on the progressbar, but i got tired of rebooting every time, that's why i was searching for a preview tool. But i had the top position and the left position already correct. I only needed to size the height and wide.. but i noticed in your preview tool it is at a complete different place!

I'm afraid I cannot help with debugging at that level. I have lots of other things to do.

Then your program is not useful for me, because i expected it to show all parts of a theme on the right place. What is the point then to continue?

I can fix bugs, but I cannot help everyone with their very theme. That doesn't scale.

Okay, let me ask a different way: What is needed more in your eyes to fix and close issue "grub-mkrescue failed to create the rescue image"?

Ah ok. In that case, this ticket can be closed, because the first problem is solved!

Excellent, thanks for the update.

[Lowrida]

Ok, so i open a new ticket for this?

If you you like and can help with debugging it or can share --debug output so we can see where the line goes for you, then yes.

No problem, i can do that

They don't, yes. From playing with full QEMU screen mode options over here now — e.g. display gtk,full-screen=on, I can tell it won't be easy and fun to use, probably a waste of time.

I don't understand what you try to tell here?
At the moment it opens in a window and the resolution is out of ratio. Too small, probably because of my widescreen monitor. When i choose the fullscreen option from the menu the resolution is correct! So i would like to start automatically in fullscreen mode. But i do not understand how to use your '--qemu COMMAND' to activate that --full-screen option of qemu??
(see screenshot of the ratio)

I'm afraid I cannot help with debugging at that level. I have lots of other things to do.

Then your program is not useful for me, because i expected it to show all parts of a theme on the right place. What is the point then to continue?

I can fix bugs, but I cannot help everyone with their very theme. That doesn't scale.

I do not need help with my theme. I can make my own theme, no problem with that! The problem is that your program does not show the objects at the right place! Because when i do a real boot, the objects are in the correct place on the screen! In the image they are not. So my conclusion is that the problem is not my theme, but somewere in your program, or qemu or whatever program is used... seems like a bug to me.
(see screenshot of blue progressbar placement)

[hartwork]

Ok, so i open a new ticket for this?

If you you like and can help with debugging it or can share --debug output so we can see where the line goes for you, then yes.

No problem, i can do that

@Lowrida thanks!

For anyone else interested: This is ticket #64.

They don't, yes. From playing with full QEMU screen mode options over here now — e.g. display gtk,full-screen=on, I can tell it won't be easy and fun to use, probably a waste of time.

I don't understand what you try to tell here? At the moment it opens in a window and the resolution is out of ratio. Too small, probably because of my widescreen monitor. When i choose the fullscreen option from the menu the resolution is correct! So i would like to start automatically in fullscreen mode. But i do not understand how to use your '--qemu COMMAND' to activate that --full-screen option of qemu?? (see screenshot of the ratio)

Okay, let me clarify. I was meaning to say that:

• The current option --qemu is not supposed to pass parameters through to QEMU, it's about command location.
• There are multiple ways to activate fullscreen mode from the command line with QEMU, so it would need a closer look and a "UX decision".
• QEMU fullscreen mode did not seem to be fun in my own experience, and hence maybe not worth closer investigation.

If you wanted to force grub2-theme-preview into passing -full-screen to QEMU, one way would be a wrapper script and using that with --qemu. The wrapper script would be:

#! /usr/bin/env bash
exec qemu-system-x86_64 -full-screen "$@"

I can elaborate on that approach if it's not clear but of interest.

I'm afraid I cannot help with debugging at that level. I have lots of other things to do.

Then your program is not useful for me, because i expected it to show all parts of a theme on the right place. What is the point then to continue?

I can fix bugs, but I cannot help everyone with their very theme. That doesn't scale.

I do not need help with my theme. I can make my own theme, no problem with that! The problem is that your program does not show the objects at the right place! Because when i do a real boot, the objects are in the correct place on the screen! In the image they are not. So my conclusion is that the problem is not my theme, but somewere in your program, or qemu or whatever program is used... seems like a bug to me. (see screenshot of blue progressbar placement)

My guess (without having had a closer look) is that the coordinates used to put the objects on the screen are depending on screen size or aspect ratio. If that's true, either (a) the fix to #64 should make this work for free or (b) the theme needs to use relative coordinates rather than absolute ones.

[Lowrida]

Okay, let me clarify. I was meaning to say that:

* The current option `--qemu` is not supposed to pass parameters through to QEMU, it's about command location.
* There are multiple ways to activate fullscreen mode from the command line with QEMU, so it would need a closer look and a "UX decision".
* QEMU fullscreen mode did not seem to be fun in my own experience, and hence maybe not worth closer investigation.

Not being rude, but that did not clarify things at all for me! ;)
What do you mean with "it's about command location" ?? Maybe you should expand the help section to clarify what the "--qemu COMMAND" exactly does. Because for me it looked like i could pass extra parameters to qemu. But command location doesn't ring a bell at what that means?

If you ask me, you could make a --fullscreen option in your program that passes the "-full-screen" to qemu. Seems to me that's a pretty simple solution.. in comparison to working with wrappers and aliases.

I don't know what system you use, but qemu in fullscreen mode gave me no troubles more then the windows mode gave me. It was just as laggy as in windows mode. (yes it is slow, but in both modes) But i don't care if it is slow or not! I don't need it to be snappy, i need it to preview my grubmenu, nothing more, nothing less!

My guess (without having had a closer look) is that the coordinates used to put the objects on the screen are depending on screen size or aspect ratio. If that's true, either (a) the fix to #64 should make this work for free or (b) the theme needs to use relative coordinates rather than absolute ones.

That is probably the problem. I use for most of the objects hard values for placement because percentage is way less accurate if it comes to the pixel! So with hard values and a corrupt aspect ratio of the screen size, the objects are placed wrong. But fullscreen mode would solve this problem i guess! ;)

[hartwork]

Okay, let me clarify. I was meaning to say that:

* The current option `--qemu` is not supposed to pass parameters through to QEMU, it's about command location.
* There are multiple ways to activate fullscreen mode from the command line with QEMU, so it would need a closer look and a "UX decision".
* QEMU fullscreen mode did not seem to be fun in my own experience, and hence maybe not worth closer investigation.

Not being rude, but that did not clarify things at all for me! ;) What do you mean with "it's about command location" ?? Maybe you should expand the help section to clarify what the "--qemu COMMAND" exactly does. Because for me it looked like i could pass extra parameters to qemu. But command location doesn't ring a bell at what that means?

qemu-system-x86_64 is a command. Variable $PATH is used to find that command as a file in the file system. In my case, /usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 is the location of the file that running command qemu-system-x86_64 will execute:

# which qemu-system-x86_64 
/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64

The help output is this:

# grub2-theme-preview --help | fgrep qemu | fgrep default
  --qemu COMMAND        KVM/QEMU command (default: qemu-system-<machine>)

If that's not clear, what else could we put the to be more clear?

If you ask me, you could make a --fullscreen option in your program that passes the "-full-screen" to qemu. Seems to me that's a pretty simple solution.. in comparison to working with wrappers and aliases.

It would be possible, but (1) so far I have not yet seen that work well locally and (2) it is not clear to me yet which of the displays support that mode.

[Lowrida]

qemu-system-x86_64 is a command. Variable $PATH is used to find that command as a file in the file system. In my case, /usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 is the location of the file that running command qemu-system-x86_64 will execute:

Ok, let me be clear.. i'm not a noob with linux or programming. I think the miss understandings here is that english is for both of us not our native language. That said.. "qemu-system-x86_64" is not a command, it is an executable! When you execute it, THAT is a command! You give the system the command to execute it.
I think there lies the miss understanding of what "--qemu COMMAND" means. That's why i thought it was a way to give qemu a command to go fullscreen or whatever option.
If your help would have said something like this:

--qemu <path/to/qemu> KVM/QEMU executable (default: qemu-system-)

It would have been way more clear to me that i could manipulate which program to start AND that i could use a script/wrapper to execute it with any parameter possible!

If you ask me, you could make a --fullscreen option in your program that passes the "-full-screen" to qemu. Seems to me that's a pretty simple solution.. in comparison to working with wrappers and aliases.

It would be possible, but (1) so far I have not yet seen that work well locally and (2) it is not clear to me yet which of the displays support that mode.

It works on my system.. why wouldn't it support any display? The option is IN qemu itself. I think fullscreen mode is nothing more then a maximized window without the frame/titlebar. I still can switch desktops, ALT-Tab lets me get other windows on top of it and my quake style terminal does also show on top of it!

[Lowrida]

I made a wrapper and started qemu with full screen.. well.. that brought some other problems with it!
I work with 2 monitors. The second one expands my desktop and if i start full screen from the prompt, the output expands the primary screen. So it uses the resolution of the 2 displays combined, but only shows the part of the primary screen... hope that explains it? Changing resolutions in the custom grub has no influence.
When i start in window mode and then go to fullscreen, it acts normal and uses only the complete size of the primary monitor.
So fullscreen from the window or the command prompt are two different things i guess...........

That whole fullscreen thing wouldn't even be necessary if resizing the window would also resize the grub menu. Because then i would double-click the titlebar to maximize the window and i get my aspect ratio of the screen, but that does not work!
I made a custom grub and changed the gfxmode=auto to a resolution, but that also does not change the size of the window.

Seems it is not going to work on a wide screen... :/

[hartwork]

qemu-system-x86_64 is a command. Variable $PATH is used to find that command as a file in the file system. In my case, /usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 is the location of the file that running command qemu-system-x86_64 will execute:

Ok, let me be clear.. i'm not a noob with linux or programming. I think the miss understandings here is that english is for both of us not our native language. That said.. "qemu-system-x86_64" is not a command, it is an executable! When you execute it, THAT is a command! You give the system the command to execute it. I think there lies the miss understanding of what "--qemu COMMAND" means. That's why i thought it was a way to give qemu a command to go fullscreen or whatever option. If your help would have said something like this:

--qemu <path/to/qemu> KVM/QEMU executable (default: qemu-system-)

It would have been way more clear to me that i could manipulate which program to start AND that i could use a script/wrapper to execute it with any parameter possible!

I understand that term "command" does not communicate that it cannot be more than "a single word", i.e. that it cannot have arguments. However, the value from --qemo will be resolved using $PATH so the term "executable" — which I assume is short for "executable file" — does not seem to tell the whole story. My use of term "command" is in line with man bash and man which from what I can see.

If you ask me, you could make a --fullscreen option in your program that passes the "-full-screen" to qemu. Seems to me that's a pretty simple solution.. in comparison to working with wrappers and aliases.

It would be possible, but (1) so far I have not yet seen that work well locally and (2) it is not clear to me yet which of the displays support that mode.

It works on my system.. why wouldn't it support any display? The option is IN qemu itself. I think fullscreen mode is nothing more then a maximized window without the frame/titlebar. I still can switch desktops, ALT-Tab lets me get other windows on top of it and my quake style terminal does also show on top of it!

There are QEMU displays other than sdl and gtk, e.g. on my system:

# qemu-system-x86_64 -display help
Available display backend types:
none
gtk
sdl
egl-headless
curses

Maybe we can expect the user to not combine non-window displays with fullscreen mode.

I tried -full-screen with QEMU with both the SDL display and the GTK display now, and it does show a fullscreen QEMU (that is hard to get out of). When using it from inside grub2-theme-preview though, the graphics do not seem to fit the actual resolution, they are much bigger, not sure why. So if it happens to look good on your machine, it doesn't on mine. That's why I'm reluctant to add it for everyone. And for the hard-to-get out of part.

[hartwork]

So fullscreen from the window or the command prompt are two different things i guess...........

@Lowrida that's good to know.

That whole fullscreen thing wouldn't even be necessary if resizing the window would also resize the grub menu. Because then i would double-click the titlebar to maximize the window and i get my aspect ratio of the screen, but that does not work!

I think it's because there's a screen in there. I'm not surprised that resize works this way.

I made a custom grub and changed the gfxmode=auto to a resolution, but that also does not change the size of the window.

Are you sure that there is not a single set gfxmode=auto left in the result? Could you try with PR #65 please? If it doesn't fix the problem, I can close the PR. That's all I made it for.

Seems it is not going to work on a wide screen... :/

Maybe it's got to do with the size of your resolution. I only have 1920x1080 here. Maybe QEMU needs to be convinced to use a emulate a non-default graphics card. E.g. there is a -vga <card> argument.

[Lowrida]

I just tried different display options, but that didn't work.. no support for sdl. Only gtk works. It tried it with gl=on but then i get fullscreen but with the wrong (small) aspect ratio again. Like in window mode.
So display is not the problem.

That whole fullscreen thing wouldn't even be necessary if resizing the window would also resize the grub menu. Because then i would double-click the titlebar to maximize the window and i get my aspect ratio of the screen, but that does not work!

I think it's because there's a screen in there. I'm not surprised that resize works this way.

Mmh.. could be indeed. But i noticed something else. When the first message pops up "Guest has not initialized display (yet)." All is nicely centered an correct resolution. Then the next screen comes in with some errors about disk something and the resolution jumps out of proportion!
I tried to make screenshots, but on the screenshots all is ok! wtf?

I made a custom grub and changed the gfxmode=auto to a resolution, but that also does not change the size of the window.

Are you sure that there is not a single set gfxmode=auto left in the result? Could you try with PR #65 please? If it doesn't fix the problem, I can close the PR. That's all I made it for.

I could try, but from what i understand it fixes the extra "set gfxmode=auto" bug. I manually fixed that with the custom grub config. I removed ALL the "set gfxmode=" and placed only one at the top of the config. So i don't think it will do anything helpful at this moment. But overall it should fix that bug in your program, so it is not bad to implement it.

Seems it is not going to work on a wide screen... :/

Maybe it's got to do with the size of your resolution. I only have 1920x1080 here. Maybe QEMU needs to be convinced to use a emulate a non-default graphics card. E.g. there is a -vga <card> argument.

Whoop-dee-hooo, "-vga virtio" did the trick! :)

[Lowrida]

Debug says it copies the standard grub.cfg to the IMG.. but i point your program to a custom grub config...??

Added to ISO image: file '/boot/grub/grub.cfg'='/tmp/tmpi_nijp0l/grub.cfg'

But i use this cmd to start:
grub2-theme-preview --debug --verbose --resolution=800x600 --qemu /usr/bin/qemu-fullscreen.sh --timeout=10 --grub-cfg /boot/grub/themes/mint-msi/customgrub.cfg --no-kvm "$PWD"
($PWD = i start it from within the theme directory)

But when i open the IMG it does contain my custom grub! So maybe there is a bug in the debug output of that line?

(btw, that resolution was just for testing purpose, but it does nothing)

[hartwork]

Debug says it copies the standard grub.cfg to the IMG.. but i point your program to a custom grub config...??

Added to ISO image: file '/boot/grub/grub.cfg'='/tmp/tmpi_nijp0l/grub.cfg'

But i use this cmd to start: grub2-theme-preview --debug --verbose --resolution=800x600 --qemu /usr/bin/qemu-fullscreen.sh --timeout=10 --grub-cfg /boot/grub/themes/mint-msi/customgrub.cfg --no-kvm "$PWD" ($PWD = i start it from within the theme directory)

But when i open the IMG it does contain my custom grub! So maybe there is a bug in the debug output of that line?

In the output line the left side is the target in the image (/boot/grub/grub.cfg) and the right side is the source on the host system (/tmp/tmpi_nijp0l/grub.cfg). So it seems correct.

Whoop-dee-hooo, "-vga virtio" did the trick! :)

Could elaborate? What is now working that previously didn't work?

[Lowrida]

Fullscreen mode with everything working and correct aspect ratio of screen size!
The only strange thing is the progressbar.. even with all values in percentages it still does not show 100% on the correct place in comparison with a real boot, but now it's only a few pixels off. I did some real reboots to place it correct.. But all the rest is working great!
So i finally have fabricated a working ultra widescreen grub theme with normal font size and correct aspect ratio! ;)

• I made a customgrub.cfg with some "set gfxmode=" corrections.

• I made a /usr/bin/qemu-fullscreen.sh that contains the following lines:
  #!/bin/bash exec qemu-system-x86_64 -display gtk -vga virtio -full-screen "$@"

• And i made a preview-theme.sh with the following lines:
  #!/bin/bash db="--debug --verbose" grub2-theme-preview $db --qemu /usr/bin/qemu-fullscreen.sh --timeout=10 --grub-cfg $PWD/customgrub.cfg --no-kvm "$PWD"

If i copy the 'customgrub.cfg' and 'preview-theme.sh' to a theme folder i can't test it from there.

[Lowrida]

...and btw, this page sucks with their code tags!

[hartwork]

@Lowrida code blocks need…

three backticks
content
...
three backticks

You're using single ticks above, which is for single-line inline code. That's rather strong language for a feature as useful as those tags 😃

If grub2-theme-preview had two more options --vga-driver <value> and --full-screen you would not need /usr/bin/qemu-fullscreen.sh but you would need to pass those parameters, either directly or throuh a shell alias a la alias grub2-theme-preview='grub2-theme-preview --vga-driver virtio --full-screen'. If that makes a difference to you, I can add those two options. If not, we can also not add them and keep the script.

[Lowrida]

About the backticks, i click on the "add code" button in the edit window, so i asume that would be enough to add code. Nowere does it say that single backticks are for one liners and tripple for big text!? But nice to know that it works with tripple...
Just testing:

#!/bin/bash
exec /home/foo/bar/script.sh
clear

Well.. waddayaknow, it works! ;)

I prefer these options in your program rather than having to deal with wrappers or aliases!

[hartwork]

I prefer these options in your program rather than having to deal with wrappers or aliases!

@Lowrida done in PR #67, released to PyPI as 2.7.0 just now.