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Support/Howto

Features

An easy way to test out the brand new amaroK 1.3 without having to go through the hassle of installing it.
A way to explore the latest KDE (3.4.2) with no compiling necessary!
The best way to convert your friends to linux - once they see amaroK, there is no going back.
A fully-functional, KDE-based, linux livecd in its own right.

How To Remaster (the easy way)

If you want to create your own amaroK livecd, with your own music on it, there are 3 basic ways that it can be done. The first way, and the most complex, requires a separate partition to extract the cd to. You can then boot into it and install/remove programs as well as files. The second way uses a pair of scripts that can be run from the command line, that do not require any spare partitions. The last, and easiest, way, is using the amaroK script amarok_live (which wraps the two command line scripts). All three have their pros/cons;

Method 1 (installing to partition)

Pros:

Most flexible of all. You can add programs, users, anything. You could even update amarok or KDE then create an iso.
You have the most control over how the music that you add is integrated into amaroK. You can specify the names of playlists that you transfer (not possible any other way).

Cons:

Requires a spare partition of about 2 GB.
Takes a large amount of time, need to install the livecd on the partition.
Most steps = easiest to go wrong.

Method 2 (using scripts manually)

Pros:

Best for command-line oriented users.
Fastest, from first run of first script to finished iso.
Does not require amaroK to be running. (does require KDE)

Cons:

Not as user-friendly as the amarok_live script.
Transferring playlists possible, but requires more work than the amarok_live script.
No automated cleaning (e.g. if you clear the cd from the amarok_live script konqueror does not open at startup anymore)

Method 3 (amarok_live script)

Pros:

Easiest way by far - completely GUI-driven and very user-friendly.
No shell knowledge needed.
Playlists can be transferred with no hassle (name will be chosen randomly)
Extra features like clearing the cd.

Cons:

Requires amaroK to be running.
A little slower than running the standalone scripts (why? no one knows)

Remastering

Method 1 will not be covered here, you can follow the instructions at http://amarok.kde.org/wiki/index.php/AmaroK_Live#How_To_Remaster.

General System Requirements:

A kernel that supports the squashfs file system (see How to enable Squashfs Support *LINK HERE*)
The squashfs-tools package
cdrtools (for mkisofs)
1.5GB of free space

You will also need the amaroK live cd, version 1.3. You can get that here:

LINK TO BE ADDED

Method 2: using the standalone scripts

First, you will need to get the scripts themselves. They are available here:

http://websvn.kde.org/*checkout*/trunk/extragear/multimedia/amarok/src/scripts/amarok_live/standalone/amarok.live.remaster.part1.sh http://websvn.kde.org/*checkout*/trunk/extragear/multimedia/amarok/src/scripts/amarok_live/standalone/amarok.live.remaster.part2.sh

Once you have all the required files, either make sure that you are root or prefix all the following commands with "sudo". Step one - run

./amarok.live.remaster.part1.sh

This will ask you various questions, and then proceed to unpack the livecd so you can add your music. The script includes full directions on what to do.

Once the music you want is in $WORK/amarok.live/music/, run

./amarok.live.remaster.part2.sh

This will create a amaroK.live.custom.iso with your music on it. Enjoy!

Method 3: amarok_live script

Additional system requirements:

Python 2.2
PyQt
K3b (optional) for automatic burning

Open amaroK, and start the amarok_live script (bundled with amaroK). If this is your first time using the script, click Configure. It will ask a bunch of questions, and then proceed to prepare the livecd for remastering. Once it reports that it is done (it may take a long time) you can add music. To add songs, select the songs that you want to add and use the right click menu to choose the right option. Add Selected simply adds the songs, while Add Playlist creates a new playlist on the livecd as well. Clear CD will erase all music on the cd, as well as stopping konqueror from opening on login.

Once you are done, select Remaster Livecd, and wait while your iso is created. If you wish to create more cds, you can select not to remove the temporary dirs created, and avoid having to go through the Configure step before creating your next one. On the other hand, if you want to free 1.5 gb of space back, you can safely erase the work directories.

How to enable Squashfs support

If your kernel does not come with squashfs support patched into the kernel (gentoo-sources does) you will need to patch your own kernel manually. First, get the patch itself:

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=63835

Find the correct patch for your kernel (for kernels >2.6.9, just use the 2.6.9 patch). Move the file squashfs2.1-patch to your kernel source directory (usually /usr/src/linux). Run

patch -p1 < squashfs2.1-patch

Now, run

make menuconfig

Or, if you prefer,

make xconfig (requires Qt)

Navigate to File Systems -> Miscellaneous Filesystems and select Squashfs 2.1 (either as a module or built in). If you enabled it as a module, all that you need to do is run

make modules modules_install

and you are finished.

If you built it in, you will have to recompile your kernel:

make bzImage

and then copy to your boot partition and reboot.