creating a multi boot dvd

[yancek]

The first problem I see with your choices is that several are Ubuntu derivatives. The main file which needs to be in the root of the filesystem is called casper so that if you installed each you would have 4-5 casper directories! I haven't really worked with any Ubuntu derivatives but vaguely recall reading about people who had done this at the Ubuntu forum. I'll see if I can find a link.

The first step is to get the iso images which I assume you already have?
For convenience sake, I would put them in the same directory, /mnt would be good.
The next step would be to create a directory to mount each iso to, again for convenience sake, I did this in /mnt. So "mkdir /mnt/mepis" to create the mepis directory. Then you mount as loop using the command in my earlier post. You would of course need to be in the /mnt directory:

mount -o loop MEPIS.!!!.iso mepis

Obviously need the exact name of the mepis.iso. You should then see the mepis directories/files in the /mnt/mepis directory. You will need a main directory in which to put all of the directories/files from the different distros and be able to modify some files. I put them in an isoimage directory in /home/user and they should then be writeable. Check to be certain to save time.

You do this same process for each distribution. When you have copied the directories and files to the /home/user/isoimages directory, go back to the /mnt directory and unmount which ever iso you had just mounted (not really necessary if you have a very large drive)

The thing to watch for here is not to copy directories/files with the same name. All the Ubuntu derivatives I have seen have the main filesystem directory name "casper" so you will need to find a way around that. You might try /ubuntu/casper/, /mint/casper? Don't know if that will work?

Next mount as loop opensuse in the same manner as mepis above and copy the directories/files to the /home/user/isoimages directory. There should be no conflicts.

You should be able to do the same for Ubuntu/Mint or whichever system you want. I've never used easypeasy, zorin, peppermint or ylmf so I can't give you any specifics on them. Are they also Ubuntu derivatives?

After you have your directories and files in the root, you will need to make a single iso image. You will first need to decide how to boot, isolinux or grub, as the command to create the iso is different.

I'll see if I can find anything about multi-booting the Ubuntus.

[MASONTX]

Yes, everything except openSuse and Mepis are ubuntu derivatives, and Mepis is debian based.

[yancek]

It should be pretty easy to put Opensuse, Mepis and one of the Ubuntus on a DVD.

I did some googling yesterday and thought I found a site where multi-Ubuntus worked using the method I suggested in my last post (/ubuntu/casper, /kubuntu/casper and so on) but in reading to the end of that post found that it did not work for him.

If I find anything that works multi-boot Ubuntus, I'll post it.

[MASONTX]

Thank you !

I am a complete newbie at command line. The few times I have tried anything other than an exact copy of someones post, I wound up going in circles without getting anywhere or going off on a tangent and getting completely lost.

[yancek]

You're welcome.
Did you get a DVD put together?

[MASONTX]

Not yet, the real world (as opposed to my time to play with linux) has claimed most of my time the last few days. I barely had time to check e-mails.

[rokytnji]

Just in case you may be interested MasonTX

Ubuntu 4 You: Great News For 20 in 1 Multiboot DVD

[MASONTX]

Thanks for the links to Taz blog. I followed his links about how to create a mult-boot dvd, but if I said I understood even 10% of it, I would probably be called a liar. I can see I have a lot to learn before I attempt a project like this. On the other hand, a project like this would make me learn a lot. It's all going to boil down to how much free time I have to spend on it.

[yancek]

Thought that link might be something helpful for multiple Ubuntus, but looking at his menu, there is only one Ubuntu derivative on it: Linux Mint. This can be pretty time-consuming, especially the first time but if you go through the process with one distro at a time it will get easier as the step are the same for each distribution, just different file names.