problems building LXF71 Centos ISO images in Windows

[allanric]

Ran the winmkiso script as per the instructions, and it produced the first ISO image - eventually. It took about an hour! I have used jigdo in the past, and I don't remember it being that slow. I finally stopped the script when it had built the first image, and was then scanning all the help files on the DVD for some reason.

Have I done something wrong? Is there a way to speed it up?

regards

allanric

[nelz]

jigdo on Linux seems slow, until you try it on Windows

[M-Saunders]

Hrm, it should avoid scanning the Help files... Still, it'll make the discs, just take a while depending on the speed of your DVD drive and system as a whole.

Mike

[nelz]

It will scan each directory given on the command lines in the winmkiso script, or the whole DVD if there are none.

I was sent the CD issue again this month, so I can't look at the script

[M-Saunders]

Yes, I set it to just scan the CentOS files originally, but evidently it scanned everything in the rebuild. So it'll take longer, but that's all the more reason to read HotPicks while waiting

M

[allanric]

Thanks for the responses guys, but it is a bit poor to say that you just have to wait. The build time is comparable to the download time, so not much point having it on the disk in the first place.

Why use jigdo at all?

[M-Saunders]

Why use jigdo at all?

If you're on dialup, it'll save you an incalculable amount of time downloading -- eg X mins to build the ISOs rather than several days to download them.

I've just checked the winmkiso script here, and it took around 25 mins extra to scan the non-CentOS files (such as all the Help ones as you pointed out). Basically it shouldn't do that -- it should scan just the CentOS files, completing in about half the time.

So apologies for it being a bit slow -- I'll make sure it scans only the directories required in future. Hope you enjoy the discs anyway!

Mike

[allanric]

Thanks Mike. Question is though (not in grumbling mode now), what actually is the benefit of using jigdo on a cover disk? Why not just stick the assembled ISO image on there and be done with it?

[Nigel]

Think I can answer this one... if they just put the ISOs on the DVD, you wouldn't be able to install direct from the DVD without first burning a bunch of CDs.
I think it's fair to assume that a good proportion of people buying the DVD version have a DVD drive on their machine.
And yes, I know that many people try the distros on the DVD on older machines that only have a CD drive - Jigdo allows LXF to keep them happy(ish) as well.

[nelz]

That pretty well hit the nail on the head, Nigel.

The poor performance is a feature of Windows rather than Jigdo. The Linux mkiso script runs a lot faster. It may be possible for Mike to eke some more speed out of winmkiso. I know nothing about MSDOS batch scripts, so I stuck very closely to the original script that came with Jigdo. Mike, on the other hand, could go and pester someone in PC Plus for help. I don't think there's much to be gained though, Windows seems to be much slower at reading CDs, especially directory scans.