Hello,
I am trying to build a custom distro based on Debian Sid, and I found Refracta to be the best starting point. It almost fits my needs, except that I want LXDE instead of XFCE and some other custom apps. Also, I want to make an amd64 version.
I'm asking for general advice, since my first 3 attempts have ended in a broken system. I will try again, and if there is some advise in the forum, I can be even more specific about the difficulties I encounter.
First, I ask if there is a script to build Refracta from a Debian install. Indeed, I found a make_refracta dir in the testing iso. But the script seems very basic. Is that really all? The testing iso is only 32bit... so I need to build a 64 bit version anyway.
Issue: The only amd64 version of Refracta has wicd not working. It complains about "lc" being declared too early.
So far, I tried to upgrade Refracta testing to 64 bit. My last attempt was starting from Refracta 64 bit and do a dist-upgrade.
Issue: In every attempt, I end up always with grub-pc problems (uninstaling grub-pc allows to install new kernels). It is just impossible to get grub recognize the new kernel. Usual grub commands seem to have no effect. Removing the old Refracta kernel autoremoves every other installed kernel, leaving the system unbootable. So, I really wonder whether Refracta modifies something in grub that prevents it so see any other kernels (despite it sees my Win partition). I don't think it is a sid problem, because I tried in different months with the 32 bit Refracta too, encountering the same grub issues. I even tried to purge and reinstall all grub related files, and it still kept Refracta settings, hiding the other kernels.
So... how should I proceed? Should I start from a working sid install, should I do a dist-upgrade of Refracta amd64? Of course, I expect in the future to just dist-upgrade... not starting from scratch every time. So I need some clarity why grub is not working properly.