Invariant OS — Installer DVD Changelog

Release history for the Invariant OS Desktop Installer DVD track. The documented baseline begins at 0.3.42, followed by subsequent installer, update, recovery, hardware, and usability changes.

Installed-System Patch Archives

Patch archives are for installed Invariant OS systems from the Install DVD track, not the Live ISO. They serve two testing/update purposes:

1. Test patch discovery and application from the Update Center after booting the installed system.
2. Apply bug-fix patches to an installed system as fixes are released, without replacing the full installer ISO.

Available patch archives:

• invariant-patch-0.3.44.tar.gz
• invariant-patch-0.3.45.tar.gz
• invariant-patch-0.3.46.tar.gz
• invariant-patch-0.3.47.tar.gz
• invariant-patch-0.3.48.tar.gz
• invariant-patch-0.3.49.tar.gz
• invariant-patch-0.3.50.tar.gz — newest patch

The patch distribution system was introduced in 0.3.44. Patch embedding and Update Center scanning were expanded in 0.3.45. Build-specific changes remain documented below.

0.3.50

Plymouth — splash not showing on ThinkPad (Intel i915) fixed

Root cause: add_drivers in dracut puts a driver into the initrd but does not force it to bind to the hardware before userspace starts. Plymouth initialises before i915 has bound to the display, falls back to text mode, and only the three green progress dots are visible on a raw VGA/EFI framebuffer (light blue background). Changed i915 and amdgpu from add_drivers to force_drivers in both kiwi/root/etc/dracut.conf.d/10-invariant-plymouth.conf and kiwi-installer/root/etc/dracut.conf.d/10-invariant-plymouth.conf. force_drivers forces early binding during initrd init — Plymouth gets a KMS framebuffer and renders the full graphical theme on all Intel and AMD hardware.

Installer — screen blanking/sleep during install fixed

On laptops with short DPMS timeouts (ThinkPads in particular), the display would go blank partway through installation and the install-complete screen was never seen. Added xset s off and xset -dpms to kiwi-installer/root/usr/bin/invariant-installer-session immediately after DISPLAY is exported, disabling screen blanking for the duration of the installer session.

Steam — 100% CPU/memory usage fixed

Multiple documented Linux Steam fixes implemented:

vm.max_map_count — Created /etc/sysctl.d/99-steam-gaming.conf setting vm.max_map_count = 2147483642. The kernel default (65530) is too low for games that map many files simultaneously (Proton/DXVK shaders, large assets); Steam and Proton silently stall or crash without this.

zram compressed swap — Added zram-generator package and created /etc/systemd/zram-generator.conf (zram0, half of RAM, lz4 compression). Provides a compressed in-RAM swap device so Steam's CEF web helpers cannot exhaust physical RAM and trigger the OOM killer.

Steam CEF GPU fix — Created /usr/share/applications/steam.desktop override adding --disable-gpu to the Exec line. Steam's embedded Chromium (CEF) web interface runs a GPU compositor thread that spins at 100% on older Intel i915 hardware. --disable-gpu disables the GPU compositor in CEF, falling back to software compositing — normal for a 2D web UI, negligible performance cost.

Performance environment variables — Created /etc/profile.d/steam-performance.sh setting:

• STEAM_MULTIPLE_INSTANCES=1 — suppresses "already running" false-positive after a crash
• STEAM_CEF_GPU_DISABLED=1 — disables GPU compositor in CEF (reinforces --disable-gpu)
• SDL_VIDEO_MINIMIZE_ON_FOCUS_LOSS=0 — prevents game window minimizing on alt-tab (freezes appearance)
• DXVK_ASYNC=1 — async shader compilation, reduces per-frame stutter on first play
• STEAM_DISABLE_GPU_DRIVER_WORKAROUNDS=1 — suppresses DXVK workarounds that cause hangs on mesa/radv

libvulkan_intel-32bit — Added to kiwi/config.xml; required for 32-bit Proton games using Intel ANV Vulkan driver.

Version bump

kiwi/config.xml, kiwi-installer/config.xml, build-kiwi-installer.sh updated to 0.3.50.

0.3.49

Update tool — Secure Boot violation fixed

invariant-update-install had the same grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi block that was removed from the repair tool in 0.3.47. Running "Update Invariant OS" from the live ISO GRUB menu overwrote the Calamares-installed Secure Boot EFI binaries with an unsigned binary, causing "Invalid Signature detected" on next boot. grub2-install removed; EFI binaries are now left intact.

Update tool — os-prober boot-to-installer bug fixed

invariant-update-install was writing GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false to the installed system's /etc/default/grub. During grub2-mkconfig, os-prober detected the live ISO and injected installer boot entries into the HDD's grub.cfg. After removing the USB, the installed system booted back into the installer. Fixed: GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=true. (This was fixed in the GUI update tool in 0.3.46 but the terminal tool was missed.)

Update Center — Apply failures now show a visible error dialog

Previously, when pkexec zypper dup failed (e.g. auth dismissed, polkit not running, zypper error), the failure was only logged in the small Output Log at the bottom of the window — the main status area and buttons gave no clear indication anything went wrong. Now:

• Status label turns red and shows the exit code
• A QMessageBox pops up with a plain-English explanation:
  • Exit 126: authentication was cancelled — tells user to try again and enter password
  • Exit 127: pkexec not found
  • Other: suggests running sudo zypper dup in a terminal as a fallback
• Success message changed to "Updates applied — restart recommended."

Version bump

kiwi/config.xml, kiwi-installer/config.xml, build-kiwi-installer.sh updated to 0.3.49.

0.3.48

Steam — silent launch failure fixed

Steam would launch but show nothing, with top reporting no Steam process, and a second click saying "already running". Root cause: KIWI builds with onlyRequired, so Steam's 32-bit library dependencies (declared as Recommends in the RPM, not Requires) were never installed. Steam's bootstrapper is a 32-bit binary and needs 32-bit Mesa/X11/Vulkan/Pulse libs to start. Without them it exits immediately, leaving a stale socket/pid behind.

Added explicit 32-bit packages to kiwi/config.xml: libGL1-32bit, libX11-6-32bit, libXcomposite1-32bit, libXdamage1-32bit, libXext6-32bit, libXfixes3-32bit, libXi6-32bit, libXrandr2-32bit, libXrender1-32bit, libXtst6-32bit, libXxf86vm1-32bit, libpulse0-32bit, libudev1-32bit, libgcc_s1-32bit, libstdc++6-32bit, libvulkan1-32bit, libcurl4-32bit

Version bump

kiwi/config.xml, kiwi-installer/config.xml, build-kiwi-installer.sh updated to 0.3.48.

0.3.47

Repair — Secure Boot violation fixed

invariant-repair-install Fix 5 previously ran grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi, which overwrote the Calamares-installed Secure Boot chain (shim → grubx64.efi) with an unsigned GRUB binary, causing "Invalid Signature detected" on next boot. The grub2-install block has been removed entirely. EFI binaries are now left intact; only /etc/default/grub is rewritten and grub2-mkconfig is run to regenerate grub.cfg.

Repair — Snapper failure no longer counted as an error

In invariant-repair-install Fix 6, a snapper create-config failure previously incremented the ERRORS counter, causing the repair summary to report "X warning(s)" even when everything else succeeded. Snapper failure is now logged as a warning only, matching the intent of the existing warn call.

WiFi — Power management disabled system-wide

Random WiFi reconnects on real hardware traced to kernel power management (NetworkManager enables wifi.powersave = 3 by default since kernel 4.19).

• kiwi/root/etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/wifi-powersave-off.conf — created; sets wifi.powersave = 2 (disabled)
• kiwi/root/etc/modprobe.d/wifi-powersave.conf — created; disables power save for iwlwifi (Intel), ath9k (Qualcomm/Atheros) at driver level

Installed system — "Update Invariant OS" desktop icon removed

The "Update Invariant OS" shortcut was being copied from skel to every installed user's Desktop during install and after the update tool ran. It only works from the live environment and is useless (and misleading) on the installed system.

• invariant-postinstall/main.py — now removes both Install Invariant OS.desktop and Update Invariant OS.desktop from skel and all user Desktops during Calamares install
• invariant-update-install — now also removes Update Invariant OS.desktop from the installed system's skel on update

App drawer — "Invariant Apps" section

All Invariant app .desktop files now carry X-InvariantApps; as the first entry in Categories=. A matching XDG menu group and directory file have been added so KDE Plasma's app launcher shows all Invariant apps together under "Invariant Apps" instead of scattering them across System, Settings, and other generic categories.

Applied to both kiwi/root/usr/share/applications/ and kiwi-installer/root/usr/share/applications/: ExeCenter, MigrationCenter, GamingSetup, UpdateCenter, HelpCenter, PrivacyCenter, RecoveryCenter, SoftwareCenter, Welcome, HardwareSetup, LivePartitionEditor, DiskManager

New files:

• kiwi/root/usr/share/desktop-directories/invariant-apps.directory
• kiwi/root/etc/xdg/menus/applications-merged/invariant-apps.menu
• (same in kiwi-installer/root/)

GRUB rename — snapper stub fix (carried from 0.3.46 post-build patch)

kiwi-fix-rufus.sh rename section now uses find_first_boot_menuentry which requires a linux/linuxefi line in the entry body. This prevents it from matching menuentry "If OK, run snapper rollback and reboot." { true; } (a trivial stub KIWI inserts inside a submenu before the real boot entries) and renaming that instead of the actual installer entry.

Version bump

kiwi/config.xml, kiwi-installer/config.xml, build-kiwi-installer.sh updated to 0.3.47.

0.3.46 (post-build patch applied)

Bug Fix — Installed system booted into installer after "Update Invariant OS"

• Root cause: invariant-update-gui had GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false in the grub config it wrote to the installed system. During grub2-mkconfig inside the chroot, os-prober detected the live ISO on the loop device and injected its installer boot entries (including invariant_update=1) into the installed system's grub.cfg. After the ISO was removed, those stale entries caused the HDD to boot into installer mode.
• Fix: GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false → true in invariant-update-gui. (invariant-repair-gui already had this set correctly.)

GRUB Menu — Renamed, reordered, and cleaned up

All Python sections in kiwi-fix-rufus.sh rebuilt. Previous menu had inconsistent names and wrong entry ordering.

• "NVIDIA Safe Graphics" removed as a separate entry (replaced by the blacklist below)
• EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg heredoc updated to match

NVIDIA nouveau blacklist — applied to all live entries

modprobe.blacklist=nouveau rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau appended to every live kernel line except VM Mode (already has nomodeset) and Failsafe. Prevents instant poweroff on NVIDIA hardware without disabling KMS for AMD/Intel. Implemented as a post-processing Python section in kiwi-fix-rufus.sh.

Branding — Installer OS name corrected

• kiwi/root/etc/os-release — corrected PRETTY_NAME, NAME, VERSION, VERSION_ID, ID to Invariant OS 0.3.46
• kiwi-installer/root/etc/os-release — created (was missing entirely). Without this the installer squashfs used the RPM-provided openSUSE os-release, causing "About This System" to show "openSUSE Tumbleweed 0.3.xx"

Update tool — Snapper chroot fix

invariant-update-gui previously only bind-mounted /proc before running snapper in chroot. Now also bind-mounts /dev and /sys. Failure is now non-fatal (does not increment the error counter).

Update tool — View Log button on completion screen

• "View Log" button added to the done page; only visible when errors > 0
• Clicking it navigates back to the progress/log page
• Completion text corrected — no longer says "Check the output on the previous screen" with no way to get there

dracut — --no-hostonly added to installer initrd rebuild

kiwi-installer/config.sh was calling dracut --force without --no-hostonly. Dracut used host-only mode on the WSL2 build host and pruned drivers not present on the build machine, causing the installed system to fail to boot on target hardware.

dracut — Expanded driver list for universal hardware support

10-invariant-plymouth.conf previously listed only the three main GPU families. Updated:

GPU drivers added: simpledrm (UEFI firmware framebuffer — universal Plymouth fallback on any hardware), hyperv_drm, qxl, bochs-drm, mgag200, ast

Storage drivers added: ahci, nvme, sd_mod, sr_mod

Synced to kiwi-installer/root/etc/dracut.conf.d/10-invariant-plymouth.conf.

Version bump

kiwi/config.xml, kiwi-installer/config.xml, build-kiwi-installer.sh, and both applied-patches seed files updated to 0.3.46.

0.3.45

Recovery Center — polkit "No Permissions" fix

pkexec was calling the Recovery Center binary directly, which modern Tumbleweed polkit rejects. Fixed by:

• New /usr/bin/invariant-recovery-exec passthrough wrapper
• New polkit action org.invariant.recovery.exec with auth_self
• patches/scripts/02 updated to also chmod recovery-exec and apply-patch

Patch tarball embedded in ISO

In 0.3.44 the patch tarball was built after the ISO and therefore not inside the squashfs. Moved patch build to run before kiwi-ng so the tarball is embedded at /opt/invariant/patches/ inside the ISO. Fresh installs carry their own patch automatically. Standalone copy still written to the output directory for older installs upgrading via USB.

applied-patches pre-seeded

/var/lib/invariant/applied-patches seeded with 0.3.45 so fresh installs show the embedded patch as already applied and don't try to re-apply it.

Update Center / update-install / update-gui — scan embedded patches

All three tools updated to scan /opt/invariant/patches/ for embedded tarballs in addition to USB drives.

dracut — USB host controller drivers

Added to 10-invariant-plymouth.conf:

xhci_hcd xhci_pci ehci_hcd ehci_pci ohci_hcd uhci_hcd usb_storage uas

Fixes live boot stalling on AMD and older Intel USB controllers due to slow enumeration timing.

GRUB — live boot reliability args

All live kernel lines now include rootdelay=15 rd.retry=10 usbcore.autosuspend=-1.

GRUB — NVIDIA Safe Graphics entry

Dedicated boot entry with modprobe.blacklist=nouveau modprobe.blacklist=nvidia for systems where the open-source GPU driver caused a poweroff. (Replaced in 0.3.46 by applying the blacklist globally to all entries instead.)

GRUB — Debug entry

Boot entry with rd.debug rd.info loglevel=7 systemd.show_status=true rd.plymouth=0 for tester diagnostics on hardware that hangs at boot.

Version display fix

config.xml version fields were still showing 0.3.42 in both KIWI descriptors. Bumped to 0.3.45.

0.3.44

Patch file system — initial implementation

Designed and built the compressed patch distribution system:

• patches/scripts/01-snapper-init.sh — idempotent snapper create-config; works booted or in chroot
• patches/scripts/02-recovery-center.sh — sets file permissions after binary replacement
• invariant-apply-patch — new pkexec-callable helper that extracts a patch tarball, copies files/, runs scripts/, records version in /var/lib/invariant/applied-patches
• build-kiwi-installer.sh — generates invariant-patch-0.3.44.tar.gz alongside the ISO
• invariant-update-center — "Invariant OS Patches" section replaces the snapper banner; scans mounted drives for patch tarballs and applies them
• invariant-update-gui — added Step 6 (Snapper) and Step 7 (Patches) to the update flow
• invariant-update-install — added patch detection and application after snapper section

Note: The patch tarball was built after the ISO in this version and was therefore not embedded in the squashfs — fixed in 0.3.45.

0.3.43

Recovery Center — backup exit 1 fix

tar exits 1 when a file changes while being read (log files, sockets). The backup was treating this as a fatal error. Fixed:

• _run_pkexec_cmd now accepts an ok_codes parameter (default {0})
• Backup passes ok_codes={0, 1} — tar exit 1 is now treated as success
• Added --warning=no-file-changed to suppress those lines in the log output

Recovery Center / snapper — snapshot option grayed out

Snapper was not being configured during installation so the snapshot restore option was always unavailable. Fixed across all four paths an install or update can take:

• Fresh install (invariant-postinstall/main.py): snapper -c root create-config / now runs inside the chroot before enabling snapper timers
• Repair tool (invariant-repair-install + invariant-repair-gui): Fix 6 added — runs snapper create-config if not already present
• GRUB Update path (invariant-update-install): snapper init runs while VFS bind-mounts are still active
• Update Center (invariant-update-center): startup check shows a "Configure Now" button if snapper is not set up; runs pkexec snapper -c root create-config / on click