How to Make a Bootable Flash Drive using ISObooter

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rcrsn51
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#21 Post by rcrsn51 »

8-bit wrote:One thing I want to know and has not been stated. Will the version of grub you are supplying for download coexist with grub that came as part of lupu 520? I just do not want to install the pet if it replaces the default grub.
I believe that the two packages are independent, but I'm not going to swear to it. The script grub-install is in both packages. However I don't think that Puppy uses the legacy version for anything.

Boot off the Live CD, install the grub2 package and test it yourself.

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glene77is
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How to Make a Bootable Flash Drive using GRUB2

#22 Post by glene77is »

Nooby,
Your English is much more readable
than when I first started tracking your postings. :lol:

Your experiments to use a USB pendrive
to enable booting into an unmodified M$ system is interesting. :D
Very safe, method. M$ is tough to re-install when MBR is altered in error. .
The use of the "fake" frugal install is good.
Using this method, you may be able to develop a USB pendrive system
loading Puppy and Parted-Magic (Gparted)
that can be used to trouble-shoot and repair a M$ XP system,
without any chance of damaging that M$ XP system.
You only need to copy the core OS files across,
in preparation for the USB pendrive to scan for them.
Neat. Safe. !!! No Modified MBR or nt-loader.bin

I have used that "fake" frugal install in making TinyCore work.
TC on a USB pendrive will also scan the HD for core files vmlinuz/initrd
(by different names), like your 'fake' frugal install.
I have been told by TC that it can be forced to "find" the core files locally on the USB pendrive,
but I have not been able to manage it yet.

Perhaps, eventually, you will have have Puppy on the USB pendrive
mounting and running the core files from the pendrive, itself !
That would be a great tool for IT support on-the-job. :)
Sounds like that is your ultimate goal in this little project.

glene77is :)
Puppy Linux is more fun than a barrel of M$ monkeys :P
www.geocities.WS/glene77is
glene77is --- {^,^} --- electricity is shocking, Memphis, TN, USA.

aarf

#23 Post by aarf »

Code: Select all

tune2fs -l /dev/sdb1
is going to give you

Code: Select all

Inode size:	          256
which means you cant grub-ordinary boot things on your grub2 flashdrive.
references: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... b6d#262324
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 9360a3f4c9

nooby
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Re: How to Make a Bootable Flash Drive using GRUB2

#24 Post by nooby »

glene77is wrote:Nooby,
Your English is much more readable
than when I first started tracking your postings. :lol:

Your experiments to use a USB pendrive
to enable booting into an unmodified M$ system is interesting. :D
Very safe, method. M$ is tough to re-install when MBR is altered in error. .
The use of the "fake" frugal install is good. ...
glene77is :)
Thanks but without rcrsn51 there had not been any experiment going.
And him learned from Lance if I remember his name correctly whom have some relation to Pendrivelinux so without them? ...

My part is more like a selfish child that like a new toy that allow me to boot things that would not boot without Grub2 and I am a stubborn guy I did not want to install Ubuntu to a Pendrive just for to be able to boot Ubuntu in frugal on the HDD if one only need to install the grub2 itself and have plenty of room or something else on the usb apart from on the HDD for testing.

So thanks those that made it possible I only had naive wishes that made it possible.

And as I get it is it really implemented completely. Some codes get invisible so either it is me or something Lance or rcrsn51 has to change becaue I have no idea what goes wrong when it get invisible. You add an entry and it is not there when you look for it.

It could ahve to do with layers if puppy loops that one loop hide another that would show the code? I am not structured enough to sort it out.

And too few care anyway.

PS haha don't tell me my English is less confusing that triggers the worst English to come out instantly :)
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

nooby
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Location: SwedenEurope

#25 Post by nooby »

aarf wrote:

Code: Select all

tune2fs -l /dev/sdb1
is going to give you

Code: Select all

Inode size:	          256
which means you cant grub-ordinary boot things on your grub2 flashdrive.
references: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... b6d#262324
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 9360a3f4c9
Aarf good that you told us. I have heard about that 256 thing before.
Something in the links fails just now. Could you look it up?
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

nooby
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Location: SwedenEurope

#26 Post by nooby »

I need to find the proper boot code for puppeee 4.4 for grub2
I want test it on a SD card in my Asus pc 900
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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Ray MK
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#27 Post by Ray MK »

Hi Nooby

1)What size is the SDcard you wish to use?
2)Is it formatted to fat16 or fat32?
3)What puppy do you normally use on your Acer netbook?

Am going to try to guide you through the steps to install and boot
puppee-4.4 from your SDcard for use in your Asus 900.

Will suggest that you use the Puppy that you have installed
on your usual Acer laptop/netbook
to prepare the SDcard for use in your Asus netbook.

HTH - very best regards - Ray

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Ray MK
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#28 Post by Ray MK »

oops - just realised the origional post was refering to Grub2.
I was going to suggest the use of grub4dos, mainly because
it seems easier to use.
Might be best if I start a new post for this.

nooby
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Location: SwedenEurope

#29 Post by nooby »

I have reused their own boot and it took me this whole day to set up
due to me know so little and had to improvise.,
But now I write from within snow puppy 5 on my Asus eeepc 900
and booting frugally from same sd hd that them use for User
the otehr one only had some 500MB free while User have 12GB out of 16 GB.

So now I can add any puppy and also maybe Linux Mint using frugal but I don't trust that LM 12 can refrain from writing often?

Booting puppy frugally I hope it does not write so often but I have to check up on this somewhere?
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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glene77is
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#30 Post by glene77is »

Right On ! to Nooby from Sweden ! :)
So, you are using Grub2.
I prefer Grub4dos to anything. 8)
Puppy Linux is more fun than a barrel of M$ monkeys :P
www.geocities.WS/glene77is
glene77is --- {^,^} --- electricity is shocking, Memphis, TN, USA.

nooby
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Location: SwedenEurope

#31 Post by nooby »

I planned to use it on that Asus but have not decided yet.
I have to find out which linux that uses grub2 that have
least impact on the SD harddrive. The machine is from 2008
so if it has been used much during all these years with the built
in Xandros then who knows how well the SD is now after such
extensive usage? So just now I have only their grub legacy
the original boot where I added puppy.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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jason.b.c
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Re: bootin on old pc without usb support?

#32 Post by jason.b.c »

rcrsn51 wrote:
pacer106 wrote:does this method of booting from a usb flash stick work on a pc that does not support booting from a usb device?
No. If the BIOS does not support booting from USB, it doesn't matter which bootloader you pick.

http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager/download.html
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jrb
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#33 Post by jrb »

Thanks again rcrsn51!

I gave this a try last night and it worked beautifully with Ubuntu 10.10. :D Can't say I was anymore impressed with Ubuntu than the last time I tried it several years ago but its nice to have such a painless way to see how it interacts with Puppy.

Has anyone come up with a grub.conf entry for Ubuntu 11.04?

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rcrsn51
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#34 Post by rcrsn51 »

The first post now has instructions for setting up persistent storage when running Ubuntu off a flash drive or Live CD.

nooby
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#35 Post by nooby »

rcrsn51 wrote:The first post now has instructions for setting up persistent storage when running Ubuntu off a flash drive or Live CD.
Jay thanks indeed.

May I ask about this part?
3. Give the ISO file the generic name "ubuntu.iso".
I guess that explains why some of my entries refuse to be visible.

What is it about grub2 or this version? that require it to be generic names
for to be visible?

Can one change something that allow them to be visible and bootable?
I will try the grub4dos thing tomorrow and maybe the grub2 thing Friday.
Unless that is the get the bike together day :) Spring will come sooner or later.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

nooby
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#36 Post by nooby »

I wonder about this part.
8. Once Ubuntu starts, go to System > Administration > Users and Groups

9. Create a new user. Under Account Type, make it an Administrator. However, you will still have to use "sudo" to perform admin tasks!

10. Go to System > Administration > Login Screen. Click Unlock and set the login screen as desired.

11. Reboot.
Edit. May I guess that for to be able to save things I need to be a real user
and when I boot then I am still a "Live User" and they are not supposed
to save anything?

So buy logging in as Admin then it knows that it shall save changes?
10. Go to System > Administration > Login Screen. Click Unlock and set the login screen as desired.
What is that about? Okay I have to test it. Now it remember some things and not other things I am booted in LM12 and it fail to do Swedish kebd

It remember Firefox homepage but not keyboard setkbmap se

As a "live user" LM12 force me to have everything in Swedish instead
of just the keyboard in Swedish.

So maybe being an Admin they would allow me to use our umlaut chars
like åäö

Anyway thanks for all the time and effort you have put into this.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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johnywhy
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#37 Post by johnywhy »

hello

thanks for this very helpful tute.

i'm trying to install a debian derivative, AVLinux, to a USB flash drive.

your great instructions gave me a grub.cfg containing the following.

Code: Select all

menuentry "Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop ISO" {
 loopback loop /ubuntu.iso
 linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/ubuntu.iso noeject noprompt splash --
 initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
}

menuentry "Linux Mint 10 Gnome ISO" {
 loopback loop /linuxmint10.iso
 linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz iso-scan/filename=/linuxmint10.iso noeject noprompt splash --
 initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
}

menuentry "DBAN ISO" {
 loopback loop /dban.iso
 linux (loop)/DBAN.BZI nuke="dwipe" iso-scan/filename=/dban.iso silent --
} 

menuentry "Tinycore ISO" {
 loopback loop /tinycore.iso
 linux (loop)/boot/bzImage --
 initrd (loop)/boot/tinycore.gz
}

menuentry "Memtest 86+" {
 linux16 /memtest86+.bin
}

menuentry "SystemRescueCd" {
 loopback loop /systemrescuecd.iso
 linux (loop)/isolinux/rescuecd isoloop=/systemrescuecd.iso setkmap=us docache dostartx
 initrd (loop)/isolinux/initram.igz
}
I'm not sure if they are "generic" as you describe, so i'm not sure how to create the AVLinux entry. I tried the following, and i got "kernal not found" on boot:

Code: Select all

menuentry "AVLinux" {
 loopback loop /avlinux.iso
 initrd (loop)/live/initrd.img
}
something tells me i need a line that starts with "linux", but not sure how to write it.

any ideas?

many thanks!
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rcrsn51
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#38 Post by rcrsn51 »

Not all Linuxes can be booted this way. Open the ISO and look at its bootloader components. Can you find any references to GRUB or casper? If not, it probably boots using the conventional isolinux procedure instead. So this method won't work.

nooby
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#39 Post by nooby »

The problem that I encountered where that
some entries got invisible so one could neither
correct any error in the code or look into them
for to spot any error they never showed up at all.

So I gave up on it.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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rcrsn51
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#40 Post by rcrsn51 »

The new ISObooter method is much simpler than the original GRUB2 method.

But please use it on a USB drive. The hard drive method requires a separate partition, and I don't think that you have one.

1. Plug in your USB drive.

2. Run Gparted from the System menu. Select your USB drive.

3. Right-click on the current partition and reformat it to FAT32.

4. Right-click again and set the Boot flag.

Then follow the steps for ISObooter.

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