How to boot from iso without burning a CD? [Solved]

Booting, installing, newbie
Post Reply
Message
Author
chapchap70
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu 18 Nov 2010, 05:39
Location: The Island Of Long (NY, USA)

How to boot from iso without burning a CD? [Solved]

#1 Post by chapchap70 »

I have a netbook and to try out a Puppy, I usually burn a CD on another computer then install it to a flash drive and transfer it to my netbook. I would get a Puppy to boot by trial and error.

I understand that I can use grub4dos and add to the menu.lst file the boot parameters. This way I can do frugal installs by copying 4 files or so. I can't seem to understand this enough to get the proper menu.lst commands to boot reliably.


Here is my Menu.lst



# menu.lst produced by grub4dosconfig-v1.8.0
color white/blue black/cyan white/black cyan/black
#splashimage=/splash.xpm
timeout 10
default 0

# Frugal installed Puppies

title Fatdog64 (sda4)
uuid 70008eae6-e062-46e1-ab45-8cdcee478fad
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd

title Puppy Slacko 5.6.0 (sda4/slacko5.6.0frugal)
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /slacko5.6.0frugal/initrd.gz
kernel /slacko5.6.0frugal/vmlinuz psubdir=slacko5.6.0frugal pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /slacko5.6.0frugal/initrd.gz

title Akita Linux, Beta 15, kernel 2.6.25.16 (sda4/Akita-Linux)
rootnoverify (hd0,3)
kernel /Akita-Linux/vmlinuz psubdir=Akita-Linux pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /Akita-Linux/initrd.gz

title Browser Linux 501 (sda4/Browser_Linux501)
rootnoverify (hd0,3)
kernel /Browser_Linux501/vmlinuz psubdir=Browser_Linux501 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /Browser_Linux501/initrd.gz

title Lucid Puppy 5.2.8.6 (sda4/Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6)
rootnoverify (hd0,3)
kernel /Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6/vmlinuz psubdir=Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6/initrd.gz

title Puppy 2.1.7 (sda4/Puppy2.1.7)
rootnoverify (hd0,3)
kernel /Puppy2.1.7/vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 psubdir=Puppy2.1.7 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /Puppy2.1.7/initrd.gz

# Advanced Menu
title Advanced menu
configfile /menu-advanced.lst
commandline

I changed my sda4 partition from ext4 to ext2 because I read that some of the older puppies won't boot the ext4. Part of the reason I'm trying to be able to boot the older puppies is because my son is taking a computer repair class in school and his teacher wants him to dual boot the 128meg ram computer with WinXP and Linux.

I will get into some more specifics later but right now, the slacko 5.6.0 and the Browser Linux boots. The Fatdog is giving me a partition type not found error. I put in the new uuid after I changed the filesystem. Where would I put the partition type (I believe it is something to the effect of (0X83)

Fatdog was installed first and the others I put in subdirectories.

Thanks for any guidance.[/code]
Last edited by chapchap70 on Wed 06 Nov 2013, 06:05, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Galbi
Posts: 1098
Joined: Wed 21 Sep 2011, 22:32
Location: Bs.As. - Argentina.

#2 Post by Galbi »

Sorry first I wrote the instructions to make a frugal install, but reading your post more carefully, I've noticed you already know that. So I edit my post.
Sorry again. :oops:

Why don't you use the interactive grub console editing one of the old entries pointing to the new folder?

TAB completion it's very useful at that.

User avatar
Galbi
Posts: 1098
Joined: Wed 21 Sep 2011, 22:32
Location: Bs.As. - Argentina.

#3 Post by Galbi »

Wait a moment...

Is your netbook a 64bit machine?

:?

User avatar
bigpup
Posts: 13886
Joined: Sun 11 Oct 2009, 18:15
Location: S.C. USA

#4 Post by bigpup »

while running Slacko 5.6, do the manual frugal installs.
(Slacko 5.6 has the latest version of Grub4dos bootloader config)
While still running Slacko 5.6, run the Grub4dos bootloader config program.

It will find the new installs of Puppy and make a menu entry for them. It will update the menu.lst for what is on the computer any time it is run.

Grub4dos bootloader config program looks on the entire computer for any installed operating systems and makes a boot menu entry for what it finds.

Anytime I add an install of Puppy to my computer, I rerun Grub4dos bootloader config and it updates the menu.lst adding the new installs.
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

chapchap70
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu 18 Nov 2010, 05:39
Location: The Island Of Long (NY, USA)

#5 Post by chapchap70 »

Galbi wrote:Wait a moment...

Is your netbook a 64bit machine?

:?
Yep. Been using Fatdog as my main Puppy for a while.


bigpup,

I didn't realize that copying the proper files from an iso to a directory made a Puppy "installed"

Here is my updated Menu.lst
# menu.lst produced by grub4dosconfig-v1.8.0
color white/blue black/cyan white/black cyan/black
#splashimage=/splash.xpm
timeout 10
default 0

# Frugal installed Puppy

title Puppy slacko 5.6.0 (sda4/slacko5.6.0frugal)
uuid 7008eae6-e062-46e1-ab45-8cdcee478fad
kernel /slacko5.6.0frugal/vmlinuz psubdir=slacko5.6.0frugal pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /slacko5.6.0frugal/initrd.gz

title Puppy slacko 5.3.3 (sda3/USBSlacko5.33)
uuid F4AECD12AECCCDF4
kernel /USBSlacko5.33/vmlinuz psubdir=USBSlacko5.33 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /USBSlacko5.33/initrd.gz

title Pup 420 (sda4/Akita-Linux)
uuid 7008eae6-e062-46e1-ab45-8cdcee478fad
kernel /Akita-Linux/vmlinuz psubdir=Akita-Linux pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /Akita-Linux/initrd.gz

title Lupu 510 (sda4/Browser_Linux501)
uuid 7008eae6-e062-46e1-ab45-8cdcee478fad
kernel /Browser_Linux501/vmlinuz psubdir=Browser_Linux501 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /Browser_Linux501/initrd.gz

title Lupu 528 (sda4/Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6)
uuid 7008eae6-e062-46e1-ab45-8cdcee478fad
kernel /Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6/vmlinuz psubdir=Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6/initrd.gz

title Pup 217 (sda4/Puppy2.1.7)
uuid 7008eae6-e062-46e1-ab45-8cdcee478fad
kernel /Puppy2.1.7/vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 psubdir=Puppy2.1.7 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /Puppy2.1.7/initrd.gz

title Fatdog64 (sda4)
uuid 7008eae6-e062-46e1-ab45-8cdcee478fad
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd

# Windows

title Windows
uuid 2AF2CCA2F2CC739B
chainloader /bootmgr

# Advanced Menu
title Advanced menu
configfile /menu-advanced.lst
commandline

I tried a few things before and one of them was using the uuids. I'll try to boot these but I have a feeling that my issue is something else.

User avatar
bigpup
Posts: 13886
Joined: Sun 11 Oct 2009, 18:15
Location: S.C. USA

#6 Post by bigpup »

For a hard drive install.

Open a Puppy iso file

Copy these 3 files to a directory.
initrd.gz
puppyxxx.sfs
vmlinuz

You have done a manual frugal install.

For a USB flash install, it is better to use the universal installer. USB installs need a few other files the install makes.
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

chapchap70
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu 18 Nov 2010, 05:39
Location: The Island Of Long (NY, USA)

#7 Post by chapchap70 »

Thanks bigpup; didn't realize that was what I was doing :roll:

Am posting this from Fatdog but the menu entries look the same to me and it did not work before. I guess grub4dos did something else?

The others didn't work out. (Same as before); started booting and got to various stages. I'll post the exact errors in a bit. Maybe some conflicts between the old and new puppies.?

chapchap70
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu 18 Nov 2010, 05:39
Location: The Island Of Long (NY, USA)

#8 Post by chapchap70 »

I am thinking that we can copy the manual frugal installs to a flash drive so my son can copy them to the old computer at his school. He would need just one Puppy on CD so he can run Grub4dos from it and have the dual boot setup with WinXP and all the puppies.

I think the booting errors might have to do with my setup and the errors may or may not appear on the old PC at his school. (I copied what I got on my screen to paper and am posting here so it might not be exact.)

I'm interested for myself to get LuPu 528 version 6 on this netbook. Since this is newer, I should be able to get it to work. Here is what I get when I try to boot into it:

"Ext 2-fs (loop 1): error: ext2_get_inode: unable to read inode block- inode=32769, block=131074 (Kernel Panic)



Akita Linux starts to boot and I see type on the screen flash then the screen goes blank, hangs. I only have to press the power button for a sec for the computer to shut off.




Pup 217

...
Mounting /dev/sda4 on (initrd)/mnt/dev_ro1.... done
Mntg pup_217.sfs off /dev/sda4... mounting on (initrd)/pup_ro2... failed
Dumping last lines of /tmp/bootinit.log...
expr: syntax error
[: -gt: argument expected
/mnt/dev_ro1/pup_217.sfs: No such file or directory
Mount: mounting /dev/loop0 on /pup_ro2 failed
Dumping last lines of Kernel log
<4> Ext2-fs warning: mounting unchecked fs, running E2fsck is recomennded
<4> bio too big device loop0 (2>0)
<3> SQUASHFS error: sb_bread failed reading block 0X0

Then it waited 60 seconds and then mounted a tmpfs and unionfs. Then I believe it gave a not syncing kernel panic error.

User avatar
mikeb
Posts: 11297
Joined: Thu 23 Nov 2006, 13:56

#9 Post by mikeb »

Mntg pup_217.sfs off /dev/sda4
such puppies do not have ext4 handling

mike

chapchap70
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu 18 Nov 2010, 05:39
Location: The Island Of Long (NY, USA)

#10 Post by chapchap70 »

I moved everything to another partition, reformatted this to ext2, then moved everything back so the partition is now ext2. I'm not following what ext4 handling is. I thought /dev/sda4 is the way the old puppies handled this and it was changed after puppy 4.

Instead of /dev/sda4 ??

User avatar
mikeb
Posts: 11297
Joined: Thu 23 Nov 2006, 13:56

#11 Post by mikeb »

Oh my head...i read sda4 as ext4.... I definitely need therapy..

So ignore my comment...... 2 mental lapses on here in 2 days.

A quick reread suggests a problem mounting/reading data... but I will re-read with a brain inserted and see if any thoughts enter it

regards

Mike

User avatar
mikeb
Posts: 11297
Joined: Thu 23 Nov 2006, 13:56

#12 Post by mikeb »

Actually thought entered
is it possible the wrong vmlinuz is being loaded?

mike

chapchap70
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu 18 Nov 2010, 05:39
Location: The Island Of Long (NY, USA)

#13 Post by chapchap70 »

mikeb wrote:Actually thought entered
is it possible the wrong vmlinuz is being loaded?

mike
Don't know... My process was to create a new directory, then copy the 3 or 4 files depending on the puppy from the iso to the new directory. The only vmlinuz that isn't in a subdirectory is the Fatdog one. Fatdog boots.

I tried adding the PupItUp iso which is a Puppy 4. Like Akita, it hangs with a black/blank screen.

I'm going to try this process on a different computer and see what happens when I get home. I think the reason these aren't booting may have something to do with this computer and not the wrong boot parameters. Another thing: I have the Pupitup on CD. Maybe the older grub4dos might give different results.

User avatar
mikeb
Posts: 11297
Joined: Thu 23 Nov 2006, 13:56

#14 Post by mikeb »

/mnt/dev_ro1/pup_217.sfs: No such file or directory
ok brain working ish...

2.17 did not do sub folders IIRC... so needs its pup_217.sfs in the root of the partition. (initrd and vmlinuz can stay in a folder.)

If there are problems with blank screens later on in the boot on the netbook ...might be dealing with intel video later than 945/965....needs quite recent linux for those.

mike

User avatar
bigpup
Posts: 13886
Joined: Sun 11 Oct 2009, 18:15
Location: S.C. USA

#15 Post by bigpup »

Give us the specific name and specs of the computer.
I'm interested for myself to get LuPu 528 version 6 on this netbook. Since this is newer, I should be able to get it to work. Here is what I get when I try to boot into it:
Does your menu.lst entry for Lup528 look very close to this?
( my installed directory is lupu3hd286 )

Code: Select all

title Luci 001 (sda5/lupu3hd286)
  uuid 00aa0274-75d7-402d-ab7c-4e0f2d973e6a
  kernel /lupu3hd286/vmlinuz  pmedia=atahd psubdir=lupu3hd286 pfix=fsck
  initrd /lupu3hd286/initrd.gz
The options in the kernel line the same?
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

chapchap70
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu 18 Nov 2010, 05:39
Location: The Island Of Long (NY, USA)

#16 Post by chapchap70 »

Thanks mikeb,

Pup217 booted and into xvesa on this netbook after I moved the sfs in the root.




bigpup wrote:Give us the specific name and specs of the computer.


I'm interested for myself to get LuPu 528 version 6 on this netbook. Since this is newer, I should be able to get it to work. Here is what I get when I try to boot into it:
Does your menu.lst entry for Lup528 look very close to this?
( my installed directory is lupu3hd286 )

Code: Select all

title Luci 001 (sda5/lupu3hd286)
  uuid 00aa0274-75d7-402d-ab7c-4e0f2d973e6a
  kernel /lupu3hd286/vmlinuz  pmedia=atahd psubdir=lupu3hd286 pfix=fsck
  initrd /lupu3hd286/initrd.gz

The options in the kernel line the same?
-Computer-
Processor : 4x Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N2600 @ 1.60GHz
Memory : 1021MB (168MB used)
Machine Type : Physical machine
Operating System : Slacko Puppy - 5.6.0
User Name : root (root)
Date/Time : Tue 05 Nov 2013 06:58:23 PM EST
-Display-
Resolution : 1024x600 pixels
OpenGL Renderer : Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 0x300)
X11 Vendor : The X.Org Foundation
-Audio Devices-
Audio Adapter : HDA-Intel - HDA Intel
-Input Devices-
AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
ETPS/2 Elantech Touchpad
Power Button
Sleep Button
Lid Switch
Power Button
Acer WMI hotkeys
Acer BMA150 accelerometer
Video Bus
PC Speaker
WebCam
HDA Digital PCBeep
HDA Intel Headphone
HDA Intel Mic
HDA Intel HDMI/DP,pcm : 3=
-Printers (CUPS)-
Canon : <i>Default</i>
CUPS-PDF
-SCSI Disks-
ATA TOSHIBA MK3259GS


Browser Linux (Lupu 510) boots but Lupu 528 doesn't although it does get pretty far before it throws the error. I am looking into the "unable to read inode block" error I posted about a few posts back. I hope it doesn't mean there is something wrong with my hard drive. I don't know why this is the only one with that error. When the other computer becomes free, I'll try to boot on that.

Code: Select all

title Lupu 510 (sda4/Browser_Linux501)
uuid 7008eae6-e062-46e1-ab45-8cdcee478fad
kernel /Browser_Linux501/vmlinuz psubdir=Browser_Linux501 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /Browser_Linux501/initrd.gz

title Lupu 528 (sda4/Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6)
uuid 7008eae6-e062-46e1-ab45-8cdcee478fad
kernel /Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6/vmlinuz psubdir=Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
initrd /Lucid_Puppy5.2.8.6/initrd.gz 

chapchap70
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu 18 Nov 2010, 05:39
Location: The Island Of Long (NY, USA)

#17 Post by chapchap70 »

All the puppies booted up properly on the desktop computer. The remaining problems with booting must be with this computer and the older puppies conflicts with it. Thanks for all your help.

Hopefully, one of the puppies will work nicely with the 128M Ram computer at my son's school and the teacher will be impressed.

I'll still investigate the unable to read inode error.

One other thing. Is it easy to setup multiple puppies to share a single swap file?

User avatar
mikeb
Posts: 11297
Joined: Thu 23 Nov 2006, 13:56

#18 Post by mikeb »

One other thing. Is it easy to setup multiple puppies to share a single swap file?
they all use pupswap.swp .... as to where they will look for it its hard to say but I have a feeling it would be in the root of the install folder...in your case that would be the same place...time to suck it and see.

Can't say whats upsetting lupu but is it the newer kernel version?
Perhaps post in the lucid bug thread about whats happening...if there was a disk problem nothing would work.

Agreed the netbook won't get on with the older pups...intel wanted to promote vista at the time and life was made hard for linux for a while.

128MB ram...should get a desktop..... browseing might be another matter :)...but as a school project that may not matter.

mike

chapchap70
Posts: 210
Joined: Thu 18 Nov 2010, 05:39
Location: The Island Of Long (NY, USA)

#19 Post by chapchap70 »

Had 2 bad blocks that were found and fixed by (I think) e2fsck. Am running in LuPu 528 in my netbook.

User avatar
mikeb
Posts: 11297
Joined: Thu 23 Nov 2006, 13:56

#20 Post by mikeb »

Ah well there ya go.... so lucid was less tolerant than the others.... unless the bad blocks coincided with where tha lucid files where.

we may never know :)

so sounds like everything sorted in some fashion?

mike

Post Reply