Bootable USB stick - How do YOU do it?

[greengeek]

Here's my favourite method:
How to Make a Bootable Flash Drive using ISObooter

Ok - I just gave this method a try (first time I have used it) and was happily able to create a bootable usb stick with two isos on it. It works nicely in my main Toshiba laptop.

However - it still won't boot my Acer Aspire 5720Z so I need to carry on and try other methods.

The Acer says the stick is not bootable - (even though I have set the first boot device to USB-HDD) and it asks me to insert a bootable floppy and press any key.

Maybe it stupidly thinks that a USB-HDD means USB-FDD.

Or maybe it's one of those devices that only boots from a USB stick prepared with a FAT16 partition.

Or maybe it needs the original (corrupted) HDD to be physically removed from the machine (even though I have moved it to the bottom of the bootable device list)

Anyway - on with testing the other methods.
.

[greengeek]

Although I didn't really want to make this thread "model specific" I will note that I just succeeded in booting the Acer from a "Studio 13.37" usb stick. At least that proves the bios can do it. Now I just need to work out what format it needs to see on the stick.

I have attached some relevant info about that stick for my future reference. I am surprised that gparted shows sda1 and sda4 back to front but I guess that is something to do with order of creation as a result of other partitions being deleted or something.

I am also a little confused that there is an isolinux.cfg as well as a syslinux.cfg file. (I should understand these things by now.... )

[Sylvander]

The Acer says the stick is not bootable...

You should report your results/problem in the ISObooter thread.
rcrsn51 may know what is going wrong.

[rockedge]

I get good results making bootable USB flash drives with many different Puppy Linux flavors, by doing these steps:

mount the usb stick and use GParted to create a new partition and format to ext2 then set the BOOT FLAG

create a new directory named for example tahr605

download tahr 6.0.5 ISO and mount and open the iso .and copy the entire contents to the directory tahr605 on the usb flash drive.

run GRUB4DOS and select only the usb drive,then follow the steps and install the MBR

ready to boot. Also allows for multiple puppies on 1 stick.

[Mike Walsh]

I tried rockedge's method just the other day (first time I've tried booting from sub-directories).....and it works a treat. I wasn't aware till then that you could mount an .iso image, simply by clicking on it. I always thought you had to burn it to disc to be able to do so.

And, like Billtoo, I also find that USB 3.0 'sticks' do seem to run faster in a USB 2.0 port.....certainly the data transfer times are far superior to standard USB 2.0 'sticks'. I use a pair of 64GB SanDisk Cruzer 'Fit' USB 3.0 'nano' drives in my elderly Dell Inspiron 1100 lappie for 'external' storage, and the data transfer rates through the 2.0 standard ports to the internal solid state drive is nothing short of astonishing for an old P4-based system. The SanDisks, and the KingSpec SSD have, between them, given the old girl a new outlook on life.....and made her more useful than ever!

As for my own long-used method; normally a single ext3 partition, plus a small swap partition. Ext2 seems to go wrong all too easily.....


Mike.

[tlchost]

. Last week i tried different boot systems for Xenialdog, for coming back to Lili usb creator, Fat 32.

Lili works great....i use it all the time

[bigpup]

Ok - I just gave this method a try (first time I have used it) and was happily able to create a bootable usb stick with two isos on it. It works nicely in my main Toshiba laptop.

However - it still won't boot my Acer Aspire 5720Z so I need to carry on and try other methods.

The Acer says the stick is not bootable - (even though I have set the first boot device to USB-HDD) and it asks me to insert a bootable floppy and press any key.

Try having only the boot flag on the first partition sdb1.
Do not have it flagged as boot, lba.

[greengeek]

Try having only the boot flag on the first partition sdb1.
Do not have it flagged as boot, lba.

Thanks Bigpup - just tried switching off the lba flag but still no boot. Maybe I need to try reformatting and reloading the isos again in case the lba flag upset the contiguity right at the start. Will add that to the weekend list.

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
So I'm the only one..
IDK, but syslinux works great for me.
Only thing, cant edit boot code live at boot.

[greengeek]

So I'm the only one..
IDK, but syslinux works great for me.

Hi puppyluvr - I don't think you are the only one - I suspect that syslinux is going to be the choice that gives me the greatest overall compatibility with my range of hardware.

However - there are many different ways to use syslinux and I find that some methods simply don't work on some hardware and I really want to pin down exactly what methods have the highest compatibility.

For example - one of my netbooks simply WILL NOT boot from any stick prepared with syslinux 4.74 even though it will boot fine using syslinux 3.73

Some machines won't boot from syslinux on a stick that uses multiple partitions.

Some multiboot configurations wont boot some machines.

Bigpup suggested that the presence of the lba flag can also upset booting in some cases.

I believe that the critical factors when using syslinux are:

1) Choice of partition type
2) Number and possibly layout of partitions. (Possibly also maximum size of boot partition).
3) Choice of which partition contains ldlinux.sys
4) Location of Puppy files (lying "loose" in the partition or in a subdirectory similar to frugal)
5) Version of syslinux used to create the stick.
6) Handling of MBR:
- Retain original MBR as shipped from factory? (I don't like doing this because I cannot guarantee reproducibility)
- Rewrite MBR with mbr.bin?
- Rewrite MBR with some other method?
7) Size of USB stick (upper size limitation probably applies especially on older hardware).

I am very interested to hear the detail of how you go about setting up your multiboot sticks as that is ultimately what I want to do once I have perfected the most compatible method of setting up the stick

I have toyed with the idea of using syslinux to boot only ONE puppy - but making sure that the one puppy chosen is Multipup itself (containing my top 3 or so puppies). I don't know if such a method would be compatible with my preferred version of Syslinux - which is syslinux 3.73

[greengeek]

run GRUB4DOS and select only the usb drive,then follow the steps and install the MBR

Most of my more recent puppy installs were made using Grub4dos - however I seem to run into a problem where Grub4dos tells me it cannot see any frugally installed puppy in my chosen partition, only a fully installed one - and it then creates a menu list which is wrong. I have to manually rewrite the menu.list to get it to boot the puppy.

It is possible that this may be caused by the fact that the puppy I use most is unusual in its structure - having two main sfs files and no savefile - maybe Grub4dos does not recognise my layout as a valid frugal. I just haven't figured out yet what I am doing wrong with Grub4dos but I might make that specific problem the subject of a different thread.

Do you have a preferred tutorial for Grub4dos that you work from or do you just follow the onscreen prompts? (if so what exact choices do you make please? - maybe i am choosing the wrong ones - particularly around use of legacy grub etc)
.

[greengeek]

. Last week i tried different boot systems for Xenialdog, for coming back to Lili usb creator, Fat 32.

Lili works great....i use it all the time

I had not heard of Lili before - I just had a look and if I am viewing the same product that you are referring to it seems very powerful - even allowing booting on Windows 8 - 10 hardware (if I understand it correctly...).

The one thing I don't like the look of is it seems a bit "automatic" for my liking and has it's own methods of setting up "persistence" - probably great for certain other Linux distros but I don't think I am going to be comfortable with it.

Worth highlighting as a way to set up a live Linux usb stick though.

Webpage here
.

[tlchost]

The one thing I don't like the look of is it seems a bit "automatic" for my liking and has it's own methods of setting up "persistence" - probably great for certain other Linux distros but I don't think I am going to be comfortable with it.

oh yes...it is very automatic...perhaps why it has worked for for puppy and other OS.

Try it

[greengeek]

I had another trial of isobooter but this time only creating a single FAT32 partition and keeping it's size below 4GB but it still could not boot the Acer. Will keep trying various options.

[Pelo]

greengeek , and other usb sticks users, about Lili Live USB creator, i'ts to install an iso either from the cloud or from your computer.
It was my prefereed tool when I was a newbie, because easy to use 'automatic, as you say.
For newbies, unable to speak only one word of english, furthermore Linux terms, It is largely better than unetbootin.
Of course, having hardly studying your boot process, i generally use Grub4dos, must faster, and customizable.

[bigpup]

rockedge wrote:
run GRUB4DOS and select only the usb drive,then follow the steps and install the MBR
Most of my more recent puppy installs were made using Grub4dos - however I seem to run into a problem where Grub4dos tells me it cannot see any frugally installed puppy in my chosen partition, only a fully installed one - and it then creates a menu list which is wrong. I have to manually rewrite the menu.list to get it to boot the puppy.

Are you running Grub4dos config from a full install of Puppy?
If yes.
Grub4dos config has a bug when run in a Puppy full install.
It does not make a working menu.
It will work OK if you run it from a Puppy frugal install.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 269#890269

[Burn_IT]

As I have said on this forum many times:
USB booting is very hit and miss and is not just a Puppy problem since the boot code is OS independent.
Sticks that work in one machine often won't in another and vice versa.
I have always had to carry several makes with boot stubs on them just to make sure I can get at my utilities. It is only the BOOTING that is an issue.
I build my own utility sets based on Grub4DOS and a modified Hiren's boot CD that keeps things as legal as possible.

[Pelo]

Usb booting however is easier than burn a CD, and faster.
Depending on the computers, perhaps, My USB run as well Acer and Medion. Hiren boot CD : info noticed if grub4dos would fail.
Tuto video boot USB

[Burn_IT]

Hiren tools are available on USB from his site as is a comprehensive guide to building USB tool kits.

[Crash]

I use a varient of rockedge's to boot to a USB flash drive:

Boot to your favorite version of Puppy Linux on your main computer.

Mount the usb stick and use GParted to create a new partition spanning the entire drive and format to FAT2 then set the BOOT FLAG.

You can re-partition things later once everything is working.

Here is where I diverge:

Reboot the computer to a floppy disk that contains FreeDOS. I have a CD/DVD version if the computer
won't boot to floppy, and also have a USB external floppy drive that seems to work on about any computer.

The USB stick has to be plugged in BEFORE booting to FreeDOS. If successful, FreeDOS recognizes the USB
drive just fine. If there aren't any other mass storage devices enabled in the computer, the USB
drive appears as the C: drive.

SYS the USB thumb drive.

Then copy GRUB4DOS and FreeDOS's EDIT program to the USB drive.

Then re-boot and see if it works. Sometimes I need to go to the BIOS to get the computer to recognize
the USB drive.

If the FreeDOS sign-in appears, things are working well.

Then reboot and copy the three Puppy files (in my case, puppy_slacko_5.7.0.sfs, vmlinuz, and initrd.gz) to the root
or to a subdirectory on the flash drive. This can be done using either Puppy Linux or Windows.

Boot back to the USB thumb drive. Using MENU.LST of your choice, just type GRUB and the USB drive will
boot to Puppy Linux.

I have a stock MENU.LST that can be used, but since the USB drive has the EDIT utility, I can use it to
create a MENU.LST file from scratch.

I have used this method on at least a dozen USB thumb drives over the years. I keep a tiny thumb drive
on my key chain, and can boot to it using just about any computer that I happen to find.

This may seem like a roundabout way to create a Puppy Linux USB thumb drive, but I'm very used to it. The
nice thing to me is that any boot issues are pretty easy to isolate. I've booted thumb drives from
256 MB to 32GB using this method, with equal success.

I find that performance is really good no matter what computer I use as host. Since the frugal install
actually executes in RAM, it doesn't rely on the USB drive for performance.

Here is my typical MENU.LST:

Note with this version, I also have a don't care file called USBFLASH that GRUB looks for to set
the proper boot partition.

Code: Select all

timeout 5
default /default

title Slacko Puppy Linux 57 frugal install at /p57u
find --set-root /USBFLASH
kernel /p57u/vmlinuz psubdir=p57u pmedia=usbflash
initrd /p57u/initrd.gz

title Hard Drive hd1,0
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
chainloader +1

title commandline
commandline

title reboot
reboot

title halt
halt

I am typing this post using a USB flash drive installation. The particular flash drive is a Sandisk
Extreme 32GB, but it works with many others.