How to Make a Bootable Flash Drive using ISObooter

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johnywhy
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#136 Post by johnywhy »

hi

cannot boot pclinuxos64-mate-2014.12.iso

retracing my steps:

- boot into lxpuptahr without any usb drives inserted.
- insert 8 gb sandisk cruzer.
- launch gparted.
- delete all partitions on cruzer.
- create one full-drive fat32 partition.
- mount the new partition in pcmanfm.
- copy isobooter to the partition.
- execute isobooter. say yes to everything.
- copy "pclinuxos64-mate-2014.12.iso" to the partition.
- execute isobooter again. say yes to everything.
- unmount the partition.
- reboot into the usb drive.
- pick "pclinuxos64-mate-2014.12.iso" from the isobooter menu.
- pick "live cd" from the boot menu.
- see a "PCLinuxOS" splash screen and spinner.
- press "esc" key and see nothing but blinking underscore behind splash screen.
- press "esc" key again, return to splash screen.
- OS never boots.

thx!
[b]Now[/b]: X-Tahr 2.0! StretchDog! DevuanDog!
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[b]Used[/b]: Puppeee Precise Lucid Wary Tahrpup Quirky Slacko MacPup Saluki Puppy Studio LxPupTarh Lina-Lite Lina
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rcrsn51
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#137 Post by rcrsn51 »

johnywhy wrote:- pick "live cd" from the boot menu.
- see a "PCLinuxOS" splash screen and spinner.
I duplicated your steps. Underneath the spinner was the message "Booting the system". I waited 90 seconds. It booted.

This was with pclinuxos-mate-2014.12.iso.

Do you have a different machine on which to test this?

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johnywhy
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#138 Post by johnywhy »

i just duplicated these steps with tahrpupNOP and a different flash drive. This time, included a 1 GB unused partition at the end of the drive, since you mention in the OP to do that with multi-partition drives (which this isn't, but just in case isobooter needs it).

Succeeded.

Now going to try with PCLinuxOS non-64, same drive/process.

No other machines available.
[b]Now[/b]: X-Tahr 2.0! StretchDog! DevuanDog!
[b]Tops[/b]: TarhNOP Vlina-R2 Racy
[b]Used[/b]: Puppeee Precise Lucid Wary Tahrpup Quirky Slacko MacPup Saluki Puppy Studio LxPupTarh Lina-Lite Lina
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johnywhy
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#139 Post by johnywhy »

johnywhy wrote:duplicated these steps with tahrpupNOP ... Succeeded. Now going to try with PCLinuxOS non-64, same drive/process.
PCLinuxOS non-64 failed. Same result as 64. Does not say underneath the spinner "Booting the system". I waited 5 minutes.

Seems either an issue with the iso's, or my hardware, or my bios. I did an MD5 check on my iso's, passed.

here's a pic of what i see when i pick any of the 'no-splash' options. Since i'm seeing the same thing with all distros i tried, seems maybe the problem is not the distro.

someone on pclinuxos advises:
Before choosing a boot option, press the down arrow key to stop the timer. Select the no splash second boot option using the arrow keys, then type fromusb (all one word) at the end of the boot stanza shown, and only then press the Enter key. With the fromusb parameter, it should find the loop image and be able to mount it.
The USB is booting, but when the kernel loads the modules from the initrd it cannot see the partition on which livecd.sqfs resides. This is usually a BIOS setting - not the one about boot devices, but one about how USB-connected drives are to be interpreted. It won't be in the BIOS's boot menu. It'll be in a section entitled something like "Hardware Settings" or "Chipset configuration" or "Devices" etc.
An alternative workaround would be to copy the livecd.sqfs file from the USB stick to one of the partitions which is searched, provided it's got enough free space to store it, and it's not the partition you intend to install to
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.ph ... 56.20;wap2
i'll try it
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johnywhy
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SOLVED

#140 Post by johnywhy »

johnywhy wrote:
An alternative workaround would be to copy the livecd.sqfs file from the USB stick to one of the partitions which is searched, provided it's got enough free space to store it, and it's not the partition you intend to install to
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.ph ... 56.20;wap2
i'll try it
Solved. Booted successfully. The fix is copying the .sfs file from the iso onto the hard drive.

Then, the boot process finds and mounts it.

Not a total solution, of course, since it requires putting a file on the hard drive-- the goal is booting a live USB without touching the hard drive.

Out of curiosity, i move the sfs from the hard drive to the usb flash drive, but the boot process did not find the sfs if stored on the flash drive. Too bad!

Supposedly a BIOS setting should enable the booter to read the disk image off the USB ISO file, instead of needing to put the squash on the hard disk. I cannot figure out what BIOS setting is needed. Here are some shots of my BIOS.The images are displayed here in reverse order.
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[b]Now[/b]: X-Tahr 2.0! StretchDog! DevuanDog!
[b]Tops[/b]: TarhNOP Vlina-R2 Racy
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[i]i ♥ Puppy[/i]

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rcrsn51
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#141 Post by rcrsn51 »

USB bootability is controlled by your system BIOS and it varies widely. For example, I have a machine that will not boot Fatdog off USB because of its large initrd file. But if I rebuild Fatdog with a conventional sfs file, it works fine.

I suspect that you are having the same kind of problem, since ISObooter works for you with small ISOs like Puppy.

BTW, I also got phinxdesktop-2012-64bit-beta1.iso to boot for me.

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johnywhy
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#142 Post by johnywhy »

rcrsn51 wrote:I have a machine that will not boot Fatdog off USB because of its large initrd file. But if I rebuild Fatdog with a conventional sfs file, it works fine.
is it possible for me to rebuild PCLinuxOS with a conventional sfs file?

thx!
[b]Now[/b]: X-Tahr 2.0! StretchDog! DevuanDog!
[b]Tops[/b]: TarhNOP Vlina-R2 Racy
[b]Used[/b]: Puppeee Precise Lucid Wary Tahrpup Quirky Slacko MacPup Saluki Puppy Studio LxPupTarh Lina-Lite Lina
[i]i ♥ Puppy[/i]

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johnywhy
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#143 Post by johnywhy »

hi

i installed stock tahr puppy to a usb drive, using isobooter.

note, my hard drive contained pupsaves for NOPtahrpuppy, and LXPuppytahr.

on boot of the stock tahr puppy from usb drive, i noticed i booted into xfce.

wha?

seems the usb found and used the pupsave on my harddrive. That's unexpected/undesirable.

suggestion/request for the isobooter team: please don't use pupsaves outside of the iso, or at least outside of the usb device.

Or make it optional somehow.

thx!

----
meanwhile, i cannot figure out how to boot off other pupsaves when i want to! :/
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 129#839129
[b]Now[/b]: X-Tahr 2.0! StretchDog! DevuanDog!
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rcrsn51
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#144 Post by rcrsn51 »

The responsibility for locating a savefile belongs to the Puppy being booted, not ISObooter. If Puppy X is accidentally picking the savefile of a related Puppy Y, you should address the problem with the builder of Puppy X.

However, there are two ways of setting up ISObooter. If you boot to the splash screen, ISObooter simulates booting off an actual CD. In that mode, most Puppies will automatically search the hard drive for a savefile. That's standard procedure in Puppy. But you can bypass this by typing the "puppy pfix=ram" boot option.

If you boot to the desktop, ISObooter simulates a frugal install. So Puppy looks for the savefile close to the main SFS - ie. on the USB drive. But this search mechanism is constantly changing in Puppy, and there is no guarantee that the USB savefile will be picked before a hard drive savefile. Again, this has nothing to do with ISObooter.

After you have run the ISObooter setup, look at its menu.lst file. You are free to customize it any way you want to get a different boot procedure that fits your needs.

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johnywhy
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#145 Post by johnywhy »

thx for that
[b]Now[/b]: X-Tahr 2.0! StretchDog! DevuanDog!
[b]Tops[/b]: TarhNOP Vlina-R2 Racy
[b]Used[/b]: Puppeee Precise Lucid Wary Tahrpup Quirky Slacko MacPup Saluki Puppy Studio LxPupTarh Lina-Lite Lina
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slavvo67
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#146 Post by slavvo67 »

@rcrsn51

Following your instructions to the letter, I added Slacko, 5 Headed Titan and the new VividPup. This worked like a charm including the save file (at least for Vivid). So my only concern is the quality of the save file; as I have had many issues with puppy's save files in the past. This is why I tend to use Barry's full USB installs (Quirky series).

Anyway, thank you for the tutorial. It was a fun and easy project to undertake.

Regards,

Slavvo67

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ASRI éducation
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#147 Post by ASRI éducation »

@ rcrsn51

I started testing isobooter.
For a small script (under 100 lines), it is impressive what he is capable of.
I made some changes to suit my needs (adding options grub menu).
Thank you a lot.

Regards,
Projet ASRI éducation => [url=http://asri-education.org/]Association[/url] | [url=http://forum.asri-education.org/]Forum[/url] | [url=http://dl01.asri-education.org/]Dépôt[/url] | [url=http://kids.asri-education.org/]Espace kids[/url]

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rcrsn51
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#148 Post by rcrsn51 »

Some users want to boot off a flash drive, but put their savefile on the hard drive. Puppy does not like this combination with ISObooter - it wants to make the flash drive install self-contained. So here is a work-around:

1. Set up ISObooter with "splash screen = y".
2. Boot Puppy off the flash drive.
3. Once booted, mount the flash drive and edit the menu.lst file.
4. Delete the "chainloader" line and replace it with

Code: Select all

kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=atahd pdev1=sdaX
initrd /initrd.gz
Note that "pdev1" ends with the digit "one" and "X" is the number of the target hard drive partition.

5. Save and unmount the flash drive.
6. Shut down and make your savefile on partition sdaX. Also copy the main SFS file(s) to sdaX.
7. Reboot.

Sylvander
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#149 Post by Sylvander »

Woohoo!
1. I was really pleased when I used IsoBooter to make a bootable Flash Drive holding the latest TahrPup [6.0.3?], and it boots on a laptop just fine. :D

2. Now I'm even more delighted, because I've just added an ISO file for the latest Comodo Virus Scanner [Comodo Rescue disk here], and its working just fine, scanning away at the Windows-7 partitions as I type, and found 1 threat.
a. Originally Windows had run Avast to eliminate infection.
b. Then I scanned using Slacko-5.7.0-pae->Avast_on_demand_scanner, and it found 1 virus on a "scanned/clean" system.
c. Then I scanned using the new Comodo, and so far it has found 1 "threat".
d. Only problem is: Comodo is unable to connect wirelessly to my router, so is unable update its virus database. I'll need to try connecting by cable.
Puppy connects wirelessly just fine using "Frisbee".

3. IsoBooter is FABULOUS! :D

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rcrsn51
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#150 Post by rcrsn51 »

Excellent. Unfortunately, if your system has the "sfs file not found" problem, it will probably also happen with ISObooter. I have always suspected that this is a USB timing issue with some hardware and might be fixed by a "waitusb" boot option like in other LInuxes.

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Mike Walsh
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#151 Post by Mike Walsh »

@rcrsn51:-

I sometimes have this problem myself. With most Puppies, they'll happily install to, and boot from, USB. I've never been able to do this with Carolina, or X-Tahr, or X-Slacko.

Coincidentally, they all use the XFCE desktop. I can't believe this has anything to do with it, however. I used to run the XFCE desktop alongside Unity in Ubuntu 'Trusty' last year, and also had a spell using Xubuntu itself. Never had any problems with either of them.

The only reason I quit the 'buntus was that 1), they were starting to get too 'high-maintenance', and 2), Canonical's constant updates began trashing my graphics.....freezes and 'jam-ups' were becoming a regular occurrence. Might have meant they were starting to drop support for older graphics hardware, in their eagerness to win over the 'ex-Windows' crowd. I haven't had the problem since going 'all-Puppy'.

Can you elaborate a little further on the 'waitusb' timing thing, please? I'm curious to know whether there's a way of implementing this in Puppy.


Regards,

Mike.
Last edited by Mike Walsh on Mon 03 Aug 2015, 23:29, edited 1 time in total.

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Mike7
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#152 Post by Mike7 »

Mike Walsh wrote: With most Puppies, they'll happily install to, and boot from, USB. I've never been able to do this with Carolina
I installed Carolite-1.2 on a USB stick using grub4dos and it boots okay every time. So it doesn't look like an Xfce issue.

M.
Carolite-1.2 w/FF38 on bootable 16G flash drive; Asus eeePC 1000HA, Atom CPU, 2G RAM, 160G HDD.

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rcrsn51
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#153 Post by rcrsn51 »

@Mike Walsh: Have you tried one of these troublesome X-Puppies with ISObooter?

Ether
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Re: How to Make a Bootable Flash Drive using ISObooter

#154 Post by Ether »

7a. Add some ISO files to your drive. You can copy them from other locations or download them directly from the web.
7b. After putting an ISO on the drive, run the "sync" command.
I'm new at Linux so go easy on me if the answer to this question should be obvious (see note at bottom).

What does the "sync" command do, and does 7b mean:

Run the sync command after you've put all the ISO files on the drive.

or

Run the sync command each time you put an ISO on the drive.


I think it means the latter but I want to be sure.


For context, here is what I am attempting to do: I have a test machine (Dell Dimension E310) that I want to set up to multiboot DD Jesse, Puppy Precise 5.7.1, and Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela 32bit (I have the live/install ISO).


Note: I tried searching this thread for "sync" but I think it only searched the first page. Is there a simple way to search an entire thread for a word or phrase?
.

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rcrsn51
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#155 Post by rcrsn51 »

When using ISObooter with multiple ISOs, it's essential that the data on the USB drive is contiguous. I believe that the safest way to ensure this is to run the "sync" command from a terminal after each copy. This ensures that the data transfer is complete before you start another operation.

However, the latest posted version of ISObooter will automatically do a sync before it builds the menu. So it may be sufficient to copy all the ISOs, then run the program.

Maintaining contiguity depends on a lot of factors. I would add one ISO at a time, run the program and check that the device boots.

Are you making a bootable USB drive or are you attempting to do a hard drive setup? As a beginner, you should do a USB setup first.

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