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decuser
n00b
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 60
Location: Godley, Texas
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 Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2024 1:58 am Post subject: burning x86 minimal install iso to usb |
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I inherited a Dell Inspiron N4110 w/2Ghz Pentium  . I would like to try my hand at installing gentoo on it. So, I downloaded the minimal x86 iso at:
https://distfiles.gentoo.org/releases/x86/autobuilds/20231225T160203Z/install-x86-minimal-20231225T160203Z.iso
and did:
| Code: | | sudo dd if=install-x86-minimal-20231225T160203Z.iso of=/dev/sde bs=8192k status=progress; sudo sync |
But I can't seem to boot the usb... "Operating system not found".
I burned the FreeBSD 13 installer to the same usb stick using the same process and that [/code]boots fine... I read a bunch of handbook pages, but I'm still not sure I understand - is the minimal install image directly writeable and should it boot? |
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ian.au
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Joined: 07 Apr 2011
Posts: 591
Location: Australia
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decuser
n00b
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 60
Location: Godley, Texas
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| Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2024 5:38 am Post subject: |
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Hmm. It's something else. I tried it in my t430 and it booted fine. Apparently, it doesn't like it cuz it's not mbr. So, I tried the script and manual methods, and both ran into the issue of the cd image missing isolinux directory and files... I looked at several of the iso images and they all appear to be missing this folder... so,
the step:
mv /mnt/usb/isolinux/* /mnt/usb
fails with:
mv: cannot stat '/mnt/usb/isolinux/*': No such file or directory
Still trying to figure out wazzup.[/quote] |
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decuser
n00b
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 60
Location: Godley, Texas
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| Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2024 5:49 am Post subject: |
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I was able to do the following to get it working, but I don't like the solution:
1. format the USB w/MBR and fat32
2. use unetbootin to create a bootable cd from the iso
3. burn it, boot it, pick grub 0 from the unetbootin menu
Then it boots. This is getting into magic incantations at this point. I don't really know isolinux or how unetbootin is doing things differently from the manual method outlined in the handbook, or the script for that matter.
What I think I do know at this point is that the laptop needs the usb to be formatted MBR. So, if I just burn the ISO directly, that won't work, because it results in a GPT scheme. It's bootable on more modern laptops, but not the N4110. I can format the usb MBR, easily. I can mount the iso loopback, but I can't run the script or do the manual copying of files from /mnt/cdrom to /mnt/usb and reorder them as required, because they're missing.
I gather this isn't a common problem (needing the usb to be mbr)? Anyway, help appreciated. |
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sMueggli
Guru
Joined: 03 Sep 2022
Posts: 370
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| Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2024 10:08 am Post subject: |
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| GPT was specified with UEFI. If your device is very old, you probably still have a traditional BIOS or a limited UEFI. It is also possible, that a newer BIOS/UEFI version supports booting from GPT. |
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decuser
n00b
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 60
Location: Godley, Texas
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| Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2024 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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| I have the latest bios available on the device, its definitely limited and refuses to boot with UEFI. Is it possible to create an MBR only minimal boot USB without using unetbootin? |
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linux_os2
Apprentice
Joined: 29 Aug 2018
Posts: 223
Location: Zedelgem Belgium
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2024 10:15 am Post subject: |
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| decuser wrote: | | I have the latest bios available on the device, its definitely limited and refuses to boot with UEFI. Is it possible to create an MBR only minimal boot USB without using unetbootin? |
Yes you need a MBR on the USB stick.
see https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB as ian.au already posted:
follow instructions of section: | Code: | | Manually preparing a LiveUSB drive |
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decuser
n00b
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 60
Location: Godley, Texas
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| Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2024 3:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Wow. I have read (and followed) the instructions. As it turns out, the wiki is out of date. The process of building the iso changed a while back. I filed a bug against the iso, but the response was that it’s not a bug, just a mismatch with the wiki. I’ll keep working to figure out the workaround and post it if I figure it out. |
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linux_os2
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Joined: 29 Aug 2018
Posts: 223
Location: Zedelgem Belgium
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2024 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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I have a HP ProBook 4510s.
I did just : | Code: | | root #dd if=/path/to/image.iso of=/dev/sdc bs=8192k status=progress; sync |
the probook booted successfully
I used same image as you : | Code: | | install-x86-minimal-20231225T160203Z.iso |
Th Probook is old and cannot boot uefi |
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decuser
n00b
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 60
Location: Godley, Texas
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2024 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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| linux_os2 wrote: | I have a HP ProBook 4510s.
I did just : | Code: | | root #dd if=/path/to/image.iso of=/dev/sdc bs=8192k status=progress; sync |
the probook booted successfully
I used same image as you : | Code: | | install-x86-minimal-20231225T160203Z.iso |
Th Probook is old and cannot boot uefi |
That’s great. The wiki manual instructions and the script won’t work... period. On any system, but yes dd will copy the image the build system creates and that will boot on countless systems apparently, but not the N4110 . |
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linux_os2
Apprentice
Joined: 29 Aug 2018
Posts: 223
Location: Zedelgem Belgium
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | That’s great. The wiki manual instructions and the script won’t work... period. On any system, but yes dd will copy the image the build system creates and that will boot on countless systems apparently, but not the N4110 . |
FYI:
I first tried with an usb-stick Kingston DataTraveler MAX 256GB without success.
Also the syslinux way.
After some time I realized that maybe the stick is too big and or fast for the old HP.
Using an old usb-stick works well.
I also tried the syslinux way, was stuck during boot, could not find the root block device....
followed this procedure: | Code: |
fdisk /dev/sdk
create a new empty DOS partition table "via o"
create a primary partition of the whole space
change type to 0c W95 FAT32 (LBA) "via t"
make the partition bootable "via a"
write "via w"
mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/sdk1
dd if=/usr/share/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sdk
mkdir -p /mnt/cdrom
mount -o loop,ro -t iso9660 /home/ISOs/install-x86-minimal-20231225T160203Z.iso /mnt/cdrom
mkdir -p /mnt/usb
mount -t vfat /dev/sdk1 /mnt/usb
cp -r /mnt/cdrom/* /mnt/usb
syslinux /dev/sdk1
gedit /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg |
content of syslinux.conf | Code: | PROMPT 1
TIMEOUT 50
DEFAULT gentoo
LABEL gentoo
LINUX /boot/gentoo
INITRD /boot/gentoo.igz |
mayby | Code: | | APPEND root=something must be added |
Last edited by linux_os2 on Sat Jan 06, 2024 11:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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linux_os2
Apprentice
Joined: 29 Aug 2018
Posts: 223
Location: Zedelgem Belgium
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2024 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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after some googling found: http://hup.hu/node/30374
added to syslinux.cfg | Code: | | APPEND root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc dokeymap looptype=squashfs loop=/image.squashfs cdroot ramdisk_size=20000 splash=silent,theme:livecd-2006.1 CONSOLE=/dev/tty1 quiet |
complete syslinux.cfg | Code: | PROMPT 1
TIMEOUT 50
DEFAULT gentoo
LABEL gentoo
LINUX /boot/gentoo
APPEND root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc dokeymap looptype=squashfs loop=/image.squashfs cdroot ramdisk_size=20000 splash=silent,theme:livecd-2006.1 CONSOLE=/dev/tty1 quiet
INITRD /boot/gentoo.igz
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hopefully this will also work for you |
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decuser
n00b
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 60
Location: Godley, Texas
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| Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2024 10:42 pm Post subject: |
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| linux_os2 wrote: | followed this procedure: | Code: |
fdisk /dev/sdk
create a new empty DOS partition table "via o"
create a primary partition of the whole space
change type to 0c W95 FAT32 (LBA) "via t"
make the partition bootable "via a"
write "via w"
mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/sdk1
dd if=/usr/share/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sdk
mount -o loop,ro -t iso9660 /home/ISOs/install-x86-minimal-20231225T160203Z.iso /mnt/cdrom
mount -t vfat /dev/sdk1 /mnt/usb
cp -r /mnt/cdrom/* /mnt/usb
syslinux /dev/sdk1
gedit /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg |
content of syslinux.conf | Code: | PROMPT 1
TIMEOUT 50
DEFAULT gentoo
LABEL gentoo
LINUX /boot/gentoo
INITRD /boot/gentoo.igz |
mayby | Code: | | APPEND root=something must be added |
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Nice! I learned a bit along the way, too.
The process you outlined above works great and is pretty much in line with the intent of the wiki pages. The APPEND line is the magic:
| Code: | PROMPT 1
TIMEOUT 50
DEFAULT gentoo
LABEL gentoo
LINUX /boot/gentoo
APPEND looptype=squashfs loop=/image.squashfs cdroot
INITRD /boot/gentoo.igz |
It took a little while to track it down - the boot kept hanging at root device? and missing files. I looked in the iso and those files were missing, for sure. I gathered they must be in the squashfs image which is there and sure enough making it root worked. I have no idea if it's correctly/fully specified or not, but I get the root prompt and it looks like it'll work, so score! |
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linux_os2
Apprentice
Joined: 29 Aug 2018
Posts: 223
Location: Zedelgem Belgium
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2024 10:05 am Post subject: |
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I tried your APPEND line and yes that works also but you cannot change the keymap. (azerty for Belgium)
added dokeymap
like | Code: | | APPEND dokeymap looptype=squashfs loop=/image.squashfs cdroot |
now you can chose from different keymaps.
Great!!
Edited the section:Manually preparing a LiveUSB drive in wiki https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB |
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decuser
n00b
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 60
Location: Godley, Texas
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2024 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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| linux_os2 wrote: | I tried your APPEND line and yes that works also but you cannot change the keymap. (azerty for Belgium)
added dokeymap
like | Code: | | APPEND dokeymap looptype=squashfs loop=/image.squashfs cdroot |
now you can chose from different keymaps.
Great!!
Edited https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB accordingly |
Ha! I was thinking last night about something was missing and when I booted my UEFI system for comparison, I saw that I wasn't being prompted for the keymap. I groaned and figured it'd take me down another rabbit hole. Thanks for saving me and for the wiki update. |
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decuser
n00b
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 60
Location: Godley, Texas
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2024 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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I also saw "docache" as an option in case you want/need to remount /mnt/cdrom
| Code: | | APPEND dokeymap looptype=squashfs loop=/image.squashfs cdroot docache |
I'll prolly leave it off, but note it for future use. |
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linux_os2
Apprentice
Joined: 29 Aug 2018
Posts: 223
Location: Zedelgem Belgium
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| Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2024 10:01 pm Post subject: |
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| decuser wrote: | I also saw "docache" as an option in case you want/need to remount /mnt/cdrom
| Code: | | APPEND dokeymap looptype=squashfs loop=/image.squashfs cdroot docache |
I'll prolly leave it off, but note it for future use. |
thx for the info |
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Installing Gentoo
