Re: Can't make writable USB thumbdrive installer anymore
On Thu 02 Feb 2017 at 00:31:38 +0000, David Griffith wrote:
> >You used 'cp debian.iso /dev/sdX' and it didn't work? Is that what you
> >mean by "same results"?
>
> This is the exact procedure I used to create a one-partition thumb drive,
> which is writable, to install an arbitrary release of Debian as determined
> by which ISO was copied to the partition (sudo as necessary). When followed
> on a Wheezy machine, the result is a thumb drive that works as I previously
> described. When performed on a Jessie machine, the result is a thumb drive
> that fails to boot.
This is quite a neat method; I use it myself to put a Jessie archive on
a USB stick. My variations are inline. I cannot see what syslinux gives
me over GRUB.
> 1) Ensure these packages are installed: syslinux dosfstools mbr
syslinux and mbr not used.
> 2) fdisk /dev/sdb
> (delete all partitons)
> (create one primary partition)
> (change partition type to 0x0b (W95 FAT32)
> (set bootable flag)
Didn't bother. It still works.
> (write changes and quit)
>
> 3) install-mbr /dev/sdb
Omitted.
> 4) mkdosfs /dev/sdb1
>
> 5) mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
Then:
grub-install --boot-directory=/mnt/boot /dev/sdb
Write a grub.cfg to put in /boot/grub.
> 6) cd /mnt
Not needed.
> 7) wget http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/jessie/main/installer-amd64/current/images/hd-media/initrd.gz
Copy initrd.gz to /mnt/boot.
> 8) wget http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/jessie/main/installer-amd64/current/images/hd-media/vmlinuz
Copy vmlinuz to /mnt/boot.
> 9) cd
Omitted.
> 10) echo "default vmlinuz" > /mnt/syslinux.cfg
Omitted.
> 11) echo "append initrd=initrd.gz" >> /mnt/syslinux.cfg
Omitted.
> 12) cp ~/iso-images/debian/debian-8.7.1-amd64-CD-1.iso /mnt
A netinst ISO was sufficient for what I was doing.
> 13) umount /mnt
Don't unmount.
> 14) syslinux /dev/sdb1
Omitted.
> 15) mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
Omitted.
> 16) ls
> debian-8.7.1-amd64-CD-1.iso
> initrd.gz
> ldlinux.c32
> ldlinux.sys
> syslinux.cfg
> vmlinuz
A different output because the directory setup is different. vmlinuz and
initrd.gz are in /boot, for example.
> 17) umount /mnt
>
> At this point, I can remove the thumb drive and boot it on another
> machine. I can also test it on QEMU. For instance:
> sudo qemu-system-x86_64 -hdb /dev/sdb -display curses
>
> If the procedure was done on a Wheezy machine, the result is a bunch of text
> flying by and a normal install process beginning. If done on a Jessie
> machine, the result is one of these two kernel panic dumps:
[...Snip logs...]
> So, in conclusion, the procedure works when done on a Wheezy machine, but
> not on a Jessie machine. Why? How can the problem be fixed?
Use GRUB?
--
Brian.
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