Syslinux - Jan 2014 - USB boot problems on Gigabyte GA-M55Plus-S3G

In message <CAD0Rxe=p2gHHN9U3Zjn34Y71-KTxk5v+WzG7V3VH0ZNGCzqSvA at
mail.gmail.com>
Gene Cumm <gene.cumm at gmail.com> wrote:
>On Fri, Jan 10, 2014 at 9:35 PM, Ronald F. Guilmette
><rfg at tristatelogic.com> wrote:
>> In message <BLU0-SMTP145A44932CB6CC2DB4621568BB30 at phx.gbl>,
>> Ady <ady-sf at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>I don't know why syslinux.cfg would be correctly found in the
same
>>>USB drive when plugged in to other systems but not in this one.
>>
>> Well, ya know, that makes two of us.
>
>LBA or other geometry-related aspects.
>
>1) Could you post the results of 'fdisk -l -c=dos -u=cylinders
>/dev/sda' and 'fdisk -l -u=sectors /dev/sda'
Huh?

I get the feeling that you are making the assumption that I have some
flavor of Linux all set up and ready to run on this specific box (i.e.
the one containg the Gigabyte GA-M55Plus-S3G motherboard).

I don't, actually.

But I may have, in future.  Would that help in some way?

Also, on the off chance that I might be in a position to fulfull your
request for the above specific info sometime in the near future, could
you please elaborate and let me know if, by "/dev/sda" in the above,
you intentionally were intendeding to obtain information about the
primary (sATA) hard drive in the system, and *not* about any USB-attached
device(s)?  (Sorry, but I am puzzled about why info on the main hard drive
geometry would be of any help here.)
>2) You cut the critical three-four letter sequence indicating boot type.
Please elaborate and I will try to get you that information.  What
critical three-four letter sequence was that, exactly?
>3) About 3-4 years ago, I decided I'd use my 1G sticks for light
>writing and primarily for booting old systems since I anticipated
>their disappearance and saw the growing incompatibility of large stick
>and old PCs.
I can only envy you at this point, since I am essentially trying to do
likewise... so far to no avail, at least with my GA-M55Plus-S3G. :-(


Regards,
rfg

Am 14.01.2014 07:56, schrieb Ronald F. Guilmette:
> Huh? I get the feeling that you are making the assumption that I have 
> some flavor of Linux all set up and ready to run on this specific box 
> (i.e. the one containg the Gigabyte GA-M55Plus-S3G motherboard). I 
> don't, actually. But I may have, in future. Would that help in some
way?
Yes it would help. But the most easy way probably is to take 
Win32DiskImager and one of the official Ubuntu ISO images. The official 
ISOs are hybrid images. They also contain a partition table and a 
bootloader. With Win32DiskImager you can create a bootable thumb drive. 
Since the hybrid images usually have a bootloader at low LBAs and use a 
drive geometry that works nearly everywhere, this Ubuntu stick should 
boot on your board.

When it boots, you can take the Ubuntu live system to analyze the drives 
that do not boot. You also can install software in memory in the the 
Ubuntu system running from USB if you have sufficient RAM.

Regards,
Mattias

-- 
Mattias Schlenker - Redaktion + EDV-Beratung + Linux-CD/DVD-Konzepte
August-Bebel-Str. 74 - 04275 LEIPZIG - GERMANY

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My apologies for replying to the message below out-of-order (and rather late).

I confess that I have had some difficulty trying to track this thread,
and to see which parts are questions/requests addressed to me personally,
as opposed to the discussions among and between everybody else about
this hornet's nest I seem to have opened.


In message <52D52048.8040703 at mattiasschlenker.de>, 
Mattias Schlenker <ms at mattiasschlenker.de> wrote:
>Am 14.01.2014 07:56, schrieb Ronald F. Guilmette:
>> Huh? I get the feeling that you are making the assumption that I have 
>> some flavor of Linux all set up and ready to run on this specific box 
>> (i.e. the one containg the Gigabyte GA-M55Plus-S3G motherboard). I 
>> don't, actually. But I may have, in future. Would that help in some
way?
>
>Yes it would help.
Well, I now have a _minimal_ install of ArchLinux on a drive that I
can install into this system with the Gigabyte GA-M55lus-S3G motherboard
in it.

So now, if you would be so kind as to remind me what you wanted me to
do (under Linux) I'll try to get that done.

Please understand however that the ArchLinux _is_ really minimal, and
I'm not even sure that i know yet how to install additional things on
it.  But if whatever you want me to do requires more than the base
system, then you'll have to tutor me also on proper procedure for
installing additional packages on ArchLinux.  (I really haven't had
time to even read that section of the ArchLinux wiki yet.)

But perhaps whatever you wanted me to do (under linux) has been rendered
moot by the other facts and evidence I have reported on since you posted.


Regards,
rfg