Syslinux - May 2016 - Trying to build bootable iso but very confused by syslinux documentation

On 05/03/2016 02:31 AM, Thomas Schmitt via Syslinux
wrote:
> Hi,
>
> John Lewis wrote:
>> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCDCustomizationFromScratch
>>
>> The show stopper for me was the mkisofs because the closest command I
>> had available was xorrisofs and I think a switch was different.
> If you have questions about xorrisofs, then just ask me. :))
>
> The web page advises to install genisoimage, a mkisofs clone, but
> shows its examples with mkisofs. Replace "mkisofs" by
"geisoimage"
> and you should be on the track which the author of the page intends.
>
> As for xorrisofs options, all three programs mkisofs, genisoimage, and
> xorrisofs are supposed to perform the shown ISO production run:
>
>   sudo mkisofs -r -V "$IMAGE_NAME" -cache-inodes -J -l -b
isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4
-boot-info-table -o ../ubuntu-remix.iso .
>
> (But i really wonder why one needs to be superuser to create an
>  ISO 9660 filesystem.)
>
> So what are your actual symptoms of failure with ISO production ?
>
>
> Have a nice day :)
>
> Thomas
>
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I got the command working.

I feel like I am missing a college level course (which doesn't seem to
exist) on iso creation and boot loading. I only have the vaguest
understand of what the flags in the man page of xorrisofs and xorriso are.

That normally wouldn't be an issue at all, but there doesn't seem to
exist a hello word like exercise that is simple and predictable. If I
can get a memtest86+
booting and running from an iso I generated I wouldn't feel like I would
need to get an Electrical Engineer to translate the parts I don't
understand.

Hi,
> I only have the vaguest
> understand of what the flags in the man page of xorrisofs and xorriso are.
The options reflect a long tradition of program mkisofs and the
winded road of boot firmware entry points in ISO 9660 filesystems.
So one cannot expect to find much of a common system in them.

> there doesn't seem to
> exist a hello word like exercise that is simple and predictable.
OSDev.org tries to provide such examples. Begin to read here:

  http://wiki.osdev.org/El-Torito
  http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=ISOLINUX

for booting from optical media and then go on to

  http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Isohybrid

for learning about enhancing the ISO for USB stick or hard disk.

Be aware that booting via EFI firmware from optical media cannot yet
be done by SYSLINUX. You need other bootloaders or boot strategies
for that. They can be combined with ISOLINUX in the same ISO image.

Examples are netinst ISOs of Debian (not their LiveCDs), or ISOs
of Archlinux, Gentoo, Fedora, or openSuSE.
xorriso-1.4.2 will show you their equipment by

  xorriso -indev debian-8.4.0-amd64-netinst.iso \
          -report_el_torito plain -report_system_area plain

It will make proposals of boot related xorrisofs options to reproduce
the shown equipment by

  xorriso -indev debian-8.4.0-amd64-netinst.iso \
          -report_el_torito as_mkisofs

> I would
> need to get an Electrical Engineer to translate the parts I don't
> understand.
The EE would be Joerg Schilling, developer of mkisofs. I studied math. :))

Do not hesitate to ask.

As long as it is about booting ISOLINUX it will be on-topic and
hopefully of interest here.
If it is about pure xorriso aspects, ask at  gnu-xorriso at gnu.org .
(This list is tightly moderated. Be patient until your mail shows up.
 As soon as i read it, i will make it public.)
If privacy is needed, write to scdbackup at gmx.net .


Have a nice day :)

Thomas

Right now I am trying to boot a memtest, and I got pretty far, but it
still isn't working. I linked to a screenshot in a virtual machine.

https://i.sli.mg/6pvtAJ.png

On 05/10/2016 04:55 AM, Thomas Schmitt wrote:
> Hi,
>
>> I only have the vaguest
>> understand of what the flags in the man page of xorrisofs and xorriso
are.
> The options reflect a long tradition of program mkisofs and the
> winded road of boot firmware entry points in ISO 9660 filesystems.
> So one cannot expect to find much of a common system in them.
>
>
>> there doesn't seem to
>> exist a hello word like exercise that is simple and predictable.
> OSDev.org tries to provide such examples. Begin to read here:
>
>   http://wiki.osdev.org/El-Torito
>   http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=ISOLINUX
>
> for booting from optical media and then go on to
>
>   http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Isohybrid
>
> for learning about enhancing the ISO for USB stick or hard disk.
>
> Be aware that booting via EFI firmware from optical media cannot yet
> be done by SYSLINUX. You need other bootloaders or boot strategies
> for that. They can be combined with ISOLINUX in the same ISO image.
>
> Examples are netinst ISOs of Debian (not their LiveCDs), or ISOs
> of Archlinux, Gentoo, Fedora, or openSuSE.
> xorriso-1.4.2 will show you their equipment by
>
>   xorriso -indev debian-8.4.0-amd64-netinst.iso \
>           -report_el_torito plain -report_system_area plain
>
> It will make proposals of boot related xorrisofs options to reproduce
> the shown equipment by
>
>   xorriso -indev debian-8.4.0-amd64-netinst.iso \
>           -report_el_torito as_mkisofs
>
>
>> I would
>> need to get an Electrical Engineer to translate the parts I don't
>> understand.
> The EE would be Joerg Schilling, developer of mkisofs. I studied math. :))
>
> Do not hesitate to ask.
>
> As long as it is about booting ISOLINUX it will be on-topic and
> hopefully of interest here.
> If it is about pure xorriso aspects, ask at  gnu-xorriso at gnu.org .
> (This list is tightly moderated. Be patient until your mail shows up.
>  As soon as i read it, i will make it public.)
> If privacy is needed, write to scdbackup at gmx.net .
>
>
> Have a nice day :)
>
> Thomas
>