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David Christensen

2017-Mar-19 02:40 UTC

[syslinux] "isolinux.bin missing or corrupt" when booting USB flash drive in old PC

On 03/18/2017 03:02 PM, Thomas Schmitt via Syslinux
wrote:> Hi,
>
> David Christensen wrote:
>> I use this USB flash drive for bootable installer images; I do not
>> attempt to mount it.  I don't know that I could, even if I wanted
to:
>
>   mkdir /mnt/iso
>   mount /dev/sdc /mnt/iso
>
> or, because partition 1 starts at block 0, you may mount it too
>
>   mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/iso
Or, using a loop device and the *.iso file:

2017-03-18 17:31:22 root at cd2533 ~
# mkdir /mnt/iso

2017-03-18 17:48:16 root at cd2533 ~
# losetup -d /dev/loop0

2017-03-18 17:51:32 root at cd2533 ~
# losetup -r -f 
/var/local/data/dpchrist/iso/debian/8.7.1/i386/debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso

2017-03-18 17:52:13 root at cd2533 ~
# losetup -a
/dev/loop0: [fe02]:126616474 
(/var/local/data/dpchrist/iso/debian/8.7.1/i386/debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso)

2017-03-18 17:52:48 root at cd2533 ~
# mount /dev/loop0 /mnt/iso
mount: block device /dev/loop0 is write-protected, mounting read-only

2017-03-18 17:53:50 root at cd2533 ~
# mount | grep loop0
/dev/loop0 on /mnt/iso type iso9660 (ro,relatime)

2017-03-18 17:53:53 root at cd2533 ~
# ll /mnt/iso
total 1152
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   4096 2017/01/16 02:11:29 ./
drwxr-xr-x 7 root root   4096 2017/03/18 17:31:46 ../
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   2048 2017/01/16 02:11:29 .disk/
-r--r--r-- 1 root root   9473 2017/01/16 02:11:29 README.html
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 190914 2017/01/14 05:52:20 README.mirrors.html
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 103482 2017/01/14 05:52:20 README.mirrors.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root root    461 2017/01/16 02:09:49 README.source
-r--r--r-- 1 root root   6001 2017/01/16 02:11:29 README.txt
-r--r--r-- 1 root root    146 2017/01/16 02:09:47 autorun.inf
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   2048 2017/01/16 02:09:49 boot/
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   2048 2017/01/16 02:09:47 css/
lr-xr-xr-x 1 root root      1 2017/01/16 02:09:45 debian -> ./
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   2048 2017/01/16 02:09:47 dists/
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   4096 2017/01/16 02:09:46 doc/
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   2048 2017/01/16 02:09:49 efi/
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   2048 2017/01/16 02:09:59 firmware/
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 180335 2017/01/10 13:19:04 g2ldr
-r--r--r-- 1 root root   8192 2017/01/10 13:19:04 g2ldr.mbr
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   2048 2017/01/16 02:09:45 install/
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   2048 2017/01/16 02:09:49 install.386/
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   4096 2017/01/16 02:09:49 isolinux/
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 268674 2017/01/16 02:11:29 md5sum.txt
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   4096 2017/01/16 02:09:47 pics/
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   2048 2017/01/16 02:09:50 pool/
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 368480 2017/01/10 13:19:04 setup.exe
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root   2048 2017/01/16 02:09:47 tools/
-r--r--r-- 1 root root    228 2017/01/16 02:09:47 win32-loader.ini

>> I need a debugging version of whatever program is generating the error
>> message "isolinux.bin missing or corrupt".
>
> That would be the MBR code at bytes 0 to 432 of the ISO.
> Source code (assembler) is at
>   http://git.zytor.com/syslinux/syslinux.git/tree/mbr/isohdpfx.S
I see the source code for the error message:

bad_signature:
	call	error
	.ascii	"isolinux.bin missing or corrupt.\r\n"


And the machine code:

2017-03-18 18:06:56 root at cd2533 ~
# dd 
if=/var/local/data/dpchrist/iso/debian/8.7.1/i386/debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso
bs=1 skip=177 count=37 2>/dev/null | hexdump -C
00000000  e8 83 00 69 73 6f 6c 69  6e 75 78 2e 62 69 6e 20 
|...isolinux.bin |
00000010  6d 69 73 73 69 6e 67 20  6f 72 20 63 6f 72 72 75  |missing or 
corru|
00000020  70 74 2e 0d 0a                                    |pt...|
00000025


It looks like the call to "error" (line 276) is made if a summation of
the bytes in the first four sectors of a partition don't add up to 
HYBRID_MAGIC (?).

> It's a very narrow piece of space for a program. One may re-use the
> "nop" bytes at label "_start:". They serve as fake
Apple Partition Map
> header block.
> If the first ".byte 0x33, 0xed" before the "nop"s gets
removed then the
> second one after the "nop"s needs to be removed, too.
>
> One could hardcode the block address of "isolinux.bin" (8444
decimal)
> and inspect or print the bytes read from there via BIOS INT 13H
> (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INT_13H).
> Next one would try on Linux to find the block iaddress which yields that
> content.
>
> Further one could try to find out whether "we have EBIOS" with
LBA
> addressing or "CBIOS" with Cylinder/Head/Sector addressing.
> If CBIOS, INT 13 with AH 6 is used for reading, else AH 42.
> If C/H/S and if the EBIOS assumes a different size of head and cylinder
> than the MBR does ... that would explain a mislead read attempt.
> But i understand that INT 13 with AH 8 is used to inquire the C/H/S
> factors from the BIOS in line 176 ff. So if the BIOS does not lie then
> the computation at label "read_sector_cbios:" should be correct.
>
> Regrettably i still have 4560 pages of the Intel processor manual to read
> before i can start to handcode an MBR. ~:o)
There is the processor, and then there is the system (chipset, BIOS) in 
which the processor resides.


Figuring out why debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso works on CD, but 
doesn't work on USB, in my D8765GBFLK systems would require more effort 
that I am interested in expending.


Hundreds of millions of 32-bit Intel Pentium 4-class and higher 
computers have been manufactured since 2000, many of which still work 
and could be put to use.


debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso is really a 32-bit live Linux image with 
just a few applications -- rescue shell, installer, etc..  I'd like to 
create my own custom live Linux images with the applications of my 
choosing for computers such as the above.  USB images are of more 
interest to me than CD images, because optical drives wear out in older 
computers and many newer computers omit optical drives.


Is there a way I can build live 32-bit Debian GNU/Linux USB images 
without isohdpfx.S and syslinux.bin?


Is there another 32-bit GNU/Linux distribution that is better suited to 
my purpose?


David

Thomas Schmitt

2017-Mar-19 08:01 UTC

head link

[syslinux] "isolinux.bin missing or corrupt" when booting USB flash drive in old PC

Hi,

David Christensen wrote:> I see the source code for the error message:
>         .ascii  "isolinux.bin missing or corrupt.\r\n"
The riddle is why the MBR code does not get to see the expected bytes.

> Figuring out why debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso works on CD, but
doesn't
> work on USB, 
The immediate reason is that from CD the program isolinux.bin is loaded
and started by the BIOS (without checksum verification), whereas from USB
stick, the MBR code has to load and start the program.

> Is there a way I can build live 32-bit Debian GNU/Linux USB images without
> isohdpfx.S and syslinux.bin?
You could try
  https://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/i386/ch04s03.html.en#usb-copy-flexible

This looks like what Ady proposed by:> > or I would be partitioning and formatting the USB device

Have a nice day :)

Thomas

Thomas Schmitt

2017-Mar-19 08:29 UTC

head link

[syslinux] "isolinux.bin missing or corrupt" when booting USB flash drive in old PC

Hi,

correction:

i wrote:> isolinux.bin is loaded and started by the BIOS (without checksum
> verification),
It should have been "without magic number verification".


Have a nice day :)

Thomas

David Christensen

2017-Mar-19 23:03 UTC

head link

[syslinux] "isolinux.bin missing or corrupt" when booting USB flash drive in old PC

On 03/19/2017 01:01 AM, Thomas Schmitt via Syslinux
wrote:> David Christensen wrote:
>> Is there a way I can build live 32-bit Debian GNU/Linux USB images
without
>> isohdpfx.S and syslinux.bin?
>
> You could try
>  
https://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/i386/ch04s03.html.en#usb-copy-flexible
This is how I prepared an ADATA USB Flash Drive 4 GB:

# cat /etc/debian_version
8.7

# uname -a
Linux hd-tracy 3.16.0-4-686-pae #1 SMP Debian 3.16.39-1+deb8u2 
(2017-03-07) i686 GNU/Linux

# dmesg | tail -n 17
[ 3427.672019] usb 5-2: new high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-pci
[ 3427.807674] usb 5-2: New USB device found, idVendor=125f, idProduct=c08a
[ 3427.807680] usb 5-2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, 
SerialNumber=3
[ 3427.807683] usb 5-2: Product: ADATA USB Flash Drive
[ 3427.807686] usb 5-2: Manufacturer: ADATA
[ 3427.807689] usb 5-2: SerialNumber: <redacted>
[ 3427.899566] usb-storage 5-2:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[ 3427.900045] scsi4 : usb-storage 5-2:1.0
[ 3427.900331] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[ 3428.901275] scsi 4:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ADATA    USB Flash Drive 
0.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
[ 3428.901941] sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[ 3428.904773] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] 7592960 512-byte logical blocks: (3.88 
GB/3.62 GiB)
[ 3428.905927] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[ 3428.905935] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00
[ 3428.907021] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write cache: disabled, read cache: 
enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 3428.917749]  sdb: unknown partition table
[ 3428.953502] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk

# lsusb | grep DATA
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 125f:c08a A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd. C008 Flash 
Drive

# lsusb -v -s 005:002

Bus 005 Device 002: ID 125f:c08a A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd. C008 Flash 
Drive
Device Descriptor:
   bLength                18
   bDescriptorType         1
   bcdUSB               2.00
   bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
   bDeviceSubClass         0
   bDeviceProtocol         0
   bMaxPacketSize0        64
   idVendor           0x125f A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd.
   idProduct          0xc08a C008 Flash Drive
   bcdDevice            1.00
   iManufacturer           1 ADATA
   iProduct                2 ADATA USB Flash Drive
   iSerial                 3 <redacted>
   bNumConfigurations      1
   Configuration Descriptor:
     bLength                 9
     bDescriptorType         2
     wTotalLength           32
     bNumInterfaces          1
     bConfigurationValue     1
     iConfiguration          0
     bmAttributes         0x80
       (Bus Powered)
     MaxPower              480mA
     Interface Descriptor:
       bLength                 9
       bDescriptorType         4
       bInterfaceNumber        0
       bAlternateSetting       0
       bNumEndpoints           2
       bInterfaceClass         8 Mass Storage
       bInterfaceSubClass      6 SCSI
       bInterfaceProtocol     80 Bulk-Only
       iInterface              0
       Endpoint Descriptor:
	bLength                 7
	bDescriptorType         5
	bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
	bmAttributes            2
	  Transfer Type            Bulk
	  Synch Type               None
	  Usage Type               Data
	wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
	bInterval               1
       Endpoint Descriptor:
	bLength                 7
	bDescriptorType         5
	bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
	bmAttributes            2
	  Transfer Type            Bulk
	  Synch Type               None
	  Usage Type               Data
	wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
	bInterval               1
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
   bLength                10
   bDescriptorType         6
   bcdUSB               2.00
   bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
   bDeviceSubClass         0
   bDeviceProtocol         0
   bMaxPacketSize0        64
   bNumConfigurations      1
Device Status:     0x0000
   (Bus Powered)

# time dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=1M; sync
dd: error writing '/dev/sdb': No space left on device
3708+0 records in
3707+0 records out
3887595520 bytes (3.9 GB) copied, 752.992 s, 5.2 MB/s

real	12m32.996s
user	0m0.004s
sys	0m6.512s

# parted /dev/sdb mklabel msdos
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.

# parted /dev/sdb mkpart primary fat16 0% 100%
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.

# parted /dev/sdb set 1 boot on
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.
									
# install-mbr /dev/sdb

# mkdosfs /dev/sdb1
mkfs.fat 3.0.27 (2014-11-12)

# syslinux /dev/sdb1

# mkdir /mnt/iso

# mount 
/mnt/samba/data/dpchrist/iso/debian/8.7.1/i386/debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso 
/mnt/iso

# mkdir /mnt/usb

# mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb

# cp -ip /mnt/iso/install.386/vmlinuz /mnt/usb/.

# cp -ip /mnt/iso/install.386/initrd.gz /mnt/usb/.

# echo "default vmlinuz" >> /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg

# echo "append initrd=initrd.gz" >> /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg

# echo "append prompt 1" >> /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg

# cp -ip 
/mnt/samba/data/dpchrist/iso/debian/8.7.1/i386/debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso 
/mnt/usb/.
cp: failed to preserve ownership for 
'/mnt/usb/./debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso': Operation not permitted

2017-03-19 15:19:34 root at hd-tracy ~
# umount /mnt/iso

2017-03-19 15:20:30 root at hd-tracy ~
# ls -l /mnt/usb
total 671632
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 678428672 Mar  4 17:02 
debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   6301268 Jan 16 02:09 initrd.gz
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root    116624 Mar 19 07:50 ldlinux.c32
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root     61440 Mar 19 07:50 ldlinux.sys
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root        56 Mar 19 15:14 syslinux.cfg
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   2830656 Jan 16 02:09 vmlinuz

2017-03-19 15:20:36 root at hd-tracy ~
# df /mnt/usb
Filesystem     1K-blocks   Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdb1        3787528 671636   3115892  18% /mnt/usb

2017-03-19 15:20:44 root at hd-tracy ~
# mount | grep usb
/dev/sdb1 on /mnt/usb type vfat 
(rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=utf8,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)

2017-03-19 15:20:49 root at hd-tracy ~
# umount /mnt/usb

2017-03-19 15:23:05 root at hd-tracy ~
# dd if=/dev/sdb count=1 2>/dev/null | hexdump -C
00000000  fc 31 c0 8e d0 31 e4 8e  d8 8e c0 be 00 7c bf 00 
|.1...1.......|..|
00000010  06 b9 00 01 f3 a5 be ee  07 b0 08 ea 20 06 00 00 
|............ ...|
00000020  80 3e b6 07 ff 75 04 88  16 b6 07 80 3c 00 74 04 
|.>...u......<.t.|
00000030  08 06 b2 07 83 ee 10 d0  e8 73 f0 cd 1a 89 16 00 
|.........s......|
00000040  08 e8 33 01 81 3e b4 07  ff ff 74 46 f6 06 b3 07 
|..3..>....tF....|
00000050  80 74 06 b4 01 cd 16 75  39 f6 06 b3 07 40 74 07 
|.t.....u9.... at t.|
00000060  f6 06 17 04 0f 75 2b 31  c0 cd 1a 2b 16 00 08 2b 
|.....u+1...+...+|
00000070  16 b4 07 72 d7 a0 b3 07  24 07 3c 07 75 0b be be 
|...r....$.<.u...|
00000080  07 b0 00 b9 04 00 80 3c  00 75 66 fe c0 83 c6 10 
|.......<.uf.....|
00000090  e2 f4 e8 e2 00 b4 0e be  a0 07 8a 0e b2 07 ac d0 
|................|
000000a0  e9 73 02 cd 10 08 c9 75  f5 b0 3a cd 10 31 c0 cd 
|.s.....u..:..1..|
000000b0  16 3c 00 74 f8 3c 0d 74  bc 3c 61 72 06 3c 7a 77 
|.<.t.<.t.<ar.<zw|
000000c0  02 2c 20 88 c3 be a0 07  8a 0e b2 07 ac d0 e9 73  |., 
............s|
000000d0  04 38 c3 74 06 08 c9 75  f3 eb d2 b8 0d 0e 31 db 
|.8.t...u......1.|
000000e0  cd 10 8d 84 5f 00 3c 07  75 07 b0 1f a2 b2 07 eb 
|...._.<.u.......|
000000f0  a1 e8 83 00 31 d2 b9 01  00 3c 04 74 11 73 f0 30 
|....1....<.t.s.0|
00000100  e4 b1 04 d2 e0 be be 07  01 c6 8a 16 b6 07 bf 05 
|................|
00000110  00 56 f6 c2 80 74 2b b4  41 bb aa 55 52 cd 13 5a 
|.V...t+.A..UR..Z|
00000120  5e 56 72 1e 81 fb 55 aa  75 18 f6 c1 01 74 13 8b 
|^Vr...U.u....t..|
00000130  44 08 8b 5c 0a be 90 07  89 44 08 89 5c 0a b4 42 
|D..\.....D..\..B|
00000140  eb 0c 8a 74 01 8b 4c 02  b8 01 02 bb 00 7c 50 c6 
|...t..L......|P.|
00000150  06 92 07 01 cd 13 58 5e  73 05 4f 75 b4 eb 90 81 
|......X^s.Ou....|
00000160  3e fe 7d 55 aa 75 f6 31  db b8 0d 0e cd 10 b0 0a 
|>.}U.u.1........|
00000170  cd 10 ea 00 7c 00 00 50  b8 0d 0e 31 db cd 10 be 
|....|..P...1....|
00000180  8c 07 b9 04 00 ac cd 10  e2 fb 58 c3 4d 42 52 20 
|..........X.MBR |
00000190  10 00 01 00 00 7c 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
|.....|..........|
000001a0  31 32 33 34 46 00 00 41  4e 44 54 6d 62 72 00 02 
|1234F..ANDTmbr..|
000001b0  00 02 90 c7 12 00 80 00  52 ed 07 5f a8 01 80 20 
|........R.._... |
000001c0  21 00 0e 92 7a d8 00 08  00 00 00 d0 73 00 00 00 
|!...z.......s...|
000001d0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 
|................|
*
000001f0  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa 
|..............U.|
00000200

2017-03-19 15:23:15 root at hd-tracy ~
# fdisk -l /dev/sdb

Disk /dev/sdb: 3.6 GiB, 3887595520 bytes, 7592960 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x5f07ed52

Device     Boot Start     End Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1  *     2048 7591935 7589888  3.6G  e W95 FAT16 (LBA)


When I undock the HDD from my D865GBFLK Pentium 4 3.4E GHz computer and 
boot the USB drive, I see:

MBR

SYSLINUX 6.03 CHS 20150820 Copyright (C) 1994-2014 H. Peter Anvin et al
Loading vmlinuz...


After a few seconds, I see:

[    0.599372] CPU: 0 PID: 1 Comm: swapper Not tainted 3.16.0-4-586 #1 
Debian3.216.39-1
[    0.599429] Hardware name:
  BIOS BF86510A.86A.0077.P25.0508040031 08/04/2005
[    0.599492]  f6069f08 f6069f08 c1421c1b c14f3898 c16c0fc0 c152012b 
f6069f30 00008001
[    0.599777]  c14e63d1 f62d4000 c1608052 c14e68c4 f6069f30 c14e63d1 
00000000 00000000
[    0.600061]  f6ee3a80 00000000 f62d40df 6e6b6e75 2d6e776f 636f6c62 
2c30286b 00002930
[    0.600346] Call Trace:
[    0.600395]  [<c1421c1b>] ? panic+0x74/0x194
[    0.600442]  [<c1608052>] ? mount_block_root+0x250/0x258
[    0.600490]  [<c16081cd>] ? perpare_namespace+0x117/0x15d
[    0.600537]  [<c1607d58>] ? kernel_init_freeable+0x1a6/0x1b1
[    0.600585]  [<c1607574>] ? initcall_blacklist+0x97/0x97
[    0.600632]  [<c141f620>] ? kernel_init+0x10/0xe0
[    0.600680]  [<c10607c7<] ? schedule_tail+0x17/0x40
[    0.600728]  [<c1427a40>] ? ret_from_kernel_thread+0x20/0x30
[    0.600766]  [<c141f610>] ? rest_init+0x60/0x60
[    0.600823] Kernel Offset: 0x0 from 0xc1000000 (relocation range: 
0xc0000000-0xf7ffdfff)
[    0.600883] ---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount 
root fs on unkonwn-block(0,0)


David

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