Syslinux - Mar 2017 - "isolinux.bin missing or corrupt" when booting USB flash drive in old PC

David Christensen wrote:
> This is how I prepared an ADATA USB Flash Drive 4 GB:
...
install-mbr /dev/sdb
...
[Rest of very clear description snipped.]

What's that? That desn't exist in the Debian I'm running.
Otherwise you gave a very good description of what you're doing.

>From another message:
> Please provide a URL for documentation that explains how to build a
> bootable USB flash drive equivalent to debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso.
x3!

Well it would be very easy to reply: why don't you ask Debian? How/Why
should/could we know what Debian has done?


But you gave a very good desription so here is what I do that I
wrote/pasted to a file while doing it. My case of 9GB is overkill for
you, 2GB should be plenty and the other_stuff can be ignored. In
hindsight it could be more clear. Slightly edited:

This was done from a Debian 7.1 live booted from an USB stick.


Make one VFAT partition of at least 9 GB, labeled X-install. If
there is any extra space, make another logical VFAT partition labeled
other_stuff.
Note that the USB stick that are being partitioned, formatted and
bootable in this instruction shows up as /dev/sdc (this isn't
necessarily so for another run):

root at debian:/# fdisk -lu /dev/sdc

Disk /dev/sdc: 32.0 GB, 32023511040 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3893 cylinders, total 62545920 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
Disk identifier: 0x8d63aff7

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
   /dev/sdc1   *        2048    32767999    16382976    b  W95 FAT32
   /dev/sdc2        32768000    62545919    14888960    5  Extended
   /dev/sdc5        32770048    62545919    14887936    b  W95 FAT32

user at debian:~$ df -HT
...
/dev/sdc5      vfat       16G  8.2k   16G   1% /media/other_stuff
/dev/sdc1      vfat       17G  8.2k   17G   1% /media/X-install


Copy contents of .iso install cd to X-install:

mount -o loop /media/OS/X-install.iso /mnt3
cp -R -L /mnt3/. /media/X-install/

Make the stick bootable:

mkdir /media/X-install/syslinux
cp /media/X-install/isolinux/* /media/X-install/syslinux/
mv /media/X-install/syslinux/isolinux.cfg /media/X-install/syslinux/syslinux.cfg

Edit syslinux.cfg (necessary?).

umount /media/X-install
syslinux -i -d syslinux /dev/sdc1
dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sdc

Done.


But note that if syslinux you're installing differs from the
isolinux/syslinux from the .iso, you should replace all and any
syslinux modules that were copied to the /media/X-install/syslinux
directory with the ones the syslinux you use is delivered with.


-- 
MartinS

On 03/19/2017 09:42 PM, Martin Str|mberg via Syslinux
wrote:
> David Christensen wrote:
>> This is how I prepared an ADATA USB Flash Drive 4 GB:
> ...
> install-mbr /dev/sdb
> ...
> [Rest of very clear description snipped.]
>
> What's that? That desn't exist in the Debian I'm running.
> Otherwise you gave a very good description of what you're doing.
https://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/i386/ch04s03.html.en#usb-copy-flexible

The install-mbr command is contained in the mbr Debian package.

> From another message:
>> Please provide a URL for documentation that explains how to build a
>> bootable USB flash drive equivalent to debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso.
>
> x3!
>
> Well it would be very easy to reply: why don't you ask Debian?
I did.  They sent me here.


The answer to my question is the above URL, my post of 03/19/2017 04:03 
PM (PDT), and Ady Ady's post of 03/19/2017 08:30 PM (PDT).


My USB flash drive now boots into the Debian 8.7.1 i386 Xfce installer 
on my old PC.

> How/Why should/could we know what Debian has done?
Because you are gods?  ;-)

> But you gave a very good desription so here is what I do that I
> wrote/pasted to a file while doing it. ...
I'll keep your recipe in mind if I run into trouble.


Thanks, everyone, for your patience and assistance.  :-)


I will try to do an install later, and will report the result.


David

Hi,

David Christensen wrote:
> The USB flash drive boots the Debian installer in the old PC!
Congrats.

> There is no syslinux.cfg on debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso:
The configuration is named /isolinux/isolinux.cfg.
Looks like it is surrounded by a little empire of .cfg files:

  /isolinux/adgtk.cfg
  /isolinux/adtxt.cfg
  /isolinux/exithelp.cfg
  /isolinux/gtk.cfg
  /isolinux/isolinux.cfg
  /isolinux/menu.cfg
  /isolinux/prompt.cfg
  /isolinux/rqgtk.cfg
  /isolinux/rqtxt.cfg
  /isolinux/spkgtk.cfg
  /isolinux/stdmenu.cfg
  /isolinux/txt.cfg

The "append" statements are in several of the subordinate files.
E.g. in /isolinux/txt.cfg:
   append desktop=xfce vga=788 initrd=/install.386/initrd.gz --- quiet

> Thanks, everyone, for your patience and assistance.  :-)
Martin and me will probably ask you to put our experimental bytes onto
your USB stick and to report what Martin's upcomming test MBR tells
when you attempt to boot it on the old computers.


Have a nice day :)

Thomas

On 03/19/2017 11:28 PM, David Christensen via Syslinux
wrote:
> I will try to do an install later, and will report the result.
Booting the USB flash drive I prepared, the Debian installer runs:

Select a language		English

Select your location		United States

Configure the keyboard		American English

Detect and mount CD-ROM

Incorrect CD-ROM detected

The CD-ROM drive contains a CD which cannot be used for installation.

Please insert a suitable CD to continue with the installation.


I tried disconnecting the optical drive -- same result.


So, I guess the first part of the Debian installer is in the initrd.gz I 
copied from 8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso to the root of the USB flash drive, 
the rest is somewhere in debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso, and I am 
missing whatever tricks are required to invoke the remaining contents of 
debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso (?).


Then again, putting an "isohybrid" image on a USB flash drive and
trying
to patch it into working seems back-asswards; I should be building a 
bootable Linux USB flash drive with the Debian installer on it.


Is there a WWW page/ article/ site, printed article/ book, or any other 
document that explains, in technically complete and accurate detail, how 
an i686-era (circa 2003) x86 personal computer boots from a USB device? 
And, how to build a bootable Linux USB flash drive for such a machine?


Should I be asking on the debian-boot or debian-cd mailing lists?


David