How to make a bootable USB stick from any iso? (Solved)

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bigcheez
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How to make a bootable USB stick from any iso? (Solved)

#1 Post by bigcheez »

I would like to us a mint iso to make a bootable usb stick from within puppy. please don't yell at me to just search. it is very difficult to search because all the results will tell me how to make a live puppy usb. I've tried unetbooting and other programs. they are either missing libraries that cannot be downloaded through the repos or are broken somehow

again, I'm trying to make a bootable usb stick from an iso ... NOT A PUPPY INSTAL
Last edited by bigcheez on Wed 20 Jul 2016, 23:44, edited 2 times in total.

gcmartin

#2 Post by gcmartin »

See MultiPUP utility: Feed it the ISO (1 or as many as you like) and out pops a USB bootable. (that thread's opening page direct you to this for the latest release for 32bit PUPs)

Post your finding or results on that thread for others to see.

bigcheez
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!!! BOOTABLE USB OF ANY ISO OTHER THAN PUPPY !!!

#3 Post by bigcheez »

either I'm not understanding the multipup help file or I was not clear enough of my intention. I DO NOT WANT TO LOAD A PUPPY ISO to a bootable floppy. I am looking for a solution that will boot other ISOs

Robert123
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Location: Pacific

#4 Post by Robert123 »


bigcheez
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#5 Post by bigcheez »

just twelve easy steps?

s243a
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#6 Post by s243a »

I have had the best luck with Unetbootin:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... b0f44ee4f7

but I think next time I'll try the MultiPup utility mentioned above by gcmartin.

I find the bootloader options with the Universal installer confusing because I never know which one will work. However, as an alternative to the above two approaches you can use the universal installer just as a means to copy the necessary files and then use a bootloader configuration utility such as the "grub4dos" which is included w/ puppylinux.

I did something like this recently. I used the universal installer to copy the files from the ISO to a linux partition and then I moved these files to the NTFS patrician since the universal installer won't let you install to NTFS, which is stupid because you can boot puppy on an NTFS partition using grub4dos. I than ran grub4dos to make the external hard drive bootable.

When I booted up I created the save folder on the linux patrician.

The reason that I kept the NTFS partition is that I didn't know whether there were any files in it that might enhance the hard drives functionality. Also in my opinion the universal installer should let you install wherever you want as long as you plan to do just a frugal installation, especially since the save folder does not have to reside in the same partition as the kernel, boot image and initial sfs file are located.

bigcheez
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#7 Post by bigcheez »

I tried unetbootin from the link provided. it install fine but will not recognize my usb stick. it complains that I need to format the stick to fat32 which I tried and it still won't recognize it

s243a
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#8 Post by s243a »

bigcheez wrote:I tried unetbootin from the link provided. it install fine but will not recognize my usb stick. it complains that I need to format the stick to fat32 which I tried and it still won't recognize it
Perhaps your USB drive is defective. BTW l recomended using ext2 for a USB stick. I have had no problems with using ext2 with puppylinux and unetbootin. Also install to the first partician and make sure that your boot flag is set.

The only reason kept the NTFS partician in the above example is that the seagate external hard drive, that I had, may Of had some features which dependended on NTFS.

***as a side note.

If you are trying to do this on windows there are ext2/3/4 drivers that you can get for windows. I have successfully used unetbootin on windows but can't rember if i did it to a fat32 ,NTFS, or ext2 formatted USB drive.

When I was new to puppylinux I found it easier to install from a cd just because there are so many different scenarios with USB installations.

Another way to try puppylinux is on a virtual kachine. fatdo64 works well with virtualbox. And if you are using virtualb9x you can mount the iso rather than using a Physical CD
Last edited by s243a on Tue 19 Jul 2016, 14:54, edited 1 time in total.

bigcheez
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#9 Post by bigcheez »

s243a wrote:Perhaps your USB drive is defective. BTW l recomended using ext2 for a USB stick. I have had no problems with using ext2 with puppylinux and unetbootin. Also install to the first partician and make sure that your boot flag is set.
tried fat32. tried ext2. tried setting the boot flag. unetbootin does not recognize the stick. never had a problem with the stick before. still no problems with it except when it comes to unetbootin

s243a
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#10 Post by s243a »

bigcheez wrote:
s243a wrote:Perhaps your USB drive is defective. BTW l recomended using ext2 for a USB stick. I have had no problems with using ext2 with puppylinux and unetbootin. Also install to the first partician and make sure that your boot flag is set.
tried fat32. tried ext2. tried setting the boot flag. unetbootin does not recognize the stick. never had a problem with the stick before. still no problems with it except when it comes to unetbootin
are you usining unetbootin from within windows, linux or some other OS?

How are you starting it? Is the USB drive mounted or unmounted? Is the drive write protected? Are you using an actual USB drive or an SD card with a USB adaptor?

bigcheez
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#11 Post by bigcheez »

s243a wrote:are you usining unetbootin from within windows, linux or some other OS?
puppy precise
s243a wrote:How are you starting it?
from terminal
s243a wrote:Is the USB drive mounted or unmounted?
mounted
s243a wrote:Is the drive write protected?
no
s243a wrote:Are you using an actual USB drive or an SD card with a USB adaptor?
usb drive

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bigpup
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#12 Post by bigpup »

Unetbootin.
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
Follow the directions for using an iso file you have already downloaded.
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/#other

If Unetbootin is not finding your USB drive.

Sometimes you have to force the issue with Unetbootin.

Start Unetbootin from the console by using this command.

Code: Select all

unetbootin installtype=USB targetdrive=/dev/sdb1
You tell it the target USB drive you want it to use.

My USB flash drive is sdb1

Just make the targetdrive=/dev/ (whatever your USB drive is identified as)
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

bigcheez
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#13 Post by bigcheez »

bigpup wrote:If Unetbootin is not finding your USB drive.
Sometimes you have to force the issue with Unetbootin.
Start Unetbootin from the console by using this command.

Code: Select all

unetbootin installtype=USB targetdrive=/dev/sdb1
You tell it the target USB drive you want it to use
thx much, forcing it with the command switches seemed to do the trick
the program ran as intended, loaded and burned my iso to the usb
I'll check back and confirm the boot when I have time

bigcheez
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Joined: Tue 19 Jul 2016, 00:09

#14 Post by bigcheez »

bigcheez wrote:
bigpup wrote:If Unetbootin is not finding your USB drive.
Sometimes you have to force the issue with Unetbootin.
Start Unetbootin from the console by using this command.

Code: Select all

unetbootin installtype=USB targetdrive=/dev/sdb1
You tell it the target USB drive you want it to use
thx much, forcing it with the command switches seemed to do the trick
the program ran as intended, loaded and burned my iso to the usb
I'll check back and confirm the boot when I have time
although the program seemed to run fine and the computer did boot to the usb, the boot menu has only one option, default, and it won't boot but just reboots

gcmartin

#15 Post by gcmartin »

Please share

Hardware
  • What PC you are attempting to run the USB?
  • Is it 32bit/64bit?
  • How much RAM?
OS
  • What distro did you burn?
  • Have you used this distro that you burned before on the PC you're booting?
  • Does the booting PC pause at the boot manager screen?
  • Did you enter any additional boot parms at the boot manager screen?
The answers may be helpful in getting the correct guidance you seek, now that you have a USB with a distro on it thats trying to boot.

s243a
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#16 Post by s243a »

bigcheez wrote:
bigcheez wrote:
bigpup wrote:If Unetbootin is not finding your USB drive.
Sometimes you have to force the issue with Unetbootin.
Start Unetbootin from the console by using this command.

Code: Select all

unetbootin installtype=USB targetdrive=/dev/sdb1
You tell it the target USB drive you want it to use
thx much, forcing it with the command switches seemed to do the trick
the program ran as intended, loaded and burned my iso to the usb
I'll check back and confirm the boot when I have time
although the program seemed to run fine and the computer did boot to the usb, the boot menu has only one option, default, and it won't boot but just reboots
I'm not sure if this is related at all but did you follow this step:
However you can manually tweak the syslinux.cfg file on the USB flash drive.

Change:

Code: Select all

 append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=cd	
To:

Code: Select all

	
append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=usbflash
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... b0f44ee4f7

Did you install it to the first partition. Did you use fat32, ext2 or something else?

I recall you saying the boot flag was set. What type of partition table did you use. Was it MBR or GPT?

bigcheez
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#17 Post by bigcheez »

I appreciate all of your help and apologize for being a pain
I did not realize this would be so involved for what I thought was a simple task
if you wish to suggest an alternate route, I'm open for suggestions
:?
gcmartin wrote:Please share
Hardware
  • What PC you are attempting to run the USB?
  • Is it 32bit/64bit?
  • How much RAM?
Dell Vostro 1500 (x64) w/ Puppy Precise installed
Sandisk Cruzer Glide 8GB
1GB RAM
the puppy is the latest ver & is x64 I assume. I do I know for sure?
gcmartin wrote:OS
  • What distro did you burn?
  • Have you used this distro that you burned before on the PC you're booting?
  • Does the booting PC pause at the boot manager screen?
  • Did you enter any additional boot parms at the boot manager screen?
linuxmint-17.3-xfce-64bit.iso
never, not on any pc
it does pause with the usual countdown
I did nothing extra
s243a wrote:I'm not sure if this is related at all but did you follow this step
However you can manually tweak the syslinux.cfg file on the USB flash drive.

Change:

Code: Select all

append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=cd
To:

Code: Select all

append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=usbflash
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... b0f44ee4f7
the line was

Code: Select all

append initrd=/ubninit
I changed it to

Code: Select all

append initrd=/ubninit pmedia=usbflash
no change, same result
s243a wrote:Did you install it to the first partition. Did you use fat32, ext2 or something else?
I recall you saying the boot flag was set. What type of partition table did you use. Was it MBR or GPT?
I used Gparted to create a single partition
I tried both fat32 and ext2
I do not know what partition table it is, who do I find out?
Last edited by bigcheez on Wed 20 Jul 2016, 10:27, edited 1 time in total.

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rcrsn51
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Location: Stratford, Ontario

#18 Post by rcrsn51 »

bigcheez wrote:
just twelve easy steps?
Maybe it's time to revisit this method.

s243a
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Joined: Tue 02 Sep 2014, 04:48
Contact:

#19 Post by s243a »

bigcheez wrote:
s243a wrote:I'm not sure if this is related at all but did you follow this step
However you can manually tweak the syslinux.cfg file on the USB flash drive.

Change:

Code: Select all

append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=cd
To:

Code: Select all

append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=usbflash
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... b0f44ee4f7
the line was

Code: Select all

append initrd=/ubninit
I changed it to

Code: Select all

append initrd=/ubninit pmedia=usbflash
no change, same result
Check the name of your boot image. It is what follows "initrd="

normally it should be "initrd.gz" as noted above. You seem to have "/ubninit"

You should be able to find your boot image on your USB drive.

However, since you appear to not be trying to install puppylinux the name could be different.

Actually the above modifications to syslinux.cfg apply to puppylinux. They may not apply to "linux mint"

bigcheez
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue 19 Jul 2016, 00:09

#20 Post by bigcheez »

it appears there was a conflict with the iso
I've downloaded linuxmint-18-mate-64bit.iso and it works fine

a review for unetbootin :arrow: although it's lacking a fancy gui, the isobooter script seems more straight forward and allows for a multiboot option
Robert123 wrote:Maybe it's time to revisit this method
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=67235

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