How to Make a Bootable Flash Drive using ISObooter

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Mike Walsh
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#151 Post by Mike Walsh »

@rcrsn51:-

I sometimes have this problem myself. With most Puppies, they'll happily install to, and boot from, USB. I've never been able to do this with Carolina, or X-Tahr, or X-Slacko.

Coincidentally, they all use the XFCE desktop. I can't believe this has anything to do with it, however. I used to run the XFCE desktop alongside Unity in Ubuntu 'Trusty' last year, and also had a spell using Xubuntu itself. Never had any problems with either of them.

The only reason I quit the 'buntus was that 1), they were starting to get too 'high-maintenance', and 2), Canonical's constant updates began trashing my graphics.....freezes and 'jam-ups' were becoming a regular occurrence. Might have meant they were starting to drop support for older graphics hardware, in their eagerness to win over the 'ex-Windows' crowd. I haven't had the problem since going 'all-Puppy'.

Can you elaborate a little further on the 'waitusb' timing thing, please? I'm curious to know whether there's a way of implementing this in Puppy.


Regards,

Mike.
Last edited by Mike Walsh on Mon 03 Aug 2015, 23:29, edited 1 time in total.

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Mike7
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#152 Post by Mike7 »

Mike Walsh wrote: With most Puppies, they'll happily install to, and boot from, USB. I've never been able to do this with Carolina
I installed Carolite-1.2 on a USB stick using grub4dos and it boots okay every time. So it doesn't look like an Xfce issue.

M.
Carolite-1.2 w/FF38 on bootable 16G flash drive; Asus eeePC 1000HA, Atom CPU, 2G RAM, 160G HDD.

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rcrsn51
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#153 Post by rcrsn51 »

@Mike Walsh: Have you tried one of these troublesome X-Puppies with ISObooter?

Ether
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Re: How to Make a Bootable Flash Drive using ISObooter

#154 Post by Ether »

7a. Add some ISO files to your drive. You can copy them from other locations or download them directly from the web.
7b. After putting an ISO on the drive, run the "sync" command.
I'm new at Linux so go easy on me if the answer to this question should be obvious (see note at bottom).

What does the "sync" command do, and does 7b mean:

Run the sync command after you've put all the ISO files on the drive.

or

Run the sync command each time you put an ISO on the drive.


I think it means the latter but I want to be sure.


For context, here is what I am attempting to do: I have a test machine (Dell Dimension E310) that I want to set up to multiboot DD Jesse, Puppy Precise 5.7.1, and Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela 32bit (I have the live/install ISO).


Note: I tried searching this thread for "sync" but I think it only searched the first page. Is there a simple way to search an entire thread for a word or phrase?
.

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rcrsn51
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#155 Post by rcrsn51 »

When using ISObooter with multiple ISOs, it's essential that the data on the USB drive is contiguous. I believe that the safest way to ensure this is to run the "sync" command from a terminal after each copy. This ensures that the data transfer is complete before you start another operation.

However, the latest posted version of ISObooter will automatically do a sync before it builds the menu. So it may be sufficient to copy all the ISOs, then run the program.

Maintaining contiguity depends on a lot of factors. I would add one ISO at a time, run the program and check that the device boots.

Are you making a bootable USB drive or are you attempting to do a hard drive setup? As a beginner, you should do a USB setup first.

Ether
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#156 Post by Ether »

rcrsn51 wrote:Are you making a bootable USB drive or are you attempting to do a hard drive setup? As a beginner, you should do a USB setup first.
I can do the USB first if that is highly recommended, but my ultimate goal is to install everything on the hard disk of the E310 (there's nothing of value presently on the hard disk, so I will format it FAT32 before proceeding).

I do know how to install GRUB4DOS on a hard disk, and I know how to frugal install multiple Puppy distros on a hard disk.

I don't know how to frugal install the Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela 32bit ISO. Maybe there's an easier way to accomplish what I want to do, if someone knows how to frugal-install it?

.

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rcrsn51
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#157 Post by rcrsn51 »

ISObooter is an easy way to test-boot distros. But you will eventually have to deal with how it handles persistent storage. That is not a problem with Puppy (see page 10).

But I have no idea how it will work wtih a big-boy Linux that expects a full install. You should look at the recent discussion in the MintPup thread.

Since you have a blank hard drive, you might be better off making separate partitions and doing conventional full installs.

Ether
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#158 Post by Ether »

rcrsn51 wrote:Since you have a blank hard drive, you might be better off making separate partitions and doing conventional full installs.
I thought about that. But Mint 17.2 uses grub 2.02 which I don't know how to use (it is radically different from GRUB4DOS), and I don't know how to install both on the same disk.

A little background on why I want to do this:

1) Mint 17.2 has a great repo which has all the math/science apps that I want. But the desktop response is very sluggish, and web browsers do not scroll smoothly (on the lower-end machines I am re-purposing).

2) I really like Puppy Precise 5.7.1 snappy desktop response, and web browsing is fast and smooth, but it has very limited support for math/science apps.

3) DD is a compromise between 1 and 2 above. Browsing is fast and smooth, and I have access to the Debian repo. But the math/science apps in the Debian repo lag behind the ones in the Mint repo. Sometimes I need the functionality in the newer ones.


.

.

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rcrsn51
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#159 Post by rcrsn51 »

Then look at MintPup. It can be installed with ISObooter and have storage on the hard drive.

Ether
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#160 Post by Ether »

rcrsn51 wrote:Then look at MintPup. It can be installed with ISObooter and have storage on the hard drive.
OK, I will do that.

Just so my expectations are correct, are you suggesting that MintPup may fulfill both roles (support for entire Mint repo, plus fast desktop and smooth web browser scrolling), or are you suggesting that it will more easily enable me to multiboot the 3 distros I mentioned?

.

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rcrsn51
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#161 Post by rcrsn51 »

I cannot answer that. Ask the MintPup team.

But in the time it took to ask the question, you could have set up an ISObooter flash drive and tested it yourself.

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Mike Walsh
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#162 Post by Mike Walsh »

rcrsn51 wrote:@Mike Walsh: Have you tried one of these troublesome X-Puppies with ISObooter?
Sorry to be a while getting back to you, Bill.....I'd forgotten I'd posted in this thread. Too many irons in the fire..!

I have tried all three of them.....and every time I get the '.sfs file not found' error.

Any suggestions, or ideas? Like you, I, too, am increasingly convinced it's a timing issue with USB's in general. I know in my two present Pups, having plugged a USB stick in, it can take anything up to about 25 seconds before it shows up at the bottom of the screen. I don't, however, really understand how you would go about implementing the waitusb option. That's what I would like to try.

I'd really like to be able to carry X-Slacko around in my pocket....especially since your Slacko version of the 'r8188eu' Realtek driver works a treat with it!


Mike. :?

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davids45
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"Variable" USB sockets?

#163 Post by davids45 »

G'day rcrsn51 et al,

I have been testing several multi-Pup-on-USB options over the last few days on my range of computers.

And getting moderately confused.

From Pup-Forum threads, I set three 8GB USB drives up with multiple Pups: isobooter, MultiPup6.0 and an older version of Multipup.

The flash drives were all Imation Classics bought in a pack of 5 for $15.

My computers are all oldish:
2 HP Low Form 'newer' desktops ~2007
3 HP Low Form 'older' desktops ~2005
1 Samsung laptop ~2011
1 ASUS desktop "self-build" with cheap components ~2012 (the only one not offering USB boot from BIOS - all the others are set to boot first from a USB removable drive).

I created the 3 multiPup drives on my main computer, a ~2007 HP and found that the isobooter and MultiPup60 would not boot on this computer, even though the older Multipup did, as do single Pup USB drives I'd made previously.
I got 'not-bootable' messages or just a blinking cursor with the no-goers.

So I seemed to have two multiPups that did not work for me (isobooter and MultiPup60). But these two USBs were OK if set up as single Pup USB drives so the USBs themselves seemed not to be the problem.

By chance, I found that the isobooter multi would boot on an older HP so then I re-made the isobooter on the older HP. I also re-made the MultiPup60 on this older HP. These USBs worked on the old HPs and the Samsung laptop :) but not the newer HPs nor the Asus with the non-USB BIOS :( .

I next tried Plop (downloaded version 5.0.15.zip) and once I'd worked out where to put the plop bin file for the particular computer (Grub/Grub4Dos, sometimes sda2 (hd0,1) as boot partition), and how to read the fuzzy Plop dialog boxes, I could now get the MultiPups to boot the Asus directly and boot just one of the newer HPs (inserting the USB only after the Grub menu was displayed - booting with the USB inserted gave a flashing cursor - I have not tried to reset its BIOS to not boot from the USB).

So I am now left with just one non-booting computer for the two most recent MultiPup methods. Of course, this just had to be my 'main' desktop :roll: .

I have tried using most of its 6 USB ports including a hub - no difference in which USBs boot and which don't.

So I think there may be a variability/influence in the computer itself that affects USB bootability, both when creating the bootable multiPup and on booting with the multiPup. Posts from cthisbear have noted strange behaviour between USBs and computers.

And I would, like Mike Walsh, be interested to know if this could be a timing problem between the USB and the particular computer.

And I will be happy to try any suggestions that could clarify my present confusion with all these USB drives and computers.

Thanks as always,
David S.

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d4p
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#164 Post by d4p »

If you boot to the desktop, ISObooter simulates a frugal install. So Puppy looks for the savefile close to the main SFS - ie. on the USB drive. But this search mechanism is constantly changing in Puppy, and there is no guarantee that the USB savefile will be picked before a hard drive savefile. Again, this has nothing to do with ISObooter.
You are right; it is nothing to do with ISobooter.
I did the test only on slacko with success.
You just need to change isolinux.cfg parameter in Slacko.ISO to pmedia=usbflash psavemark=partition number of your USB savefile.
Enjoy!

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#165 Post by starhawk »

Just dropping a note of feedback, since I know rc gets cantankerous when that doesn't happen.

Just booted Ubuntu 14.04 for a rare case when I needed the real thing, using Isobooter and a notebook IDE hard drive hooked to what eBay calls an "IDE SATA USB" adapter.

Works a treat. Thanks, rc!

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rcrsn51
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#166 Post by rcrsn51 »

People like ISObooter for the easy way it builds bootable Linux flash drives, including Puppies. But if you want to keep your Puppy save file on the drive, it has the same limitation as other USB installers - save files on a FAT32 flash drive are SLOW.

But now that Puppy has the option of using a save folder, there is a better way.

1. Format your flash drive with two partitions - a FAT32 for your ISOs and an ext4 for storage.
2. Set up the first partition with ISObooter as usual. For "Choose a partition for Puppy savefiles", enter 2.
3. Select "Boot from splash screen = n".
4. Boot off the flash drive. At first shutdown, make a save folder. Puppy is smart enough to put it on the second partition.
5. On subsequent shutdowns, you should find the saving procedure to be much faster.

Update: In some Puppies, you can speed up the boot sequence by changing "pmedia=cd" to "pmedia=usbflash". This will also prevent a situation where Puppy accidentally finds its core files on the hard drive and uses them instead.

Update: Making the ext4 partition non-journaled may improve shut-down times. For example:

Code: Select all

umount /mnt/sdb2 #just in case
tune2fs -O ^has_journal /dev/sdb2
----------------------
Last edited by rcrsn51 on Sat 08 Jul 2017, 15:34, edited 9 times in total.

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Mike7
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#167 Post by Mike7 »

Hi, rcrsn51.
But now that Puppy has the option of using a save folder, there is a better way.

1. Format your flash drive with two partitions - a FAT32 for your ISOs and an ext4 for storage.
Do save folders get saved faster on ext partitions than save files?

M.
Carolite-1.2 w/FF38 on bootable 16G flash drive; Asus eeePC 1000HA, Atom CPU, 2G RAM, 160G HDD.

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rcrsn51
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#168 Post by rcrsn51 »

Mike7 wrote:Do save folders get saved faster on ext partitions than save files?
The whole point of the exercise is for you to test it yourself and report.

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#169 Post by Mike7 »

It was just a theoretical query. The pups I use don't have a provision for making a save folder.
Carolite-1.2 w/FF38 on bootable 16G flash drive; Asus eeePC 1000HA, Atom CPU, 2G RAM, 160G HDD.

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Max Headroom
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G'day rcrsn51, this isobooter is eXactly what I Wtd, But a

#170 Post by Max Headroom »

Here is a Selection of Me menu.lst Nb. the Comments

timeout 10
default 0

title Budda_K9_217_final ( w/ E-17 eNlightenment )
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/BuddaPup_217_final.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/BuddaPup_217_final.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=usbflash psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# ( known 2.17 initramfs issue! produces "/bin/sh: can't access tty; job control turned off."
# is there a Work around, Manual Edit Solution Please? I've Yet 2 Find any answers )

title Custom ( Dual Boots 1.09 or 2.0 )
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/custom.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/custom.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=cd psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# Ke*nel Panic-not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block (3,65 )

title Grub ( Dual Boots GrafK9 2.0 Opera or Mean Pup by John Murga )
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/grub.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/grub.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
chainloader (0xff)
# Only gets the Splash Screen 2 Choose, then Error 23, Error while Parsing

title Mac_K9_550
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/Macpup_550.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/Macpup_550.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=cd psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# All Good!

title Media_Dingo1-0a ('Lfa ) ( based on Dingo 4.12 Retro ie. K2.6.21.7, Released Jan 2009 )
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/MediaPup1-0a.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/MediaPup1-0a.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=cd psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# Boots 2 Desktop, But Missing Network Modules!

title New_Yea's_Dingo_MU-02-rc10-micro ( A Dingo 4.11 Favorite! )
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/NewyearspupMU-02-rc10-micro.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/NewyearspupMU-02-rc10-micro.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=usbflash psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# Error 15, File Not Found ( This is SumWot Frustrating Because Most Other Dingoes Work, ie. Series 4 )

title Photon301 ( Tmxxine, w/ K2.6.18.1 )
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/photon301.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/photon301.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=cd psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# All Good!

title Producer_DingoV1_1
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/ProducerPupV1_1.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/ProducerPupV1_1.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=cd psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# All Good!

title Dingo_it_Up-V-1-2--412
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/pupitup-v-1-2-puppy-412.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/pupitup-v-1-2-puppy-412.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=cd psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# All Good!

title P'Lite-5.0-K2.6.25.16 ( w/ Dingo Ke*nel )
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/puplite-5.0-k2.6.25.16.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/puplite-5.0-k2.6.25.16.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=cd psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# All Good!

title Dingo-4.2.1-MULTIUSER-r3
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/puppy-4.2.1-MULTIUSER-r3.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/puppy-4.2.1-MULTIUSER-r3.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=cd psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# All Good!

title P'Studio3.1
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/PuppyStudio3.1.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/PuppyStudio3.1.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=cd psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# All Good!

title P'Rescue_2.5
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/PupRescue_2.5.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/PupRescue_2.5.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=cd psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# All Good!

title Dingo_Server-435
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/pupserver-435.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/pupserver-435.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=cd psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# All Good!

title Tmxxine_Prism
partnew (hd0,3) 0x00 (hd0,0)/tmxxine_prism.iso
map --heads=0 --sectors-per-track=0 (hd0,0)/tmxxine_prism.iso (0xff)
map --hook
root (0xff)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=usbflash psavemark=1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
# Same issue as BuddaPup :(

title More ISOs (see the instructions)
configfile (hd0,x)/menu.lst
commandline

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