How to Make a Bootable Flash Drive using ISObooter

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gcmartin

#196 Post by gcmartin »

@Pelo, I think @Watchdog is referring to how the PC is seen after POST processing completes and the GRUB2 BM starts for the drives-partitions represented for boot use. It was not what was expected.

He seeks understanding, too.

schober
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#197 Post by schober »

I want to do a frugal install of puppy wary 5.5 to a usb stick using isobooter
Currently, I use 2 computers both P4's with usb 1.1
1) grub dual boot with w98 & ubuntu on hd; 1gb ram
2) XP on hd and 256mb ram

Currenlty, Iam using a live puppycd and a savefile on a usb stick on No1
I want to use puppy on both machines and have access to all files

I've got a new 8gb FAT32 usb stick (actually only 7.3gb) and want to do a frugal install on it
Iwill want to install python (the anaconda versiion) and numerous addons. These will probably end up using most of 2gb


Qu1 When formatting, should should some of the ram be left unallocated to allow space for the "phantom iso"?
If so how much is needed?

Qu2
7b. After putting an ISO on the drive, run the "sync" command
Presumabley i have to change directories so that I am in the bootable part of the usb stick. Is that right?

Qu3 Is it easier to do this from ubuntu on the hard disc or from a live pupy cd?

Qu4 If I want to try another puppy can I just remove wary from the usb stick and copy another puppy across using ubuntu? (and it'll work straight away and use the savefile made by wary)

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rcrsn51
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#198 Post by rcrsn51 »

schober wrote:Qu1 When formatting, should should some of the ram be left unallocated to allow space for the "phantom iso"?If so how much is needed?
I would make a 2 GB fat32 partition for ISObooter and a 6GB ext4 partition for a save FOLDER. Fill the entire drive with these two partitions. There are instructions on page 12 for this setup.
Presumabley i have to change directories so that I am in the bootable part of the usb stick. Is that right?
No. Open a terminal window (the Console desktop icon) and type: sync
Qu3 Is it easier to do this from ubuntu on the hard disc or from a live pupy cd?
From Puppy.
If I want to try another puppy can I just remove wary from the usb stick and copy another puppy across using ubuntu? (and it'll work straight away and use the savefile made by wary)
You can put multiple Puppies on one ISObooter drive. But savefiles are rarely interchangeable.

Pelo

rench colleagues having some difficulties with English

#199 Post by Pelo »

Doing what is described in the topic, screencast it, post it on You Tube here, isobooter, that is what i did for french colleagues having some difficulties with English, and Linux too.
Everybody should understand, even overseas UK citizens, unless my video is bad, what is not impossible. I do my best, it's much time.
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rcrsn51
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#200 Post by rcrsn51 »

Page 5 has instructions for making a Puppy flash drive from another Linux like Ubuntu or Mint.

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Max Headroom
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#201 Post by Max Headroom »

G'day rcrsn51, Unsurprisingly isobooter doesn't work w/ UEFi, Any Chance of Hacking it 2 Work as a Hybrid ie. BIOS & UEFi? :)K

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rcrsn51
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#202 Post by rcrsn51 »

Max Headroom wrote:G'day rcrsn51, Unsurprisingly isobooter doesn't work w/ UEFi, Any Chance of Hacking it 2 Work as a Hybrid ie. BIOS & UEFi? :)K
Not by me, and maybe not at all. ISObooter uses tricks from Grub4Dos that are designed for BIOS systems. I don't know anything about UEFI.

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Max Headroom
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#203 Post by Max Headroom »

G'day rcrsn51, I've Successfully ReMastered the following Puplet

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=106696

Burned 2 CD & Testes, But when I Add it 2 Me GumBoot ( ie. isobooter ) USB Flash Dr it doesn't work, Grub gives Error 15, File Not found, I've Tried Recreating the menu.lst File w/ Y & N answering about the Splash screen, Same Outcome

Also I'm having Trouble Getting Lobsters Photon 301 Tmxxine working...
it Boots as far as Linux initrd & then just Hangs!...

title photon301
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

Wot am I Doing wRong? Please

Thanx 4 your Help

:)K

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rcrsn51
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#204 Post by rcrsn51 »

The "Dog" series use different names for their boot files, like "initrd1.xz". You will need to change some things in your ISObooter setup. Even then, it may not work.

Does your remaster boot when you burn it to a physical CD/DVD? If it does, I would expect ISObooter to work with "splashscreen=y".

Does the original, un-remastered ISO work with ISObooter? [Edit] I tried this and it worked.

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Max Headroom
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#205 Post by Max Headroom »

G'day rcrsn51, I've just had 2 Upgrade Me GumBoot isobooter USB to a 32 GB USB3 Flash Dr, But Frustratingly the isobooter Script isn't working in either Linux or M$ Windows Virus Bait I'm Scratching Me Nut about whY, when in the past I've found this as So id10T Proof!?!

:)K

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Max Headroom
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#206 Post by Max Headroom »

G'day rcrsn51, I'm Still Keen 2 get 2 the Bottom of this isoBooter issue, I Plugged it into Mint Linux, Clic'd on isobooter & it Opened the Scripts in the Default Txt Editor, So Checked the Status of if it was eXecutable & the CheckBox was Unchecked, Altho I had Previously Done it in Puppy, But when Tried Re- Checking the CheckBox it wouldn't accept it, I Dunno whY or How 2 Fix it?!?

Please Help...

:)K

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rcrsn51
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#207 Post by rcrsn51 »

1. You never replied to my post of May 20.

2. I don't have any USB3 hardware, so I cannot comment on its ability to boot a Puppy flash drive.

3. I cannot comment on how Mint handles a script made in Puppy.

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Max Headroom
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#208 Post by Max Headroom »

Sorry rcrsn51, 4 Neglecting 2 Reply 2 that post...

the Answer 2 Your Question if Me ReMaster Boots from CD / DVD Media is Yes, But I Can't Remember if I got around 2 Testing the Original iso or Not, & of Course I Can't Test it Now Until I Fix the issue w/ isobooter...

Anyway it Turns Out that Me Previous 16 GB GumBoot isobooter USB Flash Dr was USB3, So I'll Rule that Out as the Problem, I Suppose I'll Try Another Flash Dr, in case it was a peculiar quirk w/ this SanDisk?!?

I Welcome Any Other Suggestions...

:)K

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fredx181
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#209 Post by fredx181 »

Thanks for isobooter, rcrsn51

I've made some modifications to make it work also with ISO's from the 'Dog' series.
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 382#959382

Fred

Pelo

So easy, successful with mintpup and Puppy Strecth,

#210 Post by Pelo »

So easy, successful with mintpup and Puppy Strecth, simply, two ISOs on same usb, grub4Dos, and answers to questions . Reboot, and then we go. Nice, nice, :)
I don't like big Linux OS, as Ubuntu or Debian. However i will try to add an old Ubuntu 11.04.
No need to format my pendrive (already FAT32), so ma previous data kept, ISO transfered between lot of files. But ISObooter finds them among the mess... Sensass. :)


Part TWO : now i launch Puppy Stretch.. Will it be a success ? Suspense.. :shock:
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Pelo

My previous pupsave, still on the pendrive, loaded

#211 Post by Pelo »

eh eh, success too.. :)
My previous pupsave, still on the pendrive, loaded at boot.. We could we ask more... Some devs are really useful to thousands of puppy passengers, and of Mintpup of course
Isobooter should work as well with the other Debian dogs (XenialDog had untill now his own pendrive)
Last edited by Pelo on Sun 16 Jul 2017, 11:10, edited 1 time in total.

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Max Headroom
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#212 Post by Max Headroom »

G'day rcrsn51, can yoU Please Advise the Best pmedia argument or edit 2 the menu.lst File that Helps Puppy Look 4 the Location of the Required Files ( sfs isn't it? ), Being that they're within the iso File on a USB, Not a CD or ide or sata... Sorry I'm Confused! is there a Universal Vanilla pmedia Helper Txt?

:)K

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rcrsn51
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#213 Post by rcrsn51 »

Just to be clear, the "pmedia" argument is used by Puppy when it starts up - it has nothing to do with ISObooter.

Different Puppies handle this argument different ways, and how it works depends on your hardware. There is no "best" option.

You need to describe your particular situation.

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Max Headroom
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#214 Post by Max Headroom »

Thanx rcrsn51, 4 your Reply, because I've got 50 odd isos ( Puppies, Dogs, Other Linuxes & M$ Virus Bait installers ) on Me 32Gb USB Flash Dr 4 Demoing & Testing, it could be on any Variety of Hardware / Configuration, Hence the objective of a Vanilla Universal pmedia aRugment...

:)K

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rcrsn51
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#215 Post by rcrsn51 »

The two sensible choices are "pmedia=cd" and "pmedia=usbflash". They should cover all the possibilities.

Unfortunately, some hardware doesn't like USB booting, no matter how you set it up. Here's the problem:

It's the job of the computer's BIOS to locate the first two Puppy files - vmlinuz and initrd.gz. It can usually find them on the USB drive.

It then passes control to Puppy, who tries to find its SFS file on the USB drive.

On a few computers, the USB system times out between those two phases. If Puppy cannot wake up the USB, it won't be able to find the SFS file, and booting will fail.

Traditionally, the "pmedia=cd" argument tells Puppy to look in lots of places. If it can find the SFS file on a hard drive, booting may succeed.

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