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isolinux image

I think I need to make an isolinux USB for my laptop to boot from a libreboot system (don't ask).

I'm looking at this:

https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=ISOLINUX

but there is this lovely glossed over detail in this line

Quote
Create a directory called "CD_root". This is the ISO image master file tree

    Copy all files you want to have on the CD into this directory

Umm - OK.  I have zero idea what files I want.  So I mounted the artix image and it doesn't have what I am used to looking at in bootable images.  It looks like it has a boot image

Quote
[ruben@flatbush CD_root]$ ls -al /mnt/artix/x86_64/
total 413213
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root      2048 Aug 26 15:03 .
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root      2048 Aug 26 15:02 ..
-r--r--r-- 1 root root   5926912 Aug 26 15:03 livefs.sfs
-r--r--r-- 1 root root       141 Aug 26 15:03 livefs.sha512
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 417198080 Aug 26 15:03 rootfs.sfs
-r--r--r-- 1 root root       141 Aug 26 15:03 rootfs.sha512

without any packages..

I'm looking for clues here what I might been to make an isolinux boot image. :(

Re: isolinux image

Reply #1 –
OK so I unziped the artix image with 7z and created an archive.  Now I am trying to contruct a isolinux.cfg file, and it is like shooting in the dark.  My first attempt I declared everything off of the root  and then it couldn't find te linux kernel saysi it couldn't find ///boot/vmlinux-linux


so I copyed the kernel and the initrd files into a subdirectory in user kernel/ and images/

it not sees the entry, "linux" but it fails to run the kernel, and I don't know why.

A am following these instructions, but you guys making the CDs seem to be doing this all the time.  There is a syslinux config file in artix that works

https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=ISOLINUX

There are a numbe rof inconsistances in this wiki

for one thing, you run

Code: [Select]
mkisofs -o output.iso \
   -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat \
   -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
   CD_root


but there  is not boot.cat file mentioned before this

for another, it is important to know that the isolinux.bin file is altered by this command and needs to be refreshed everytime you run this. 

Also, what the heck is the path in the isolinux.cfg is beyound me. 

It is hard to just guess, and I can not find documentations.

Re: isolinux image

Reply #2 –
This worked to make a dual boot antiX / Devuan USB with syslinux last year, I didn't get it to work with the Artix base iso. (That doesn't mean you won't do better, I needed a bootable USB with storage for a particular task.) The Devuan loading method is very inefficient as it loads the entire ISO into RAM then the iso boots, and loads itself into RAM again, so it's slow and uses 2GB of RAM. Also antiX supports multiboot and booting from both syslinux and grub, so makes things easy. If I had another go I would try using grub as the USB bootloader and chainloading the rest from that I think, and see how that works. It would be interesting if you did find out how to boot Artix isos. I think there is some multiboot software that now supports Artix, there was a post on here a while back but I can't remember what it was now, there might be some clues there. This was my syslinux.cfg and the layout of the files it was pointing to:
Code: [Select]
/mnt/boot/syslinux.cfg

UI menu.c32
PROMPT 0

MENU TITLE Boot Menu
TIMEOUT 50
DEFAULT antiX-17.1_x64-full

LABEL antiX-17.1_x64-full
CONFIG /antiX/boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg
APPEND /antiX/boot/syslinux/

LABEL devuan-iso
    LINUX memdisk
    INITRD /isos/devuan/devuan_ascii_2.0.0_amd64_desktop-live.iso
    APPEND iso


$ ls /mnt/antiX/
boot  initrd.gz  initrd.gz.md5  linuxfs  linuxfs.md5  random-seed  state  vmlinuz  vmlinuz.md5
$ ls /mnt/live
boot  filesystem.squashfs  initrd.img  vmlinuz
$ ls /mnt/isos/
devuan
$ ls /mnt/isos/devuan/
devuan_ascii_2.0.0_amd64_desktop-live.iso  Devuan-ASCII-README.txt  devuanbytes  SHA256SUMS  SHA256SUMS.asc
$ ls /mnt/boot
syslinux
$ ls /mnt/boot/syslinux/
cat.c32     cptime.c32     dhcp.c32     ethersel.c32  host.c32      kbdmap.c32       libgpl.c32   ls.c32       menu.c32      prdhcp.c32  sanboot.c32   vesa.c32
zzjson.c32
chain.c32   cpu.c32        disk.c32     gfxboot.c32   ifcpu64.c32   kontron_wdt.c32  liblua.c32   lua.c32      pci.c32       pwd.c32     sdi.c32       vesainfo.c32
cmd.c32     cpuid.c32      dmi.c32      gpxecmd.c32   ifcpu.c32     ldlinux.c32      libmenu.c32  mboot.c32    pcitest.c32   pxechn.c32  sysdump.c32   vesamenu.c32
cmenu.c32   cpuidtest.c32  dmitest.c32  hdt.c32       ifmemdsk.c32  lfs.c32          libutil.c32  memdisk      pmload.c32    reboot.c32  syslinux.c32  vpdtest.c32
config.c32  debug.c32      elf.c32      hexdump.c32   ifplop.c32    libcom32.c32     linux.c32    meminfo.c32  poweroff.c32  rosh.c32    syslinux.cfg  whichsys.c32

Re: isolinux image

Reply #3 –

Quote
If I had another go I would try using grub as the USB bootloader and chainloading

This problem is this.  This stupid laptop has libreboot and that design team has decided that it will ONLY boot isolinux

It came with an encrypted harrd drive that was removed from the system by the tech support guy, leaving me no OS on the system.

Despite that it is using grub for the bios, it will not boot grub or efi images.

It is fustrating as hell

Re: isolinux image

Reply #4 –
Quote from: ####### – on
It would be interesting if you did find out how to boot Artix isos.

Simple, install (suse) imagewriter from the AUR.

Our grub menu on iso allows you to add parameters  defined here:
https://gitea.artixlinux.org/artix/artools/src/branch/master/initcpio/hooks/artix#L125

persistence only works if the iso has an embedded ext4 image inside the squash image. Our iso releases until now use flat squash images, so no persistence can be enabled, regardless if you set the proper parameters for usb boot.

Re: isolinux image

Reply #5 –
Code: [Select]
curl: (22) The requested URL returned error: 404 Not Found
==> ERROR: Failure while downloading http://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/src-oss/src/imagewriter-1.10.1432200249.1d253d9-1.6.src.rpm
    Aborting...
Error downloading sources: imagewriter
imagewriter seems to often need updating according to the AUR comments. imagewriter-git built OK. But it would just dd the iso on the USB it seems. Chainloading the iso on a bootable multi boot USB allows you to have multiple isos on one USB, and although there may not be persistence for desktop settings etc in the iso image, you can store files and software in the unused space after booting from the USB and that will be saved, also you can mount the USB and use it like any other non bootable one to store things on, which is really useful if you don't have / want lots of usb sticks.

Re: isolinux image

Reply #6 –
Quote from: ####### – on
Code: [Select]
curl: (22) The requested URL returned error: 404 Not Found
==> ERROR: Failure while downloading http://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/src-oss/src/imagewriter-1.10.1432200249.1d253d9-1.6.src.rpm
    Aborting...
Error downloading sources: imagewriter
imagewriter seems to often need updating according to the AUR comments. imagewriter-git built OK. But it would just dd the iso on the USB it seems. Chainloading the iso on a bootable multi boot USB allows you to have multiple isos on one USB, and although there may not be persistence for desktop settings etc in the iso image, you can store files and software in the unused space after booting from the USB and that will be saved, also you can mount the USB and use it like any other non bootable one to store things on, which is really useful if you don't have / want lots of usb sticks.


the only problem with this, from my nees anyway, I don't think this libreboot peice of cold brick is going to boot ANY grub configuration.  It is only seing STRAIGHT isolinux, on the rocks.   Is Knoppix an isolinux  image?

Re: isolinux image

Reply #7 –
Try multibootusb / multibootusb-git in the AUR - it supposedly works with Artix, Arch, Parabola etc. and uses syslinux for the bootloader. If it works it should be easy as it has a GUI. I have only read about it so far, not tried it, but it seems to be an active current project.
Currently broken that is...   ::)
udisks2 is an unspecified run time dep. But even with that multibootusb-git doesn't work at all, and multibootusb makes some effort in between spewing various errors, writes some things to the usb, tries to set up a memdisk boot from the look of things, then finally gives up. The resulting usb boots to a flashing cursor at the top left of the screen.