On Thu 02 Feb 2017 at 00:31:38 +0000, David Griffith wrote: > >You used 'cp debian.iso /dev/sdX' and it didn't work? Is that what you > >mean by "same results"? > > This is the exact procedure I used to create a one-partition thumb drive, > which is writable, to install an arbitrary release of Debian as determined > by which ISO was copied to the partition (sudo as necessary). When followed > on a Wheezy machine, the result is a thumb drive that works as I previously > described. When performed on a Jessie machine, the result is a thumb drive > that fails to boot.
This is quite a neat method; I use it myself to put a Jessie archive on a USB stick. My variations are inline. I cannot see what syslinux gives me over GRUB. > 1) Ensure these packages are installed: syslinux dosfstools mbr syslinux and mbr not used. > 2) fdisk /dev/sdb > (delete all partitons) > (create one primary partition) > (change partition type to 0x0b (W95 FAT32) > (set bootable flag) Didn't bother. It still works. > (write changes and quit) > > 3) install-mbr /dev/sdb Omitted. > 4) mkdosfs /dev/sdb1 > > 5) mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt Then: grub-install --boot-directory=/mnt/boot /dev/sdb Write a grub.cfg to put in /boot/grub. > 6) cd /mnt Not needed. > 7) wget > http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/jessie/main/installer-amd64/current/images/hd-media/initrd.gz Copy initrd.gz to /mnt/boot. > 8) wget > http://http.us.debian.org/debian/dists/jessie/main/installer-amd64/current/images/hd-media/vmlinuz Copy vmlinuz to /mnt/boot. > 9) cd Omitted. > 10) echo "default vmlinuz" > /mnt/syslinux.cfg Omitted. > 11) echo "append initrd=initrd.gz" >> /mnt/syslinux.cfg Omitted. > 12) cp ~/iso-images/debian/debian-8.7.1-amd64-CD-1.iso /mnt A netinst ISO was sufficient for what I was doing. > 13) umount /mnt Don't unmount. > 14) syslinux /dev/sdb1 Omitted. > 15) mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt Omitted. > 16) ls > debian-8.7.1-amd64-CD-1.iso > initrd.gz > ldlinux.c32 > ldlinux.sys > syslinux.cfg > vmlinuz A different output because the directory setup is different. vmlinuz and initrd.gz are in /boot, for example. > 17) umount /mnt > > At this point, I can remove the thumb drive and boot it on another > machine. I can also test it on QEMU. For instance: > sudo qemu-system-x86_64 -hdb /dev/sdb -display curses > > If the procedure was done on a Wheezy machine, the result is a bunch of text > flying by and a normal install process beginning. If done on a Jessie > machine, the result is one of these two kernel panic dumps: [...Snip logs...] > So, in conclusion, the procedure works when done on a Wheezy machine, but > not on a Jessie machine. Why? How can the problem be fixed? Use GRUB? -- Brian.
