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#1 2010-09-18 10:34:48

xarxer
Member
Registered: 2009-12-26
Posts: 3

Fix for lock-up when trying to install from USB-key

Every time I tried to install archlinux 2010-05 from a USB-key I've had a major lock up at BIOS.
Since the .img-files disappeared from the download list at www.archlinux.org this has happened when
trying to dd the .iso-file to a USB-key.

I eventually found a workaround after 5-6 hours of testing back and forth, so this is what I did:

1. Get the latest .iso-file from www.archlinux.org and save it where ever you want.

2. Get UnetBootin either from sourceforge or from AUR. (I got the AUR version)

3. Format the USB-key to FAT32 filesystem using any software that supports this.

4. This is a crucial step! Set a label to the newly formatted USB-key using mlabel
       

$: mlabel -i /dev/sde1 ::label

        Where "label" is the label of your choice and given that /dev/sde1 is your USB-key.

5. Start UnetBootin, select "Diskimage" and browse for the .iso-file you saved in step 1

6. Choose your USB-drive (and partition! i.e. /dev/sde1) in the drop-down list that says "Drive:" (The USB-key must be mounted!)

7. Hit "OK" and let the process finish.

8. When UnetBootin is finished, open your USB-key and locate syslinux.cfg and replace every instance of "archisolabel=WHATEVER" with "archisolabel=<the label you chose in step 4>"
   
        i.e.

archisolabel=mylabel

9. Save the file and exit.

10. Unmount the USB-key and you should be good to go, happy installing! smile

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#2 2010-09-18 13:42:19

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Fix for lock-up when trying to install from USB-key

You may want to add it to the wiki.

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#3 2010-09-18 14:14:54

xarxer
Member
Registered: 2009-12-26
Posts: 3

Re: Fix for lock-up when trying to install from USB-key

Okay.. uhm.. I'm kinda new here so I haven't really got any experience with this..
Am I allowed to just add a new wikipage?
Should I edit the current "Putting installation media on a USB key"?

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#4 2010-09-18 14:35:16

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: Fix for lock-up when trying to install from USB-key

If you think that some information is missing,. you can add it http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Put … UNetBootin
The article mentions adding / fixing a label, but I assume it didn't work for you, right?

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#5 2010-09-18 17:04:20

xarxer
Member
Registered: 2009-12-26
Posts: 3

Re: Fix for lock-up when trying to install from USB-key

Hmm yeah well.. what I found out is that the USB-drive MUST have the FAT32 filesystem, and you need to set a label on it manually using mlabel...

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#6 2010-09-18 18:18:33

72linus
Member
From: gordonsville,va
Registered: 2009-03-14
Posts: 144
Website

Re: Fix for lock-up when trying to install from USB-key

I basically use somewhat the same process because I prefer not to DD my usb's as theres always other distros on there,etc

so, I simply do this, from a linux os

1) using Isomaster I open the iso and extract it to my Desktop

2) I then rename /boot/isolinux to /boot/syslinux
and /boot/isolinux/isolinux.cfg to /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg
cd Desktop
mv  /boot/isolinux  /boot/syslinux
mv  /boot/isolinux/isolinux.cfg  /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg

3) I then label the usb from terminal with
mlabel -i /dev/sdb1 ARCH

4) install syslinux with
syslinux /dev/sdb1

5) edit new syslinux.cfg for the new label,etc
nano /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg
or
leafpad /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg

thats it

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#7 2010-09-19 22:15:14

mhertz
Member
From: Denmark
Registered: 2010-06-19
Posts: 681

Re: Fix for lock-up when trying to install from USB-key

There shouldn't be any issues with dd'ing the iso to the usb-stick in-full, i.e. not on a partition. There should also not be a problem with doing it instead on a partition provided that the name of the partition is set to match "archisolabel" defined in isolinux.cfg!

The new iso images are perfectly fine hybrid-images and works fine for usb also, just like the older img images, but the new change introduced which can lead to trouble if not paying attention is the "archisolabtel" mount checking system...

Edit:

btw, apps like isomaster will make the edited image non-hybrid, so if using such apps(or doing it the cli way i.e. mounting iso, copying over, editing and remaking iso), then before dd'ing the image to usb, then install syslinux and run isohybrid <name.iso> first!

Last edited by mhertz (2010-09-19 22:18:36)

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#8 2010-09-27 00:22:03

synthead
Member
Registered: 2006-05-09
Posts: 1,337

Re: Fix for lock-up when trying to install from USB-key

I have a very small 16GB Super Talent Pico-C USB flash drive that I carry with me on my keychain.  I installed Arch on it so I can use Linux on any PC I wish, but instead of trying to get an installer working (and booting) on it, I just installed a full Arch installation.  Pacman is a very flexible package manager that can also do "installs" if needed, so I'm not missing out on anything.  In fact, I find that installing Arch on a new machine with pacman is a lot easier than the actual arch setup.

To create a USB flash drive with Arch on it:

1. Create a partition on the USB drive with the ext2 filesystem and mark it as bootable.  ext2 doesn't do a lot of heavy journalling like ext3 or ext4, so you'll add more life to the drive.
2. Mount it and create /var/lib/pacman and /sys on the root of the partition.
3. Mount sys on the drive to /sys as a bind (mount /sys /mounted/flashdrive/sys --bind)
4. Install Arch!  Do it like this: pacman -Sy base -r /mounted/flashdrive
5. Enable the usb option in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf (on your flash drive) and rebuild the kernel so it'll support booting of USB devices.  Chroot into your drive (chroot /mounted/flashdrive) and
run mkinitcpio -p kernel26.  Now, exit the chroot (type exit).
6. Install grub like this (assuming the drive is /dev/sdb; fdisk -l will tell you): grub-install /dev/sdb --root-directory /mounted/flashdrive

There, now you have a base install of Arch on a flash drive.  Reboot and build it up as if it were a fully-supported install on a hard drive!  If you are ever in need of installing Arch on another machine, boot it up on it and do the same steps.  You can skip the USB section though.

1. Make partition(s), mark the one containing /boot as bootable, and create /var/lib/pacman and /sys on the root partition.
2. Bind-mount /sys for mkinitcpio's autodetect feature to work: mount --bind /sys /installing/arch/here/sys
3. Run pacman -Sy base -r /installing/arch/here
4. Install grub (assuming the drive is sda): grub-install /dev/sda --root-directory /installing/arch/here

And reboot.

Last edited by synthead (2010-09-27 00:23:37)

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