Arch 201311 Live USB Boot Problem

jm82 · 2013-11-20 21:29:25

I have recently downloaded the latest 201311 arch linux images from https://www.archlinux.org/download/ and have written the iso to a USB drive (preformatted with fdisk as FAT32) via the dd command:

dd if=<archlinux.iso> of=/dev/sdc bs=4M && sync

This live USB booted ok on a new desktop PC that I was debugging but, having come to boot it on my poxy old Toshiba laptop, I am having issues.

The syslinux graphical bot menu loads ok, and but whether I select Arch 32 or 64, I get the 2 "loading..." lines and then get dumped to a black screen. Pressing escape displays the syslinux boot> prompt.

I've spent hours trying to figure out what the problem is from here, and have discovered:

boot: linux boot/x86_64/vmlinux initrd=boot/x86_64/archiso.img archisobasedir=arch archisolabel=ARCH_201311
Loading boot/x86_64/vmlinux... ok
Loading boot/x86_64/archiso.img... ok
syslinux_boot_linux() failed: Error 22
linux.c32: Boot aborted!

...dunno if that helps much though!

I'm at a loss, can't find any instructions for troubleshooting/analysis syslinux boot issues or much in the way of similar experiences.

Given that the live USB booted on a PC, I assume this is a hardware problem and perhaps there will be a kernal argument I can use, but can anyone point me in the direction of some fault-finding steps?

EDIT: I should point out that I previously had an Arch linux distro on this laptop, so it's not that old. I bought it about 2 years ago with Vista 7 64bit.

Last edited by jm82 (2013-11-20 21:32:26)

jm82 · 2013-11-20 21:43:36

Could be related to https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=173093

andy123 · 2013-11-20 22:18:35

Hi,
what bootloader did you install your old install and what bootloader did you use?

I think the arch isos were moved to syslinux 6 recently, which might be the source of your problem. To test this hypotheses you could use an old arch iso (2013.09.xx maybe) or try to start the arch live image with another bootloader.

djgera · 2013-11-20 23:03:14

Please report to upstream[#1]. Thanks.

Please test using non isohybrid-mbr method (what do you do using dd command). Just use syslinux [#2] to see what happens.

[#1] http://bugzilla.syslinux.org/enter_bug. … t=Syslinux
[#2] https://projects.archlinux.org/archiso. … ansfer#n62

jm82 · 2013-11-27 22:13:47

djgera wrote:

Please test using non isohybrid-mbr method (what do you do using dd command). Just use syslinux [#2] to see what happens.
[#2] https://projects.archlinux.org/archiso. … ansfer#n62

That's done it. So writing the USB with dd (isohybrid-mbr method) failed. I tried a number of workarounds to see if there was a quick fix, but couldn't find one. Bootloaders are something of a mystery to me!

However, I had problems following the instructions at https://projects.archlinux.org/archiso. … ansfer#n62 as my local system's syslinux was at v4.05. Therefore, to solve this I:

1. Reformat the USB as FAT32, single partition, set bootable flag

# fdisk /dev/sdc

Command (m for help): d
Partition number (1-4): 1
Warning: partition 1 has empty type

Command (m for help): d
Selected partition 2

Command (m for help): n
Partition type:
   p   primary (0 primary, 0 extended, 4 free)
   e   extended
Select (default p): 
Using default response p
Partition number (1-4, default 1): 
Using default value 1
First sector (2048-7579007, default 2048): 
Using default value 2048
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (2048-7579007, default 7579007): 
Using default value 7579007

Command (m for help): a
Partition number (1-4): 1

Command (m for help): t
Selected partition 1
Hex code (type L to list codes): b
Changed system type of partition 1 to b (W95 FAT32)

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdc: 3880 MB, 3880452096 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 471 cylinders, total 7579008 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0d738582

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1   *        2048     7579007     3788480    b  W95 FAT32

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

WARNING: If you have created or modified any DOS 6.x
partitions, please see the fdisk manual page for additional
information.
Syncing disks.

2. Format the new filesystem

# mkfs.vfat -F32 /dev/sdc1

3. Mount the Arch Linux ISO

# mount -o loop ./archlinux-2013.11.01-dual.iso mntCDROM/

4. Mount the new USB disk

# mount /dev/sdc1 mntUSB/

5. Copy the arch folder from the iso

# cp -r ./mntCDROM/arch mntUSB/

6. Install syslinux v4

# cp /usr/lib/syslinux/*.c32 mntUSB/arch/boot/syslinux/
# sed -i "s|../../|/arch|" mntUSB/arch/boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg
# sync
# umount /dev/sdc1
# syslinux -i -d /arch/boot/syslinux /dev/sdc1
# dd bs=440 conv=notrunc if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sdc

...and that worked for me

Last edited by jm82 (2013-11-27 23:34:46)

djgera · 2013-11-28 06:17:14

Good, but can be really great if you can report this to upstream, so this can be fixed

jm82 · 2013-11-28 22:32:37

As requested

http://bugzilla.syslinux.org/show_bug.cgi?id=42

Let me know if anything needs correcting/adding.

Last edited by jm82 (2013-11-28 22:33:04)

djgera · 2013-11-28 22:55:52

Thanks, Yes your hardware specs (Motherboard model, firmware version), since this works as expected

Last edited by djgera (2013-11-28 22:56:49)

Arch Linux

#1 2013-11-20 21:29:25

Arch 201311 Live USB Boot Problem

#2 2013-11-20 21:43:36

Re: Arch 201311 Live USB Boot Problem

#3 2013-11-20 22:18:35

Re: Arch 201311 Live USB Boot Problem

#4 2013-11-20 23:03:14

Re: Arch 201311 Live USB Boot Problem

#5 2013-11-27 22:13:47

Re: Arch 201311 Live USB Boot Problem

#6 2013-11-28 06:17:14

Re: Arch 201311 Live USB Boot Problem

#7 2013-11-28 22:32:37

Re: Arch 201311 Live USB Boot Problem

#8 2013-11-28 22:55:52

Re: Arch 201311 Live USB Boot Problem

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