Syslinux endless reboots (worked around it)

ilikepie · 2012-08-01 09:36:56

Hi,

I'm trying to switch from grub-legacy to syslinux. I've followed the instructions on the wiki. /boot/syslinux contains the appropriate files and syslinux.cfg seems to be correct. /boot is a separate partition.

However, the PC keeps rebooting. Nothing happens on the screen, no prompt, nothing.

I can still get syslinux to appear if I boot from a live CD with the "boot existing OS" option. From there, syslinux displays my OS list and I can boot whatever OS I want correctly.

What have I missed? I guess this might be an MBR problem...

Last edited by ilikepie (2012-08-01 18:04:27)

DSpider · 2012-08-01 09:44:56

You need three things for Syslinux:

1. the necessary files in /boot/syslinux (this includes an IMMUTABLE ldlinux.sys)
2. the MBR boot code installed in the MBR
3. the boot flag

And how did YOU install it? Post the exact command and/or method. And the output of "sudo fdisk -l", along with any other relevant information on your partitioning scheme.

Last edited by DSpider (2012-08-01 09:45:15)

ilikepie · 2012-08-01 10:10:31

Here's what I did (I just re-did it to make sure):

pacman -S syslinux
/usr/sbin/syslinux-install_update -iam
Syslinux install successful
Boot Flag Set - /dev/sda7
Installed MBR (/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin) to /dev/sda
vim /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg # to set the appropriate partitions, etc.

fdisk -l /dev/sda:

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048   614402047   307200000    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT              windows
/dev/sda2      1204920320  1250263727    22671704   27  Hidden NTFS WinRE            windows boot partition
/dev/sda3       614402048  1204920319   295259136    5  Extended                         
/dev/sda5       614402111  1196052439   290825164+  83  Linux                        linux encrypted root partition
/dev/sda6      1196052503  1204727539     4337518+  82  Linux swap / Solaris         linux swap
/dev/sda7   *  1204727603  1204920319       96358+  83  Linux                        linux non-encrypted boot partition

Last edited by ilikepie (2012-08-01 10:11:07)

DSpider · 2012-08-01 10:26:27

Shit... I can't help you with encryption. I think it depends on how you set up your syslinux.cfg.

Post your old (working) menu.lst and your current syslinux.cfg... Perhaps someone who went through something like this can help.

ilikepie · 2012-08-01 10:32:21

DSpider wrote:

Shit... I can't help you with encryption. I think it depends on how you set up your syslinux.cfg.

Post your old (working) menu.lst and your current syslinux.cfg... Perhaps someone who went through something like this can help.

I don't think encryption is the problem. My boot partition is unencrypted, and when I start syslinux with "Boot Existing OS" from the live CD, I can boot Arch from my encrypted partition just fine -- I'm actually writing this message after having booted this way. I can also boot into Windows.

Here is my syslinux.cfg anyway:

DEFAULT arch
PROMPT 1     
TIMEOUT 50
UI menu.c32

# [---snip (MENU COLOR and friends)---]

LABEL arch
	MENU LABEL Arch Linux
	LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
	APPEND cryptdevice=/dev/sda5:chifroot root=/dev/mapper/chifroot acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor ro
	INITRD ../initramfs-linux.img

LABEL archfallback
	MENU LABEL Arch Linux Fallback
	LINUX ../vmlinuz-linux
	APPEND root=/dev/sda5 ro
	INITRD ../initramfs-linux-fallback.img

LABEL windows
        MENU LABEL Windows
        COM32 chain.c32
        APPEND hd0 2

LABEL hdt
        MENU LABEL HDT (Hardware Detection Tool)
        COM32 hdt.c32
 
LABEL reboot
        MENU LABEL Reboot
        COM32 reboot.c32
 
LABEL off
        MENU LABEL Power Off
        COMBOOT poweroff.com

All needed files (chain.c32, reboot.c32, menu.c32, etc.) are there.

Old menu.lst:

timeout   5
default   0
color light-blue/black light-cyan/blue

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,6)
kernel /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/mapper/chifroot cryptdevice=/dev/sda5:chifroot ro acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor
initrd /initramfs-linux.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,6)
kernel /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/mapper/chifroot cryptdevice=/dev/sda5:chifroot ro
initrd /initramfs-linux-fallback.img

# (2) Windows
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Last edited by ilikepie (2012-08-01 10:33:22)

jjacky · 2012-08-01 13:39:45

Right, encryption has nothing to do with this. Also, your config looks fine to me, and seems the install was done correctly. So far I got nothing.

ilikepie wrote:

However, the PC keeps rebooting. Nothing happens on the screen, no prompt, nothing.

So you don't get syslinux's menu? However, you do get it after using the "boot existing OS" from a CD? That would seem to indicate that the error doesn't come from syslinux's config but before that, or something.

Upon boot, can you have a "boot selection menu" from your BIOS, to select which device to boot? If so, try to get that menu, select your drive, and see what happens. Maybe your boot device on BIOS is wrong, somehow.

This reminds me of karol's similar issue, though I don't think it got solved unfortunately.

alphaniner · 2012-08-01 14:00:09

I'm using syslinux with encryption as well, though I share the doubts that encryption is related to your problem.

However, I didn't use

/usr/sbin/syslinux-install_update -iam

According to my history, I ran

extlinux -i /boot/syslinux

Also, I'm not using the boot flag method; I used altmbr.bin.

I'd suggest tring the command on post #4 of the thread jjacky linked. Also, according to syslinux-install_update -h, the -m flag installs the mbr so you shouldn't need to do it manually. NVM, I realize now you didn't do it manually.

Last edited by alphaniner (2012-08-01 14:12:29)

ilikepie · 2012-08-01 18:03:45

When I ran the diff command you suggested, the MBR appeared to be identical to the one in /usr/lib/syslinux.

Also, for some reason installing grub2 and reinstalling grub-legacy both yielded the same problem.

I ended up doing the same thing as cmlr in the thread jjacky linked. Basically, I deleted my boot partition, recreated it (as a primary partition, just in case), and reinstalled syslinux on it. It works great now.

I'm completely at a loss on what went wrong, though. I'm also glad that my boot and root are separate, because it wouldn't have been that easy otherwise.

Thanks for the advice!

Last edited by ilikepie (2012-08-01 18:05:39)

alphaniner · 2012-08-01 19:09:37

I actually just made the switch to syslinux on a second machine, and the altmbr method didn't work there ("no OS found" or similar). As soon as I 'installed' the standard mbr everything worked fine. Go figure. Still, it's preferable to that grub2 monstrosity. At least I understand the config file!

Arch Linux

#1 2012-08-01 09:36:56

Syslinux endless reboots (worked around it)

#2 2012-08-01 09:44:56

Re: Syslinux endless reboots (worked around it)

#3 2012-08-01 10:10:31

Re: Syslinux endless reboots (worked around it)

#4 2012-08-01 10:26:27

Re: Syslinux endless reboots (worked around it)

#5 2012-08-01 10:32:21

Re: Syslinux endless reboots (worked around it)

#6 2012-08-01 13:39:45

Re: Syslinux endless reboots (worked around it)

#7 2012-08-01 14:00:09

Re: Syslinux endless reboots (worked around it)

#8 2012-08-01 18:03:45

Re: Syslinux endless reboots (worked around it)

#9 2012-08-01 19:09:37

Re: Syslinux endless reboots (worked around it)

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