[Solved] Syslinux doesn't seem to work. Missing OS

Parkerman1700 · 2014-01-30 23:18:08

Hello, I have apparently installed Archlinux into a virtualbox on Windows 7.

I have been troubleshooting this constantly, and I simply can't figure out the problem.

When I eject the virtual CD (ISO), it simply says Missing OS.

I partitioned the drive so that sd3 is my root directory, and when I run:

# nano /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg

It seems to correct, saying

LABEL arch
...
APPEND root=/dev/sda3 rw

which is also the same for LABEL archfallback

I'm not sure where I went wrong, I hope someone can help!

Thanks!

Last edited by Parkerman1700 (2014-02-01 05:37:01)

Trilby · 2014-01-30 23:51:57

The missing OS error is from the bios, not from syslinux. Either syslinux was not installed to the MBR (syslinux_install-update -i -a -m) or the VM is not set to boot from the device syslinux was installed to.

Parkerman1700 · 2014-01-30 23:57:44

I ran the command "syslinux_install-update -i -a -m" successfully as well. I'm fairly certain that it's set to boot from where syslinux was installed.

12o · 2014-01-31 06:51:36

I've run into this problem several times before. I'm not sure if it's correct, but the problem I had was that my root partition was on /dev/sda1. Both archfallback and the main one set themselves to /dev/sda3 by default, it seems.

Where you have:

LABEL arch
...
APPEND root=/dev/sda3 rw

Make sure it isn't supposed to be:

LABEL arch
...
APPEND root=/dev/sda1 rw

Every time I reinstall Arch, I have to remind myself to change those if I'm using syslinux. Just check to make sure your root partition is correctly identified. If it is, then it might be caused by another problem. Hope this helps.

--------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: I just noticed that you stated in your post that your root partition is sd3. This fix I proposed would not solve your problem.

Last edited by 12o (2014-01-31 06:56:38)

Parkerman1700 · 2014-02-01 05:36:26

Okay, I pinpointed the problem, and it's pretty dumb. It turns out that I was not installing syslinux on the actual linux I installed on the drive, I was installing it on the ISO. So it was never being installed on the real version, hence when I ejected the disk, there was nothing to point it to the right place.

Point is: Make sure you use the "arch-chroot /mnt". In my case, I had done so, but I had not done it at the correct time, and had exited before installing it all.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Arch Linux

#1 2014-01-30 23:18:08

[Solved] Syslinux doesn't seem to work. Missing OS

#2 2014-01-30 23:51:57

Re: [Solved] Syslinux doesn't seem to work. Missing OS

#3 2014-01-30 23:57:44

Re: [Solved] Syslinux doesn't seem to work. Missing OS

#4 2014-01-31 06:51:36

Re: [Solved] Syslinux doesn't seem to work. Missing OS

#5 2014-02-01 05:36:26

Re: [Solved] Syslinux doesn't seem to work. Missing OS

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