Issues with syslinux installation on dos partition table.

VladimirVilimaitis · 2014-07-09 04:32:40

Good morning.
After running

syslinux-install_update -iam

During final steps of Arch Linux installation I am greeted by this message:

Failed to set attribute Legacy BIOS bootable at /dev/sdb3

What is unsurprising, considering that I am aiming to create a dual boot setup with Windows which only runs on dos partition table if System Information program reports that BIOS mode is set to Legacy, as much as I understand.
However, wiki, forum search and Google search have proven themselves unhelpful in regards of this issue, so I turn my face to forum posting instead. The questions are:
1) How can I fix this issue?
2) If I cannot run syslinux on dos partition table, then perhaps it is possible to reinstall Windows on GPT or MBR partition table?
3) If I cannot do that too, then which alternative bootloader should I choose? GRUB Legacy, perhaps(usual GRUB is out of option, as I had a bug which prevented me from using my system when I gave it a try)?

Last edited by VladimirVilimaitis (2014-07-09 04:53:24)

Scimmia · 2014-07-09 04:52:46

dos is MBR. Take a look at the output of `fdisk -l /dev/sdb`, see if the flag is actually set.

VladimirVilimaitis · 2014-07-09 04:53:43

Oh, so dos partition table is MBR. Cool, however, newbies such as myself could not have possibly known that. Can we please make a modification in Beginners Guide to state that, then?
Mods can move this to the "Newbie corner".

Last edited by VladimirVilimaitis (2014-07-09 04:56:23)

WonderWoofy · 2014-07-09 04:58:45

The MBR actually refers to an area of the disk. This is the first sector, which typically contains a the boot portion of the sector as well as an ms-dos partition table. That is why they seem to be used interchangeably, although referring to the partition table itself as MBR is technically wrong.

A wiki is intended to be modified by us normal users. Make an account and change it if you think you can make it clearer.

VladimirVilimaitis · 2014-07-09 05:14:46

But wait, according to the wiki syslinux supposed to be working with MBR off the bat. Why do I get the error message written above then?

Last edited by VladimirVilimaitis (2014-07-09 05:15:45)

WonderWoofy · 2014-07-09 05:38:33

The machine looks for a bit of boot code in that first sector of the disk. So it boots that. In this case, it is syslinux. Syslinux then has to find configuration for itself to know what to do next. It finds this configuration by looking for the partition that is marked as bootable. On that partition it searches for /syslinux/syslinux.cfg or /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg and sources that.

So you may just be trying to set the boot flag on a partition that is already set as bootable... I don't know. Try using fdisk, sfdisk, parted, or whatever to actually check whether the boot flag is set. Syslinux-install_update is actually just an Arch specific script that tried to help you out with setup.

VladimirVilimaitis · 2014-07-09 05:44:01

WonderWoofy wrote:

The machine looks for a bit of boot code in that first sector of the disk. So it boots that. In this case, it is syslinux. Syslinux then has to find configuration for itself to know what to do next. It finds this configuration by looking for the partition that is marked as bootable. On that partition it searches for /syslinux/syslinux.cfg or /boot/syslinux/syslinux.cfg and sources that.
So you may just be trying to set the boot flag on a partition that is already set as bootable... I don't know. Try using fdisk, sfdisk, parted, or whatever to actually check whether the boot flag is set. Syslinux-install_update is actually just an Arch specific script that tried to help you out with setup.

Hmm, perhaps the issue lies in the fact that I have both Windows "System Reserved" partition and Arch partition set as bootable, then? I think I got it.

WonderWoofy · 2014-07-09 05:50:08

That is probably an issue. You need to have only the partition with syslinux.cfg as bootable. Having the System Reserved boot flag becomes no longer necessary since you will be chainloading that partition from syslinux.

Scimmia · 2014-07-09 05:59:46

Scimmia wrote:

Take a look at the output of `fdisk -l /dev/sdb`, see if the flag is actually set.

VladimirVilimaitis · 2014-07-09 07:19:19

WonderWoofy wrote:

That is probably an issue. You need to have only the partition with syslinux.cfg as bootable. Having the System Reserved boot flag becomes no longer necessary since you will be chainloading that partition from syslinux.

Good, it worked, thanks.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-07-09 04:32:40

Issues with syslinux installation on dos partition table.

#2 2014-07-09 04:52:46

Re: Issues with syslinux installation on dos partition table.

#3 2014-07-09 04:53:43

Re: Issues with syslinux installation on dos partition table.

#4 2014-07-09 04:58:45

Re: Issues with syslinux installation on dos partition table.

#5 2014-07-09 05:14:46

Re: Issues with syslinux installation on dos partition table.

#6 2014-07-09 05:38:33

Re: Issues with syslinux installation on dos partition table.

#7 2014-07-09 05:44:01

Re: Issues with syslinux installation on dos partition table.

#8 2014-07-09 05:50:08

Re: Issues with syslinux installation on dos partition table.

#9 2014-07-09 05:59:46

Re: Issues with syslinux installation on dos partition table.

#10 2014-07-09 07:19:19

Re: Issues with syslinux installation on dos partition table.

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