Arch Linux

Hocuda

Member

Registered: 2024-07-19

Posts: 11

[SOLVED] install Arch via CD to old PC. failed to load ldlinux.c32

I made Live CD via UltraISO, change boot configuration to CD in bios and I get this message:

ISOLINUX 6.04 6.04-pre2-11-gbf6db5b4* ETCD Copyright (C) 1994-2015 H. Peter Anvin et al
Failed to load ldlinux.c32
Boot failed: press a key to retry...

Last edited by Hocuda (2025-01-12 17:49:07)

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 12,323

Re: [SOLVED] install Arch via CD to old PC. failed to load ldlinux.c32

1. The Arch ISO won't fit on CD.
2. What, exactly, did you do with UltraISO?
3. How old is this system?

Hocuda

Member

Registered: 2024-07-19

Posts: 11

Re: [SOLVED] install Arch via CD to old PC. failed to load ldlinux.c32

The Arch ISO won't fit on CD.

So I cant install it on a PC which don't support boot from USB?

What, exactly, did you do with UltraISO?

I burn iso file of arch linux on CD, don't remember all my steps in this procces.

How old is this system?

CPU: Athlon 64 processor 3200+
GPU: radeon HD 4650
RAM: 3 GB
HDD: 500 GB

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 1,220

Re: [SOLVED] install Arch via CD to old PC. failed to load ldlinux.c32

are you sure the system in question is unable to boot from usb? it likely only depends on correct preparation - please check bios boot config again
as an alternate option: you can create a small bootstrap image and can chain netinstall from it - this should even fit on a floppy

Hocuda

Member

Registered: 2024-07-19

Posts: 11

Re: [SOLVED] install Arch via CD to old PC. failed to load ldlinux.c32

I will definitely check it, but is it realy impossible to create a CD installer for linux? How people in 2000-x even did this?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,897

Re: [SOLVED] install Arch via CD to old PC. failed to load ldlinux.c32

Software packages were smaller the hardware to support was fewer and a "standard" distribution did indeed fit on a CD. if you go back even further you could install linux distros from ~20 floppy disks that had to be swapped during install.

You can still find distributions designed with limited storage in mind that don't ship quite as many tools as part of their ISO that will fit on a CD, Archlinux is not that distribution and it was ultimately a tradeoff whether it was worth keeping CD compat or omitting important tools from the ISO, which ultimately went with "people are going to have sufficiently sized USB sticks"

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 1,220

Re: [SOLVED] install Arch via CD to old PC. failed to load ldlinux.c32

because the cd images back then were less than the size of a standard cd - which depend on media is around 650mb to 800mb
the current archiso is over 1gb and hence doesn't fit on a cd anymore but already requires a dvd
so your error likely comes from the syslinux files are at point beyond what was able to fit on the cd - which your burner software should have warned you about that the image just doesn't fit on the blank media
other distros provide small netboot images about 100mb which fit well on a cd - arch doesn't but it would be easy to create such
another option would be PXE boot - something supported since 90s but requires a network setup for it

//edit - F5

Last edited by cryptearth (2025-01-08 15:56:05)

Scimmia

Fellow

Registered: 2012-09-01

Posts: 12,323

Re: [SOLVED] install Arch via CD to old PC. failed to load ldlinux.c32

Yes, there were quite a few systems that age that wouldn't boot from USB. I had a couple, that's the reason I asked just how old it is. It should at least have a DVD drive, so if you have a DVD burner around it should work. If not, yeah, you have to get creative.

Hocuda

Member

Registered: 2024-07-19

Posts: 11

Re: [SOLVED] install Arch via CD to old PC. failed to load ldlinux.c32

I made a mistake in naming my disk CD, it is a DWD which have 4.7 GB of space

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 1,220

Re: [SOLVED] install Arch via CD to old PC. failed to load ldlinux.c32

then it could be that ultraiso somehow messed up burning the image correctly as a bios/legacy/csm bootable disc - last time I burned a physical disc was back when the win7 "SP2" pack was released - along what I already integrated in my own image it blew it up to require a 8.5gb DL disc
so - given that the provided image does support this boot mode properly its likely user error and somehow messed up the burn - I don't know ultraiso - but any modern windows can directly burn iso images onto blank media
as you have a running windows system on hand I recommend tftpd64 and https://archlinux.org/releng/netboot/ - all you need is a patch cable between both machines and point tftd to serve the pxe image

Hocuda

Member

Registered: 2024-07-19

Posts: 11

Re: [SOLVED] install Arch via CD to old PC. failed to load ldlinux.c32

Thanks to everyone who helped me, my PC can boot from USB, so I will do that. Thank you all again for your help!