Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

malagant · 2008-06-25 19:45:20

Hello all.

Long intro here...
I've been on Linux since about '95 or '96 and have done the distro-hop that accompanies 10+ years of use, but kept coming back to Debian (NOT Ubuntu... Bah!) until about a year or two ago when I realized that I kept "coming back" to ArchLinux from Debian...
That is my long-winded way of praising ArchLinux and the Devs here. Thank you.

I've been running it exclusively for a while and was excited to see the new .img USB files in the last RC.
I got them installed & booting on a couple of sticks but the new files for 2008.06 are failing to boot with Grub errors -

GRUB Loading stage1.5.


GRUB loading, please wait...
Error 17

(Hangs here, of course)

Now I am sure I'm missing something (especially since everyone here says it works) but I haven't stumbled on the solution.
I've googled and looked in the Wiki for new entries about USB to no avail.
I'm presuming it has something to do with the switch to UUID, but I could be wrong.

Something that catches my eye:

cfdisk (util-linux-ng 2.13.0.1)

                              Disk Drive: /dev/sdb
                        Size: 1000341504 bytes, 1000 MB
              Heads: 136   Sectors per Track: 35   Cylinders: 410

    Name        Flags      Part Type  FS Type          [Label]        Size (MB)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Pri/Log   Free Space                           0.04*
    sdb1        Boot        Primary   Linux ext2                         153.38*
                            Pri/Log   Free Space                         845.82*

Note the 0.04* MB Free space in front of /dev/sdb1 ?

For reference, I first ran:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb

and then:

dd if=archlinux-2008.06-ftp-i686.img of=/dev/sdb

Can anyone shed light on this?

Please move this to the appropriate Forum if there is a better place for this post.

Thanks again to everyone.

malagant · 2008-06-25 19:57:38

A quick follow-up:

I was going to try an RC .img file again to make sure something wasn't messed up in my hardware but they have all been pulled from the mirrors.

lilsirecho · 2008-06-25 20:44:53

It may be related to the use of the FTP source....

malagant · 2008-06-25 21:09:48

Thanks for the reply lilsirecho.

I tried the 2008.06 core .img previously with the same result, but to be safe I ran

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=1

then dd'd archlinux-2008.06-core-i686.img (from a new mirror) onto a different USB flash than I used before.

Same result...

malagant · 2008-06-25 21:20:41

Some obscure BIOS setting?

archlinux-2008.06-ftp-x86_64.img:

cfdisk (util-linux-ng 2.13.0.1)

                              Disk Drive: /dev/sdb
                        Size: 2004877312 bytes, 2004 MB
              Heads: 65   Sectors per Track: 47   Cylinders: 1281

    Name        Flags      Part Type  FS Type          [Label]        Size (MB)
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Pri/Log   Free Space                           0.04*
    sdb1        Boot        Primary   Linux ext2                         158.34*
                            Pri/Log   Free Space                        1845.33*

I'll try on some different hardware this evening.

lilsirecho · 2008-06-25 21:23:43

One further suggest: partition the flash drive ext3 in gparted and then run the dd...

lilsirecho · 2008-06-25 21:35:49

The only other suggestion is to examine grub and determine its params are correct.

phrakture · 2008-06-26 17:37:22

If you want to delve into this, perhaps you could copy the filesystem from the usb drive (not with dd, I mean just copy the files as they are), then partition the usb drive yourself, copy the files back, and use grub-install to put grub on it. It's worth a shot, as I suspect there may be something funky with the USB image partitioning.

malagant · 2008-06-26 18:42:59

I tried several different combinations at home last night with the same result but the old RC image installed & booted as normal.
I will try the manual grub method as suggested by phrakture when I get a few minutes and let you know how it goes.

Thanks.

malagant · 2008-06-26 20:24:09

phrakture,

I made a new Ext2 filesystem on a usb stick, copied everything from the .img to it and then re-installed grub.
It appears to be working. It is booting & the grub menu takes me places.
Below is a rough overview of my steps in case it is of help to someone else.

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=1          # clear USB's partition table
dd if=archlinux-2008.06-ftp-i686.img of=/dev/sdb    # write ftp image to USB
mkdir /tmp/usb
mkdir /tmp/sdb1
mount /dev/sdb1 /tmp/sdb1
cp -rfp /tmp/sdb1/* /tmp/usb                        # copy the data from the img local
umount /dev/sdb1
[wipe stick & create new Ext2 partition]            # I used cfdisk & gparted
mount /dev/sdb1 /tmp/sdb1
cp -rfp /tmp/usb/* /tmp/sdb1                        # copy the data back to the new partition
grub-install --root-directory=/tmp/sdb1 /dev/sdb    # install grub to the USB stick
umount /dev/sdb1

My thanks to you & lilsirecho for pointing me in the right direction.
I think there must be something wonky with the partitioning as you suggested.
The "Pri/Log Free Space 0.04*" line in cfdisk seems to be a common symptom on all of my tests.

phrakture · 2008-06-26 21:43:50

According to Simo, that initial freespace is common. It should be 63 sectors of freespace that can be used for bootloader antics. I'm not too clear on the details.

I wonder if that freespace is needed.

neotuli · 2008-06-26 22:12:11

Hmmm... ok a couple things....

What's the size, model, manufacture, all that on the USB drive. Also, in your BIOS, does it list the usb boot option as "USB-HDD" or "USB-FDD", and what number is it on the boot list (ie is it the first disk that's tried? second? etc.)?
In addition, can you give me the output of "fdisk -l -u /dev/yourusbdrive", which is the details on the new partition table you created, as well as all the output from when you run grub-install?

Thanks

malagant · 2008-06-27 18:06:10

Hello neotuli.

When I get some free time, I'll attempt to post the information you requested.

Thanks.

ja1217 · 2008-07-04 14:56:12

I know you wrote otherwise here, but are you sure you didn't do

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb1

instead of

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb

I was getting the same grub error message when I was using /dev/sdx1, but it worked fine when I dropped the one.

SyXbiT · 2008-07-11 06:58:41

this is cause the iso switched from using isolinux to grub.
has benefits, but has this 'problem'
2008-3 still uses isolinux, so you can use that if you're in a pinch (although that was my workaround, i've had problems that have been fixed with 2008.6)
i read a bug post where they actually switched to grub back in 2007, but switched back to isolinux because of these exact problems

neotuli · 2008-07-11 13:43:16

SyXbiT wrote:

this is cause the iso switched from using isolinux to grub.
has benefits, but has this 'problem'
2008-3 still uses isolinux, so you can use that if you're in a pinch (although that was my workaround, i've had problems that have been fixed with 2008.6)
i read a bug post where they actually switched to grub back in 2007, but switched back to isolinux because of these exact problems

Uhm... no.

This thread is about grub on USB disk images, not on ISOs. The known problems with grub releate to booting from ISOs. There is a difference.

venky80 · 2008-07-11 14:19:06

according to the wiki I thought you could only install on FAT file systems, i didnt even know ext3 is supported

Arch Linux

#1 2008-06-25 19:45:20

Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#2 2008-06-25 19:57:38

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#3 2008-06-25 20:44:53

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#4 2008-06-25 21:09:48

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#5 2008-06-25 21:20:41

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#6 2008-06-25 21:23:43

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#7 2008-06-25 21:35:49

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#8 2008-06-26 17:37:22

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#9 2008-06-26 18:42:59

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#10 2008-06-26 20:24:09

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#11 2008-06-26 21:43:50

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#12 2008-06-26 22:12:11

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#13 2008-06-27 18:06:10

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#14 2008-07-04 14:56:12

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#15 2008-07-11 06:58:41

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#16 2008-07-11 13:43:16

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

#17 2008-07-11 14:19:06

Re: Odd looking failure using new 2008.06 USB .img files

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