Boot arch from iso and grub2

yoburtu · 2009-08-16 23:37:12

Hello,

I'm trying configure grub2 for boot iso image of arch but don't work:

My grub.cfg entry is:

menuentry "ArchLinux ISO" {
loopback loop (hd0,3)/iso/arch.iso
linux (loop)/boot/vmlinuz26 findiso=/iso/arch.iso lang=en locale=en_US.UTF-8 archisolabel=ARCHISO_KE1AECIE ramdisk_size=75%
initrd (loop)/boot/archiso_pata.img
boot
}

Arch start correctly boot fail and hope 30 seconds for image of /dev/archiso, I think.

Is the above entry correct?.

Regards.

yoburtu · 2009-08-17 09:38:23

The exact error message is:

:: Waiting for boot device ...
Waiting 30 seconds for device /dev/archiso ...
ERROR: boot device didn't show up after 30 seconds...
Falling back to interactive prompt.
You can try to fix the problem manually log out when you are finished.

djszapi · 2009-08-19 22:48:18

Hello yoburtu!

Do you have facility to boot from usb storage ? It would be simplier situation If you've got facility for it.

But original post related threads:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions … ub-367901/
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=799253

Last edited by djszapi (2009-08-19 22:50:41)

yoburtu · 2009-08-19 22:52:13

I've installed finally from CD. But I'm interesting in boot from iso image feature of grub2, in the future. Regards.

djszapi · 2009-08-19 23:09:40

You can establish a cd sized partition and write to it with cdburn, I used it personally earlier.

yoburtu · 2009-08-19 23:13:32

A cd sized partition?, in grub or grub2?. In this case, what's line of grub for boot?. Regards.

djszapi · 2009-08-19 23:47:43

1. "A cd sized partition?" -> You can use dvd sized too, if you're enough space on hard disk.
2. "in grub or grub2?' -> I used in simply grub earlier.
3. A simple kernel bootoing line, with desired settings

brenix · 2009-08-30 06:05:16

Been trying the same thing. I've installed grub2 on a usb flash and when loading the iso, it stops at the same spot and drops me to a ramfs$ prompt. Any ideas anyone? Please PM if a fix is found!

Edit: Anyone know if there is a boot option that needs to be specified?

Last edited by brenix (2009-08-30 06:06:30)

bond · 2010-02-18 05:23:16

I'm also pretty interested in this.

I have these two entries, one with isofrom and another with findiso.
It's be pretty handy to carry all the arch setup disks on the same usb key using grub2 with iso emulation

menuentry "Archlinux netinstall i686" {
set isofile="/boot/archlinux-2009.08-netinstall-i686.iso"
loopback loop $isofile
linux (loop)/boot/vmlinuz26 findiso=$isofile lang=en locale=en_US.UTF-8 archisolabel=ARCHISO_EIYOHPO3 ramdisk_size=75%
initrd (loop)/boot/archiso_pata.img
boot
}

menuentry "Archlinux netinstall x86_64" {
set isofile="/boot/archlinux-2009.08-netinstall-x86_64.iso"
loopback loop $isofile
linux (loop)/boot/vmlinuz26 isofrom=$isofile lang=en locale=en_US.UTF-8 archisolabel=ARCHISO_OHD8FOH5 ramdisk_size=75%
initrd (loop)/boot/archiso_pata.img
boot
}

djgera · 2010-02-18 06:01:06

I don't know about how grub2 iso disk/emulation. I you want to boot archiso from harddisk, do a more simple thing instead of emulations:

* mount the iso and copy *.sqfs isomounts boot/vmlinuz26 boot/archiso.img to /
* setup grub

title  archiso
kernel /vmlinuz26 archisolabel=ARCH_201002
initrd /archiso.img

maybe grub2 acording to example will look like (I don't know about grub2 syntax):

menuentry "archiso" {
    linux /vmlinuz26 archisolabel=ARCH_201002
    initrd /archiso.img
    boot
}

Last edited by djgera (2010-02-18 06:13:13)

lmdbluis · 2010-03-13 04:38:59

Por fin me salio!! xD xD

solo hay que poner como root el loop:

menuentry "Arch" {
loopback loop /iso/archlinux-2009.08-netinstall-x86_64.iso
set root=loop
linux /boot/vmlinuz26 lang=en locale=en_US.UTF-8 archisolabel=ARCHISO_OHD8FOH5 ramdisk_size=75%
initrd /boot/archiso_pata.img
}

sl1pkn07 · 2010-03-30 16:52:18

pues a mi de esa manera que dice lmdbluis no me funciona
(the lmdbluis method not working for me)

menuentry "Ejecutar Instalacion ArchLinux x86_64 (64-bits)" {
loopback loop (hd0,2)/arch64.iso
set root=(loop)
linux /boot/vmlinuz26 lang=es locale=es_ES.UTF-8 archisolabel=ARCHISO_OHD8FOH5 ramdisk_size=75% noeject noprompt
initrd /boot/archiso_pata.img
boot
}

tambien lo he intentado asi:
(and probe this: (fail))

menuentry "Ejecutar Instalacion ArchLinux x86_64 (64-bits)" {
loopback loop (hd0,2)/arch64.iso
set root=(loop)
linux /boot/vmlinuz26 isofrom=(hd0,2)/arch64.iso lang=es locale=es_ES.UTF-8 archisolabel=ARCHISO_OHD8FOH5 ramdisk_size=75% noeject noprompt
initrd /boot/archiso_pata.img
boot
}

con "set root=loop" se reinicia directamente, tambien se reinicia de esta manera:
(with "set root=loop" reboot directly, and also reboot with this method)

menuentry "Ejecutar Instalacion ArchLinux x86_64 (64-bits)" {
set root=(hd0,2)
loopback loop /arch64.iso
set root=(loop)
linux /boot/vmlinuz26 isofrom=(hd0,2)/arch64.iso lang=es locale=es_ES.UTF-8 archisolabel=ARCHISO_OHD8FOH5 ramdisk_size=75% noeject noprompt
initrd /boot/archiso_pata.img
boot
}

a alguien le ha funcionado?
(someone else has worked?)

EDIT: little tanslation in english, sorry
greetings

Last edited by sl1pkn07 (2010-03-30 23:09:57)

skottish · 2010-03-30 17:07:40

English please.

DSpider · 2010-03-30 22:12:19

So is there any workaround this ?

Why hasn't this bug been squashed ? What causes it ? SATA only configurations ? It's driving me bonkers.

sl1pkn07 · 2010-03-30 23:08:25

DSpider wrote:

So is there any workaround this ?
Why hasn't this bug been squashed ? What causes it ? SATA only configurations ? It's driving me bonkers.

+1. i'm probe other ditribution. gparted 0.5.5 and fail :S (same error, wait 30 sec)

sl1pkn07 · 2010-04-01 17:47:06

nothing idea for this?¿ :S

Xagoln · 2010-04-01 22:05:55

I would love to do this also. I have Tiny Core Linux and several other distros booting fine, but can't get the right mojo to make the latest Arch Netinstall boot from an ISO stored on my USB key.

DSpider · 2010-04-02 09:04:41

Because it's a bug. And nobody seems to care enough to fix it...

Someone mentioned dd-ing the .img file to the USB as per: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ins … lash_drive

dd if=image.img of=/dev/sd[x]

So I was thinking of booting Parted Magic from the USB (GRUB boots it just fine) then "dd" the image to sdd2. However, the wiki says: *Make sure to use /dev/sdx and not /dev/sdx1. This is a very common error!

So it would effectively erase everything on sdd... Including the bootloader.

Why is it so hard to install this thing from USB ?

sl1pkn07 · 2010-04-06 14:30:55

any notice? :S

DSpider · 2010-04-16 22:04:56

Nope. I've been trying to install Arch for about a month now. One of the coolest possible distros I've ever seen. Throw anything at it and it drops to the fucking ramfs.

Last edited by DSpider (2011-05-29 23:56:57)

hokasch · 2010-04-16 22:46:10

DSpider wrote:

However, the wiki says: Make sure to use /dev/sdx and not /dev/sdx1. This is a very common error!
So it would effectively erase everything on sdd... Including the bootloader.

Sure, the bootloader is inside the image... how is it supposed to boot if you put it into a partition? There are many different methods how to get the image onto USB, with different OS, just use the one that gives you the least hassle.
For the " iso with grub2" thing, maybe you have more luck with archboot.

Last edited by hokasch (2010-04-16 22:47:38)

damjan · 2010-04-16 23:03:48

yoburtu wrote:

I'm trying configure grub2 for boot iso image of arch but don't work:
My grub.cfg entry is:
menuentry "ArchLinux ISO" {
loopback loop (hd0,3)/iso/arch.iso
linux (loop)/boot/vmlinuz26 findiso=/iso/arch.iso lang=en locale=en_US.UTF-8 archisolabel=ARCHISO_KE1AECIE ramdisk_size=75%
initrd (loop)/boot/archiso_pata.img
boot
}
Arch start correctly boot fail and hope 30 seconds for image of /dev/archiso, I think.
Is the above entry correct?.

The only responsibility of Grub is to load the kernel and the initrd. And in your case Grub successfully did that.

After that, the scripts in the initrd take over, and obviously those scripts didn't know how to find the files in the arch.iso file. Those scripts were expecting a normal CD device and not an image file on some filesystem on the disk.

The loopback thing that grub does is lost once grub loads the kernel.

bond · 2010-04-28 02:15:52

DSpider wrote:

Because it's a bug. And nobody seems to care enough to fix it...

if its a bug, is there a bug created on the arch bugtracker?

Raghnall · 2010-04-28 23:05:17

I wouldn't really call it a bug. It is more like an enhancement that Arch Linux does not currently have, AFAIK.

example:

menuentry "Arch Linux 2009.08 netinstall 64bit" {
loopback loop /boot/iso/archlinux-2009.08-netinstall-x86_64.iso
linux (loop)/boot/vmlinuz26 lang=en locale=en_US.UTF-8 archisolabel=ARCHISO_OHD8FOH5 ramdisk_size=75%
initrd (loop)/boot/archiso_pata.img
}

What happens with the grub2 is as follows:

loopback loop /boot/iso/archlinux-2009.08-netinstall-x86_64.iso

1) mount the iso image as a loopback

linux (loop)/boot/vmlinuz26 lang=en locale=en_US.UTF-8 archisolabel=ARCHISO_OHD8FOH5 ramdisk_size=75%

2) load the kernel from the iso image (and pass command line options)

initrd (loop)/boot/archiso_pata.img

3) load the initd from the iso image

The problem comes after this.
Once the kernel and the initd are loaded grub2 leaves the picture, as well as the loopback iso image.
The loaded kernel starts the boot process and looks for the files/filesystem it expects to be there.
But it can't find it because the iso loopback device is gone (or as far as it knows, never was there to begin with).

To get around this problem many distros include kernel command line options such as:
iso-scan/filename, findiso, and isofrom

These command line options are pretty much scripts to find and mount the iso image and use it as the root partition. Much like what we did with grub2.
I don't know if the command line options are part of the initd or the kernel itself, but either way I would like to see it as part of Arch Linux default iso.
If I knew how to modify the initd I would make a patch for it or the iso as a whole, but my knowledge doesn't go that far

bond · 2010-04-28 23:50:03

ah, let me clarify, I thought you meant that the arch kernel did take parameter 'isofrom' but that its was broken, now I see that it doesn't support the parameter at all, maybe we can put in a feature request on the arch tracker system ...

seeing as how many other distro's support the parameters surely it won't be hard for one of the devs to add it. Even if they maybe consider it a low priority, they can't add a feature if they haven't been asked to do so ....

Arch Linux

#1 2009-08-16 23:37:12

Boot arch from iso and grub2

#2 2009-08-17 09:38:23

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#3 2009-08-19 22:48:18

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#4 2009-08-19 22:52:13

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#5 2009-08-19 23:09:40

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#6 2009-08-19 23:13:32

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#7 2009-08-19 23:47:43

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#8 2009-08-30 06:05:16

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#9 2010-02-18 05:23:16

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#10 2010-02-18 06:01:06

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#11 2010-03-13 04:38:59

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#12 2010-03-30 16:52:18

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#13 2010-03-30 17:07:40

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#14 2010-03-30 22:12:19

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#15 2010-03-30 23:08:25

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#16 2010-04-01 17:47:06

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#17 2010-04-01 22:05:55

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#18 2010-04-02 09:04:41

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#19 2010-04-06 14:30:55

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#20 2010-04-16 22:04:56

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#21 2010-04-16 22:46:10

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#22 2010-04-16 23:03:48

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#23 2010-04-28 02:15:52

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#24 2010-04-28 23:05:17

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

#25 2010-04-28 23:50:03

Re: Boot arch from iso and grub2

Board footer