[SOLVED] "Live" USBs not working

jefro · 02-08-2023, 04:01 PM

When you go to bios can you set the usb as a hard drive boot choice?

Brains · 02-08-2023, 11:30 PM

@ RenH

When computer manufacturers originally wanted to sell value priced small laptops with Windows OS, there were some challenges in keeping the price competitive with Chromebook. Chrome OS is Linux based and as such, free. They started back in the Windows 8.1 era and Microsoft did supply Windows 8.1 for free but with conditions. Most notable condition at the time was the Windows 8.1 with Bing where Microsoft's Bing search engine would be set as the default search engine and other ties to Microsoft's store etc.
One of the other likely Microsoft conditions (just a guess on my part), was to implement a 32 bit UEFI firmware interface making it hard to use or install your typical Linux OS on them. Microsoft really don't like giving anything so these little units were designed to get the buyer to give Microsoft something down the road.

I fired up Ubuntu and used Startup disk creator to create a Ubuntu Unity 22.10 USB stick and tried to copy the bootia32.efi file into the EFI/boot directory of the USB stick and came to find it is not possible. Startup disk creator creates a CD on the USB stick, and like any "Closed CD/DVD", it is read only and you can't write to it. This is the same as opening the terminal and using dd to write the ISO disk image to USB with a command similar to: dd if=/path/to/Lubuntu.iso of=/dev/usbstick bs=1M conv=sync.

In my post #9 I mentioned using Rufus to burn the Lubuntu ISO to the USB stick using default method which is to make a bootable USB stick and copy the contents of the ISO file to the USB stick similar to the instructions in the link I provided, doing it this way keeps the USB stick read/write which allows you to copy the 32 bit efi boot loader file into the EFI/boot directory of the USB stick. Having that file in that directory of the USB stick is likely the only way you'll be able to boot any current Linux on your "designed for Windows" machine.

In my post #9 I failed to mention Rufus cannot be used in Linux or MacOS, it is a Windows program and you need a Windows machine to use it. If you cannot access a Windows machine or just refuse to use Windows, your best bet is to follow the instructions in the link I provided in post #9 to create the USB, copy Lubuntu ISO files and then the bootia32.efi file you can download from that site to the EFI/boot directory of the USB stick.

RenH · 02-12-2023, 01:36 PM

Hi Brains,
I tried to follow your instructions but got stumped.
1. I formatted a USB to Fat32.

2. I aleady have a USB with "live" Ubuntu. But couldn't understand how to copy the kernel except by dd image. So I copied and pasted the "live" Ubuntu to the Fat32 USB. I opened the file using one of the options when I right clicked.

3. Pasted "bootia32.efi" into the Boot folder.

I think I did the above. It was all a big haze and I wonder if I might have copied Ubuntu from the downloaded copy on my hard drive to the USB, but I don't think so. I moved very slowly, with a lot of trepidation because I didn't want to "break" my PC!

colorpurple21859 · 02-12-2023, 03:05 PM

What is the name of the ubuntu iso you are using?

RenH · 02-12-2023, 03:35 PM

Oh dear, I think I used the wrong one. I used Ubuntu 22-04.1 amd64.iso instead of Lubuntu 22.04.LTS amd64.iso
However, before I try again, am I following the correct procedure?

colorpurple21859 · 02-12-2023, 03:52 PM

After formatting the usb do not use dd to put iso onto usb. Either extract contents of iso to usb or mount iso and copy contents of the iso from the iso mount point to the usb. Then copy the bootia32.efi to the usb /EFI/boot/

If you have access to a windows system you can use rufus https://rufus.ie/ to put the iso onto the usb and then copy the bootia32.efi

RenH · 02-13-2023, 06:19 PM

Hi colorpurple:
if there is a way of going wrong I will find it. Yesterday I reformatted the USB, copied the Lubuntu.iso to the USB and then extracted the files. Pasted "bootia32.efi" into the EFI folder.

I noticed I had both the icon for the USB and beneath it the Lubuntu folder was listed. When I went to extract the USB I had to unmount the Lubuntu folder. Then I could remove the USB. However, when I went to use the USB on the Notebook it did not show. I suspect I have to mount the Lubunto folder if I want see it.[?] I'm in grub.

I re-read your last advice and realised I should have done the extraction on my PC and copied ONLY the Lubuntu folder to the USB. As it stands I think I have duplicated the space used on my USB. If so, can I delete the .iso image? As it stands I only have 2 gigs free when it should be nearer to 4.[It's an 8 gig USB].
I think I'm inching closer despite my silly mistakes.

dugan · 02-13-2023, 06:30 PM

You're not ejecting the disk too early after writing it, are you?

RenH · 02-13-2023, 06:39 PM

I don't think so. When it had finished writing the only two things I can see are the Lubuntu folder and the .iso. I have to admit the first time I tried to copy the files I did. So I went back to square one and re formatted.

colorpurple21859 · 02-13-2023, 07:09 PM

Using gparted select the usb, click on device to create a new msdos table, click on partition to create a new fat32 partition, exit gparted.
Open a terminal, this assumes the iso and bootia32.efi are in the Downloads folder and the usb is /dev/sdb change accordingly.

Code:

sudo mkdir /mnt/usb
sudo mkdir /mnt/iso
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb
sudo mount /home/reynold/Downloads/lubuntu-22.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso /mnt/iso
sudo  rsync -av /mnt/iso/ /mnt/usb/
sudo cp /home/reynold/Downloads/bootia32.efi /mnt/usb/EFI/boot/

ignore the symbolic link errors during coping of the iso.

Edit: changed iso name from Lubuntu 22.04.LTS amd64.iso(causing mount error) to ubuntu-22.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso

RenH · 02-13-2023, 08:54 PM

Thanks colorpurple.
I got down to the third line [first three were already in the system] but it won't accept "mount" -- states "bad usage". I looked up 'mount --help" and tried "mount --a" and then "mount --V" because I could understand these, but no luck.

RenH · 02-13-2023, 09:00 PM

Update: "Mount" on its own works!

RenH · 02-15-2023, 03:21 PM

Sorry, colorpurple, I may have confused you when I wrote "Mount" on its own works. Yes it displays information on sda and sdb. Here is the sdb1 information:

Quote:

/dev/sdb1 on /media/reynold/F258-F71D type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,showexec,utf8,flush,errors=remount-ro,uhelper=udisks2)
/dev/sdb1 on /mnt/usb type vfat (rw,relatime,uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,showexec,utf8,flush,errors=remount-ro)

When I enter your fourth line

Quote:

sudo mount Downloads/Lubuntu 22.04.LTS amd64.iso /mnt/iso

I get:

Quote:

command not found

.
What is happening?

colorpurple21859 · 02-15-2023, 03:54 PM

What system are you running the commands on and is it a live usb or installed system?

RenH · 02-15-2023, 04:30 PM

I am trying to follow your instructions so I am using my PC [Ubuntu]. I've inserted the USB with Lubuntu and trying to do what you say on the USB on my PC. I would then transfer the USB to my Notebook and, I hope, boot up with Lubuntu.