LinuxQuestions.org - HOWTO BURN GRUB to CDR

Please note
-assume you try this at your own risk, you know how to use grub editor if things not right
& assume you know how to use 'su' mode to simplify file permissions on copying
-assume you know how to change bios boot order to cdrom b4 all others
-assume you know how to burn an iso image, -Where I type $ command you type the command and press enter (in a terminal)

TIP instead of typing those commands you can, in KDE, copy the command and then in KONSOLE click on the pulldown menu called EDIT then click on paste.....beautiful.

1) Create a directory /home/yourname/iso-files/
2) Copy entire /boot folder to /home/yourname/iso-files/
(Note if you are not using su mode you may have to check your powers to edit)

3) Tidy up the new /boot folder by renaming and deleting some files so it looks like this
PARENT FOLDER /iso-files
/boot
/boot/vmlinuza (make sure you rename the real file and not the symbolic link file.....delete the symbolic file)
/boot/initrda.img (if you need one)
/boot/grub
/boot/grub/all stage1 and stage1.5 and stage 2 files
/boot/grub/device.map
/boot/grub/menu.lst

ADD
new kernel and any related initrd files and rename them cunningly as vmlinuzb etc

4) Edit device.map so you have an extra cd entry and refer to your fstab file for its dev structure
mine looks like this
#########file starts
(cd) /dev/hda (my cdrom is on first ide controller jumpered as a master)
(hd0) /dev/sda ( I have a SATA)
(fd0) /dev/fd0
##########end of file

5) Edit menu.lst file according to your fstab structure. Check if you need the structure of /boot/vmlinuz or /boot/bzImage and change to suit the guilty.
Since this is a emergency boot disk....mbr is stuffed, we have no fancy graphics here.
Mdk 10.1 users note that you need the /boot structure other modern distros choose this option for your first burn and you can use grub editor to see what your true option is if I am wrong. Since this is a boot disk no splashimage used to increase stability.

#########file starts
timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
default 0
fallback 1

title 269
root (cd)
kernel /boot/vmlinuzb root=/dev/sda3 devfs=nomount acpi=ht

title Mdk
root (cd)
kernel /boot/vmlinuza root=/dev/sda3 devfs=nomount acpi=ht
initrd /boot/initrda.img

title MS
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

##########end of file

6) open a terminal and create the ISO
$ cd /home/yourname

### the next line is written continuously press enter only after last character###########
$ mkisofs -R -b boot/grub/stage2_eltorito -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -o grub.iso iso-files

### end of one line command

TIP use the tab to autocomplete your stage2 file if you installed bash completion
KEEP THE TERMINAL OPEN we have more to do later.

NOTES
a) Burning is new to me so I can't explain see the reference links
b) But compared to normal iso images of folders you specify a lower down file which apparently the mkfs command recognises needs a boot catalogue file
C) You may notice that the image includes the folder iso-files so will keep that directory structure.
D) I got an error in specifying the full path to the eltorito file so try above before trying full paths please.
E) And "iso-files" the last bit is the FOLDER and has no folder pathway ie don't add any /
F) The Grub manual says you don't need all those stage files except eltorito but we may as well have them there......plenty of room on the cdr

7) Now check that a file called grub.iso exists in your folder.
In Konqueror it shows iso9660 image file.

8) Now check it will burn correctly by mounting the image in a loopfs
create a directory called /home/yourname/iso-loop
$ mount -t iso9660 -o ro,loop=/dev/loop0 grub.iso /home/yourname/iso-loop/

Now enter that loop folder and check you have exactly the same structure as planned in ISO-FILES but with an extra file not in the /boot subfolder like this
/home/yourname/iso-loop/boot.catalog

4) Now burn it with your fav burner.....if you are reading this try k3b.
I use k3b in gui mode
---click on pull down TOOLS... click on CD....click on BURN CD IMAGE.... then navigate to iso image....click ok and start

Links to pix

menu countdown of a cdr showing 3 menu options as above
http://picserver.org/i/DH5K55DM151N/512/p.png

menu timer stopped by pressing arrow down key
http://picserver.org/i/N94YO4P07ZM4/512/p.png

pressing E for edit at first screen to show the commands for one menu item
http://picserver.org/i/7352M364XWDY/512/p.png

not forgetting the critical bit that I use the root relative way of telling grub where my /boot booting files are (rather than the absolute way)

http://picserver.org/i/Y3T354R87ES2/512/p.png

REFERENCES
1) Grub manual
2) My howto on other stuff .....of course
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=237511
3) Lovely article on using loop and other stuff by Carla Schroder
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerwork...g-lnxw03BurnCD