how to a bootable flag on usb stick?

xpucto · 08-20-2008, 06:42 AM

Hi!

I've tried to set a bootable flag on a usb stick using fdisck but it doensn't seem to work:

Quote:

sudo /sbin/fdisk /dev/sda1

Command (m for help): a
Partition number (1-4): 1

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

WARNING: Re-reading the partition table failed with error 22: Invalid argument.
The kernel still uses the old table.
The new table will be used at the next reboot.
Syncing disks.

Then when I try to install the XO-LiveCD on it, I get the error message:

Quote:

sudo ./make_usbstick.sh -n 0 -i -d /dev/sda1
device /dev/sda1 does not have bootable flag set

How should I manage this?
thanks in advance for any advice.

syg00 · 08-20-2008, 07:07 AM

Huh ???.
Why ...

Linux doesn't use the boot flag. And fdisk doesn't take a partition as a parm - use /dev/sda

xpucto · 08-20-2008, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00

- use /dev/sda

what do you mean exactly?

David1357 · 08-20-2008, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xpucto

what do you mean exactly?

Use

Code:

fdisk /dev/sda

instead of

Code:

fdisk /dev/sda1

When you want to edit the partition table, you use the device name for the drive, not the device name for an individual partition.

xpucto · 08-27-2008, 05:58 AM

I did so but got the following error:

Quote:

sudo /sbin/fdisk /dev/sda

The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 2796.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)

Command (m for help): a
Partition number (1-4): 1

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

WARNING: Re-reading the partition table failed with error 16: Device or resource busy.
The kernel still uses the old table.
The new table will be used at the next reboot.
Syncing disks.

What did I do wrong?
thanks in advance

matthewg42 · 08-27-2008, 07:30 AM

That looks fine, but if you want to boot from the device, you will need some sort of boot sector like syslinux. syslinux was the only thing I managed to get working with my USB stick when I installed ubuntu onto it, although I should point out that I had to get a customised kernel/initrd to get it working.

David1357 · 08-27-2008, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xpucto

What did I do wrong?

You probably modified the partition table while the USB stick was still mounted. That is usually the cause of

Quote:

Originally Posted by xpucto

WARNING: Re-reading the partition table failed with error 16: Device or resource busy.

Once you "unmount" the thumb drive and "eject" it, the new partition table will be used the next time you insert it.

xpucto · 08-28-2008, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David1357

Once you "unmount" the thumb drive and "eject" it, the new partition table will be used the next time you insert it.

that's what I did, but then I get the following error when trying to make the tick bootable:

Quote:

you need to start fdisk or parted and set the bootable flag
on device partition /dev/sda1

I try to install XO-LiveCD with th script ./make_usbstick.sh :

Quote:

sudo ./make_usbstick.sh -h

Make a bootable LiveBackup on USB Memory Stick

SYNOPSIS:
./make_usbstick.sh [-d <usbdevice>] [-n <partition>] [-m <master-directory> ] [-h] [-u] [-i | -g]

-d <device> usb device, default: /dev/sda
-n <partition> partition number to be used, default: 1
use 0 for if you don't have a partition table
-m <master-directory> LiveBackup master directory, default: /mnt/media
if you convert a Live-CD this is the CD mount point
-c <bootloader-config-file> default: /mnt/media/boot/isolinux/isolinux.cfg
-h help
-u update an already prepared stick
-s speedup updates, copy system images only if they differ in size
-i use isolinux bootloader, (recommended for general purpuse)
-g use grub bootloader, (recommended for development)

EXAMPLE:
./make_usbstick.sh -n 1 -i -d /dev/sda

this will copy the content from /mnt/media
to the first partition of device /dev/sda and use the isolinux bootloader

But I get either

Quote:

sudo ./make_usbstick.sh
which: no parted in (/usr/kerberos/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/home/christophe/bin)
INFO: you need to start fdisk or parted and set the bootable flag
on device partition /dev/sda1

or

Quote:

sudo ./make_usbstick.sh -n 0
device /dev/sda does not have bootable flag set

What may I do?
Thanks in advance for your help.

David1357 · 08-28-2008, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xpucto

Code:

which: no parted in (/usr/kerberos/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/home/christophe/bin)

What may I do?

Your real problem is you need parted for the script to operate properly. Install parted. If it is already installed, add it to your path.

xpucto · 08-29-2008, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David1357

Your real problem is you need parted for the script to operate properly. Install parted. If it is already installed, add it to your path.

Thank you! I didn'see the message regarding parted. That was indeed the problem. Now I'm faced with another one. The problem is that the error maessage isn't saying much and I don't know what the problem could be :

Quote:

sudo ./make_usbstick.sh
Attempting to run 'parted /dev/sda set 1 boot on'... DONE
File: Readme.LiveBackup was not found on /mnt/media
Please check your configuration !!!

Any idea maybe?

thanks in advance.

David1357 · 08-29-2008, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xpucto

Any idea maybe?

Start digging through "make_usbstick.sh" and look for the line that checks for "Readme.LiveBackup".