Making a bootable partitian on a compact flash.
 

Hello, I am the pure definition of a "newbie". I have never worked with Linux before but as part of my new job I need to format and install a program on a compact flash card. I have followed our procedure to the T but when i install the card I get a No bootable partition error. Here is what I'm doing. I go into Gnome terminal and change to my directory to "cd dcmsetupdir" (this may not be important but I want to give as much info as I can. Then I type "sudo ./format_cf". once this is complete (no errors detected), I type in "sudo ./install_cf" this seems to install correctly but when I boot up the unit with the card in I get the no bootable partition error. I apologize if this is too basic or I have not given enough detail but any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Hi,

Does it matter what Linux you use? If not, I suggest getting Ubuntu, and making a bootable drive with that.

And ...

congrats on the new job, and of course

that will only be for a while...just stick around :)

Luck!

Thor

"I need to format and install a program on a compact flash card."

In this statement you are saying something different than

"I boot up the unit with the card in I get the no bootable partition error."

Do you want the CF to be bootable or are you trying to figure out the bios boot order to stop the error at boot?

After you finish installing the software for the CF card, unplug it, replug it, and run "sudo fdisk -l". Paste the output in your next reply.

Thanks for the quick response gentlemen! 1st to Thor I really have a option to use a different version of Linux. To Jefro I need the CF to be bootable. I know the hardware I'm using is ok because I have a CF that does work with it. Finally to David 1357, I tried "sudo fdisk_l" and it asks for a root password. Unfortunately for me and the company, our Linux expert left and did not leve me/us with a password. Where I think my problem is, is with the "sudo ./format_cf". after I enter that command, I get a message "warning no primary partition marked bootable (active). The DOS MBR will not boot this disk". Does this help with the diagnoses?

Hmmm, bummer...you could "sew" the guy ;) - but, if there is data on the system you need to get at, a liveCD can be used for that.

Get one, burn the disk and feed it in the drive, reboot the machine. Try to mount the disk (possibly as easy as opening the file browser) and then, in the console, issue the suggested command on the mounted disk:

Let's see where we get from here...

Thor

Yes it does, but you will not like the answer. You will need to run fdisk to mark the first partition as bootable. It sounds like your sudo access has been limited to running the two scripts, or the commands in the two scripts.

If you know enough about the scripts' contents, you might be able to modify them to run fdisk for you. However, I do not know enough about sudo, nor do I have enough information about the contents of the scripts, to be able to guarantee that this approach will work or tell you what changes need to be made to the scripts.

You can mark that partition bootable with any live-CD that has partitioning tools like fdisk or GParted on it.