[SOLVED] can't boot live usb

anamezaname · 12-27-2018, 04:36 PM

LOOK AT 'BRAINS' REPLY NEAR THE BOTTOM FOR THE COMMAND TO FIX THE SCREWED UP USB

i am using lmde, which i have downloaded some iso's on

recently i have not been able to boot from a usb
the boot order is correct - usb first/internal drive second

after this on the grub screen the op system on the usb (i've tried 3 different ones) does not appear as an option, only the host system appears.

the particular usb drive has always worked before.
1 week ago i used it to install lmde(at the time i also tried numerous distros with this same usb drive, it is properly formatted.

in using lmde, right clicking on an iso image does not give the option to install on a usb drive.
this option was always there when using other mint releases, so i followed some commands to install from the terminal.
after the process was complete a repetitive 3 letter and number sequence appeared in the terminal. (i can't remember what the characters were)
when i looked at the contents of the usb it was empty (i tried installing from the terminal twice, both times it was empty after seeming to go through the process of installing.

so i used unetbootin and checked the usb to see the contents.
the distro was there so i tried to boot it but the grub screen did not give it as an option, just the host system appeared on the grub as the only option.

berndbausch · 12-27-2018, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamezaname

i i followed some commands to install from the terminal

My guess is that this caused some problems.

If you posted those commands, one might be able to comment.

Quote:

after the process was complete a repetitive 3 letter and number sequence appeared in the terminal. (i can't remember what the characters were)

If you get any unexpected output, this is your chance to solve the problem. If you don’t remember the output, why don’t you go through the same sequence of commands again and write everything down, or copy/paste it?

Quote:

just the host system appeared on the grub as the only option.

I guess you booted from the hard disk, and of course the grub configuration installed on the hard disk doesn’t include a “launch USB” option.

anamezaname · 12-27-2018, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berndbausch

My guess is that this caused some problems.

If you posted those commands, one might be able to comment.
here are the commands i found on askubuntu:

To write an Image file follow the following steps :

1. Insert the USB flash drive in the USB port of your system.

2. Before doing anything , you have to first format the flash drive. So follow the following video from YouTube for the same. Video link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IuM2RHX6UQ

3. Next, with USB connected to you system , open the command line terminal (Ctrl+Alt+t) and find the device partition table. Run the command :

sudo fdisk -l

The disk partition of USB flash drive will reflect at the bottom of the command output. It should go something like as shown in the image here. In my case the disk partition is “/dev/sdb1”. Note that down .

Display Partition Table

4. Next, unmount the flash drive. Run the following command followed with password if prompted :

sudo umount /dev/sdb1

Note : Replace “/dev/sdb1” with your own partition address found in step 2 above.

5. Finally with “dd” and “sync” command line utility, we are going to write the ISO file to our USB flash drive. Here’s the command to run :

sudo dd if=/path/to/linuxmint.iso of=/dev/sd1 bs=4M && sync

Give the correct path to your ISO file or else it would return error. In my case the path to Linux Mint ISO file is :
“/home/linuxmind/Desktop/ISO/linuxmint-18.1-cinnamon-32bit.iso”

Command for umount and writing iso file

6. Wait for the process to complete. Writing the ISO file to the flash drive would take few minutes. The final output would reflect the total bytes copied and time taken for completing the process along the speed.

Final Output for ISO image file writing to the USB flash drive

If you get any unexpected output, this is your chance to solve the problem. If you don’t remember the output, why don’t you go through the same sequence of commands again and write everything down, or copy/paste it?

I guess you booted from the hard disk, and of course the grub configuration installed on the hard disk doesn’t include a “launch USB” option.

1 insert usb
2 swich on computer
3 grub screen appears with 10 second countdown to automatically start the usb op system or press enter to start it immediately

the usb system is not appearing at step 3

berndbausch · 12-27-2018, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anamezaname

To write an Image file follow the following steps

Are you sure that this was successful? What output and/or error messages did you get when following those steps?

Quote:

Code:

sudo dd if=/path/to/linuxmint.iso of=/dev/sd1 bs=4M && sync

If you entered this command, you did not write the USB stick. Instead, you wrote a file named /dev/sd1.

Quote:

the usb system is not appearing at step 3

Yes. Because you did not boot from the USB stick (I think). You booted from the hard disk. Grub configuration on the hard disk doesn't know anything about the USB stick.

By the way, did you configure your boot ROM to boot from USB? Not all computers can boot from a USB source by default.

colorpurple21859 · 12-27-2018, 08:22 PM

Quote:

sudo dd if=/path/to/linuxmint.iso of=/dev/sd1 bs=4M && sync

sd1 should be sdb if sdb is the usb.

anamezaname · 12-28-2018, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859

sd1 should be sdb if sdb is the usb.

thanks, this fixed the terminal install

anamezaname · 12-28-2018, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berndbausch

Are you sure that this was successful? What output and/or error messages did you get when following those steps?

If you entered this command, you did not write the USB stick. Instead, you wrote a file named /dev/sd1.

Yes. Because you did not boot from the USB stick (I think). You booted from the hard disk. Grub configuration on the hard disk doesn't know anything about the USB stick.

By the way, did you configure your boot ROM to boot from USB? Not all computers can boot from a USB source by default.

i have the op system on the usb ( i've used it on another computer)
a week ago i put lmde as the host and sole system on my computer

since then i can't boot from a usb
i made no changes in the bios
before i installed lmde i could boot from a usb like this:
1 insert usb
2 switch on
3 black screen with the following: GNU GRUB Version 2.02 (then a list of available op systems with a countdown to boot the usb system) or select the host system
4 i hit enter to select the usb system instead of waiting for the countdown to finish
5 it starts
---------
now when i try to boot a usb the black screen contains only the host system as an option, it is not recognizing that the usb with a bootable system is plugged in.

something since i put lmde on has caused the computer not to recognize that a bootable usb is plugged in
i didn't do anything different from previous times i've wiped the host and replaced it.

yancek · 12-28-2018, 12:29 PM

In your last post, you indicate that you have some Linux operating system on your usb which you put there using the dd command suggested above. Is that correct?
You also say you have used it on another computer. Does that mean you have used this usb since you put this Linux system on the usb on another computer and it booted but the same usb with the same Linux OS does not boot on the computer on which you have your LMDE?

If you haven't made any changes to the BIOS since your first post when you indicated that the usb was set to first boot priority, the OS on the usb should boot unless the write to the usb failed or the usb is not recognized in the BIOS. Did you verify that the usb is recognized in the BIOS?

I'm not sure where you would get the Grub menu with a list of operating systems if you only have one OS on the usb. A Live system will often have a boot from hard drive option but that would be about it. Did you have an entry in the grub.cfg file on the installed system for the usb?

anamezaname · 12-28-2018, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yancek

In your last post, you indicate that you have some Linux operating system on your usb which you put there using the dd command suggested above. Is that correct?
You also say you have used it on another computer. Does that mean you have used this usb since you put this Linux system on the usb on another computer and it booted but the same usb with the same Linux OS does not boot on the computer on which you have your LMDE?

If you haven't made any changes to the BIOS since your first post when you indicated that the usb was set to first boot priority, the OS on the usb should boot unless the write to the usb failed or the usb is not recognized in the BIOS. Did you verify that the usb is recognized in the BIOS?

I'm not sure where you would get the Grub menu with a list of operating systems if you only have one OS on the usb. A Live system will often have a boot from hard drive option but that would be about it. Did you have an entry in the grub.cfg file on the installed system for the usb?

yes, i downloaded manjaro on the newly installed lmde and installed it on a usb
this usb worked when i tried it on another computer but when i try to boot it on the computer with lmde it is not working.
in the bios it is recognized
on the grub screen the usb does not appear
i also made bootable usb's with mint 19 and bodhi, downloaded to the lmde system. they both worked on another computer but not the one i put lmde on a week ago.

Brains · 12-28-2018, 11:19 PM

Maybe you need to try converting the ISO to isohybrid

Code:

$ sudo apt-get install syslinux
$ sudo isohybrid /path/to/image.iso
$ sudo fdisk –l
/dev/sdb1        15G  3.2G   12G  22% /media/my/usbkey
$ sudo dd if=/path/to/image.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M && sync
377+1 records in
377+1 records out
1581383680 bytes (1.6 GB) copied, 62.0783 s, 25.5 MB/s

EDIT: The link to the article did not work so I put instructions in code box instead.
ANOTHER EDIT: No need to format the USB first, dd will overwrite the MBR of the USB destroying partition information

yancek · 12-29-2018, 06:27 AM

Quote:

yes, i downloaded manjaro on the newly installed lmde and installed it on a usb

And you did this using the dd method suggested above and also suggested at the manjaro site at the link below? The site also gives details on checking for isohybrid and creating them.

https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Burn_an_ISO_File

If the manjaro you put on this usb booted on another computer and fails on the computer on which you have LMDE even though it is recognized in the BIOS, it would be very unusual, especially if you still have that usb set to first boot priority.

Also, asking again, what Grub menu as most Linux DVD/USBs use syslinux/isolinux to boot Live/Install media?

anamezaname · 12-29-2018, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yancek

And you did this using the dd method suggested above and also suggested at the manjaro site at the link below? The site also gives details on checking for isohybrid and creating them.

https://wiki.manjaro.org/index.php/Burn_an_ISO_File

If the manjaro you put on this usb booted on another computer and fails on the computer on which you have LMDE even though it is recognized in the BIOS, it would be very unusual, especially if you still have that usb set to first boot priority.

Also, asking again, what Grub menu as most Linux DVD/USBs use syslinux/isolinux to boot Live/Install media?

black screen with the following: GNU GRUB Version 2.02
'very unusual' yes
manjaro, mint 19 and bodhi all downloaded to the computer with lmde, all do not boot from this computer with lmde, all boot from another computer

colorpurple21859 · 12-29-2018, 05:03 PM

black screen after boot menu usually means either you need to select the second menu safe graphics mode or something similar. The other option is to edit the boot menu and add nomodeset.

anamezaname · 12-29-2018, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859

black screen after boot menu usually means either you need to select the second menu safe graphics mode or something similar. The other option is to edit the boot menu and add nomodeset.

the problem with this usb and computer is gone but not solved
i'd like to know what might have caused this strangeness.

i only had 1 usb so i got another one and put a distro from one of the ones i downloaded onto the lmde system on it
everything went back to normal, the usb booted on this (lmde computer), i could've done this earlier but i am interested to know what happened.

i've used the usb that stopped booting on my computer for ages, testing numerous distros, so i'd like to know what would cause it to suddenly stop booting but still boot on other computers? (coinciding with my installation of lmde using this very usb drive). i tried it on 2 other computers and it worked on both of them.

is it possible that because i made a mistake in the path section of the dd command the first time i tried to install from the terminal onto this usb, it somehow corrupted the usb and made it unusable on this computer even though it was usable on other computers?, a responder here suggested this.

wouldn't formatting the usb after this failure then correctly installing the distro from the terminal wipe the usb's slate clean?

Before i reinstalled correctly i tested the usb by putting some video on it to see if it played on the lmde system, and it did so whatever happened is specific to installing an iso and specific to this computer.

can residuals from a wiped op system be left on hardware? i thought they were independent with the exception of bios viruses traversing from an op system to the bios

Brains · 12-30-2018, 01:49 AM

I've had similar issues with USB keys not functioning properly after a while. Most often a dd cleanup gets it working properly again. By simply running command when the key is /dev/sdb: dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb. I let it go for a few minutes then hit Ctrl+c keys to stop it, may have something to do with a Protective MBR. Then format and it's back to normal.

Below are a couple quotes from Syslinux Wiki for Isohybrid that may shed some light on your situation with the LMDE computer.

Quote:

The additional isohybrid feature for UEFI adds a partition to the MBR partition table pointing to the same file in the ISO 9660 filesystem as does the El Torito catalog entry for EFI. This file contains a FAT filesystem with boot equipment from which the UEFI firmware will be able to start the desired operating system. Furthermore, isohybrid for UEFI creates a GUID Partition Table (GPT) with a partition pointing to that file.

Quote:

The ISO 9660 filesystem is then supposed to boot from optical media and from disk storage via BIOS and via UEFI. Unfortunately, there seem to be some UEFI implementations that boot from MBR and fail to boot if GPT is present. Therefore, some Linux distributions have special ISO images for amd64 containing only BIOS equipment.