Hello,
I have some 8GB USB keys and I wish to put a bootable Debian installer
image AND a bunch of other files (documents, Virtualbox, more ISO images
etc).
I've dd'd an ISO image to a stick, which is fine. Now, reading the manual at
http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/amd64/ch04s03.html.en
it says:
"
The hybrid image on the stick does not occupy all the storage space, so
it may be worth considering using the free space to hold firmware files
or packages or any other files of your choice. This could be useful if
you have only one stick or just want to keep everything you need on one
device.
Create a second, FAT partition on the stick, mount the partition and
copy or unpack the firmware onto it.
"
However I am getting some errors when I try to do this. I tried first
with a real USB stick and Ubuntu 12.04 system, and then with Debian
Wheezy VM with an 8GB additional virtual disk attached. The results are
the same:
root@debian2:/home/brian# fdisk /dev/sdb
WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sdb'! The util
fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/sdb: 8589 MB, 8589934592 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1044 cylinders, total 16777216 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x3f0ba885
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 0 1323007 661504 0 Empty
/dev/sdb2 1079800 1080695 448 ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)
Then:
root@debian2:/home/brian# parted /dev/sdb
GNU Parted 2.3
Using /dev/sdb
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) p
Warning: /dev/sdb contains GPT signatures, indicating that it has a GPT
table.
However, it does not have a valid fake msdos partition table, as it should.
Perhaps it was corrupted -- possibly by a program that doesn't
understand GPT
partition tables. Or perhaps you deleted the GPT table, and are now
using an
msdos partition table. Is this a GPT partition table?
Yes/No? yes
Error: Both the primary and backup GPT tables are corrupt. Try making a
fresh
table, and using Parted's rescue feature to recover partitions.
(parted)
Now, fdisk *does* actually allow me to create a third primary partition
- but is that the right thing to do, given that fdisk seems to think
it's a GPT disk? Also, it seems odd that the sdb2 partition is in the
middle of the range of blocks for sdb1?
Thanks,
Brian.