[Freedos-user] Re: booting freedos from a USB stick
Hi Eric, You wrote: Hi, for using Linux to make an USB stick bootable, please do the following: Use fdisk to mark the partition on the stick as active / bootable Copy FreeDOS files to the partition, at least command com and kernel sys (can be found e.g. on http://fdos.org/kernel/ and freedos.sourceforge.net) Use my tool to write a boot sector to the partition on the stick: http://www.coli.uni-sb.de/~eric/stuff/soft/specials/sys-freedos-linux.zip hmm. I tried the following: - cleared any partition information: dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=8k count=2 - created new partition-table: fdisk /dev/sdb - created primary partition 1 and marked as bootable fdisk output: Command (m for help): p Disk /dev/sdb: 255 MB, 255852544 bytes 8 heads, 61 sectors/track, 1024 cylinders Units = cylinders of 488 * 512 = 249856 bytes Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdb1 * 11024 249825+ 6 FAT16 Command (m for help): x Expert command (m for help): p Disk /dev/sdb: 8 heads, 61 sectors, 1024 cylinders Nr AF Hd Sec Cyl Hd Sec Cyl Start Size ID 1 80 1 10 7 61 1023 61 499651 06 2 00 0 00 0 00 0 0 00 3 00 0 00 0 00 0 0 00 4 00 0 00 0 00 0 0 00 - create new FAT16 filesystem: mkdosfs -F 16 /dev/sdb1 - tried to run sys-freedos.pl: sys-freedos.pl --disk=/dev/sdb which reports: not 512 bytes per sector What does this complaint mean? Robert Urban This should work in forced fdd boot style. For virtual zip or virtual harddisk modes, you may have to do extra boot sector adjustments as mentioned in my tool. For virtual CD or virtual floppy mode, you would have to overwrite the stick with a CD or floppy image, which would destroy the partition scheme on it, so it is no good idea... Some BIOSes allow you to select different boot styles, while others auto-select. I know at least one BIOS which only does forced fdd mode, so there is nothing to configure anyway. Please try this method, and forward it to the freedos-user thread which you started, after adding your comments. Thanks. Eric --- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595alloc_id=14396op=click ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
[Freedos-user] Re: booting freedos from a USB stick
Tach Eric, You wrote: I tried the following: - cleared any partition information: dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=8k count=2 um, well, it actually *was* necessary, as I had, in earlier attemps, munged the old partition table : That would not have been necessary :-(. - created new partition-table: fdisk /dev/sdb - created primary partition 1 and marked as bootable It would have been enough to mark the EXISTING primary FAT partition as bootable, WITHOUT formatting and repartitioning everything :-(. see above :) - tried to run sys-freedos.pl: sys-freedos.pl --disk=/dev/sdb which reports: not 512 bytes per sector Yikes. You tried to overwrite the MBR with a boot sector. The correct disk to use is /dev/sdb1, NOT /dev/sdb. You only write a boot sector to the FAT partition sdb1. And you do NOT have to mkdosfs /dev/sdb1 either. The USB stick already came with: - proper partition information - proper MBR - proper FAT formatted partition and you only have to add - bootable flag in partition information - boot sector in FAT partition Never touch a running system - in particular, you should assume that the MBR, partition information and FAT filesystem which are on the USB stick when it leaves the factory are just fine. Probably BETTER that those which can be created by Linux fdisk / mkdosfs. Only change what HAS to be changed: Mark the partition as bootable and create a FreeDOS boot sector. And of course copy the files (e.g. kernel, shell) to the partition (mount the partition or use mcopy). So again, do not dd, do not delete partitions, do not mkdosfs... and use, IF your FAT partition on USB stick is /dev/sdb1, the perl sys-freedos.pl --disk=/dev/sdb1 command to install a boot sector. I see your point, and in the future I will use the existing config on a USB stick. On the other hand, when I'm looking for the solution to a problem, and I come across one somewhere in which the author has described a solution starting from an assumed existing configuration that I don't have, I get *very* frustrated. I think it's always better to describe completely how to solve a problem, from first principles, so to speak. In such a description one can, and probably should, include the recommendation not to overwrite exising MBR/PT information... So how to I get an decent MBR onto the stick now??? :( Grub? cheers, Rob Urban You may want to try different boot settings in your BIOS setup, too, but some BIOSes simply do not allow a specific setting apart from the mere boot from USB one. --- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595alloc_id=14396op=click ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
[Freedos-user] Re: USB stick boot solution...
Hi Eric, Here's what I tried: - fdisk /dev/sdb - set partition 1 to FAT12 and bootable - dd of mbr.bin (from syslinux) to /dev/sdb dd if=mbr.bin of=/dev/sdb - create FAT12 filesystem on sdb1: mkdosfs -F 12 /dev/sdb1 - create bootsector using your tool: ./sys-freedos.pl --disk=/dev/sdb1 DOS boot sector for /dev/sdb1 will be created by: nasm -o /dev/stdout -dISFAT12 ./bootsecs/boot.asm Using FAT12, boot code starts at offset 3e. Extended info: drive 0, res. 0, sig. 29, serno 4208-C9C4, name [ ], type [FAT12 ]. Boot sector successfully updated. - mount sdb1 - copy kernel.sys and command.com to sdb1 - umount sdb1 - try to boot... I get the string FreeDOS and nothing more :(. - I also tried using the --lba flag with sys-freedos.pl, but result was same. cheers, Rob Urban You wrote: now that you already overwrote things, it is of course okay to use fdisk and mkdosfs as you did. The only problem is that you gave the wrong --disk argument value to sys-freedos.pl ... Try that and check how far you get. If you really need a fresh partition table, try the one from http://syslinux.zytor.com/ (Partition table - file mbr.bin in the syslinux download) --- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595alloc_id=14396op=click ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Re: USB stick boot solution...
Hi Bernd, if schreef is the simple past for wrote, was is the present... shrijfen? :) Part of the reason I'm trying to make a USB-stick bootable is to be able to have a *writeable* removable medium, for example to be able to save a backup copy of the running BIOS image before flashing. Using your method, I would get a ramdisk with the FreeDOS boot floppy in memory, which would mean it would be quite difficult to save the old BIOS image. In fact, I have already got a method working for booting over the network, which uses pxegrub and memdisk, to more-or-less do what you describe, but via network rather than USB-stick. If you are interested, I documented the method under: http://www.unix-wissen.de/linux/BiosUpdate/index.html Nevertheless I appreciate your suggestion, and will give it due consideration. cheers, Robert Urban Bernd Blaauw schrieb: Robert Urban schreef: I assumed that USB-ZIP was for Iomega zip drives attached by USB. In any c ase, I tried it, with results identical to USB-FDD and USB-CDROM -- it ignored the USB-stick. Syslinux, http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/Testing/syslinux-3.08-pre 5.zip contains a 'readme.usbkey' textdocument and a script (mkdiskimage) for initialising an USB Disk into 'ZIP geometry'. Please try. Execute the script with correct parameters, and install Syslinux to it. if you want to boot FreeDOS from your USB key, get several files from http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/distributions/beta9sr 1/fdos1440.img the fdos1440.img contains a Syslinux configuration file (syslinux.cfg), the MEMDISK program (to load a disk image into RAM and let it act as actual floppydisk) and FDBOOT.IMG (the FreeDOS diskette image file I use). Other stuff might also be interesting, like Smart Boot Manager. syntax for booting this fdboot.img file: label freedos kernel memdisk append initrd=fdboot.img Bernd --- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595alloc_id=14396op=click ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user --- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595alloc_id=14396op=click ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Re: USB stick boot solution...
Hi Michael, You wrote: At 02:48 PM 2/9/2005 +0100, Robert Urban wrote: USB-ZIP is generally documented on the net as the most compatible one to choose for USB flash drive booting. It's the only selection that works for booting my USB stick here. But mine does boot up as a large A:, which you might not find acceptable. I assumed that USB-ZIP was for Iomega zip drives attached by USB. In any case, I tried it, with results identical to USB-FDD and USB-CDROM -- it ignored the USB-stick. Not sure why you're having so many problems, although I admit that I hand punched in a few values in the boot sector to make sure mine booted. What's the brand and size of your flash drive? If I see one locally and its cheap enough, maybe I'll grab it and see if it's bootable here. When first reading up on the subject on the net, I saw a passing comment of some flash drives being unbootable, although that could have been operator error, of course. from /var/log/messages: Feb 9 03:55:51 noisy kernel: Vendor: IBM Model: Memory Key Rev: 3.52 Feb 9 03:55:52 noisy kernel: SCSI device sdb: 499712 512-byte hdwr sectors (256MB) on the stick it says: FC CE MADE IN CHINA ASM 22P9027 FRU 22P9031 2004APR26 cheers, Rob --- SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide Read honest candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595alloc_id=14396op=click ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
