[IMPORTANT]
By default a compatible master boot record (MBR) is installed on the device
(being for example /dev/sdX when executing 'grml2usb grml.iso /dev/sdX1') and
-grub is being used as default bootloader. Avoid installation of the default MBR
-using the '--skip-mbr' option or if you encounter any problems with the default
-MBR consider using '--syslinux-mbr' instead.
+syslinux is being used as default bootloader. Avoid installation of the default
+MBR using the '--skip-mbr' option or if you encounter any problems with the
+default MBR consider using '--syslinux-mbr' instead.
[[options]]
Options
-------
The ISO[s] should be the path to one or multiple grml-ISOs and/or the path to
-the currently running live-system (being /live/image).
+the currently running live-system (being /lib/live/mount/medium).
The device either might be a device name like /dev/sdX1 or a directory. When
specifying a device name the device is mounted automatically. When specifying a
*\--bootoptions=...*::
-Use specified bootoptions as default.
+Use specified bootoptions as default. To use flavour name as a argument for a
+boot parameter use %flavour which will be expanded to the flavour name. To add
+multiple bootoptions you can specify the option multiple time.
*\--bootloader-only*::
Force any (possible dangerous) actions requiring manual interaction (like --fat16).
+ *\--grub*::
+
+Install grub bootloader instead of (default) syslinux.
+
*\--grub-mbr*::
Install grub into MBR (Master Boot Record) instead of PBR (Partition Boot
-Record). This option sadly had to be introduced because grub2 can not be
-installed to partitions (PBR) instead of MBR anymore. Check out <<mbr-vs-pbr,the
-'mbr-vs-pbr' section in the FAQ of this document>> for further details.
+Record). Check out <<mbr-vs-pbr,the 'mbr-vs-pbr' section in the FAQ of this
+document>> for further details.
*\--help*::
[Notice: not implemented yet.]
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- *\--lilo-binary=...*::
-
-Use specified lilo executable for installing master boot record (MBR) when using
-the '--syslinux-mbr' option. By default any system wide (from $PATH) lilo
-executable is taken. If there can not be find any lilo executable the
-statically compiled version of the grml2usb Debian package (see
-/usr/share/grml2usb/lilo/lilo.static.[amd64|i386]) is taken.
-
*\--mbr-menu*::
Install master boot record (MBR) with integrated boot menu: interactively choose
with the "active" flag set) instead of the default one. If you encounter any
problems with the default MBR you can try using the syslinux MBR instead. If
that works for you please <<author,let us know>> so we can adjust our default
-MBR accordingly. Note: When using the '--syslinux-mbr' option lilo is executed
-before the MBR is installed so the according partitions are set active.
+MBR accordingly.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
*\--squashfs=*::
Finally create a filesystem and execute grml2usb as needed:
# mkfs.vfat /dev/loop1
- # grml2usb --bootloader-only /grml/isos/grml-small_2009.05.iso /dev/loop1
+ # grml2usb --bootloader-only /grml/isos/grml-small_2013.01.iso /dev/loop1
[[performance-tracing]]
Performance tracing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# blktrace -d /dev/sdX -o - | blkparse -i -
- # grml2usb grml_2009.05.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
[[troubleshooting]]
Troubleshooting and Pitfalls when booting
*Reason*:: the partition layout is not ok. Very probably there's no primary
partition (/dev/sdX{1..4}) or none has the flag 'bootable' set.
+*Error message*:: Boot error.
+
+*Reason*:: Some BIOSses offer different modes for USB booting. The proper mode
+to boot a USB stick is USB-HDD. If that doesn’t work or is not supported by your
+system, you need to format your USB-Stick as USB-ZIP. To do this, syslinux
+contains an utility called mkdiskimage, which you can use to re-format your USB
+stick in USB-ZIP format running 'mkdiskimage -4 /dev/sdX 1 64 32'. Please be
+aware that this procedure will erase all data on your stick. After executing
+mkdiskimage just continue installing as usual (grml2usb ... /dev/sdX4). Note
+that this is not going to work for any device larger than 8 GB, since
+mkdiskimage only supports 1024c 256h 63s. For a more detailed explanation, refer
+to /usr/share/doc/syslinux-common/usbkey.txt.
+
*Error message*:: No operating system found.
*Reason*:: you forgot to set the boot-flag on the partition. Or there really isn't
files provided either via the Debian package, the git tree or the file
grml2usb.tgz.
-[[grml2hd-vs-grml2usb]]
-What's the difference between grml2hd and grml2usb?
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-grml2hd installs a running grml system to a harddisk. When rebooting the
-harddisk installation can be modified and changes will find their way to the
-harddisk immediately. grml2usb copies just the compressed chroot filesystem
-(being the squashfs file), some further informational files and a bootloader to
-your device. This way you don't need as much space as with a harddisk
-installation (just a USB device with >=ISO size) and when rebooting the system
-your changes will be lost (unless you are using the persistency feature, see
-link:http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency[http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=persistency]).
-Think of using a better CD version: booting is (usually) faster, you don't need
-to burn a new CD when a new ISO version arrives (just install the new ISO using
-grml2usb) and you can carry additional files on a writable medium with yourself.
-
[[dd]]
Why can't I just dd the ISO to a USB device?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
link:http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/Doc/isolinux#HYBRID_CD-ROM.2FHARD_DISK_MODE[isohybrid
from the syslinux project]:
- % isohybrid grml_2009.05.iso
+ % isohybrid grml_2009.10.iso
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
This allows you to dd the Grml ISO to your USB device (use for example
link:http://www.chrysocome.net/rawwrite[rawwrite] if you've just a Windows
system available) running:
- % dd if=grml_2009.10.iso of=/dev/sdX
+ % dd if=grml_2013.01.iso of=/dev/sdX
where /dev/sdX is your USB device. Of course this doesn't provide such a
flexible system like with grml2usb (no multi-ISO setup, no additional default
grml2iso is a script which uses grml2usb to generate a multiboot ISO out of
several grml ISOs. See 'man grml2iso' for further details.
-[[grml2usb-compat]]
-grml2usb fails with "Fatal: file default.cfg could not be found."
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-If you are trying to install an older grml ISO (older than grml 2009.10) with a
-recent version of grml2usb then you might notice:
-
- Fatal: file default.cfg could not be found.
- Note: this grml2usb version requires an ISO generated by grml-live >=0.9.24 ...
- ... either use grml releases >=2009.10 or switch to an older grml2usb version.
- Please visit http://grml.org/grml2usb/#grml2usb-compat for further information
- Fatal: a critical error happend during execution (not a grml ISO?), giving up
-
-Breaking the backward compatibility was necessary to avoid maintainability hell.
-If you want to install older grml ISOs please grab the grml2usb-compat Debian
-package which provides support for older releases or the
-link:http://grml.org/grml2usb/grml2usb-compat.tgz[grml2usb-compat tarball]
-(link:http://grml.org/grml2usb/grml2usb-compat.tgz.md5.asc[gpg signature/md5]).
-
[[menu-lst]]
Why is there a menu.lst and a grub.cfg inside /boot/grub/?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
grub-setup: warn: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and its use is discouraged.
grub-setup: error: Cannot read `/grub/core.img' correctly
-appears because recent grub2 versions sadly introduced a regression which avoids
-that grub is being installed into a partition (PBR, Partition Boot Record)
-instead of MBR (Master Boot Record).
-
-To work around this issue you can install grub into the MBR (Master Boot Record)
-using the '--grub-mbr' option of grml2usb or switch to syslinux as bootmanager
-(just drop the '--grub' option).
-
-To fix this issue manually you can also execute (adjust '/dev/sdX' to your
-device of course):
+appears when using grub2 versions older than 1.98 as those version introduced a
+regression which avoids that grub is being installed into a partition (PBR,
+Partition Boot Record) instead of MBR (Master Boot Record).
- mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/test
- grub-install --force --recheck --no-floppy --root-directory=/mnt/test /dev/sdX
+To work around this issue you can either 1) upgrade to grub versions >=1.98, 2)
+install grub into the MBR (Master Boot Record) using the '--grub-mbr' option of
+grml2usb or 3) switch to syslinux as bootmanager (just drop the '--grub'
+option).
[[splash-xpm]]
I'm getting something like "Error: /usr/share/grml2usb/grub/splash.xpm.gz can not be read"!?
[NOTE]
FAT32 is supported since syslinux version 3.0.
+[[hdt-hangs]]
+Addons -> Hardware Detection Tool freezes
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+This usually means that the machine you ran grml2usb on had syslinux 3.x
+installed. The version of hdt (Hardware detection tool) shipping with Grml
+2010.12 and newer requires syslinux 4.x.
+
[[cool-idea]]
I think I've got a really cool idea!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Usage examples
--------------
- # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2009.05.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1.
- # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2009.05.iso /home/grml/grml_small_2009.05.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /home/grml/grml_small_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISOs on device /dev/sdX1 for multibooting ISOs.
-Note: boot "grml" as usual, for booting grml-small use "grml-small on the
-bootprompt, for grml64 use "grml64" and so on... The *first* specified ISO is
-the one being the default (when just pressing enter or waiting until the timeout
-is reached).
- # grml2usb /live/image /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb /lib/live/mount/medium /dev/sdX1
-Install currently running grml live system on device /dev/sdX1.
+Install currently running Grml live system on device /dev/sdX1.
- # grml2usb /live/image /home/grml/grml_2009.05.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb /lib/live/mount/medium /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
-Install currently running grml live system and the specified
+Install currently running Grml live system and the specified
ISO on device /dev/sdX1 for multibooting.
- # grml2usb --fat16 /home/grml/grml_2009.05.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb --fat16 /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 and format partition /dev/sdX1 with
FAT16 filesystem.
- # grml2usb --grub --grub-mbr /home/grml/grml_2009.05.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb --grub --grub-mbr /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 and use grub as bootloader (instead of
syslinux being the default) and install a master boot record (MBR) to the MBR of
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
# grml2usb --kernel=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-grml --initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-grml \
- /home/grml/grml_2009.05.iso /dev/sdX1
+ /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 but use given kernel and initrd
instead of the ones provided by the ISO.
# grml2usb --squashfs=/grml/grml-live/grml_cd/live/grml.squashfs \
- /home/grml/grml_2009.05.iso /dev/sdX1
+ /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 but use given squashfs
file instead of the one provided by the ISO.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- # grml2usb --bootoptions="lang=de ssh=mysecret" grml_2009.05.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb --bootoptions="lang=de ssh=mysecret" grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb --bootoptions="lang=de" --bootoptions="ssh=mysecret" grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 and use "lang=de ssh=mysecret" as
default bootoptions.
- # grml2usb --remove-bootoption="vga=791" --remove-bootoption="quiet" grml_2009.05.iso /dev/sdX1
+ # grml2usb --remove-bootoption="vga=791" --remove-bootoption="nomce" grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
+
+Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 remove vga=791 and nomce from existing bootoptions.
+
+ # grml2usb --bootoptions="persistent-path=%flavour_name" grml64_2010.04.iso grml_2010.04.iso /dev/sdX1
-Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 remove vga=791 and quiet from existing bootoptions.
+Install specified Isos on device /dev/sdx and add parameter persisten-path
+to every menu entry. %flavour_name will be expanded to the flavour of the specific
+iso, e.g. grml64 and grml.
[[ressources]]
Online Ressources
projects / grml2usb.git / blobdiff