6 grml2usb - install Grml ISO(s) on usb device for booting
10 grml2usb [ options ] <ISO[s]> <device>
12 *******************************************************************************
13 Important! The Grml team does not take responsibility for loss of any data!
14 *******************************************************************************
20 grml2usb installs Grml on a given partition of your usb device and makes
21 it bootable. It provides multiboot ISO support, meaning you can specify
22 several Grml ISOs on the command line at once and select the Grml
23 flavour you would like to boot on the bootprompt then. Note that the
24 *first* ISO specified on the grml2usb command line will become the
25 default one (that's the one that will boot when just pressing enter on
26 the bootprompt or wait until the boot timeout matches).
29 By default a compatible master boot record (MBR) is installed on the device
30 (being for example /dev/sdX when executing 'grml2usb grml.iso /dev/sdX1') and
31 syslinux is being used as default bootloader. Avoid installation of the default
32 MBR using the '--skip-mbr' option or if you encounter any problems with the
33 default MBR consider using '--syslinux-mbr' instead.
39 ISO[s] should be the path to one or multiple grml-ISOs and/or the path to
40 the currently running live-system (being /lib/live/mount/medium).
42 The device either might be a device name like /dev/sdX1 or a directory. When
43 specifying a device name the device is mounted automatically. When specifying a
44 directory grml2usb is assuming that you did set up a bootloader on your own (or
45 don't need one) and a bootloader won't be installed automatically.
47 The following options are supported:
49 *\--bootoptions=...*::
51 Use specified bootoptions as default. To use flavour name as a argument for a
52 boot parameter use %flavour which will be expanded to the flavour name. To add
53 multiple bootoptions you can specify the option multiple time.
55 *\--bootloader-only*::
57 Do *not* copy files but instead just install a bootloader. Note that the boot
58 addons are copied to /boot/addons at this stage as well. If you want to skip
59 copying the boot addons consider using the --skip-addons option.
63 Copy files only but do *not* install a bootloader.
67 Avoid executing commands, instead show what would be executed.
68 Warning: please notice that the ISO has to be mounted anyway, otherwise
69 identifying the Grml flavour would not be possible.
73 Format specified partition with FAT16.
74 **Important:** this will destroy any existing data on the specified partition!
78 Force any (possible dangerous) actions requiring manual interaction (like --fat16).
82 Install grub bootloader instead of (default) syslinux.
86 Install grub into MBR (Master Boot Record) instead of PBR (Partition Boot
87 Record). Check out <<mbr-vs-pbr,the 'mbr-vs-pbr' section in the FAQ of this
88 document>> for further details.
92 Display usage information and exit.
94 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
97 Install specified initrd instead of the default. You might want to specify
98 option *--kernel* as well. (Be aware when using multiboot setup.)
99 [Notice: not implemented yet.]
100 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
102 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
105 Install specified kernel instead of the default. You might want to specify
106 option *--initrd* as well. (Be aware when using multiboot setup.)
107 [Notice: not implemented yet.]
108 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
112 Install master boot record (MBR) with integrated boot menu: interactively choose
113 the partition to boot from, with a timeout to load the default partition, or
114 boot from floppy. When NOT using the --mbr-menu option a MBR with LBA and large
115 disc support but without an integrated boot menu is installed (so it's not
116 visible at all but instead directly jumps to the bootloader - being grub or
117 syslinux). Note: This options is available only when using the default MBR and
118 won't have any effect if you're using the '--syslinux-mbr' option.
122 Do not output anything but just errors on console.
126 Do not install /boot/addons/ files (like dos, grub, memdisk,...).
128 *\--remove-bootoption=...*::
130 Remove specified bootoption (could be a regex) from existing boot options. Use
131 multiple entries for removing different bootoptions at once.
135 Do not check for presence of bootflag on target device.
137 *\--skip-grub-config*::
139 Skip generation of grub configuration files. By default the configuration
140 files for syslinux *and* grub will be written so you've a working configuration
141 file no matter whether you're using grub or syslinux as bootloader.
145 Do not touch/install the master boot record (MBR).
147 *\--skip-syslinux-config*::
149 Skip generation of syslinux configuration files. By default the configuration
150 files for syslinux *and* grub will be written so you've a working configuration
151 file no matter whether you're using grub or syslinux as bootloader.
153 *\--skip-usb-check*::
155 Skip check to verify whether given device is a removable device.
156 Some USB devices are known to report wrong information, when using
157 such a device you can skip grml2usb's removable device check.
161 This option is deprecated and is being left only for backwards compatibility
162 reasons. Syslinux is the default bootloader of grml2usb and therefore the
163 '--syslinux' option doesn't have any effects. If you do not want to use syslinux
164 as bootloader consider using the '--grub' option.
168 Install syslinux' master boot record (MBR, which is booting from the partition
169 with the "active" flag set) instead of the default one. If you encounter any
170 problems with the default MBR you can try using the syslinux MBR instead. If
171 that works for you please <<author,let us know>> so we can adjust our default
174 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
177 Install specified squashfs file instead of the default.
178 [Notice: not implemented yet.]
179 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
181 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
184 Uninstall Grml ISO files.
185 [Notice: not implemented yet.]
186 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
190 Return version and exit.
200 Directory layout on usb device
201 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
205 | |-- allinone.img [grub - all in one image]
206 | |-- bsd4grml/ [MirBSD]
207 | |-- balder10.imz [FreeDOS]
208 | |-- memdisk [chainloading helper]
209 | |-- memtest [memtest86+]
212 | | |-- linux26 [Kernel]
213 | | |-- initrd.gz [initramfs]
215 | | |-- linux26 [Kernel]
216 | | |-- initrd.gz [initramfs]
218 | | |-- linux26 [...]
230 | |-- grml.png [graphical bootsplash background image for grub2]
231 | |-- grub.cfg [configuration file for grub2]
232 | |-- menu.lst [configuration file for grub1]
233 | |-- splash.xpm.gz [splash screen for grub1]
235 |-- grml.png [graphical bootsplash background image for syslinux]
236 |-- syslinux.cfg [main configuration file for syslinux]
237 `-- [....] [several further config files for syslinux]
240 |-- grml2usb.txt [not yet implemented]
241 |-- grml-cheatcodes.txt [list of bootoptions for Grml]
242 |-- grml-version.txt [file containing information about grml-version]
243 |-- LICENSE.txt [license information]
244 |-- md5sums [md5sums of original ISO]
245 |-- README.txt [informational text]
246 `-- web/ [browser related files]
257 | |-- filesystem.module [module specifying which squashfs should be used for grml]
258 | `-- grml.squashfs [squashfs file for grml]
260 | |-- filesystem.module [module specifying which squashfs should be used for grml-medium]
261 | `-- grml-medium.squashfs [squashfs file for grml-medium]
263 | |-- filesystem.module [module specifying which squashfs should be used for grml-medium]
264 | `-- grml-small.squashfs [squashfs file for grml-small]
271 % git clone git://git.grml.org/grml2usb.git
274 Developers Debugging Hints
275 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
277 To play with grml2usb you can avoid using a real device via a loopback file
280 # dd if=/dev/zero of=~/loopback bs=1M count=100 # adjust size to your needs
281 # losetup /dev/loop1 ~/loopback
283 Then create according partitions either running for example:
285 # echo -en "n\np\n1\n\n\nt\n6\na\n1\n w\n" | fdisk /dev/loop1
289 # parted /dev/loop1 -s "mkpart primary fat16 0 -1s mkfs 1 fat16"
291 Finally create a filesystem and execute grml2usb as needed:
293 # mkfs.vfat /dev/loop1
294 # grml2usb --bootloader-only /grml/isos/grml-small_2013.01.iso /dev/loop1
296 [[performance-tracing]]
300 # blktrace -d /dev/sdX -o - | blkparse -i -
301 # grml2usb grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
304 Troubleshooting and Pitfalls when booting
305 -----------------------------------------
307 Here is a list of common error messages from BIOS/bootloader when trying to boot
310 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
311 TODO: better list type for the error message / reason part?
312 See http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/userguide.html
313 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
316 *Error message*:: ran out of input data. System halted
318 *Reason*:: Everything OK, except for the filesystem used on your usb device. So
319 instead of fat16 you are using for example fat32. Fix: use the appropriate
320 filesystem (fat16 for usb pens usually). The Bootsplash might be displayed, the
321 kernel loads but you very soon get the error message.
323 *Error message*:: Invalid operating system
325 *Reason*:: the partition layout is not ok. Very probably there's no primary
326 partition (/dev/sdX{1..4}) or none has the flag 'bootable' set.
328 *Error message*:: Boot error.
330 *Reason*:: Some BIOSses offer different modes for USB booting. The proper mode
331 to boot a USB stick is USB-HDD. If that doesn’t work or is not supported by your
332 system, you need to format your USB-Stick as USB-ZIP. To do this, syslinux
333 contains an utility called mkdiskimage, which you can use to re-format your USB
334 stick in USB-ZIP format running 'mkdiskimage -4 /dev/sdX 1 64 32'. Please be
335 aware that this procedure will erase all data on your stick. After executing
336 mkdiskimage just continue installing as usual (grml2usb ... /dev/sdX4). Note
337 that this is not going to work for any device larger than 8 GB, since
338 mkdiskimage only supports 1024c 256h 63s. For a more detailed explanation, refer
339 to /usr/share/doc/syslinux-common/usbkey.txt.
341 *Error message*:: No operating system found.
343 *Reason*:: you forgot to set the boot-flag on the partition. Or there really isn't
344 any operating system at all. :)
346 *Error message*:: kernel-panic: unable to mount root-fs...
348 *Reason*:: Kernel boots but fails to find the root filesystem. The root=
349 argument in your kernel commandline is pointing to the wrong device. Adjust
350 root=..., consider using root=UUID=....
352 *Error message*:: Could not find kernel image: ...
354 *Reason*:: either a broken isolinux/syslinux version or a broken BIOS. Check out
355 whether the vendor provides a BIOS update or if using bootloader grub instead of
356 isolinux/syslinux fixes the problem.
359 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
360 --------------------------------
363 Where can I get grml2usb?
364 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
366 grml2usb is available as Debian package via link:http://deb.grml.org/[the
367 grml-testing Debian repository].
369 If you do not want to (or can't) use the grml2usb Debian package you can either
370 use the grml2usb git tree running:
372 git clone git://git.grml.org/grml2usb.git
377 or download the provided
378 link:http://grml.org/grml2usb/grml2usb.tgz[http://grml.org/grml2usb/grml2usb.tgz]
379 (link:http://grml.org/grml2usb/grml2usb.tgz.md5.asc[gpg signed md5 hash]).
380 Download and extract the tarball and execute the provided script 'install.sh'.
383 It is *NOT* enough to have just the grml2usb script itself without the according
384 files provided either via the Debian package, the git tree or the file
388 Why can't I just dd the ISO to a USB device?
389 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
391 Well, you can. :) Starting with Grml 2009.10 the ISOs are dd-able straight out-of-the-box.
394 Note that ANY existing data on your USB device will be destroyed when
395 using the dd approach.
397 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
398 Grab a recent Grml ISO and use
399 link:http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/Doc/isolinux#HYBRID_CD-ROM.2FHARD_DISK_MODE[isohybrid
400 from the syslinux project]:
402 % isohybrid grml_2009.10.iso
403 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
405 This allows you to dd the Grml ISO to your USB device (use for example
406 link:http://www.chrysocome.net/rawwrite[rawwrite] if you've just a Windows
407 system available) running:
409 % dd if=grml_2013.01.iso of=/dev/sdX
411 where /dev/sdX is your USB device. Of course this doesn't provide such a
412 flexible system like with grml2usb (no multi-ISO setup, no additional default
413 bootoptions,...) but it's a nice way to get a working USB boot setup if you
414 don't have grml2usb available.
417 What's the difference between grml2usb and just using dd?
418 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
420 grml2usb does not remove any data from your USB device and does not alter the
421 partition table at all. grml2usb provides multi-ISO support, support for adding
422 default bootoptions and selecting the bootloader (syslinux vs. grub) without
423 having to manually touch the ISO at all.
429 grml2iso is a script which uses grml2usb to generate a multiboot ISO out of
430 several grml ISOs. See 'man grml2iso' for further details.
433 Why is there a menu.lst and a grub.cfg inside /boot/grub/?
434 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
436 grml2usb supports grub version 1 (grub1) as well as grub version 2 (grub2).
437 Whereas grub1 uses menu.lst the new version grub2 needs grub.cfg.
438 Providing both files allows grml2usb to install grub on the target device
439 no matter which grub version is available on the host where grml2usb is
443 grub-install fails with 'The file ../boot/grub/stage1 not read correctly"?!
444 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
446 Check whether the partition has the right partition type. For example do NOT use
447 FAT16 (partition type 6) when using a ext3 filesystem on the partition but
448 instead use the correct partition type ('83' - Linux) then.
450 [[grub-install-xfs_freeze]]
451 grub-install complains about /sbin/grub-install and/or xfs_freeze?!
452 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
454 The following message:
456 You shouldn't call /sbin/grub-install. Please call /usr/sbin/grub-install instead!
457 xfs_freeze: specified file ["/tmp/tmpqaBK6z/boot/grub"] is not on an XFS filesystem
459 This is "normal". grub-install sends those messages to stderr. To avoid hiding any
460 possible real error messages grml2usb doesn't ignore those messages.
463 grub-install complains about /boot/grub/device.map?!
464 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
466 The following message:
468 grub-probe: error: Cannot open `/boot/grub/device.map'
470 This is "normal" (at least with grub1). This isn't a problem, because the
471 device.map file will be generated on the target device anyway.
474 grub-install complains about a unary operator?!
475 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
477 The following message:
479 '/usr/sbin/grub-install: line 374: [: =: unary operator expected'
481 This is "normal". Just ignore it. (It usually doesn't appear
482 on the second invocation on the same device.)
484 [[unknown-filesystem]]
485 grub-install fails with grub-probe: error: unknown filesystem?!
486 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
488 The following message:
490 grub-probe: error: unknown filesystem
491 Auto-detection of a filesystem module failed.
492 Please specify the module with the option `--modules' explicitly.
494 usually means that the device partition table says something else than the
495 filesystem on the device. For example using FAT16 as filesystem type and
496 using FAT32 as filesystem on the partition will not work. Either set filesystem
497 type to FAT32 or format the partition using FAT16. It is essential that
498 device partition table and filesystem use the same filesystem type.
501 grub-setup fails after Attempting to install GRUB to a partition instead of the MBR?!
502 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
504 The following message:
506 grub-setup: warn: Attempting to install GRUB to a partition instead of the MBR. This is a BAD idea.
507 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.
508 grub-setup: error: Cannot read `/grub/core.img' correctly
510 appears when using grub2 versions older than 1.98 as those version introduced a
511 regression which avoids that grub is being installed into a partition (PBR,
512 Partition Boot Record) instead of MBR (Master Boot Record).
514 To work around this issue you can either 1) upgrade to grub versions >=1.98, 2)
515 install grub into the MBR (Master Boot Record) using the '--grub-mbr' option of
516 grml2usb or 3) switch to syslinux as bootmanager (just drop the '--grub'
520 I'm getting something like "Error: /usr/share/grml2usb/grub/splash.xpm.gz can not be read"!?
521 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
523 Looks like you've only the grml2usb script itself available. Please make sure
524 you've the grml2usb Debian package installed. The most resent stable version is
525 available via link:http://deb.grml.org/[the grml-testing Debian repository]. If
526 you do not have a Debian system please see section <<download,Where can I get
527 grml2usb?>> in this FAQ.
530 Why do I have to use a FAT16/FAT32 filesystem?
531 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
533 Syslinux (currently) does not support any other filesystems besides FAT16/FAT32
534 (though that's a sane default if you want to share your files with other
535 (operating) systems). If you want to use a different filesystem (like ext2/3)
536 use the bootloader grub instead using grml2usb's '--grub' option.
539 FAT32 is supported since syslinux version 3.0.
542 Addons -> Hardware Detection Tool freezes
543 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
545 This usually means that the machine you ran grml2usb on had syslinux 3.x
546 installed. The version of hdt (Hardware detection tool) shipping with Grml
547 2010.12 and newer requires syslinux 4.x.
550 I think I've got a really cool idea!
551 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
553 Great! Please check out
554 link:http://git.grml.org/?p=grml2usb.git;a=blob;f=TODO;hb=HEAD[the TODO file].
555 Feel free to <<author,report your wishes to the author>>. Patches highly
559 I've problems with booting from USB.
560 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
562 Check out <<troubleshooting,Troubleshooting and Pitfalls when booting>>.
568 Please <<author,report it to the author>>. Please provide usage examples and output
569 of your grml2usb commandline (consider using the "\--verbose" option).
575 # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
577 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1.
579 # grml2usb /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /home/grml/grml_small_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
581 Install specified ISOs on device /dev/sdX1 for multibooting ISOs.
583 # grml2usb /lib/live/mount/medium /dev/sdX1
585 Install currently running Grml live system on device /dev/sdX1.
587 # grml2usb /lib/live/mount/medium /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
589 Install currently running Grml live system and the specified
590 ISO on device /dev/sdX1 for multibooting.
592 # grml2usb --fat16 /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
594 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 and format partition /dev/sdX1 with
597 # grml2usb --grub --grub-mbr /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
599 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 and use grub as bootloader (instead of
600 syslinux being the default) and install a master boot record (MBR) to the MBR of
603 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
604 # grml2usb --kernel=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-grml --initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-grml \
605 /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
607 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 but use given kernel and initrd
608 instead of the ones provided by the ISO.
610 # grml2usb --squashfs=/grml/grml-live/grml_cd/live/grml.squashfs \
611 /home/grml/grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
613 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 but use given squashfs
614 file instead of the one provided by the ISO.
615 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
617 # grml2usb --bootoptions="lang=de ssh=mysecret" grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
618 # grml2usb --bootoptions="lang=de" --bootoptions="ssh=mysecret" grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
620 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 and use "lang=de ssh=mysecret" as
624 # grml2usb --remove-bootoption="vga=791" --remove-bootoption="nomce" grml_2013.01.iso /dev/sdX1
626 Install specified ISO on device /dev/sdX1 remove vga=791 and nomce from existing bootoptions.
628 # grml2usb --bootoptions="persistent-path=%flavour_name" grml64_2010.04.iso grml_2010.04.iso /dev/sdX1
630 Install specified ISOs on device /dev/sdx and add parameter persistent-path
631 to every menu entry. %flavour_name will be expanded to the flavour of the specific
632 iso, e.g. grml64 and grml.
638 Check out the link:http://grml.org/grml2usb/[grml2usb webpage] and the
639 link:http://git.grml.org/?p=grml2usb.git[grml2usb git repository].
644 Please report feedback, bugreports and wishes <<author,to the author>>.
649 Michael Prokop <mika@grml.org>
651 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
652 http://wiki.grml.org/doku.php?id=tips#multiboot_usb_pen
653 http://www.startx.ro/sugar/isotostick.sh
654 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick
655 http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
656 http://www.tux.org/pub/people/kent-robotti/looplinux/rip/mkusb.sh
657 https://fedorahosted.org/liveusb-creator/
658 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////