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USB stuck at "SYSLINUX 4.05... *"

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Gilles
2012-02-27
2013-04-05
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-02-27

    Hello

    I can't boot from a USB keydrive: The computer is stuck at "SYSLINUX 4.05… *".

    Here's what I tried:
    1. On Windows, quick formated in FAT32
    2. Downloaded clonezilla-live-20120127-oneiric.zip, and unzipped whole ZIP onto key
    3. Ran utils\win32\makeboot.bat
    4. Booted PC: Stuck at "SYSLINUX 4.05… *". Hit Enter, nothing. Waited a few minutes, nothing.

    Next
    5. Back on host, ran "syslinux -sfmar G:"
    6. Booted PC: Same error.

    Next
    7. Back on host, downloaded clonezilla-live-20120127-oneiric.iso
    8. Quick formated in FAT32
    9. Ran Universal-USB-Installer-1.8.8.3.exe to install ISO onto USB key
    10. Booted PC: Same error.

    Has someone seen this? What can I try?

    Thank you.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-02-27

    Next,quick formated in FAT32
    Downloaded clonezilla-live-1.2.12-10-i686-pae.zip ("stable releases", ie. Debian-based), and unzipped whole ZIP onto key
    Ran utils\win32\makeboot.bat
    Booted PC: Stuck.

    Slow formated in FAT32
    Downloaded clonezilla-live-20120127-oneiric.zip ("alternative stable releases", ie. Ubuntu-based), and unzipped whole ZIP onto key
    Ran utils\win32\makeboot.bat
    Booted PC: Stuck.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-02-28

    More information:

    Next, used UnetBootin to build a Clonezilla live keydrive: Stuck

    Next, used Universal-USB-Installer-1.8.8.3.exe to build a linuxmint-12-gnome-cd-nocodecs-32bit live keydrive: Booted OK!

    Next, unzipped Clonezilla onto keydrive: Stuck again.

    So it looks like the Clonezilla ZIP contains files that don't work right. Someone else seems to have the same issue:

    https://answers.launchpad.net/unetbootin/+question/166470

     
  • Steven Shiau

    Steven Shiau - 2012-03-02

    Very weird…
    Do you know if your linux mint use syslinux 4.05?
    Did you try to boot your Clonezilla live USB keydrive on different machine?
    Maybe the results will be different.

    Steven.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-02

    Using AnalogX's TextScan, the SYSLINUX.EXE used by Universal USB Installer is SYSLINUX 3.86 2010-04-01, instead of Clonezilla's 4.05.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-02

    More investigations

    1. Unzipped clonezilla-live-20120127-oneiric.zip
    2. Replaced syslinux.exe 4.05 with syslinux.exe 4.04
    3. Ran makeboot
    4. Test: STUCK

    5. Replaced syslinux.exe 4.04 with syslinux.exe 3.86
    6. Ran makeboot
    7. Test: STUCK (blinking cursor)

    8. Ran "syslinux -sfmar H:"
    9. Test: Displays "SYSLINUX. 3.86" and a bunch of text for a second, then reboots computer

    10. Rebuilt USB using the original clonezilla-live-20120127-oneiric.zip and spare desktop computer
    11. Test: USB key not seen (ZIP, FDD, CDROM) -> can' test

    12. Rebuilt USB using clonezilla-live-20111125-oneiric.zip
    13. Test : STUCK

    14. Rebuilt USB using clonezilla-live-20110922-natty.zip
    15. Test : STUCK

    16. Used Universal USB Installer + clonezilla-live-20120127-oneiric.iso
    17. Test : STUCK

    Note:

    • The USB key worked fine with previous versions of Clonezilla on that same laptop (Acer 3810T)

    • I use XP's Quick Format before unzipping + running makeboot.bat

    I don't know what the Clonezilla build process does(n't do) that prevents it from booting while the same USB keydrive works fine to boot eg. Linux Mint.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-07

    I ran some tests to investigate, using the same USB keydrive (that used to boot CZ just fine) on the same laptop:

    1. Using tuxboot-windows-39.exe:

    Mint : Stuck with blinking cursor.
    CZ : Stuck at "SYSLINUX 4.04"

    2. Unzipping CZ's clonezilla-live-20120127-oneiric.zip, and running makeboot.bat: Stuck at "SYSLINUX 4.05".

    Running "syslinux -sfmar H:" from the USB keydrive: Still Stuck at "SYSLINUX 4.05".

    3. Using unetbootin-windows-568.exe:

    Mint : Stuck at "SYSLINUX 4.03"

    4. Using Universal-USB-Installer-1.8.8.4.exe:

    Mint : OK
    CZ : Stuck at "SYSLINUX 4.04"

    Bottom line: Only Universal USB Installer managed to make the USB keydrive bootable, and it only worked with the Mint 12 CD ISO image. It failed with clonezilla-live-20120127-oneiric.iso.

    5. Booted with Linux, plugged USB key that I made bootable by unzipping CZ and running makeboot.bat, used "fdisk -l" to check key:

    # fdisk -l -uc /dev/sdb

    Disk /dev/sdb: 4008 MB, 4008706048 bytes
    124 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1018 cylinders, total 7829504 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: 0x20ac7dda

    This doesn't look like a partition table
    Probably you selected the wrong device.

       Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
    /dev/sdb1   ?  3224498923  3657370551   216435814+   7  HPFS/NTFS
    /dev/sdb2   ?  3272020941   930513678   976730017   16  Hidden FAT16
    /dev/sdb3   ?           0           0           0   6f  Unknown
    /dev/sdb4        50200576   974536369   462167897    0  Empty

    Partition table entries are not in disk order

    Why does unzipping the CZ zip file and running makeboot.bat create such a strange partition layout?

     
  • Steven Shiau

    Steven Shiau - 2012-03-08

    No idea… makeboot.bat should only create the boot loader, it won't touch the partition table… This is very weird…
    Did you try on different machines?
    Sometimes the booting problem is on the BIOS…

    Steven.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-08

    I read the makeboot.sh script, and this is what "parted" returns when ran on the USB keydrive:

    root@ubuntu:/mnt/usb/utils/linux# parted -s /dev/sdb1 print
    Model: Unknown (unknown)
    Disk /dev/sdb1: 1000MB
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
    Partition Table: msdos

    Number  Start  End  Size  Type  File system  Flags

    root@ubuntu:/mnt/usb/utils/linux#

    I then tried running the command manually, but it returns nothing:

    root@ubuntu:/mnt/usb/utils/linux# parted -s $target_disk print | grep -E "^[]*${pt_dev_no}\>" |  grep -iE "(fat16|fat32|vfat)"
    root@ubuntu:/mnt/usb/utils/linux# parted -s $target_disk print | grep -E "^[]*${pt_dev_no}\>"
    root@ubuntu:/mnt/usb/utils/linux#

    FWIW, Ubuntu 11.04 comes with parted 2.3.

    I guess I'll go back to creating the USB keydrive from Windows and see if I can learn more about why that keydrive is no longer able to boot Clonezilla.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-08

    Foolish me, I used empty variables on the commande line :-/ Sorry about that.

    Here's the basic script I wrote to investigate why parted isn't happy:

    root@ubuntu:/tmp# cat test.parted.bash
    #!/bin/bash

    target_part="/dev/sdb1"
    pt_dev="$(basename $target_part)"  # e.g. sdc1
    echo ${pt_dev} #sdb1

    hd_dev="${pt_dev:0:3}"   # e.g. sdc
    echo ${hd_dev} #sdb

    target_disk="/dev/$hd_dev"  # e.g. /dev/sdc
    echo ${target_disk} #/dev/sdb

    pt_dev_no="${pt_dev/$hd_dev}"  # e.g. 1
    echo ${pt_dev_no} #1

    #parted -s $target_disk print | grep -E "^[]*${pt_dev_no}\>" |  grep -iE "(fat16|fat32|vfat)"

    #parted -s $target_disk print | grep -E "^[]*${pt_dev_no}\>"

    parted -s $target_disk print

    Here's the output:

    root@ubuntu:/tmp# ./test.parted.bash
    No Implementation: Partition 1 isn't aligned to cylinder boundaries.  This is still unsupported.

    Cfdisk seems OK:

    root@ubuntu:/tmp# cfdisk -P s /dev/sdb
    Partition Table for /dev/sdb

                   First       Last
    # Type       Sector      Sector   Offset    Length   Filesystem Type (ID) Flag
    - ----- ------- ------- ---- ------- ------------- ---
    1 Primary           0     1952751     62     1952752 W95 FAT32 (0B)       Boot
       Pri/Log     1952752     7826383      0     5873632 Free Space           None

     
  • Steven Shiau

    Steven Shiau - 2012-03-08

    You are running
    parted -s /dev/sda1 print
    That's why parted complained.

    How about running:
    parted -s /dev/sda print
    ?

    Steven.

     
  • Steven Shiau

    Steven Shiau - 2012-03-08

    OK, I got it from your other posts.
    It looks like parted has changed.
    I have to modify makeboot.sh…
    For the time being, if you are sure it's FAT32, just command those lines about checking FAT file system in makeboot.sh.

    Steven.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-08

    Thanks Steven, but still no go:

    (The 4GB USB keydrive is on /dev/sdb, and only has a 1GB partition):

    root@ubuntu:~# parted -s /dev/sdb1 print
    Model: Unknown (unknown)
    Disk /dev/sdb1: 1000MB
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
    Partition Table: msdos

    Number  Start  End  Size  Type  File system  Flags

    root@ubuntu:~# parted -s /dev/sdb print
    No Implementation: Partition 1 isn't aligned to cylinder boundaries.  This is still unsupported.
    root@ubuntu:~#

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-08

    We passed each other :-)

    In that case, maybe the makeboot.bat/syslinux.exe in the Windows ZIP/ISO also needs to be updated, which would explain why I can no longer make that USB keydrive boot Clonezilla?

     
  • Steven Shiau

    Steven Shiau - 2012-03-08

    The "makeboot.bat" in MS Windows does not use parted to check the file system. Therefore it's different case.
    "root@ubuntu:~# parted -s /dev/sdb print No Implementation: Partition 1 isn't aligned to cylinder boundaries. This is still unsupported." -> It looks like the problem you have is different from that I have here…
    How did you create the partition table on your USB flash drive?
    Anyway, just comment those lines in makeboot.sh should work.

    Steven.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-08

    Thanks for the info.

    On Windows, I simply chose Format > Quick Format (in FAT32), before unzipping the ZIP file, switching to the USB keydrive, and running "makeboot.bat".

     
  • Steven Shiau

    Steven Shiau - 2012-03-09

    So were you running makeboot.bat on MS windows or makeboot.sh on GNU/Linux?
    Both of them failed? Or only makeboot.bat?
    For the previous posts I focused on makeboot.sh on GNU/Linux, so maybe we were talking about different things…

    Steven.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-09

    Until now, I only used the ZIP file (makeboot.bat) on a Windows host. I tried makeboot.sh on Linux this time to see if the issue would also occur when making the USB keydrive on Linux.

    Unlike makeboot.sh (ie. on Linux), makeboot.bat (ie. on Windows) runs successfully, but the keydrive that used to work no longer boot (stuck at "SYSLINUX 4.05"). Re-running "syslinux.exe -sfmar H:" makes no difference.

    Even stranger, Linux Mint installs OK on that keydrive using the ISO file and the Universal USB Installer application, so CZ failing to boot is a software issue.

    The reason why I don't just give up on that keydrive is that I don't want to order a bunch of USB keydrives and find out that CZ won't work with them.

     
  • Steven Shiau

    Steven Shiau - 2012-03-09

    So did you try to boot your Clonezilla live USB keydrive on different machine?
    Sometimes the problem is on the BIOS… Not really on the USB flash drive and syslinux.

    Steven.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-09

    What's strange, is that this USB keydrive used to work with CZ just fine. I'll find another host that supports booting off a USB keydrive.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-12

    Update: Since Universal USB Installer worked fine to create a bootable USB keydrive on the problematic keydrive (with option "Format H:\ Drive" checked), I also used that application to create a PartedMagic keydrive, and it also worked fine.

    Then I tried the application to create a bootable Clonezilla keydrive, still checking "Format H:\ Drive, and it worked fine.

    So the next two tests I had to do was to use Windows Explorer to quick-format the USB keydrive, and
    1. run Universal USB Installer with "Format H:\ Drive" unchecked: OK
    2. unzip the Clonezilla ZIP file onto the drive, and run makeboot.bat: OK

    Finally, just for fun, I used NetbootIn, which doesn't provide the option to format the drive before writing an ISO: OK

    Bottom line:
    - I have no idea why that keydrive stopped working with Clonezilla :-/
    - Some USB keydrives can't boot at all. Maybe their firmware prevents them from being used as bootable devices

    Anyway, thanks Steven for your great help.

     
  • Steven Shiau

    Steven Shiau - 2012-03-13

    USB booting is not so mature as CD, we sometimes have weird situations…
    I have encountered many cases like this…

    Steven.

     
  • Gilles

    Gilles - 2012-03-13

    It's a bit of a pain, because I can't be positive a user will be able to boot with a USB keydrive I send them, even if their BIOS is supposed to support it :-/ I'll just warn them that it might not work, in which case I'll send them a CD instead.

     

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