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Super-Disc: Multi-Boot Project CD/DVD Using ISOLINUX

jetman

By jetman
in Multi-Boot CD/DVDs

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gugutz

gugutz

Posted
Posted

i downloaded a fresh copy of cdimagegui as you suggested, considering that mine was actually broken, but got the same error.

where do i find this "boot-info-table" option on cdimageui?

I searched all over the program and couldn´t find it.

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cdob

cdob

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@gugutz

Try real hardware.

Which VirtualBox version do you use? Try current version.

Cdimage dosn't support a "boot-info-table" option.

Remember isolinux bootfile is greater 2048 bytes.

This works at a lot of different BIOS. But fail at some BIOS.

In doubt follow isolinux documentation http://syslinux.zytor.com/iso.php

mkisofs -boot-info-table

This patch isolinux.bin, a El Torito Boot Info Table is set.

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kof94

kof94

Posted
Posted (edited)
downloaded a fresh copy of cdimagegui as you suggested, considering that mine was actually broken, but got the same error.

where do i find this "boot-info-table" option on cdimageui?

I searched all over the program and couldn´t find it.

Hmmm, the ini that comes with that package is preset so I'd say it isn't cdimage, you could try mkisofs to see if that makes a difference though.

I use VirtualBox everyday on my Linux box to test my boot disc and I haven't had any problems, however, a virtual machine is no substitute for a real machine when it comes to testing.

Could you post your disc structure and your isolinux.cfg please, then we can see if this is just a config error or not?

-kof94

Edited by kof94
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pugsley42

pugsley42

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i downloaded syslinux, copied the files over, edited my isolinux.cfg to my needs and made the iso with CDImage, but when the iso is loading in Virtual box, i get this error msg:

<snip>

Anyone had the same problem?

How to i solve it?

Most likely you've missed boot-info-table option. Check the documentation for CDIMAGE more closely....

Unless I've missed the boat (more than likely) I am not able to even build the ISO using mkisofs and the .bat instructions initially given. It's possible that I'm using different file revs, but when trying to build it, I get the erorr that "mkisofs: missing pathspec"

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jetman

jetman

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Unless I've missed the boat (more than likely) I am not able to even build the ISO using mkisofs and the .bat instructions initially given. It's possible that I'm using different file revs, but when trying to build it, I get the erorr that "mkisofs: missing pathspec"

As there are many different "flavors" of MKISOFS, it's hard to know what the correct answer is, but in the event you're using the MKISOFS supplied w/ SLAX/ZenLive (which is about 230KB), then you need to correct the Super-Disc burn script from the initial msg to look like the following line:

SET _ROOT_=C:/

Since MKISOFS is of Unix/Linux lineage, certain ports require that the path sep on the cmd line follows Unix/Linux convention. But some ports of MKISOFS are inconsistent about this, as this script did work (unchanged) w/ another completely different port of the util. The final param on the cmd line is the sub-dir containing the Super-Disc files and is spec'd w/ the assumption that the script is being invoked from the parent of /Super-Disc (or the root dir.) This mite also need to be changed.

I would warn others in advance that this kind of simple debugging has to become second nature, if you want to build something that doesn't already exist. Otherwise, your progress will be very slow and frustrating. Later....Jet

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GrosBedo

GrosBedo

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hello,

Sorry if this post is misplaced, but since you seems to know very well how to use isolinux, I have a question for you:

I am myself making my own DVD multiboot with multiple liveCDs included. I get to work everything in pretty much the same manner you are describing in your tutorial. But now I need an important function that I can't get to work: DISPLAY boot.msg

In fact to be precise, it works perfectly in the first isolinux.cfg, but if I append another cfg with the DISPLAY command, it won't show up, even if it's the same file ! Here's an example:

ISOLINUX.CFG

DISPLAY boot.msg

PROMPT 1

TIMEOUT 100

DEFAULT main

LABEL main

KERNEL menu.c32

APPEND /ISOLINUX.CFG

ISOLINUX.CFG is capitalized because the filename is that way and Linux is case sensitive. In boot.msg you can place any message you want. APPEND /ISOLINUX.CFG is the same as APPEND ISOLINUX.CFG in my case, it even works better in fact.

Now if you try this configuration, you'll see that the first time it shows up the splash screen will show the message, but after the other splashscreens won't. So how to do that ? I need it in fact to keep the original messages that can contain precious infos. If there is another way I'm okay, but I would like to know if at least it's possible.

/EDIT: One more thing I noticed: even if you set PROMPT 1 the prompt will be disabled after the first screen.

I precise that I have the latest isolinux (3.52).

Thank's for any answer.

Edited by GrosBedo
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jetman

jetman

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Hello,

Sorry if this post is misplaced, but since you seems to know very well how to use isolinux, I have a question for you:

I am myself making my own DVD multiboot with multiple liveCDs included. I get to work everything in pretty much the same manner you are describing in your tutorial. But now I need an important function that I can't get to work: DISPLAY boot.msg

In fact to be precise, it works perfectly in the first isolinux.cfg, but if I append another cfg with the DISPLAY command, it won't show up, even if it's the same file ! Here's an example:

ISOLINUX.CFG

DISPLAY boot.msg

PROMPT 1

TIMEOUT 100

DEFAULT main

LABEL main

KERNEL menu.c32

APPEND /ISOLINUX.CFG

ISOLINUX.CFG is capitalized because the filename is that way and Linux is case sensitive. In boot.msg you can place any message you want. APPEND /ISOLINUX.CFG is the same as APPEND ISOLINUX.CFG in my case, it even works better in fact.

Now if you try this configuration, you'll see that the first time it shows up the splash screen will show the message, but after the other splashscreens won't. So how to do that ? I need it in fact to keep the original messages that can contain precious infos. If there is another way I'm okay, but I would like to know if at least it's possible.

/EDIT: One more thing I noticed: even if you set PROMPT 1 the prompt will be disabled after the first screen.

I precise that I have the latest isolinux (3.52).

Thank's for any answer.

I haven't been around much lately, bec I haven't had hi-speed access (and won't for the immed future), so I'm just seeing this. Anyway, my best guess is that DISPLAY is for the cmd-line interface, not for the MENU module. My very 1st Super-Discs used the cmd-line interface and worked just fine w/ DISPLAY. Two distros that still use the cmd-line interface and are (coincidentally) part of my Super-Disc projs are D*a*m*n Small Linux (the asterisks were added to defeat the nanny monitor) and Knoppix. DSL is small enuf that you could download it and look at what they did w/ their cmd-line based system. Later....Jet

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jetman

jetman

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I tried following your guide but when I would boot it in qemu I got 
Disk error 01, AX = 4200, drive EO

Any ways to fix it?

1) Be sure to re-read the entire thread when you have problems. Kof and I have covered a lot of ground over the months and it's essentially a long magazine article, but you can interact w/ the authors. Moreover, the project is guaranteed to work. I use this tech to support thousands, literally. Nowadays, the only failures I encounter are due to pilot error. I am having trouble w/ booting [bartPE] from a USB thumb drive, but that's a different issue.

2) My best guess is MKISOFS or the ISO creation part. I posted a message a few months ago, where I indicated that not all MKISOFS implementations are created equally. You [possibly] didn't create the image w/ MKISOFS or a program that knows about the BOOTINFOTABLE patch (like MKISOFS, K3B, ULTRAISO, et al) or maybe used that hacked ISOLINUX.BIN from BCDW, instead of the real thing from SYSLINUX-3.50 (haven't validated later releases), or some other foul-up. Go back and review your work, step-by-step.

Later and happy holidays....Jet

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kof94

kof94

Posted
Posted (edited)

Has anyone managed to boot Vista's bootmgr from isolinux or indirectly from isolinux?

All I'm trying to do is add the Vista Recovery Disk to my current menu!

Thanks.

Edit:

I've managed to quickly develop an indirect approach using CDShell just to load bootmgr.

This approach has probably been used before but this does mean I can keep my isolinux setup but load CDShell for specific tasks as and when I need to (without a CDShell menu).

I'll write a guide later but I will warn you first there's nothing new here.

Edited by kof94
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kof94

kof94

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Thanks but that doesn't work for me and it was the first thing I tried.

All I get is a 'Can Not Find BOOTMGR' error!

At first I thought it was the filesystem I had specified with mkisofs (Joliet, RockRidge etc) but nothing seams to work.

Any ideas?

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jetman

jetman

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Thanks but that doesn't work for me and it was the first thing I tried.

All I get is a 'Can Not Find BOOTMGR' error!

At first I thought it was the filesystem I had specified with mkisofs (Joliet, RockRidge etc) but nothing seams to work.

Any ideas?

Happy New Year and all of that....Anyway, I'm not ready (at this time) to add anything Vista to my Super-Disc, but one thing I have observed is that I always disable RockRidge for any proj that includes Windows (BartPE or XP.) I'm not sure if it's an implementation-based issue (I use UltraISO for all of my ISO creation work) or if it's a general limitation. However, I seem to recall that this RockRidge issue has plagued me regardless of the tool (MKISOFS or ULTRAISO.)

A very early Super-Disc project was to include FreeNAS, a canned FreeBSD-based Samba server, but I couldn't get it boot from the ISOLINUX menu, until I enabled RockRidge, which subsequently broke the Windows stuf on the disc. The various Linux implementations (as memory serves) seemed to be okay w/ RR, but not the Windows stuf.

Just something to try. BTW, I have a new addition coming RSN....Watch this space....Probably no news to Kof, but potentially worthwhile to others. Later....Jet

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