Can't create a working USB key

Technical issues/questions of an intermediate or advanced nature.
CyberScooby
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Can't create a working USB key

Post#1 by CyberScooby » 10 May 2017, 15:27

I have been trying to create a working USB key with Porteus 3.2.2 (XFCE) without any success. When I boot off of the USB key, I see the first line of text that starts with SYSLINUX 4.06 and then it just sits there. This happens on both my older desktop (BIOS is from 2007) & a much newer laptop.

Here are the sequence of events thus far:
  1. Initial setup = 8GB Patriot key, GPT layout with 1 btrfs partition
  2. I've found that the Porteus 3.2.2 disc does not have mkfs.btrfs, so I've used the latest version of the Arch Linux install disc to setup the key
  3. Boot off newly created Porteus 3.2.2 CD (Note: I've tried this with both the ISO via loopback & the burnt disc)
  4. Linux setup script fails at sfdisk with an error code of '2'. When I run sfdisk it states that GPT isn't supported.
  5. Back to Arch Linux to recreate the USB key with a DOS partition layout.
  6. Boot off Porteus disc to try again
  7. Now I get an error code of '3' with a segfault from extlinux
  8. Followed a fourm post that said to extract extlinux & run it directly. It still segfaults.
  9. Discovered that if I do the entire process with my Arch Linux boot disc, then the USB key is successfully created
  10. Can't get either of my machines to boot it though. :wall:
I'm no SYSLINUX expert but I believe the point of failure is when it is trying to find the boot partition. But everything looks good to me; there is 1 btrfs, primary partition that has the boot flag set.

Now that I am writing this, I wonder if I need a newer version of extlinux. WIll give that a try tonight unless anyone has any other thoughts.

Additional Info
I've made 2 posts for my 1st 2 issues to the bug report thread here --> viewtopic.php?f=117&t=6519&start=150#p55091.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bogomips
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Re: Can't create a working USB key

Post#2 by Bogomips » 10 May 2017, 16:44

^ Please see viewtopic.php?f=140&t=6809&p=54855&sid= ... 382#p54855

Use that, then make gpt later. Done this with external usb fat formatted hdd, with sfdisk etc.
Linux porteus 4.4.0-porteus #3 SMP PREEMPT Sat Jan 23 07:01:55 UTC 2016 i686 AMD Sempron(tm) 140 Processor AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430] (rev a2) MemTotal: 901760 kB MemFree: 66752 kB

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Re: Can't create a working USB key

Post#3 by Ed_P » 10 May 2017, 16:49

Just so we are clear, you are unable to format the USB drive as FAT32 without using Arch Linux. And as such you are unable to copy the Porteus 3.2.2 files from the CD to the USB drive.
Ed

CyberScooby
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Re: Can't create a working USB key

Post#4 by CyberScooby » 10 May 2017, 17:42

Bogomips wrote:^ Please see viewtopic.php?f=140&t=6809&p=54855&sid= ... 382#p54855
Use that, then make gpt later. Done this with external usb fat formatted hdd, with sfdisk etc.
Thanks Bogomips, I will give that a try. I hadn't realized that you could convert it to GPT later on.
Ed_P wrote:Just so we are clear, you are unable to format the USB drive as FAT32 without using Arch Linux. And as such you are unable to copy the Porteus 3.2.2 files from the CD to the USB drive.
I am able to copy the files without any problems. The Arch Linux boot CD was used for 2 reasons:
  1. I wanted stay away from FAT32 & NTFS so I choose BTRFS. It seems well suited to flash media & I have been wanting to try it out. mkfs.btrfs didn't seem to exist on the Porteus disc so I went with Arch Linux.
  2. The extlinux part of Porteus-installer-for-Linux.com would cause a segfault if I used the Porteus 3.2.2 XFCE boot disc but was fine if I used Arch Linux.

Bogomips
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Re: Can't create a working USB key

Post#5 by Bogomips » 10 May 2017, 18:32

CyberScooby wrote:
Bogomips wrote:^ Please see viewtopic.php?f=140&t=6809&p=54855&sid= ... 382#p54855
Use that, then make gpt later. Done this with external usb fat formatted hdd, with sfdisk etc.
Thanks Bogomips, I will give that a try. I hadn't realized that you could convert it to GPT later on.
You're welcome. :) viewtopic.php?f=140&t=6570&sid=957c4af0 ... e52#p52377
Linux porteus 4.4.0-porteus #3 SMP PREEMPT Sat Jan 23 07:01:55 UTC 2016 i686 AMD Sempron(tm) 140 Processor AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430] (rev a2) MemTotal: 901760 kB MemFree: 66752 kB

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Re: Can't create a working USB key

Post#6 by Blaze » 11 May 2017, 18:08

btrfs-progs-v4.5.3-i586-1.xzm
btrfs-progs-v4.5.3-x86_64-1.xzm

Code: Select all

btrfs-progs v4.5.3
See http://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org for more information.

usage: mkfs.btrfs [options] dev [ dev ... ]
options:
	-A|--alloc-start START  the offset to start the FS
	-b|--byte-count SIZE    total number of bytes in the FS
	-d|--data PROFILE       data profile, raid0, raid1, raid5, raid6, raid10, dup or single
	-f|--force              force overwrite of existing filesystem
	-l|--leafsize SIZE      deprecated, alias for nodesize
	-L|--label LABEL        set a label
	-m|--metadata PROFILE   metadata profile, values like data profile
	-M|--mixed              mix metadata and data together
	-n|--nodesize SIZE      size of btree nodes
	-s|--sectorsize SIZE    min block allocation (may not mountable by current kernel)
	-r|--rootdir DIR        the source directory
	-K|--nodiscard          do not perform whole device TRIM
	-O|--features LIST      comma separated list of filesystem features, use '-O list-all' to list features
	-U|--uuid UUID          specify the filesystem UUID
	-q|--quiet              no messages except errors
	-V|--version            print the mkfs.btrfs version and exit
Linux 6.6.11-porteus #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sun Jan 14 12:07:37 MSK 2024 x86_64 Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1270 v6 @ 3.80GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux
MS-7A12 » [AMD/ATI] Navi 23 [Radeon RX 6600] [1002:73ff] (rev c7) » Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 K2 3200MHz C16

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