From 1ea73eea5ecc6a8ed901316049259aee737ee554 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joey Hess Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2005 19:51:38 +0000 Subject: move manual to top-level directory, split out of debian-installer package --- da/install-methods/boot-usb-files.xml | 188 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 188 insertions(+) create mode 100644 da/install-methods/boot-usb-files.xml (limited to 'da/install-methods/boot-usb-files.xml') diff --git a/da/install-methods/boot-usb-files.xml b/da/install-methods/boot-usb-files.xml new file mode 100644 index 000000000..52b765c3e --- /dev/null +++ b/da/install-methods/boot-usb-files.xml @@ -0,0 +1,188 @@ + + + + + Preparing Files for USB Memory Stick Booting + + + +For preparing the USB stick you will need a system where GNU/Linux is +already running and where USB is supported. You should ensure that the +usb-storage kernel module is loaded (modprobe +usb-storage) and try to find out which SCSI device the USB +stick has been mapped to (in this example +/dev/sda is used). To write to your stick, you +will probably have to turn off its write protection switch. + + + +Note, that the USB stick should be at least 128 MB in size (smaller +setups are possible if you follow ). + + + + + Copying the files - the easy way + + +There is an all-in-one file hd-media/boot.img.gz +which contains all the installer files (including the kernel) as well +as SYSLINUX and its configuration file. You only +have to extract it directly to to your USB stick: + + + +gzip -dc boot.img.gz >/dev/sda + + + +Of course this will destroy anything already on the device, so take +care that you use the correct device name for your USB stick. + + + +After that, mount the USB memory stick (mount /dev/sda +/mnt), which will now have a FAT filesystem on it, and +copy a Debian netinst or businesscard ISO image to it. Please note +that the file name must end in .iso. Unmount the +stick (umount /mnt) and you are done. + + + + + + Copying the files - the flexible way + + +If you like more flexibility or just want to know what's going on, you +should use the following method to put the files on your stick. We +will show how to setup the memory stick to use the first partition, +instead of entire device. + + + +Since most USB sticks come pre-configured with a single FAT16 +partition, you probably won't have to repartition or reformat the +stick. If you have to do that anyway, use cfdisk +or any other partitioning tool for creating a FAT16 partition and then +type + + + +mkdosfs /dev/sda1 + + + +Take care that you use the correct device name for your USB stick. The +mkdosfs command is contained in the +dosfstools Debian package. + + + +In order to start the kernel after booting from the USB stick, we will +put a boot loader on the stick. Although any boot loader +(e.g. LILO) should work, it's convenient to use +SYSLINUX, since it uses a FAT16 partition and can +be reconfigured by just editing a text file. Any operating system +which supports the FAT file system can be used to make changes to the +configuration of the boot loader. + + + +To put SYSLINUX on the FAT16 partition on your USB +stick, install the syslinux and +mtools packages on your system, and type + + + +syslinux /dev/sda1 + + + +Again, take care that you use the correct device name. The partition +must not be mounted when starting SYSLINUX. This +procedure writes a boot sector to the partition and creates the file +ldlinux.sys which contains the boot loader code. + + + +Mount the parition (mount /dev/sda1 /mnt) and +copy the following files from the Debian archives to the stick: + + + + +vmlinuz (kernel binary) + + + + +initrd.gz (initial ramdisk image) + + + + +syslinux.cfg (SYSLINUX configuration file) + + + + +Optional kernel modules + + + + +If you want to rename the files, please note that +SYSLINUX can only process DOS (8.3) file names. + + + +The syslinux.cfg configuration file should +contain the following two lines: + + + +default vmlinuz +append initrd=initrd.gz ramdisk_size=10000 root=/dev/rd/0 init=/linuxrc devfs=mount,dall rw + + + +Please note, that the ramdisk_size parameter +may need to be increased, depending on the image you are booting. + + + +Now you should put any Debian ISO image (businesscard, netinst or even +a full one) onto your stick (if it fits). The file name of such an +image must end in .iso. + + + +If you want to install over the network, without using an ISO image, +you will of course skip the previous step. Moreover you will have to +use the initial ramdisk from the netboot +directory instead of the one from hd-media, +because hd-media/initrd.gz does not have network +support. + + + +When you are done, unmount the USB memory stick (umount +/mnt) and activate its write protection switch. + + + +If your system refuses to boot from the memory stick, the stick may +contain an invalid master boot record (MBR). To fix this, use the +install-mbr command from the package +mbr: + + + +install-mbr /dev/sda + + + + + + -- cgit v1.2.3