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


jetman

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I tried what you said to start with but couldn't get it to work. The boot sector just keeps returning something like "Cannot find BOOTMGR".

I'm not really a Vista user to be either, I just keep and copy of the Vista Recovery Disk to fix our peoples PC's so I don't really have anyway of editing the bootmgr.

I'll give it another go later and get back to you.

Kof: Just for the record, have you been keeping up w/ the latest releases (now 3.72) of ISOLINUX ? In rec months, the pkg has been improved for enhanced Windows compatibility. I haven't had a chance to try this myself, but it's (reported to be) pos to load modules like SETUPLDR.BIN, NTLDR, etc now....Jet

Edited by jetman
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Yes and no. I recently decided to update my multi-boot disc so I took advantage of some of the new features but I still can't get the Vista bootmgr to boot.

It's no bother though, bcdw does the job for now and I don't really use Windows much any more apart from at work or other peoples PC's anyway.

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Vista boot sector is case sensitive at ISO9660:

use name \BOOT\BOOTMGR, not \boot\bootmgr. And use \SOURCES\BOOT.WIM

Syslinux chain.c32 does chainload NTLDR at media with Master Boot Record.

I've no idea how to use this at DVD.

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Vista boot sector is case sensitive at ISO9660:

use name \BOOT\BOOTMGR, not \boot\bootmgr. And use \SOURCES\BOOT.WIM

Syslinux chain.c32 does chainload NTLDR at media with Master Boot Record.

I've no idea how to use this at DVD.

One can replace the hd0 param w/ boot, to specifiy the orig boot media, but only w/ SYSLINUX and EXTLINUX. Time to post a question about this on the mail list. I've tried the new CHAIN feature, but the job I wanted to experiment on was short on time, so I had to resort to more conventional measures (ie. install from a stock XP disc.)

Later....Jet

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  • 1 month later...

Hi there! Anyone? Need help with Vista WinPE and Gentoo linux. CD layout:

isolinux <--- 3.72
BOOT <--- Taken from WinPE
linux
  gentoo
  gentoo
  gentoo.igz
  image.squashfs
SOURCES <--- Taken from WinPE
BOOTMGR <--- Taken from WinPE
EFI <--- Taken from WinPE
vista.bin <--- Extracted with bbie

Neither WinPE or Gentoo boot. Vista gives me "Cannot find BOOTMGR" while Gentoo "Media not found! Could not find CD to boot".

LABEL -
MENU LABEL Windows Vista SP1 Recovery Console
KERNEL /vista.bin
APPEND -

LABEL -
MENU LABEL Gentoo Linux 2008.0 Minimal CD
KERNEL /linux/gentoo/gentoo
APPEND root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc dokeymap looptype=squashfs loop=/linux/gentoo/image.squashfs cdroot initrd=/linux/gentoo/gentoo.igz subdir=/linux/gentoo vga=791

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Hi there! Anyone? Need help with Vista WinPE and Gentoo linux. CD layout:

isolinux <--- 3.72
BOOT <--- Taken from WinPE
linux
  gentoo
  gentoo
  gentoo.igz
  image.squashfs
SOURCES <--- Taken from WinPE
BOOTMGR <--- Taken from WinPE
EFI <--- Taken from WinPE
vista.bin <--- Extracted with bbie

<snip>

Check out Jotnar's tips for integrating several Linux distros, for help pertaining to Gentoo. I recently added a Vista Recovery Disc image to one of my SuperDisc projects and there was nothing to it. That is, it's just the boot image (courtesy of BBIE) and the sources sub-dir. I mite also review the MKISOFS cmd-line opts you're using....Jet

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  • 4 weeks later...
Jet, you were right I was using the same layout for slax6 as for slax5 and as you know it didn't work.

I tried doing it your way with the boot and slax dir under a slax6 dir and it worked with:

from=/slax6

What did you mean by 'from=' changed a little bit?

Here's the interesting part, BT3 works with the usual layout, boot and data dirs split, BUT using Jotnar's mkisofs command line (Jotnar, can you expand on why this works...), I'm guessing this has something to do with the file system since my initial one used rock ridge while the new one uses joliet?

Funny though i expected BT3 to behave like Slax6, guess i was wrong.

Thanks,

midz

I have the same problem with my BT3 live CD, error: Fatal error occurred-BT3 data not found

Maybe you are using an unsupported boot device (eg-SCSI or old PCMCIA).

Workaround: Copy the directory BT3 from your boot device to IDE / SATA disk. eg. Mnt/had/BT3 or C: \ BT3. Then try to boot again.

Please help correct as

Thank you

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Have you tried using the mkisofs command line Jotnar suggested to me back then? It worked fine for me, you can find it back there, anyway just in case this would be it:

mkisofs -J -joliet-long -no-iso-translate -N -V mb12 -b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin -iso-level 4 -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -o mb12.iso \mb

Would like to know if this does the trick for you....

midz

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  • 1 month later...

I'm a *n?x lover but sad to see that there's no Windows app. to simplify this process. Such a shame. We're not a *n?x shop which means I gotta load up a Live CD. In any event, thanks to all who have posted.

Naturally I'm here because I'm doing the same as everyone else: Trying to create a one-stop-shop CD/DVD with various tools. In addition to various distro's of linux (Gentoo, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, BackTrack 3, GParted, RIPLinuX) I'm also trying to get some useful utilities on there a well. Speifically the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor and Maxtor MaxBlast 5. (Yea, there's some overlap, but I won't always be available to guide my co-workers through how to use it the other tools.)

I imagine it won't be too difficult to get the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor working as its based on some flavor of linux so I can deal with a bit of logic, trial & error there. But what about getting Maxblast, or any other non-linux app (like a Windows Install), as an option?

I've not tried any of this yet, but I am in the process of doing so. Big thanks to Jetman & Jotnar for keeping in the spirit of open source and helping others! (http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=94398&st=220&p=780896entry780896 - very useful)

A thanks to all those who have been contributing to this is also.

Edited by Phylum
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I'm a *n?x lover but sad to see that there's no Windows app. to simplify this process. Such a shame. We're not a *n?x shop which means I gotta load up a Live CD. In any event, thanks to all who have posted.

Naturally I'm here because I'm doing the same as everyone else: Trying to create a one-stop-shop CD/DVD with various tools. In addition to various distro's of linux (Gentoo, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, BackTrack 3, GParted, RIPLinuX) I'm also trying to get some useful utilities on there a well. Speifically the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor and Maxtor MaxBlast 5. (Yea, there's some overlap, but I won't always be available to guide my co-workers through how to use it the other tools.)

I imagine it won't be too difficult to get the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor working as its based on some flavor of linux so I can deal with a bit of logic, trial & error there. But what about getting Maxblast, or any other non-linux app (like a Windows Install), as an option?

CHNTPW is actually trivial to add, as are many Linux distros. The more challenging ones are covered by Jotnar's most excellent post. I have SeaTools on my menu, which covers both Seagate and Maxtor drives, booting the floppy image of the util via MEMDISK. MaxBlast shud be no trouble either. I also have several discs which boot unattended and standard Windows XP/2K3 installs.

I've not tried any of this yet, but I will this evening, thanks to Jetman & Jotnar: Jetman for posting the link to Jotnars' tips and Jotnar for keeping in the spirit of open source and helping others! (http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=94398&st=220&p=780896entry780896)

Also big thanks to all those who have been contributing to this.

FYI, I'm not looking to be spoonfed, and I don't mind getting my fingers dirty. I just might need some guidance is all.

A word of advise: get something simple up and running, then incrementally add a project/distro at a time. At that point, you'll be able to ask specific questions that others are willing to answer. Good luck...Jet :thumbup

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Thanks Jetman I appreciate it. Now that I've started this process I've already run into, I'm sure, trivial problems:

1 Is there a way to determien an initrd.gz file is a gzipped cpio or gzipped ext2 image? (more of that trial an error I suppose!?)

2 After cpio -id < initrd, I see a lot of "Function not implemented" messages. Is that ok?

3 Since I'm in windows, what editor should i be using to the init & script files (once gunzipped)?

4 Step 4 says to copy vmlinuz1 and vmlinuz.igz but I'm not finding it in the ISO, suggesting I may not have downloaded the right ISO (systemrescuecd-x86-1.1.4.iso)?

FYI, I'm not looking to be spoonfed, and I don't mind getting my fingers dirty. I just need some guidance is all.

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Thanks Jetman I appreciate it. Now that I've started this process I've already run into, I'm sure, trivial problems:

1 Is there a way to determien an initrd.gz file is a gzipped cpio or gzipped ext2 image? (more of that trial an error I suppose!?)

Only on a distro-by-distro basis. Slax/BT3/Zenwalk == gzipped ext2 fs. Ubuntu == gzipped cpio.

2 After cpio -id < initrd, I see a lot of "Function not implemented" messages. Is that ok?

Negative. GOOGLE tyme or even better linuxquestions.org

3 Since I'm in windows, what editor should i be using to the init & script files (once gunzipped)?

I prefer Emacs in Windows. Notepad++ shud work as well and is also free. Both can be had from SourceForge.

4 Step 4 says to copy vmlinuz1 and vmlinuz.igz but I'm not finding it in the ISO, suggesting I may not have downloaded the right ISO (systemrescuecd-x86-1.1.4.iso)?

Will have to update the initial post, as the System Rescue CD has changed substantially. However, if you open /isolinux/isolinux.cfg, the correct info is there for all to see. Moreover, if one spends quality time w/ this file, you'll get another take on the SuperDisc idea, as the System Rescue Disc is a very straight-fwd integration of several free projects, also using ISOLINUX. In their case, they use the (orig) cmd-oriented menu system.

Later....Jet

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1 Is there a way to determien an initrd.gz file is a gzipped cpio or gzipped ext2 image?

You can try to open it with 7zip. If you can, then its cpio, if not then try to see if you can open it with WinImage which can open ext2 filesystem images.

You'll have to extract it from the gzip first though.

2 After cpio -id < initrd, I see a lot of "Function not implemented" messages. Is that ok?

I use Knoppix to edit the initrd files and during extraction I'll sometime see stuff like that if I forget to use sudo. Check that you have the appropriate permissions.

3 Since I'm in windows, what editor should i be using to the init & script files (once gunzipped)?

I use Notepad++ since it handles the UNIX/Windows CR/LF stuff correctly.

4 Step 4 says to copy vmlinuz1 and vmlinuz.igz but I'm not finding it in the ISO, suggesting I may not have downloaded the right ISO (systemrescuecd-x86-1.1.4.iso)?

If what you're trying to integrate is using ISOLinux to boot you should be able to look in the isolinux.cfg at the default entry and find the 'kernel='and 'initrd=' entries. What ever it equals will be what you need.

For the Seagate stuff, the easiest way to get the needed files is to go to c:\common files\seagate\maxblast (might be maxtor\maxblast) on the machine you installed it on and grab the kernel.dat and ramdisk.dat files. This is the config line I use on my disc (discwizard, but the same for maxblast):

label dw11

menu hide

kernel /linux/seagate/discwizard/11/kernel.dat

append rw vga=788 acpi=off initrd=/linux/seagate/discwizard/11/ramdisk.dat /s ramdisk_size=50720 quiet=on quiet

For Offline NT Password & Registry Editor, download the iso version and extract the files to a folder. Look at its isolinux.cfg file and you can figure out what needs to go where. Here's mine for reference:

label ntopc2008

menu hide

kernel /ntopc/CD080526/vmlinuz

append rw vga=1 init=/linuxrc initrd=/ntopc/CD080526/initrd.cgz,/ntopc/CD080526/scsi.cgz

You might try putting PartedMagic on there instead of the GParted Live CD. Its far easier. Just grab the PXE version of PartedMagic for use on your disc.

You can get it here: http://partedmagic.com

Cheers

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Having spent more time reading each distro's isolinux.cfg file, in an attempt to understand syntax, layout, purpose, and examining each distro's file structure, I have a [slightly(?)] better understanding of this whole process. Taking Jetman's suggestion, I decided to start small. I've followed the instructions to a T, have gotten the ISO created and the CD boots to the menu as expected. Thank you.

However, despite my attempts at doing exactly what the instructions say, and after rechecking my work a few times, I've run into a few unusual , yet I'm sure trivial, problems. For one it didn't load the splash.png and the background is all black (as opposed to white/gray) but I can care less. I'm more interested in the problems below: I am nearly positive that it has to do with my isolinux.cfg file which I copied & pasted then updated with the correct file names for SysRescCD. I also double checked paths in the .cfg & file system to make sure I didn't do somethin silly.

DSL says it can't find the knoppix kernel.

ZenWalk gives me a kernel panic, & says to try passing the init= option

Rescue CD simply won't display anything after loading vmlinuz & initrd.gz

Memtest86 works - w00t!

After making the ISO using the following command:

DEFAULT /boot/isolinux/vesamenu.c32  # I even tried just vesamenu.c32
PROMPT 0
TIMEOUT 3000
TOTALTIMEOUT 4500
####
MENU BACKGROUND /boot/isolinux/splash.png # I even tried just splash.png
MENU TITLE Super-Disc ** 09Mar07 Edition
####
#### The 1st byte of the fgnd color is brightness.
#### blue
MENU COLOR title 1;36;44 #ff0000ff #00000000 std
#### blue
MENU COLOR unsel 37;44 #ff0000ff #00000000 std
#### white
MENU COLOR sel 7;37;40 #c0ffffff #ff000000 std
#### red
MENU COLOR hotkey 1;37;44 #ffff0000 #00000000 std
#### green
MENU COLOR hotsel 1;7;37;40 #ff00ff00 #ff000000 all
####
LABEL sysresccd1
MENU label ^1 System Rescue CD VESA Display
MENU DEFAULT
KERNEL /boot/sysresccd/rescuecd
APPEND initrd=/boot/sysresccd/initram.igz root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc vga=788 looptype=squashfs loop=/sysresccd/sysrcd.dat setkmap=us subdir=sysresccd cdroot forcevesa splash=silent

LABEL sysresccd2
MENU LABEL ^2 System Rescue CD fb1024x768 Display
KERNEL /boot/sysresccd/rescuecd
APPEND initrd=/boot/sysresccd/initram.igz root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc vga=791 looptype=squashfs loop=/sysresccd/sysrcd.dat setkmap=us subdir=sysresccd cdroot splash=silent

LABEL sysresccd3
MENU LABEL ^3 System Rescue CD fb800x600 Display
KERNEL /boot/sysresccd/rescuecd
APPEND initrd=/boot/sysresccd/initram.igz root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc vga=788 looptype=squashfs loop=/sysresccd/sysrcd.dat setkmap=us subdir=sysresccd cdroot splash=silent

LABEL sysresccd4
MENU LABEL ^4 System Rescue CD fb640x480 Display
KERNEL /boot/sysresccd/rescuecd
APPEND initrd=/boot/sysresccd/initram.igz root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc vga=785 looptype=squashfs loop=/sysresccd/sysrcd.dat setkmap=us subdir=sysresccd cdroot splash=silent

LABEL dsl
MENU LABEL ^5 **** Small Linux 3.2
KERNEL /boot/dsl/linux24
APPEND ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 initrd=/boot/dsl/minirt24.gz dma acpi nomce noapic quiet tz="America/New York" knoppix_dir=dsl BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix

LABEL zenlive
MENU LABEL ^7 ZenLive Linux
kernel /boot/zenlive/vmlinuz
append max_loop=255 initrd=/boot/zenlive/initrd.gz init=linuxrc load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ramdisk_size=4444 root=/dev/ram0 rw vga=791 splash=silent changes=zensave.xfs

LABEL memtest86
MENU LABEL ^Memtest86 (RAM Diagnostic)
KERNEL /boot/isolinux/memtest86

To boot, here's a[n archaic looking] view of my Super-Disc

 Volume in drive C is AnP
Volume Serial Number is 60F1-0DC3

Directory of c:\Super-Disc

02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> ..
02/11/2009 03:17 PM <DIR> boot
02/11/2009 03:29 PM <DIR> dsl
02/11/2009 03:21 PM <DIR> sysresccd
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> zenlive
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\boot

02/11/2009 03:17 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:17 PM <DIR> ..
02/11/2009 03:32 PM <DIR> dsl
02/11/2009 03:59 PM <DIR> isolinux
02/11/2009 03:21 PM <DIR> sysresccd
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> zenlive
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\boot\dsl

02/11/2009 03:32 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:32 PM <DIR> ..
08/12/2007 11:48 AM 1,005,209 linux24
11/09/2008 07:59 AM 299,115 minirt24.gz
2 File(s) 1,304,324 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\boot\isolinux

02/11/2009 03:59 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:59 PM <DIR> ..
01/25/2009 06:21 PM 12,628 chain.c32
02/12/2009 06:07 PM 14,336 isolinux.bin
02/12/2009 06:46 PM 2,525 isolinux.cfg
01/25/2009 06:21 PM 20,048 memdisk
11/22/2006 12:03 PM 94,760 memtest86
02/10/2009 06:01 PM 921,654 splash.png
01/25/2009 06:21 PM 145,680 vesamenu.c32
7 File(s) 1,211,631 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\boot\sysresccd

02/11/2009 03:21 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:21 PM <DIR> ..
01/01/2009 08:06 PM 12,647,586 initram.igz
01/01/2009 07:14 PM 3,315,728 rescuecd
2 File(s) 15,963,314 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\boot\zenlive

02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> ..
06/17/2008 02:27 PM 3,757,134 initrd.gz
06/17/2008 02:27 PM 2,897,884 vmlinuz
2 File(s) 6,655,018 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\dsl

02/11/2009 03:29 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:29 PM <DIR> ..
11/17/2008 11:01 PM 50,570,245 KNOPPIX
1 File(s) 50,570,245 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\sysresccd

02/11/2009 03:21 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:21 PM <DIR> ..
01/01/2009 07:23 PM 212,545,536 sysrcd.dat
1 File(s) 212,545,536 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\zenlive

02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> ..
02/11/2009 03:36 PM <DIR> base
06/17/2008 02:27 PM 250 livecd.sgn
06/17/2008 02:27 PM 906 make_iso.sh
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> modules
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> optional
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> persist
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> rootcopy
2 File(s) 1,156 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\zenlive\base

02/11/2009 03:36 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:36 PM <DIR> ..
06/17/2008 02:27 PM 493,256,704 01-zenwalk.mo
06/17/2008 02:27 PM 50,868,224 02-zenlive.mo
2 File(s) 544,124,928 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\zenlive\modules

02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> ..
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\zenlive\optional

02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> ..
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\zenlive\persist

02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> ..
06/17/2008 02:27 PM 884 README
06/17/2008 02:27 PM 132,335 save128.zip
06/17/2008 02:27 PM 262,577 save256.zip
06/17/2008 02:27 PM 523,131 save512.zip
4 File(s) 918,927 bytes

Directory of c:\Super-Disc\zenlive\rootcopy

02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> .
02/11/2009 03:35 PM <DIR> ..
0 File(s) 0 bytes

Total Files Listed:
23 File(s) 833,295,079 bytes
41 Dir(s) 5,450,575,872 bytes free

As always, thanks for reading this and nudging me in the right direction. It's much appreciated.

Edited by Phylum
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