USB live media boot error

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

Dear all,

I burned opensuse 13.1 live iso to USB 8GB pendrive using dd:

dd if=<isofile> of=/dev/sdb bs=4M && sync

At boot, I get some “Assuming write though” errors and various other, and gives a 120 second reboot timeout.

I also tried “Verify” rather than “Live Boot” at gfx boot prompt. It said iso verification failed. Hoever, I was able to run the same ISO file with KVM and worked fine.
Once I boot the live media, it seems I need to redo “dd” again, since the drive is not anymore detected as bootable. Opensuse is trying to do something on the live USB media - like creating some other paritions. (probably a boot flag need to be switched but that not the main problem).

I think this problem is somehow specific to me since I also tried burning arch linux on the same drive with dd, but it also failed telling it cant mount so and so things. My media is fresh - I just bought it today!

I also tried doing this on a 4GB microSD connected through my phone, using both dd and unetbootin - both failed. Its weird because I’ve done this a 1000 times - and that was just about 6 months back. What has changed so much ???

Here is the photo of the errors it showed: http://imgur.com/jOhM5yl

Please help me fix the issue.

–
Thanks and Regards,
Aurabindo J

#2

What version did you download exactly?
I remember such a problem (the LiveCD self-destructed on first boot) with the 13.1 Beta versions.

Maybe post the filename of the ISO file you downloaded.

#3

I downloaded Gnome Live. File name: openSUSE-13.1-GNOME-Live-x86_64.iso

I checked my downloaded ISO sha1 sum and it is different from the one mentioned in the opensuse download page. But I cant believe it, since the same file worked fine in KVM. If the file was corrupt, is it supposed to work ? Also, after downloading, I did isohybrid on the file. May be this might have changed the file. One more reason is that a recent Arch linux ISO file also failed to boot with the dd way.

Anyways I’m gonna download a fresh copy and try again.

Thanks for the reply wolfi323 :slight_smile:

#4

The openSUSE Live ISOs are already hybrid ISOs. If you run isohybrid on them you might destroy them.

Just copy the ISO as it is to the USB drive (with dd f.e. or SUSE imagewriter), and it should work.

#5

On 2014-02-20 14:36, aurabindo wrote:

> supposed to work ? Also, after downloading, I did isohybrid on the
> file.

DON’T!

The instructions specifically say NOT to use isohybrid on 13.1. you
destroyed your image. Download it again.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

#6

wolfi323 wrote:
> aurabindo;2626014 Wrote:
>> Also, after downloading, I did isohybrid on the file. May be this
>> might have changed the file.
> The openSUSE Live ISOs are already hybrid ISOs. If you run isohybrid
> on them you might destroy them.

I know nothing about it but why doesn’t isohybrid detect the case and
avoid damage? It seems to be a perl program …

> Just copy the ISO as it is to the USB drive (with dd f.e. or SUSE
> imagewriter), and it should work.

#7

Well, I don’t know either, but maybe it’s not that easy to detect whether the ISO is already hybrid or not.
Or maybe this has just been forgotten or the developers don’t think it’s necessary.

#8

I believe the methodology id different. So detection may require the iso hybrid people to know what to look for.

#9

On 2014-02-20 19:36, wolfi323 wrote:
>
> djh-novell;2626049 Wrote:

>> I know nothing about it but why doesn’t isohybrid detect the case and
>> avoid damage? It seems to be a perl program …
>>
> Well, I don’t know either, but maybe it’s not that easy to detect
> whether the ISO is already hybrid or not.
> Or maybe this has just been forgotten or the developers don’t think it’s
> necessary.

Many Linux tools allow you to shoot your own foot with not even a
warning. You are the human in control, so do control >:-)

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

#10

Hah!

I only have 7 toes left, now!
rotfl!

#11

On 2014-02-20 23:06, Fraser Bell wrote:
>
> robin_listas;2626102 Wrote:

>> Many Linux tools allow you to shoot your own foot with not even a
>> warning. You are the human in control, so do control >:-)

> Hah!
>
> I only have 7 toes left, now!
> rotfl!

Nay! You still have 7 :stuck_out_tongue:

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

#12

… and they’re not in such great shape, either!
:’(

#13

I get it now. Thanks!

I’m having a truly great time, because when one issue is fixed another pops up! This time its my ISP. My main connection is down for almost 2 days! Still waiting for the net :’(

–
Thanks and Regards,
Aurabindo

#14

Big mistake.

That could convert the iso back into the form used on milestones, where it self-destructed on the first boot. That’s probably what is happening.

#15

On 2014-02-21 05:36, aurabindo wrote:

> I get it now. Thanks!
>
> I’m having a truly great time, because when one issue is fixed another
> pops up! This time its my ISP. My main connection is down for almost 2
> days! Still waiting for the net :’(

Oh, crumbs. :frowning:

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

#16

Finally I got my net back and did a dd without using isohybrid. Everything works fine.

“SUSEfication” has something to do with this, because the recent Fedora releases that I installed dont create problems when doing isohybrid prior to dd. Thats why I did it!

Thanks you all. :slight_smile:

#17

On 2014-02-22 06:56, aurabindo wrote:
> “SUSEfication” has something to do with this, because the recent Fedora
> releases that I installed dont create problems when doing isohybrid
> prior to dd. Thats why I did it!

Yes, but our instructions say to not do it. You always have to read the
instructions for anything you do >:-)

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

#18

Actually, they do. On 64bit isos, running “isohybrid” will destroy the UEFI structure. So you will no longer be able to use it for the newer UEFI computers, unless you put them into legacy mode.

In the case of opensuse, the additional problem has to do with creating a hybrid partition. That partition allows you to save changes that you make when running from the live USB. They changed how they were doing it, for consistency with UEFI isos. With their change, they used “parted” to create the new partition. But “parted” does not like the default format that “isohybrid” creates.

#19

Yepp. I though I was a linux adult already :\

As far as non UEFI users are concerned, I think thats a penality, because this parted thing simple increases the first boot time. Though the successive boots are faster. But I doubt if someone will choose a big distro like opensuse to live on their pendrive. Isnt that for what Puppies are for ? I think ubuntu’s way of persistent storage is better ( that used to work with unetbootin too - But I dont know what happened after the UEFI thing ). Surely fedora’s solution for UEFI is also better, because as a legacy user, there was no added overhead.

I’m not knowledgeable enough to comment on UEFI and suse’s decisions, but these are just my thoughts.:expressionless:

#20

As far as I know, Fedora handles UEFI on their live media, in about the same way that opensuse does. However, I have not checked the latest Fedora release for this. I’m not sure if Fedora uses a hybrid partition when running the live iso image from a USB.