I have followed this tutorial: http://blog.jakgibb.com/2013/01/03/creating-a-multiboot-usb-stick-using-syslinux/
I want to boot linux live ISOs directly from USB drive using syslinux instead of method provied here: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/boot-multiple-iso-from-usb-via-grub2-using-linux/
Here is my syslinux.cfg:
default vesamenu.c32
prompt 0
timeout 300
menu title Geek USB
menu background /bg.png
MENU TABMSG Created by Salman
MENU WIDTH 72
MENU MARGIN 10
MENU VSHIFT 3
MENU HSHIFT 6
MENU ROWS 15
MENU TABMSGROW 20
MENU TIMEOUTROW 22
menu color title 1;36;44 #66A0FF #00000000 none
menu color hotsel 30;47 #C00000 #DDDDDDDD
menu color sel 30;47 #000000 #FFFFFFFF
menu color border 30;44 #D00000 #00000000 std
menu color scrollbar 30;44 #DDDDDDDD #00000000 none
label HardDisk
menu label Continue to Boot from ^First HD (default)
KERNEL chain.c32
APPEND hd1
MENU DEFAULT
label MY
menu label ^MY
loopback loop /ubuntu-12.04.3-desktop-i386.iso
linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/ubuntu-12.04.3-desktop-i386.iso noeject noprompt splash --
initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
label MIX
menu label ^MIX
insmod loopback
insmod iso9660
set isofile="/ubuntu-12.04.3-desktop-i386.iso"
loopback loop $isofile
kernel (loop)/casper/vmlinuz
append boot=casper initrd=(loop)/casper/initrd.lz splash --
label MIX2
menu label ^MIX2
set isofile="/ubuntu-12.04.3-desktop-i386.iso"
loopback loop $isofile
kernel (loop)/casper/vmlinuz
append boot=casper live-media-path=(loop)/casper/ file=(loop)/preseed/ubuntu.seed initrd=(loop)/casper/initrd.lz splash --
label MIX3
menu label ^MIX3
loopback loop /ubuntu-12.04.3-desktop-i386.iso
kernel (loop)/casper/vmlinuz
append boot=casper live-media-path=(loop)/casper/ file=(loop)/preseed/ubuntu.seed initrd=(loop)/casper/initrd.lz splash --
My USB is booting and syslinux is working and boot menu (syslinux.cfg) is displaying fine but menus are not working, don't know why?
No menu is booting ubuntu-12.04.3-desktop-i386.iso. The worst part is that no error is coming when I select a menu and hit enter, screen blinks and return to main menu.
What is wrong with my code?
Best Answer
Well, I got a syslinux-booting USB key to load an unpacked ubuntu vmlinuz and initrd. The best I can offer is the steps that worked for me...
ubu
)linux
andinitrd
to the right filesappend
has the right flagsThe syslinux.conf entry that worked for me:
After boot I was given the standard "Try Ubuntu" desktop - I could install or just use it as-is. I've heard bad things about consistently using a USB key for Ubuntu or other desktop OS without making changes to internal OS settings to prevent frequent writes to the key which will prematurely fry your NAND memory. I also can't explain all the boot flags - I don't know enough yet. Perhaps someone else can who is more familiar with Ubuntu.
Note: my flashdrive is FAT32, and has more than 4GB of space available. The .iso file and unzipped/unpacked files may take close to 4GB of space. However, I have fatdog64 (a puppy variant) also loaded on this key, along with its iso and a puppy iso. So multi-booting is possible.