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Boot USB stick

Here a short instruction how to create a multiboot usb flash disk containing Syslinux (rus), Grub4dos (rus), Debian x86/64, Fedora x86/64, Ubuntu x86/64, Gentoo x86/64, Clonezilla, 4DOS, MS Windows (experimental), SystemRescueCd (Memtest86, NTpassword, FreeDOS, GAG, Ranish, HDT, DBAN, MHDD, Netboot, Grub2, Xfce, GParted).

Steps

Make a backup

Firstly backup all data on the stick (using tar/cp/rsync).

Installing SystemRescueCD

  • Under MS Windows: download image SystemRescueCD-Installer.exe and follow instructions given on the link.
  • Under GNU/Linux: Mount SystemRescueCd-x86-x.x.x.iso with exec option and run as root usb_inst.sh script. Use this short script replacing iso_path to path to the iso file:

    Installing SystemRescueCD: iso_path - path to the dowloded iso image

    iso_path=/path/to/systemrescuecd-x86-x.x.x.iso
mkdir iso_dir && sudo mount -o loop,exec "$iso_path" iso_dir && sudo LANG=en TERM=screen iso_dir/usb_inst.sh \
&& echo "SystemRescueCD successfully installed\! ;-)" || echo "Installation of SystemRescueCD failed\! ;-(" ; \
sudo umount iso_dir ; rmdir iso_dir

Set correct FS type

Set correct file system type to make >=DOS-7.1 understand it. Under GNU/Linux type

Set correct fs type for DOS

sudo fdisk /dev/sdX # X - is the stick vfat partition, type 't', 'b', 'w', 'Enter'
Additionally you can set a DOS fs label

set dos fs label

sudo fatlabel /dev/sdX1 LABEL

Syslinux.cfg

Add menu items to stick:/syslinux/syslinux.cfg before first LABEL string match.

stick://syslinux/syslinux.cfg

LABEL Debian netinstall 32 bit
	MENU LABEL Debian netinstall 32 bit
	KERNEL vmlinuz-debian32
	initrd initrd-debian32.gz

LABEL Debian netinstall 64 bit
	MENU LABEL Debian netinstall 64 bit
	KERNEL vmlinuz-debian64
	initrd initrd-debian64.gz

LABEL Fedora netinstall
	MENU LABEL Fedora netinstall
	KERNEL vmlinuz-fedora

LABEL Grub 4 Dos
	MENU LABEL 0) Grub 4 DOS
	KERNEL grub.exe

# Firstly, Windows does not found files in /I386 folder because it searches in the root / of the stick.
# Copying them to the root can make another troubles.
#LABEL winxp
#	MENU LABEL Boot Windows 2000/XP/2003 (SETUPLDR.BIN) from CD/DVD
#	COM32 chain.c32
#	APPEND ntldr=/I386/SETUPLDR.BIN
#LABEL win7
#	MENU LABEL Boot Windows Vista/2008/7 (bootmgr) from CD/DVD
#	COM32 chain.c32
#	APPEND ntldr=/bootmgr

# Solution: boot DOS >7.0 (6.0 does not see FAT32) and install under DOS.
LABEL 4dos
	MENU LABEL 4DOS MS-DOS 7.1 RUS
	kernel memdisk
	append initrd=/bootdisk/4dos.ima floppy

# Download if you need 6.22 version of DOS
LABEL dos622
	MENU LABEL DOS 6.22
	kernel memdisk
	append initrd=/bootdisk/dos622.img floppy

You can download and version of Dos 6.22 and save as stick:/bootdisk/dos622.img

Grub4dos

Extract from Grub4dos grub.exe file to the stick into /syslinux/ relative path. And create stick:/menu.lst config file for Grub4dos

stick:/menu.lst

color black/cyan yellow/cyan
timeout 30
default /default
 
splashimage=/splash.xpm.gz
foreground=AB82FF
background=191970
 
# map + Contig/WinContig shows blue screen when detecting hardware
# map --mem hangs in black screen for a long time, then reboot
#title WinXP iso
#find --set-root /winxp.iso
#    map /winxp.iso (hd32)
#    map --hook
#    root (hd32)
#    chainloader (hd32)
 
# Way to install  Windows XP, 2003, 2000, 98, 95 and restoring SYSLINUX boot loader after NTLDR rewrote it.
# To install Windows XP select "Grub 4 Dos" menu item on boot screen, then select "Dos 7.1 Rus" item
# and type: smartdrv ; c: ; cd c:\install\windows\i386 ; winnt.exe - Windows XP setup will start
# For Windows 98 run setup.exe setup executable.
# For that operations you need Windows installation CD with i386 directory.
 
title 4DOS MS-DOS 7.1 RUS
	map --mem /bootdisk/4dos.ima (fd0)
	map --hook
	chainloader (fd0)+1
	rootnoverify (fd0)

Debian netinstall

To get available Debian netinstall need to download kernel-32bit, initrd-32bit, kernel-64bit, initrd-64bit and move it to the stick:/syslinux directory renaming to vmlinuz-debian32, initrd-debian32.gz, vmlinuz-debian64, inird-debian64.gz accordinly. Under GNU/Linux you can do all operations by typing one command

Downloading Debian files: path - path to the mounted usb stick fs, release = stable | testing | sid

path=/mnt/flash ; release=stable
ftp_url="http://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/$release/main/installer"; \
ftp_path="current/images/netboot/debian-installer" \
&& p="$ftp_url-i386/$ftp_path/i386" \
&& wget "$p/linux" -O "$path/syslinux/vmlinuz-debian32" \
&& wget "$p/initrd.gz" -O "$path/syslinux/initrd-debian32.gz" \
&& p="$ftp_url-amd64/$ftp_path/amd64" \
&& wget "$p/linux" -O "$path/syslinux/vmlinuz-debian64" \
&& wget "$p/initrd.gz" -O "$path/syslinux/initrd-debian64.gz" \
&& echo "Debian boot image files download successfully\! ;-)" \
|| echo "Downloading Debian boot image files failed\! ;-("

Fedora netinstall

To get available Fedora netinstall download bfo.lkrn and save it as stick:/syslinux/vmlinuz-fedora. Example:

Download Fedora netinstall kernel image: path - path to the mounted stick

path=/mnt/flash
wget http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/bfo/bfo.lkrn -O $path/syslinux/vmlinuz-fedora

Ubuntu installer

Download Ubuntu iso-file. Copy /casper directory to the root of flash to get structure like this.

stick:/

stick
├── casper
│   ├── filesystem.manifest
│   ├── filesystem.manifest-remove
│   ├── filesystem.size
│   ├── filesystem.squashfs
│   ├── initrd.lz
│   └── vmlinuz.efi
Add menu items to Grub4dos menu.lst

stick://menu.lst

title Ubuntu LiveCD/Installer
    find --set-root /casper/initrd.lz
    kernel /casper/vmlinuz.efi boot=casper live-media-path=/casper/ ignore_uuid
    initrd /casper/initrd.lz
On new Ubuntu CD /casper directory may have another name so you must change it in the config. Also you probably want to change the title.

Gentoo stage3

To get available Gentoo installers need to download portage-latest.tar.bz2, stage3-i686-xxx.tar.bz2 and stage3-amd64-xxx.tar.bz2 to the stick:/install/gentoo directory. Under GNU/Linux all operations can be made in one step

Downloading Gentoo portage and stages: path - path to the stick

path=/mnt/flash
full_path="$path/install/gentoo"; \
url_path="http://mirrors.kernel.org/gentoo/releases"; mkdir -p "$full_path" \
&& fname=`wget $url_path/x86/autobuilds/latest-stage3-i486.txt -O - 2>/dev/null | tail -n1 | cut -d' ' -f1` \
&& wget "$url_path/x86/autobuilds/$fname" -O "$full_path/${fname##*/}" \
&& fname=`wget $url_path/amd64/autobuilds/latest-stage3-amd64-nomultilib.txt -O - 2>/dev/null | tail -n1 | cut -d' ' -f1` \
&& wget "$url_path/amd64/autobuilds/$fname" -O "$full_path/${fname##*/}" \
&& fname=`wget $url_path/amd64/autobuilds/latest-stage3-amd64-hardened+nomultilib.txt -O - 2>/dev/null | tail -n1 | cut -d' ' -f1` \
&& wget "$url_path/amd64/autobuilds/$fname" -O "$full_path/${fname##*/}" \
&& wget "$url_path/snapshots/current/portage-latest.tar.bz2" -O "$full_path/portage-latest.tar.bz2" \
&& echo "Downloading portage and stag3 success \! ;-)" \
|| echo "Downloading portage and stag3 failed \! ;-("

DOS 7.1

To have DOS 7.1 on the stick download diskette image from narod.ru or this site and move to the stick:/bootdisk directory. In Bash you cat type

Downloading DOS 7.1 image: path - path to mounted stick

path=/mnt/flash
wget http://www.backbone.ws/share/dist/dos/os/4dos.ima -O "$path/bootdisk/4dos.ima" \
&& echo "DOS 7.1 download succes\! ;-)" || echo "DOS 7.1 download failed\! ;-("

MS Windows

Setup MS Windows in this way with a 100% possibility it erases SYSLINUX boot loader because Windows Installer wrotes it's own boot loader from time to time.

However if installation of Windows success you can got to Grub4dos using NTLDR and select DOS 7.1, then type

c: ; syslinux.com c:
syslinux.com must be extracted from stick:/bootprog/syslinux-x.xx.zip/dos. Also to install Windows XP you need to copy ntdetect.com from i386 installation directory and grldr from Grub4dos to the root of the stick. Menu config must be on the stick

stick:/boot.ini

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C:\grldr="Grub4Dos"

Clonezilla

Installing Clonezilla. Download latest stable or testing version of Clonezilla. Unpack three files from the iso by mounting it or by using File-Roller etc. You should get such directory tree.

stick:/

stick
├── live
│   ├── filesystem.squashfs
│   ├── initrd.img
│   └── vmlinuz
Copy from clonezilla-live-xxx.iso/syslinux/syslinux.cfg file strings from first “MENU TITLE” to last “MENU END” including them and insert before first “LABEL …” string into stick:/syslinux/syslinux.cfg

More Grub4dos options

More Grub4dos menu list examples.

stick:/menu.lst

title find and load NTLDR of Windows
	NT/2K/XP
	fallback 1
	find --set-root /ntldr
	chainloader /ntldr
	savedefault --wait=2

title find and load CMLDR, the Recovery
	Console of Windows NT/2K/XP
	fallback 2
	find --set-root /cmldr
	chainloader /cmldr

#.....................................
# write string "cmdcons" to
memory 0000:7C03 in 2 steps:
#.....................................
# step 1. Write 4 chars "cmdc"
at 0000:7C03
write 0x7C03 0x63646D63
# step 2. Write 3 chars "ons"
and an ending null at 0000:7C07
write 0x7C07 0x00736E6F
savedefault --wait=2

title find and load IO.SYS of Windows
	9x/Me
	fallback 3
	find --set-root /io.sys
	chainloader /io.sys
	savedefault --wait=2

title find and boot Mandriva with
	menu.lst already installed
	fallback 4
	find --set-root /etc/mandriva-release
	savedefault --wait=2
	configfile /boot/grub/menu.lst

title find and boot Linux with menu.lst
	already installed
	fallback 5
	find --set-root /sbin/init
	savedefault --wait=2
	configfile /boot/grub/menu.lst

title commandline
	savedefault --wait=2
	commandline

title floppy (fd0)
	chainloader (fd0)+1
	rootnoverify (fd0)
	savedefault --wait=2

title back to dos
	savedefault --wait=2
	quit

title reboot
	savedefault --wait=2
	reboot

title halt
	savedefault --wait=2
	halt

title memdrive duplicated from floppy
	image file (hd0,0)/sbm.bin
	map --mem (hd0,0)/sbm.bin (fd0)
	map --hook
	chainloader (fd0)+1
	rootnoverify (fd0)
	savedefault --wait=2

title memdrive based on win98 partition
	(hd0,6)
	map --mem (hd0,6)+1 (hd0)
	# map --mem (hd0,0)/win98.gz (hd0)
	map --hook
	chainloader (hd0)+1
	rootnoverify (hd0)
	savedefault --wait=2

title Boot Windows XP
	root (hd0,1)
	chainloader +1
	savedefault

title Boot Options
	lock
	find --set-root /submenu.lst
	configfile /submenu.lst

title Find “hdd.tag” and chainload
	partition
	find --set-root /hdd.tag
	chainloader +1

title Find and load “ntldr”
	find --set-root /ntldr
	chainloader /ntldr

title debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso
	(hd32 --mem)
	map --mem
	(hd0,0)/debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso (hd32)
	map --hook
	root (hd32)
	chainloader (hd32)
	boot

title debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso
	(0xFF --mem)
	map --mem
	(hd0,0)/debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso (0xFF)
	map --hook
	root (0xFF)
	chainloader (0xFF)
	boot

title debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso
	(hd32)
	map
	(hd0,0)/debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso (hd32)
	map --hook
	root (hd32)
	chainloader (hd32)
	boot

title debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso
	(0xFF)
	map
	(hd0,0)/debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso (0xFF)
	map --hook
	root (0xFF)
	chainloader (0xFF)
	boot

title debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso
	(--mem maxblast)
	map --mem
	(hd0,0)/debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso (hd32)
	map --hook
	map --mem (hd32)/images/maxblast.igz
	(fd0)
	map --hook
	root (fd0)
	chainloader +1
	boot

title debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso
	(--mem maxblast --mem floppy)
	map --mem
	(hd0,0)/debian-6.0.0-i386-netinst.iso (hd32)
	map --hook
	map --mem (hd32)/images/maxblast.igz
	(fd0)
	map --hook
	map --mem (fd0)/floppy.img.gz (fd1)
	map --hook
	root (fd1)
	chainloader +1
	boot