7 replies to this topic

[xerces8]

Hi!

I used http://heanet.dl.sou...windows-377.exe to install ubuntu-9.10-desktop-amd64.iso to a 8GB USB stick.

Everything went without error. But when I try to boot, I get an error.

It is a standard BIOS boot error, two lines of white text on black background, don't remember the text now (will post later).

I can boot other USB sticks.

So what was wrong?

The installation instructions on http://unetbootin.so...ge.net/#install are really terse, I followed them to the letter ;-)

Where to start looking?

Regards,
David

PS: The stick is formatted to NTFS. The web page does not say if that matters, but in the wiki I see FAT is mentioned while ntfs is not. Is ntfs unsupported?

[xerces8]

The error message when trying to boot the USB stick is:
Non-System disk or disk error
replace and strike any key when ready

PS: Will try to create now under Ubuntu... see my other post

[xerces8]

I tried unetbootin-linux-377 under Ubuntu 9.04 i386 but it does not list any USB stick (I have one connected and mounted, fs is NTFS).

If I enable the Show All Drives I see it, sdb and sdb1.
I guess sdb1 is the correct choice?
(nothing is on the stick, so a dataloss won't matter...)

Regards,
David

[xerces8]

selecting sdb1 worked, but it still does not boot.

The BIOS error is now:
A disk read error occurred
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

[was_jaclaz]

Can be ubuntu be installed to a NTFS partition?

I don't think so.

If this is the case you have two orders of problems:

• an unbootable USB stick
• an uninstalled Ubuntu

I would try starting from scratch using FAT32 filesystem on the stick, verifying that it actually boots and only once this is confirmed, re-run Unetbootin.



jaclaz

[xerces8]

Can be ubuntu be installed to a NTFS partition?

Yes.

I replaced the syslinux files by grub4dos (grldr), adapted a menu.lst and the Ubuntu files copied by unetbootin boot just fine.

Does unetbootin manipulate the MBR of the USB stick?
I plan to setup more ISO-s to the same USB stick and don't want again to fix the booting...

Regards,
David

[xerces8]

I used this in menu.lst:

title Ubuntu 9.10 amd64
kernel (hd0,0)/ubnkern file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash --
initrd (hd0,0)/ubninit

[was_jaclaz]

I see , using "casper" is NOT "installing", however the Ubuntu guide talks about "FAT32" :
http://ubuntuforums....ad.php?t=811397

Does unetbootin manipulate the MBR of the USB stick?

I shouldn't, but why risking?

I presume you installed grub4dos (grldr.mbr) to the MBR.

If I were you I would do a dd copy of the first 63 sectors of the stick.

Even if anything gets overwritten/changed, you can restore in no time that bunch of sectors.

If you are going the grub4os way, you may also want to know/try direct .iso mapping as (hd32), it does work with Ubuntu and it is by far the most easy to setup way, expecially since you are going to multiboot:
http://www.boot-land...?showtopic=5041



jaclaz