USB Multiboot

roluan17 · 2019-12-20 16:07:05

Hi,

searching a way to install more than one ISO on one flash-drive (multiboot?).
Any kind hints out there?

Tried unetbootin and got some strange (I don't understand them) errors:

add apt-repository ppa:gezakovacs/ppa ==> bash: add: Kommando nicht gefunden (command not found)

I installed beforehand:

python-software-properties,
software-properties-common,

multisystem (can not be found)

apt-add-repository 'deb http://liveusb.info/multisystem/depot all main'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/apt-add-repository", line 95, in <module>
    sp = SoftwareProperties(options=options)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/softwareproperties/SoftwareProperties.py", line 109, in __init__
    self.reload_sourceslist()
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/softwareproperties/SoftwareProperties.py", line 599, in reload_sourceslist
    self.distro.get_sources(self.sourceslist)    
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/aptsources/distro.py", line 93, in get_sources
    (self.id, self.codename))
aptsources.distro.NoDistroTemplateException: Error: could not find a distribution template for Devuan/ascii

apt-get install cryptsetup grub-pc hal syslinux zenity imagemagick squashfs-tools fatresize fuseiso wmctrl xdotool qemu gtkdialog 
Paketlisten werden gelesen... Fertig (package lists are read ...ready)
Abhängigkeitsbaum wird aufgebaut.       (dependancy-tree is built)
Statusinformationen werden eingelesen.... Fertig (status quo is read ... ready)
Paket hal ist nicht verfügbar, wird aber von einem anderen Paket (package hal is not available, 
but is referenced to an other package
referenziert. Das kann heißen, dass das Paket fehlt, dass es abgelöst
wurde oder nur aus einer anderen Quelle verfügbar ist.        
(package hal is not available, but is referenced to an other package.
 This can mean, package is missing, relieved or only available from an other source)

E: Für Paket »hal« existiert kein Installationskandidat.
                                           (for package "hal" there is no installation candidate)
E: Paket gtkdialog kann nicht gefunden werden.          
                                          (package gtkdialog can not be found)

Pardon my english translation, may be funny.
;-)

Last edited by roluan17 (2019-12-20 16:09:29)

golinux · 2019-12-20 16:53:58

Please look at the multi-boot iso that fsmithred made for the Devuan conference in April. That may give you some hints.

roluan17 · 2019-12-20 17:54:40

Thank you! That was quick.
Will test it tomorrow.
greetings

fsmithred · 2019-12-20 19:34:00

My recommendation is not impartial, and I won't try to debug unetbootin. Use my software to make a multi-boot usb.
refracta2usb download - https://sourceforge.net/projects/refrac … b/download
Instructions (at least read the Quick Start!) - https://refracta.org/docs/readme.refracta2usb.txt

It uses isolinux/syslinux. If you want grub bootloader on it, we can change it to that later.

ilargi · 2019-12-20 20:15:51

You may be interested in trying multibootusb http://multibootusb.org/. You can just download the tar.gz file and use it from a local folder. No need to install it.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2019-12-21 13:43:16

To make a "multiboot" USB simply copy the images to a partition on the USB stick then install both types of GRUB:

# mount /dev/sdXY /mnt
# mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
# mount /dev/sdXZ /mnt/boot/efi
# grub-install --target=i386-pc --boot-directory=/mnt/boot /dev/sdX
# grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --boot-directory=/mnt/boot --efi-directory=/mnt/boot/efi --removable

The stick will need both the main root partition (/dev/sdXY) and an EFI system partition (/dev/sdXZ) with a GUID partition table and a BIOS boot partition. For both UEFI and non-UEFI grub-install commands use the grub-pc-bin & grub-efi-amd64-bin packages. For multibitness UEFI systems there is also a grub-efi-ia32-bin package (--target=i386-efi).

Then write (/mnt)/boot/grub/grub.cfg with menu entries for each image, here is an example stanza for a Devuan ISO image:

menuentry 'Devuan (live)' {                                   
   isofile=usr/share/iso/devuan.iso
   search.fs_uuid $uuid_stick root
   loopback loop $root/$isofile                                             
   linux (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live config fromiso=$root/$isofile toram  
   initrd (loop)/live/initrd.img                                              
}

In this example the ISO image is stored on the root partition under /usr/share/iso/devuan.iso (because FHS) but you can put it wherever you want. Replace $uuid_stick with the actual UUID of the root partition.

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2019-12-21 18:26:09)

Micronaut · 2019-12-23 21:44:16

Unetbootin is not the only bootable USB creator. As far as I know, Rufus can install multiple environments on a single USB stick. But I've never used it that way myself.

https://rufus.ie/

roluan17 · 2019-12-28 16:25:16

rufus? Isn't that for "He Who Cannot Be Named"?

roluan17 · 2019-12-28 17:18:32

@golinux
well, dev1usb seems to run. But I can't get further than login:

Please give me a hint, the readme is quite frugal.

fsmithred · 2019-12-28 17:51:29

I forget exactly how I arranged the boot menu, but there should be four different systems you can boot: minimal-live and desktop-live both in i386 and amd64. Which one did you boot and what happened after you logged in?

If you want to make your own live-usb, you're in the wrong place. Use one of the usb creators or do it manually as mentioned in posts above.

golinux · 2019-12-28 18:07:01

@fsmithred . . . I suggested he look at that to confirm that multiboot can be done. I thought if he poked at it a bit he might be able to figure out how to put one together.

roluan17 · 2019-12-29 10:13:21

Well I put that img (dev1usb_2019-03-28.img) to a stick and it runs ok until I have a black screen leaving the prompt blinking after
"login:"

I thought there might be a hint in any READme, but couldn't find one.

This was no try to create a multiboot system though it definitely has several different Devuan distros on board which can be selected during the boot process.

Last edited by roluan17 (2019-12-29 10:16:13)

Camtaf · 2019-12-29 11:04:54

I'd imagine that if you don't select one of the choices at the boot menu, you are being dropped into a terminal session, possibly for recovery purposes. If you do select a distro at boot time, does it then load to a desktop?

fsmithred · 2019-12-29 12:07:08

If you do nothing at the boot menu, you will get the first item, which is desktop-live i386. The system is set for automatic login, so if you got a login screen, something is wrong.

What kind of instructions would you like? There's not much to say. Just dd the image to a usb stick, boot the stick and choose a system. If you want to install one of those systems, it's probably better to download one of the 2.1 isos, because they are newer.

roluan17 · 2019-12-29 16:05:36

Thank you for the reply!
I thought, it would be something similar to STAR, Login: starlive Pwd: live.
I'll by me a new stick, tomorrow. Then I will go on again.
greetings

fsmithred · 2019-12-29 21:31:24

If you do get a login screen (maybe after you log out) the username/password combination is devuan/devuan (or root/toor).

Check the sha256sum on the .img file to make sure it downloaded correctly.

bai4Iej2need · 2023-03-18 22:06:55

golinux wrote:

Please look at the multi-boot iso that fsmithred made for the Devuan conference in April. That may give you some hints.

404 Not Found

Trev Brownen · 2023-03-19 02:22:30

refind a program that lets yoy boot many operating systems I have 30 on a large usb stick.

http://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/

Devarch · 2023-03-19 18:49:32

https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

bai4Iej2need · 2023-04-10 17:30:02

rEFInd is UEFI only and does not work with some older HW of mine

Ventoy was the solution for me.

ls -hl
insgesamt 7,8G
-rwxr-xr-x 1 md md 2,6G  8. Apr 22:57 debian-live-11.6.0-amd64-xfce.iso
-rwxr-xr-x 1 md md 372M 16. Jun 2022  devuan_chimaera_4.0.0_amd64_netinstall.iso
-rwxr-xr-x 1 md md 642M 13. Jun 2022  devuan_chimaera_4.0.0_amd64_server.iso
-rwxr-xr-x 1 md md 405M 16. Jun 2022  devuan_chimaera_4.0.0_i386_netinstall.iso
-rwxr-xr-x 1 md md 1,2G  8. Apr 23:22 devuan_chimaera_4.0.2_amd64_desktop-live.iso
-rwxr-xr-x 1 md md 586M 10. Apr 23:48 devuan_chimaera_4.0.2_amd64_minimal-live.iso
-rwxr-xr-x 1 md md 856M  8. Apr 22:55 grml64-full_2022.11.iso
-rwxr-xr-x 1 md md 874K 29. Sep 2014  Memtest86-4.3.7.iso
-rwxr-xr-x 1 md md 6,0M 11. Apr 01:22 mt86plus_6.10_64.iso
-rwxr-xr-x 1 md md  816 11. Apr 00:59 SHA256SUMS_ventoy_sorted
-rwxr-xr-x 1 md md 1,3G 10. Apr 12:35 tails-amd64-5.11.img

Last edited by bai4Iej2need (2023-04-11 07:38:59)

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#1 2019-12-20 16:07:05

USB Multiboot

#2 2019-12-20 16:53:58

Re: USB Multiboot

#3 2019-12-20 17:54:40

Re: USB Multiboot

#4 2019-12-20 19:34:00

Re: USB Multiboot

#5 2019-12-20 20:15:51

Re: USB Multiboot

#6 2019-12-21 13:43:16

Re: USB Multiboot

#7 2019-12-23 21:44:16

Re: USB Multiboot

#8 2019-12-28 16:25:16

Re: USB Multiboot

#9 2019-12-28 17:18:32

Re: USB Multiboot

#10 2019-12-28 17:51:29

Re: USB Multiboot

#11 2019-12-28 18:07:01

Re: USB Multiboot

#12 2019-12-29 10:13:21

Re: USB Multiboot

#13 2019-12-29 11:04:54

Re: USB Multiboot

#14 2019-12-29 12:07:08

Re: USB Multiboot

#15 2019-12-29 16:05:36

Re: USB Multiboot

#16 2019-12-29 21:31:24

Re: USB Multiboot

#17 2023-03-18 22:06:55

Re: USB Multiboot

#18 2023-03-19 02:22:30

Re: USB Multiboot

#19 2023-03-19 18:49:32

Re: USB Multiboot

#20 2023-04-10 17:30:02

Re: USB Multiboot

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