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#1 2025-05-11 22:47:59

Altoid
Member
Registered: 2017-05-07
Posts: 1,700  

USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Hello:

Just to see what it would look like, I dd'd the i386 live Daedalus *.iso to a new USB stick but, to my surprise, it was not detected by my Asus 1000HE netbook.
ie: press Esc to get the boot device selection screen and see only the internal HDD available, no USB stick detected.

The *.iso file was SHA256 checked and was visible/accessible to the file manager.
This which ruled out both a bad dd and a USB hardware issue.

To check, I then tried another Debian based i386 live *.iso (#!++), with exactly the same result.

All this happens independently of the boot device order (removable device, atapi CD-ROM or HDD) is established in the BIOS. 

I then copied both *.iso files to a Ventoy USB and had no problems booting them from there.

It seems that these days *.iso files cannot be seen properly by BIOS boot rigs which apparently need whatever magic Ventoy does.
ie: no backwards compatibility.

Short of being forced to use Ventoy from now on, is there a work around?

Does not look good to me.
As always, YMMV.

I'd appreciate comments from members who know more about this.

Best,

A.

Last edited by Altoid (2025-05-12 12:11:56)

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#2 2025-05-12 11:49:44

Altoid
Member
Registered: 2017-05-07
Posts: 1,700  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Hello:

A closer look at the non-detectable USB drive with fdisk showed me this:

# fdisk -l /dev/sdg
Disk /dev/sdg: 57.62 GiB, 61872793600 bytes, 120845300 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 3.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xbb37ef5f

Device     Boot Start       End   Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdg1        2048 120844287 120842240 57.6G  b W95 FAT32     # no boot flag
#

So I added the boot flag with gparted:

# fdisk -l /dev/sdg
Disk /dev/sdg: 57.62 GiB, 61872793600 bytes, 120845300 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 3.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xbb37ef5f

Device     Boot Start       End   Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdg1  *     2048 120844287 120842240 57.6G  b W95 FAT32
#

No difference, the USB stick is not seen by the netbook's BIOS (Asus 1000HE).

Best,

A.

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#3 2025-05-12 12:41:52

fsmithred
Administrator
Registered: 2016-11-25
Posts: 2,597  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Works ok on 1101HA, bios version 0317
I'm using a cheap, no-name giveaway usb stick dd'd with devuan_chimaera_4.0.2_i386_desktop-live.iso.

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#4 2025-05-12 14:14:56

ralph.ronnquist
Administrator
From: Battery Point, Tasmania, AUS
Registered: 2016-11-30
Posts: 1,374  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

@altoid: did you dd with conv=fsync so that the program does not exit before data is actually written?

Next is to verify the USB by cmp $ISO $USB which should not find a difference until the end of the $ISO.

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#5 2025-05-12 14:28:50

Altoid
Member
Registered: 2017-05-07
Posts: 1,700  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Hello:

fsmithred wrote:

... ok on 1101HA, bios version 0317

This is a 1000HE, bios version 1104 (last) with the Intel 945GM Express chipset.
The 1101HA uses the Intel US15W chipset but I cannot say if it is relevant or not.

fsmithred wrote:

... no-name giveaway usb stick ...

Is it a 2.0 or 3.0 USB stick?

I am booting devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso and, like I mentioned, boots correctly with the Ventoy USB.
ie: the USB stick is detected by the Asus 1000HE bios.

I'll check and see what happens with the devuan_chimaera_4.0.2_i386_desktop-live.iso.

Thanks for you input.

Best,

A.

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#6 2025-05-12 15:31:00

fsmithred
Administrator
Registered: 2016-11-25
Posts: 2,597  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

USB 2.0.

It also booted with a refracta excalibur iso (with libre kernel).

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#7 2025-05-12 19:21:58

Altoid
Member
Registered: 2017-05-07
Posts: 1,700  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Hello:

@ralph.ronnquist

... dd with conv=fsync so that the program does not exit ...

No.
The stanza used was:
dd if=home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso of=/dev/sdg1 bs=4M status=progress oflag=direct

I obviously do no touch the USB drive till I see the dd printout reporting the result of the operation.
ie: records in / records out + command prompt.

Just the same, to check:

# dd if=/home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso of=/dev/sdg1 bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 32 s, 43.0 MB/s
330+1 records in
330+1 records out
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 217.089 s, 6.4 MB/s
#

And then as suggested:

# cmp /home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso /dev/sdg1
cmp: EOF on /home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso after byte 1385709568, in line 5389724
#

The problem persists.

Thinking that the size (64Gb) of the USB drive could be an issue, I formatted it with a single 7.8Gb partition to which I dd'd the *.iso file.
But, no, no cigar.

I have no problems with any these USB drives in my main box (Sun Ultra 24), they are all detected at boot time and will boot an *.iso file.

I have three identical Kingston Technology DataTraveler 100 G3/G4/SE9 G2/50 and the Asus 1000HE netbook refused to boot with two of them, be they empty / unformatted, formated to full size or to 7.8Gb. The BIOS does not detect them.

The third one, with the Ventoy system on it, boots without any issues.

So (unless I am missing something) it comes down to the BIOS having issues with either the USB standard (3.2 not 3.0) or their capacity.
I say it is the BIOS because if I insert them once Chimaera is up and running, the system detects them and can mount, read and write to them without any issues. ie: the BIOS lacks the proper drivers. (?)

Seeing that the Ventoy USB works and the dd'd USB does not, I set out to compare them with fdisk.

Ventoy

# fdisk -l /dev/sdg
Disk /dev/sdg: 57.73 GiB, 61991813632 bytes, 121077761 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 3.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x4a2d7551

Device     Boot     Start       End   Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdg1  *         2048 121012223 121010176 57.7G  7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdg2       121012224 121077759     65536   32M ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)
#

Daedalus_i386_desktop-live.iso

# fdisk -l /dev/sdg
Disk /dev/sdg: 57.62 GiB, 61872793600 bytes, 120845300 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 3.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x0ccbfdf1

Device     Boot Start       End   Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdg1  *     2048 120844287 120842240 57.6G  b W95 FAT32
#

With my untrained eyes, besides Ventoy having a 32mb EFI partition, what I see is this:

- both drives have boot partitions starting at 2048
- Ventoy's boot partition is Id 7, type HPFS/NTFS/exFAT 
- Devuan's boot partition is Id b, type W95 FAT32

On a whim, I cleared the USB drive and formatted as Id 7, type HPFS/NTFS/exFAT:

# fdisk -l /dev/sdg
Disk /dev/sdg: 57.62 GiB, 61872793600 bytes, 120845300 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 3.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x0ccbfdf1

Device     Boot Start       End   Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdg1        2048 120844287 120842240 57.6G  7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
#

I then dd'd the same devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso:

# dd if=/home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso of=/dev/sdg1 bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 11 s, 123 MB/s
330+1 records in
330+1 records out
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 155.279 s, 8.9 MB/s

Checked:

# cmp /home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso /dev/sdg1
cmp: EOF on /home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso after byte 1385709568, in line 5389724
#

Unfortunately, that did not work.
What is probably missing is the EFI crap in the 32Mb partition but I have no idea how to deal with that.

TL;DR
It would seem that the *.iso files generated these days will not play nice with older ie: BIOS boot hardware such as the Asus 1000HE.
This is a problem, apparently solved (for now) via Ventoy.

As I mentioned in another thread involving a USB drive:

Altoid wrote:

Devuan Chimaera netinstall *.iso: 372.00 MB - UEFI installer: 00.754 MB
Devuan Daedalus netinstall *.iso: 477.80 MB - UEFI installer:  23.00  MB

30X more code has been added to the UEFI partition on the road between Chimaera and Daedalus.

Does anyone really know exactly what all that added code does?

Best,

A.

Last edited by Altoid (2025-05-12 19:38:34)

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#8 2025-05-12 23:08:43

ralph.ronnquist
Administrator
From: Battery Point, Tasmania, AUS
Registered: 2016-11-30
Posts: 1,374  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Hmm my downloaded devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso gets this fdisk report:'

Disk devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso: 1.29 GiB, 1385709568 bytes, 2706464 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x6bae8a95

Device                                       Boot Start     End Sectors  Size Id Type
devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso1 *       64 2706463 2706400  1.3G 17 Hidd

Seems like something is off with your iso. I just downloaded mine, from devuan.ipacct.com (which is reasonably fast for me).

btw. the UEFI installers of chimaera and daedalus are two different technologies. chimaera has a grub installer and daedalus a syslinux installer. The grub installer has its kernel and initrd on a different partition. The syslinux installer has the kernel and initrd on the EFI/FAT partition. All that irrelevant to here, which wouldn't be an EFI boot.

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#9 2025-05-12 23:37:56

Altoid
Member
Registered: 2017-05-07
Posts: 1,700  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Hello:

I wrote:

... *.iso files generated these days will not play nice with older ie: BIOS boot hardware ...

Forgot to point out that, to rule out any USB stick issues, I also dd'd the daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso to a 2.0Gb SD card:

# dd if=/home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso of=/dev/sdg1 bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 64 s, 21.7 MB/s
330+1 records in
330+1 records out
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 320.048 s, 4.3 MB/s
#

And checked:

# cmp /home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso /dev/sdg1
/home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso /dev/sdg1 differ: char 1000046593, line 3882924
#

Again, for some reason the partition does not get written with a boot flag:

# fdisk -l /dev/sdg
Disk /dev/sdg: 1.89 GiB, 2032664576 bytes, 3970048 sectors
Disk model: Storage Device  
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x60b198df

Device     Boot Start     End Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdg1        2048 3969023 3966976  1.9G  b W95 FAT32
#

Fixed that:

# fdisk -l /dev/sdg
Disk /dev/sdg: 1.89 GiB, 2032664576 bytes, 3970048 sectors
Disk model: Storage Device  
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x60b198df

Device     Boot Start     End Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdg1  *     2048 3969023 3966976  1.9G  b W95 FAT32
#

The SD card slot in the netbook is faulty so I use a USB 2.0 SD card adapter.
Curiously enough, the BIOS sees it and I can select to boot from the USB mass storage device but it will not boot.
ie: all I get on the screen is a blinking underscore cursor.

So yes, it would seem that there is something going on with how the *.iso files are assembled / rolled.

Best,

A.

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#10 Yesterday 00:14:23

Altoid
Member
Registered: 2017-05-07
Posts: 1,700  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Hello:

I was writing my previous one when your post came in.

ralph.ronnquist wrote:

... something is off with your iso.

Hmm ....
This is what I get:

# fdisk -l devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso
Disk devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso: 1.29 GiB, 1385709568 bytes, 2706464 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x6bae8a95

Device                                       Boot Start     End Sectors  Size Id Type
devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso *       64 2706463 2706400  1.3G 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
#

The file was downloaded here.

I checked the file against its SHA256SUM.
ie: a8d354cbf8bc7137dad4734d508a2f3dcfe9d87132f01d4ae14955b6e770d86a

# sha256sum devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso
a8d354cbf8bc7137dad4734d508a2f3dcfe9d87132f01d4ae14955b6e770d86a devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso
#

The downloaded *.iso comes from the usual place and has the correct hash sequence.

I think your *.iso and my *.iso are identical:

mine -  Disk devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso: 1.29 GiB, 1385709568 bytes, 2706464 sectors
yours - Disk devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso: 1.29 GiB, 1385709568 bytes, 2706464 sectors

mine -  devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso *       64 2706463 2706400  1.3G 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
yours - devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso1 *     64 2706463 2706400  1.3G 17 Hidd

The printout truncation is confusing things ...

ralph.ronnquist wrote:

... UEFI installers of chimaera and daedalus are two different technologies.
... irrelevant to here, which wouldn't be an EFI boot.

Quite so, but good to know.

Thanks for your input.
Best,

A.

Last edited by Altoid (Yesterday 00:15:30)

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#11 Yesterday 01:00:33

fsmithred
Administrator
Registered: 2016-11-25
Posts: 2,597  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Altoid,

dd to the whole device, /dev/sdg, not to the partition.

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#12 Yesterday 09:09:44

Camtaf
Member
Registered: 2019-11-19
Posts: 464  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

As above, 

of=/dev/sdg1

is a partition, use /dev/sdg.

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#13 Yesterday 12:18:20

Altoid
Member
Registered: 2017-05-07
Posts: 1,700  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Hello:

fsmithred wrote:

dd to the whole device, /dev/sdg, not to the partition.

Ooops ...  8^°

Right.

# dd if=/home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso of=/dev/sdg bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 62 s, 22.5 MB/s
330+1 records in
330+1 records out
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 287.386 s, 4.8 MB/s
#
# cmp /home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso /dev/sdg
cmp: EOF on /home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso after byte 1385709568, in line 5389724
#
# fdisk -l /dev/sdg
Disk /dev/sdg: 1.89 GiB, 2032664576 bytes, 3970048 sectors
Disk model: Storage Device
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x6bae8a95

Device     Boot Start     End Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdg1  *       64 2706463 2706400  1.3G 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS

Good news: that fixed it for the 2.0Gb SD card in the USB adapter.
The 1000HE detects it and boots as expected.

I then dd'd the 64Gb USB 3.2 drive in the same manner:

# dd if=/home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso of=/dev/sdg bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 22 s, 62.5 MB/s
330+1 records in
330+1 records out
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 157.902 s, 8.8 MB/s
#
# cmp /home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso /dev/sdg
cmp: EOF on /home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso after byte 1385709568, in line 5389724
# 
# fdisk -l /dev/sdg
Disk /dev/sdg: 57.62 GiB, 61872793600 bytes, 120845300 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 3.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x6bae8a95

Device     Boot Start     End Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdg1  *       64 2706463 2706400  1.3G 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
#

Unfortunately, it did not respond in the same manner.
ie: the drive is not detected by the netbook's BIOS

@fsmithred
Thank you for the heads up.
My screw-up was confusing things for me.

At this point, it looked like it was a hardware issue.
ie: the 1000HE's BIOS / USB controller and USB 3.2 vs. USB 2.0

To confirm this, I dd'd the same file to the last USB 2.0 drive I have.
One of those slim, metal clad Kingston SE9s of which I am very fond of and hesitated to do anything with it.
I had already lost the 16Gb one.

# dd if=/home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso of=/dev/sdg bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 74 s, 18.7 MB/s
330+1 records in
330+1 records out
1385709568 bytes (1.4 GB, 1.3 GiB) copied, 461.565 s, 3.0 MB/s
# 
# cmp /home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso /dev/sdg
cmp: EOF on /home/groucho/Downloads/devuan_daedalus_5.0.0_i386_desktop-live.iso after byte 1385709568, in line 5389724
# 
# fdisk -l /dev/sdg
Disk /dev/sdg: 7.22 GiB, 7757398016 bytes, 15151168 sectors
Disk model: DataTraveler 2.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x6bae8a95

Device     Boot Start     End Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdg1  *       64 2706463 2706400  1.3G 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
#

It worked. 8^)

Q: does it still look like this is hardware issue?
ie: the USB controller in the Asus 1000HE BIOS (945GM Express chipset) has no problems booting from a Kingston SE9 USB 2.0 drive but does not even detect the Kingston USB 3.2 DataTraveler 100 drive, which in turn is detected and can be mounted, read and written to once the system is up.

A: I do not think so.
The reason being that the exact same USB 3.2 drive with a Ventoy system is detected by the BIOS and can be used to boot any *.iso file (provided it is i386, obviously).

So, unless I am missing something (?), the remaining questions would be:

1. Just what is the netbook's BIOS looking for in the USB 3.2 drive but cannot find?
2. Why does it find it in the USB 2.0 drive but not in the USB 3.2 drive? => They both have been dd'd with the same *.iso file.

Whatever the missing bit is, it is quite evidently present in the USB 3.2 Ventoy USB drive, allowing the netbook's BIOS to detect the drive.
And then, it is also possible that there is something in the *.iso file (bug?) that prevents the BIOS from detecting the USB 3.2 drive.

Unfortunately, I don't have a 64Gb USB 2.0 drive to test this further.

This is all well over my head so I will leave it to those who know more about the matter.
As you have seen, I am still in the process of learning how to use dd properly.  8^°

Edit:
The people at Ventoy have a webpage describing their disk layout.
Maybe the answer is there?

Thank you all for your input.

Best,

A.

Last edited by Altoid (Yesterday 12:35:25)

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#14 Yesterday 15:38:01

rolfie
Member
Registered: 2017-11-25
Posts: 1,251  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Somewhere else I stumbled across this topic: https://www.ventoy.net/en/doc_legacy_limit.html. Somebody else had a problem and solved it by using a 32G stick.

Looks like on older PCs in legacy mode this limitation comes into play. I have a 128G stick for Ventoy, and that works in my environment.

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#15 Yesterday 21:42:22

Altoid
Member
Registered: 2017-05-07
Posts: 1,700  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Hello:

rolfie wrote:

... stumbled across this topic ...

Yes, one of the hypothesis I shuffled about was a hardware limitation, USB 3.x, size or both.
Evidently limited to the BIOS as, once up, the system has no problems with the (64Gb USB 3.x) USB drive the BIOS does not detect.

But, as I noted in my last post, that same USB drive with a Ventoy system does not have any problems.
I wonder if *.iso files could not be made to do the same.
ie. dd the *.iso files and it will boot, no BIOS limit problems.

rolfie wrote:

... solved it by using a 32G stick.

A quick workaround, for now.
Soon you will not be able to purchase small capacity USB drives.
The smallest I can find locally are 32Gb.

rolfie wrote:

... in legacy mode this limitation comes into play.

Like the link you posted indicates, it depends on the BIOS.
My Sun MS Ultra 24 box can boot from the 64Gb drive with no issues.

Thank you for the link.

Best,

A.

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#16 Yesterday 23:25:43

greenjeans
Member
Registered: 2017-04-07
Posts: 858  
Website

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

@Altoid, FWIW:

Downloaded the same iso you linked to.
Installed to a USB 2 stick (circa 2021, 2 gig stick) via Mintstick
Works perfectly in my 2012 Compaq CQ58 machine, booted up a nice live-session.

Thoughts:
1. Using a USB 3 stick in an interface for USB 2 should technically be no issue, but USB 3 does expect a slightly higher level of power than USB 2 does. I got my degree in electronics back in 1985 and one thing i've learned in all those years is that nature always sides with the hidden flaw, this could be an issue regardless of documentation saying otherwise.

2. Using dd is not for the faint of heart, many ways to screw that up, that's why I leave it to Refracta2usb or Mintstick.

3. This is not an issue with the iso. It works perfectly even on old hardware like mine.

4. Ventoy is not doing something magical, if it is then Mintstick does it too. Most likely issues are either an error when dd'ing, or a USB 3 issue of some sort.

JMHO, hope this helps!

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#17 Today 12:27:19

Altoid
Member
Registered: 2017-05-07
Posts: 1,700  

Re: USB with *.iso image not detected in BIOS boot netbook

Hello:

greenjeans wrote:

... same iso you linked to.
Works perfectly ...

Yes, it was the first thing I checked.
First SHA256 and then cmp (thanks to Ralph.R for that) 
So no problem with the *.iso.

greenjeans wrote:

... USB 3 stick in an interface for USB 2 ...

Like I mentioned earlier on, the USB 3.x drive works perfectly well once the system is up.
So there's no issue with backwards compatibility.
ie: USB 2.0 / 3.x

That said, your nature always sides with the hidden flaw is a gem. 8^)

greenjeans wrote:

dd is not ...

... for everyone, agreed.
But if I do not practise I'll never learn to do it properly.
I will always regret not having stated with / studying command line DOS earlier.

We are heading towards the day when only those who can proficiently work with a terminal may have a chance ...
But I digress.

greenjeans wrote:

... not doing something magical ...

Of course it is not, I was using a metaphor of sorts.

What it does. thanks to very clever / creative coding is make a 64Gb (or more, cannot say) USB 3.x drive detectable by the BIOS of a netbook that would seem to have a limit* to that, I still have to contact Asus to ask about that.
* see link to the Ventoy page posted by rolfie.

Many years ago, Linux was the go-to OS if you had hardware that would struggle with newer versions of mainstream OSs like MS, etc.
Bloat, bling and all kinds of BS in Linux distributions has put a stop to that.

Now, you have to find a lightweight distribution, such as the ones you roll.

Like I mentioned previously , it would be a great thing to be able to dd a standard *.iso and have it do what Ventoy does.
ie: just that, overcome the BIOS USB size limit in older laptops / netbooks. Nothing else needed.

Unfortunately, I do not see that happening, ever.
The tide is clearly flowing in the opposite direction.

Thanks for your input.

Best,

A.

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