Re: converting bootable CD image to bootable USB flash drive image

2016-02-09 Thread Thomas Schmitt
Hi,

> Fedora 22 x86_64

They use ISOLINUX, their own augmented genisoimage, and isohybrid.

> Oracle Linux 7.2

They want me to register before i can download. I'm not that curious.

Most Linux distros use ISOLINUX for the BIOS boot image.
If that is from SYSLINUX of the last about 8 years, then isohybrid
will accept it. (Officially you would have to make sure that the
isohybrid program is of the same SYSLINUX revision as the boot
image in the ISO image. In practice, the versions still are mutually
compatible, afaik.)


> So, is there a solution that works for most or all bootable CD images?

There are the old unpack procedures which put the files from ISO
into FAT and try to reproduce the boot loader equipment and behavior
as shown by the ISO on CD.
This still needs knowledge about the boot loader in the ISO.
On the other hand one has full freedom to replace the boot loader
of the ISO by another one. (E.g. replace GRUB Legacy by GRUB2.)

In the case of SeaToolsDOS223ALL.ISO one would probably have to spy
on its way to boot FreeDOS.
I assume that the x86 code in the nameless El Torito image at block 21
(2048 bytes per block) hops onto /BCDW/bcdwboot.bin which knows the name
of /BCDW/bcdw.bin and /BCDW/bcdw.ini. Together, this would be the
boot loader. (Anybody here with experience about disassembling x86 ?)

Further i assume that /FreeDOS/ke2035asrc.zip will be unpacked to get
a startable operating system.


All in all it would probably be less work to forward the disk to
a virtual machine which gets started with SeaToolsDOS223ALL.ISO as
virtual CDROM.


Have a nice day :)

Thomas



converting bootable CD image to bootable USB flash drive image

2016-02-09 Thread David Christensen

On 02/09/2016 11:59 AM, Thomas Schmitt wrote:
> David Christensen wrote:
>> http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/
>> convert a bootable CD ISO image into a bootable hybrid ISO/USB image
>> https://www.turnkeylinux.org/blog/iso2usb
>
> This will not work, i fear, because the ISO is not bootable via an
> isohybrid capable ISOLINUX boot image.
>
>>From the start of the El Torito boot image in SeaToolsDOS223ALL.ISO:
>Bootable CD Wizard v1.50Z
>Copyright (c)2004 by reanimatolog. http://bootcd.narod.ru

So far, I've used it for two Linux images and it worked:

Fedora 22 x86_64
Oracle Linux 7.2


Testing the Seagate image:

$ cp SeaToolsDOS223ALL.ISO SeaToolsDOS223ALL.hybrid.ISO

$ isohybrid SeaToolsDOS223ALL.hybrid.ISO
isohybrid: SeaToolsDOS223ALL.hybrid.ISO: boot loader does not have 
an isolinux.bin hybrid signature. Note that isolinux-debug.bin does not 
support hybrid booting



Nope. Too bad.


> (This statement from blog/iso2usb is plain wrong:
>   "The isohybrid tool in the syslinux package will convert ISO images
>into a USB flash drive compatible format"
> isohybrid writes an MBR and partition tables into the System Area
> of the ISO, so that boot firmware can find the boot loader if the ISO
> is presented on HDD. The ISO 9660 filesystem does not get converted.)

So, is there a solution that works for most or all bootable CD images?


David