[syslinux] isolinux puzzle

[H. Peter Anvin]

Peter Stein wrote:
> 
> And it does work on all other CDROM drives except the one attached to
> the Promise controller. I'm really baffled. Why is the WIN2K CD
> recognized as bootable, but not the Linux CD created with ISOLINUX? 
> 

Probably because it's the only one they ever tried, and their BIOS is so 
broken that it's the only thing they'll ever boot.

ISOLINUX actually spends a lot of effort at being similar to the Win2K 
boot, just because too many BIOSes just don't give a shit about anything 
else.  Unfortunately, seems yours is still not happy.

> I followed your web page ISOLINUX instructions to the letter and as I
> mentioned above the CD does boot on other CDROM drives. I'm willing to
> roll up my sleeves and do some research, but I'm not sure how to
> proceed. I suspect you may have an idea of what the problem area could
> be or at least how to go about zeroing in on a solution in the most
> efficient way. I am a veteran developer and have previously created
> bootable Linux CDs using syslinux, but don't have the expertise to size
> up this problem. Any pointers/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I suspect the BIOS is buggy as hell and can only boot something that 
looks more-or-less exactly like the Win2K CD.  What exactly it is that 
trips it up is nearly impossible to tell without having both CDs and 
access to the system.

	-hpa