[syslinux] isolinux boot issue...

[H. Peter Anvin]

Tom Lisjac wrote:
> I'm creating a Linux "live" CD that boots just fine on our newer
> machines... but isolinux is not working on some of our older ones. The
> older boxes work fine with boot floppy image systems like Knoppix... so
> I'm wondering if there's something more I can do to make them happier
> with isolinux? 
> 
> By "older", I mean a generic P-120 motherboard with an Award v4.50PG
> bios. The hard drives have also been removed... so I tried moving the CD
> to the first IDE controller which didn't help. I'm using the debug
> isolinux.bin from syslinux 2.02... but on the older boxes, I don't get
> far enough to see any of the messages.
> 
> What I do get is:
> 
> Boot from ATAPI CD-ROM :
> 
>   1. FD (junk*)  System Type-(00)
> DISK BOOT FAILURE....
> 
> ... where there's 3 garbage characters in (junk*)
> 

Machines that old (and with Award bios to boot) might very well have 
problems with ISOLINUX (a lot of the early El Torito BIOSes didn't 
handle no-emulation mode correctly.)

You may want to see if you could do a BIOS upgrade, or otherwise you'll 
have to do floppy emulation mode on the CD for the boot (you can use 
SYSLINUX and a 2.88MB image, though.)

	-hpa