[syslinux] Can't boot a kernel from usb drive

[Gilles Espinasse]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brett" <magnesium_ at yahoo.com>
To: <syslinux at zytor.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2007 6:02 AM
Subject: [syslinux] Can't boot a kernel from usb drive


> I have been trying to boot a kernel I compiled. I tried 2 different USB
> thumb drives. I tried win32 syslinux 3.31 and 3.36 with no luck. I even
> tried another known good kernel for testing purposes. After syslinux
> starts I get "Invalid or corrupt kernel image" but I don't think it is
> even really trying to run it. The last time I built a kernel about 1-1/2
> years ago you could put a custom kernel on a floppy disk and just boot
> your kernel from there. Since newer kernels are now larger than a floppy
> and that kind of booting is no longer supported in the kernel itself I
> hoped I could do this with syslinux. I basically just want to boot my hard
> drive from a usb drive like I used to be able to do with a floppy. Should
> I be able to do this with modern kernels and Syslinux?
>
> Thanks,
> Brett
>
You could check the bios of your machines by testing one of our usb key
images.
We support the three format, like fdd (unpartioned) hdd (partioned), and zip
(special partition).
zip format work to with real zip usb devices.

I don't know if we really need the three but that could help with some
bioses.
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=40604

You would find some receipt to build the images from cvs in
ipcop/lfs/usb-key.
Only 2.4 kernel usb images are available for download (from IPCOP_v1_4_0
branch) but similary this exist with a 2.6.14 kernel on main branch.
zcat thefile > /dev/thekey

That's not that 2.6 kernel no more support floppy boot. This is that you
have to accomodate the kernel settings to fit in one or more floppies.

Gilles