[syslinux] Boot 32GB Multi-partition Flash as USB-ZIP

Jernej Simončič jernej.listsonly at ena.si
Wed Nov 24 13:42:52 PST 2010


On Wednesday, November 24, 2010, 19:16:24, Ray Rashif wrote:

> Unfortunately, I can't do that. The first partition needs to be the
> storage partition, as Windows does not see any partitions beyond the
> first.

Unfortunately, partitioning a drive that Windows sees as "removable"
causes problems - I tried it several times, and eventually Windows
wouldn't want to mount any partition on the drive anymore (even if the
first partition worked fine at first, and the partitions were all
available on Linux). If you want to partition an USB drive, I suggest
you look for one that doesn't set the removable bit - they're rare,
but they exist (a recent one I found is an A-Data USB3 16GB stick).

> Not quite sure I get that. I don't have a CD-ROM portion on this
> stick. Are you talking about the proprietary U3 and the like? I'd
> gotten rid of that as soon as I brought home the stick from the mall.

That's what I'm talking about - there are tools available that let you
use any ISO image for that (note that at least one version of the
update tool doesn't properly support sticks larger than 4GB - if you
use that version, the space beyond 4GB will become inaccessible, but
this is recoverable by using a fixed version of the program).

Also, at several versions of the tool ship with an ISO that includes a
Windows trojan - just delete that, the program itself is fine.

> But it also brings up an interesting point. Could we, say, create such
> a custom CD-ROM portion ourselves?

You'll have to find the (windows-based) tool to do that. Note that
entire content of the stick is erased when the CD-ROM partition is
changed.

> Yes, I know that would help. Even if it doesn't, I could use a boot
> CD/floppy. I just want to know what the problem is, really. It tickles
> me when I'm faced with an issue I cannot solve. Unless, of course,
> there is no solution.

BIOS is usually the problem - not much you can do there really (except
hope that the next version fixes it - and doesn't break something
else).

-- 
< Jernej Simončič ><><><><>< http://eternallybored.org/ >

Trivial matters are handled promptly; important matters are never resolved.
       -- Gresham's Law





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