[syslinux] Live linux booting

[Bernd Blaauw]

Op 19-8-2011 19:13, Karl Schmidt schreef:
> I put up a page to document my research here -
>
> http://wiki.xtronics.com/index.php/Live_Linux_systems
>
> If anything appears wrong - please point it out or edit it correct..

Did you identify which Linux distributions can be booted by 
Syslinux/Memdisk?

The classical way was to have a bootloader + kernel + initrd as files, 
then mount ISO/CD, then copy/load everything to RAM so you don't need 
the device anymore.

This memdisk-method is based on Syslinux + Memdisk (with ISO booting 
capabilities) + CD-image of a Linux distribution. As memdisk is realmode 
stuff, some trickery is required. I'm pretty sure Parted Magic has been 
adapted to work this way.

syslinux.cfg would look something like this:
label pm65
linux memdisk
initrd pmagic65.iso
append iso

Main advantages of this way:
* just 1 file (the ISO file) per OS/distro
* no double memory use (load ISO in RAM, copy contents again to RAM)