[syslinux] Sysinux 6 will not boot ISOs on BIOS (i.e. pre-UEFI) systems

Philip Müller philm at manjaro.org
Sat Nov 23 07:05:58 PST 2013


Hi there,

since I didn't had the time to test, this might be the solution for the 
issue Arch-based distros faced:

https://projects.archlinux.org/svntogit/packages.git/plain/trunk/syslinux-6.02-fix-chainloading.patch?h=packages/syslinux

This is included in the latest syslinux package you find in 
testing/unstable at Manjaro.

kind regards

Phil

On 11/23/2013 03:44 PM, Philip Müller wrote:
> Hi Ady,
>
> I'm the developer of manjaroiso, the tool we use to build our install 
> medias for Manjaro Linux.
> During our testings we found out, that syslinux6 won't work on older 
> hardware. I've a new Lenovo i7 notebook which booted up our images 
> just fine. Even with syslinux6. On my other PCs I got similar error 
> messages as Carl got.
>
> Here is the code I'm using for either syslinux6 or syslinux4:
>
> # Prepare /isolinux
> make_isolinux() {
>     if [[ ! -e ${work_dir}/build.${FUNCNAME} ]]; then
>         echo -e -n "$_r >$_W Prepare ${install_dir}/iso/isolinux \n $_n"
>         cp -Lr isolinux ${work_dir}/iso
>         if [[ -e ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/ ]]; then
>             cp 
> ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/isolinux.bin 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp 
> ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/isohdpfx.bin 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp 
> ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/ldlinux.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp 
> ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/gfxboot.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp 
> ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/whichsys.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/mboot.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/hdt.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/chain.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp 
> ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/libcom32.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp 
> ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/libmenu.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp 
> ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/libutil.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/bios/libgpl.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>         else
>             cp ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/isolinux.bin 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/isohdpfx.bin 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/gfxboot.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/whichsys.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/mboot.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/hdt.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>             cp ${work_dir}/root-image/usr/lib/syslinux/chain.c32 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/
>         fi
>         sed "s|%MISO_LABEL%|${iso_label}|g;
>                 s|%INSTALL_DIR%|${install_dir}|g;
>                 s|%ARCH%|${arch}|g" isolinux/isolinux.cfg > 
> ${work_dir}/iso/isolinux/isolinux.cfg
>         : > ${work_dir}/build.${FUNCNAME}
>         echo -e "$_g >$_W done $_n"
>     fi
> }
>
> In manjaro-testing we have currently syslinux 6.02-6 but we tested it 
> with syslinux 6.02-4.
> Changlog you can find here: 
> https://projects.archlinux.org/svntogit/packages.git/log/trunk?h=packages/syslinux
>
> kind regards
>
> Phil
>
> On 11/23/2013 03:30 PM, Carl Duff wrote:
>> It occured with every BIOS system I tested on (none of them Dell):
>>
>> 1. HP G62 laptop (i3)
>> 2. Samsung  RV520 (i3)
>>
>> Don't know what system Philip Muller uses; have copied him in as he 
>> has far more technical knowledge than I do. Syslinux tested from Arch 
>> and Manjaro (an Arch derivative). Basically found then when creating 
>> latest ISO images.
>>
>> I may be missing something as well about the FMs. Just didn't have 
>> this problem with Syslinux 4...
>>
>> Carl
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 23 November 2013 13:49, Ady <ady-sf at hotmail.com 
>> <mailto:ady-sf at hotmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>     > It is impossible to boot Linux-based ISOs that use Syslinux
>>     6.02 via CD or
>>     > DVD on older - non-UEFI - systems. Any attempt to do so will
>>     result in the
>>     > following error message: ISOLINUX 6.02 ETCDisolinux: Disk error
>>     01, AX =
>>     > 4279, drive FE
>>
>>     Is this happening on "every" system? Or are we talking about specific
>>     models or with specific characteristics? Is this behavior seen by any
>>     chance in a Dell? Or only in some specific brand?
>>
>>     I am assuming that all c32 files where updated too, and that at least
>>     ldlinux.c32 is included in the ISO together in the same location as
>>     isolinux.bin, right?
>>
>>     Are you testing with Syslinux 6.02 from kernel.org
>>     <http://kernel.org>? Or is this from
>>     latest Arch Linux [testing]?
>>
>>     >
>>     > It is still possible to boot / install via USB data-stick, and
>>     in a Virtual
>>     > Machine. Where using a newer PC with UEFI, even in Legacy mode
>>     (and with
>>     > the UEFI partition completely removed), ISOs using Syslinux
>>     6.02 will still
>>     > go through the UEFI menu.
>>     >
>>     > I also noticed that (at least some) OSs not using syslinux 6.02
>>     won't
>>     > recognise ISOs that do. For example, the file managers of Mint
>>     13, Windows
>>     > 7, and Windows 8 all wrongly "see" blank discs).
>>
>>     Are you sure that seeing blank discs is related to the version of
>>     Syslinux? That behavior seems more related to optical media, the
>>     specific optical drive, the burning software, or the tool to build
>>     the ISO image, or...
>>
>>     I wonder if perhaps there is some issue regarding isohibrid.
>>
>>     Regarding file / archive managers reading ISO files, I don't see how
>>     it could be related to the version of Syslinux, but perhaps I am
>>     missing something here.
>>
>>     Regards,
>>     Ady.
>>
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>



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