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

Philip Müller philm at manjaro.org
Sat Nov 23 06:44:01 PST 2013


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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