[syslinux] USB boot problems on Gigabyte GA-M55Plus-S3G

[Ady]

> 
> In message <BLU0-SMTP4359BC7EA366B1FB76EA9188BBF0 at phx.gbl>, 
> Ady <ady-sf at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> >I am probably misunderstanding something. We seem to go backwards.
> 
> Yes, and ever moreso.
> 
> >"Something" changed. If you now cannot see your USB drive in your 
> >list (press F12 during POST), there is no point on redacting 
> >instructions.
> 
> *Now* that I have set up the MBR partition table and the (FAT32) partition
> on this USB stick using Gparted (and with the "boot" flag UNchecked in
> Gparted), I _am_ able to see the USB stock in the BIOS Boot Priority
> list.
> 
> >The following conditions are the ones that should give us the higher 
> >chances to have your USB drive bootable:
> >
> >_ Standard MBR;
> 
> Check.  (GParted calls is "msdos" partitioning, but I'm sure they mean MBR.)
> 
> >_ Only ONE partition;
> 
> Check.
> 
> >_ The partition formatted as FAT32;
> 
> Check.
> 
> >_ The partition is marked as "active" (AKA. "boot"able) in the MBR.
> 
> See my other comments about this.  The "boot" flag in GParted is
> UNchecked, which apparently actually means "bootable".
> 
> >Then you need to have the content of the Clonezilla Live ISO (or the 
> >zip archive) expanded / extracted / copy (choose your favorite term) 
> >in the FAT32 partition.
> 
> Yes.  I took the file clonezilla-live-2.2.1-22-amd64.zip, placed in onto
> my Windows 7 system, and then had Windows itself open and then extract it
> to D:\ which is/was the USB stick.
> 
> >Can you confirm this is the current situation?
> 
> With the above caveats, yes.
> 
> >Can Windows Explorer see this content?
> 
> Yes.
> 
> >Boot into your BIOS settings. Look for something similar to SATA or 
> >IDE or NATIVE or AHCI mode. There might be more than one setting 
> >regarding this mode(s). Is it set to something like "IDE compatible", 
> >or "AHCI" or "RAID"? Please post your BIOS settings.
> 
> You could be a little more specific here.  I have no idea what you are
> looking for specifically.  Onboard IDE 1 and 2 are enabled. SATA II RAID
> is disabled.  SATA II 1 & 2 are enabled.  "Legacy USB storage detect" is
> enabled.
> 
> >In your BIOS, is the USB controller enabled? Is USB 2.0 enabled?
> 
> Yes.
> 
> >In your BIOS, is there some "onboard IDE controller" setting? Is it 
> >enabled?
> 
> Yes.
> 
> >I am not asking to change any particular setting. I just want to 
> >understand the current situation.
> 
> Yes, and I understand completely.  It is hard to debug something like
> this without being physically present.
> 
> Please do try to remember hoever that ... as I said earlier... with all
> my BIOS setting just as they are, I *was* in fact able to boot Windows 7
> from USB... at least part way.  So it isn't as if my BIOS setting are
> totally mangled, or else I wouldn't have been able to do that.
> 
> >With the USB drive connected, boot the system and use F12 during 
> >POST. Can you still see your USB drive listed somewhere? Possibly 
> >under HDD or under USB-HDD? Where is it listed?
> 
> Yes, it is listed under the Boot Priority list.
> 
> >We must regain the possibility to at least *potentially* boot to the 
> >USB drive before attempting any additional instructions.
> 
> I agree, unfortunately, I must report that things have gone from bad
> to worse, to MUCH worse.
> 
> Now, with all of the conditions described above in effect, now when I
> try to boot to the USB stick my BIOS gets down to the point of printing:
> 
> 	Boot from CD/DVD :
> 
> and then it just chokes, with the cursor blinking in column 1 of the next
> following line.
> 
> This is with no other drives or sticks of any kind in the system... Just
> the 4GB Transcend USB flash stick.
> 
> >Please use the above paragraphs / questions so to clarify the current 
> >situation. According to your answers, we might know how to go on.
> 
> I await your further recommendations.  However this is not looking good
> at all.  (And strangely, the more I do things that should cause it to work
> better, the less far the booting process actually seems to get.)
> 
> Regards,
> rfg
> 
> P.S.  I may perhaps try a different USB stick, try swaping main memory,
> and perhaps even try swaping out my graphics card.  I use only good
> quality name brand components, but you never know.
 
Are you using the same physical USB drive for all your tests with 
Clonezilla as well as with UBCD and others? If you are, then we have 
a problem, because each of those are using different (versions of) 
bootloaders, which makes it more difficult for us to solve the main 
issue.

Now, regarding the "active" flag (AKA. "boot"able partition), only 
one partition can have it, generally speaking. (There are other 
special cases, but they are not relevant for us).

Since you should have only one formatted partition, that partition 
should be marked as "boot"able ("active"). For our current purpose, 
this partition should be formatted as FAT32.

You should be seeing the content of the Clonezilla zip archive 
expanded in your USB drive. Assuming that Windows Explorer sees this 
partition as "d:", that means, for example:
d:\syslinux\syslinux.cfg
d:\utils\win32\syslinux64.exe

With the exception of the specific drive letter ("d:"), the above 
paths should be "exact". If you see something like:
d:\clonezilla-live-2.2.1-22-amd64\syslinux\syslinux.cfg
then that's not good for our purpose and you would need to correct it 
(and the rest of the Clonezilla paths).

Now, assuming that you have "d:\utils\win32\syslinux64.exe" in your 
USB drive together with the rest of the Clonezilla directories and 
files, let's try the following:

1_ Close all unnecessary programs, including Windows Explorer.

2_In Windows cmd prompt opened with "right-click -> Run as 
Administrator" (as instructed in some previous email in this same 
email thread), and assuming your USB drive is "d:" (change the drive 
letter accordingly in each of the following steps), type in:
d:
cd d:\utils\win32\
syslinux64.exe --mbr --active --directory /syslinux/ --install d:

3_ Once the previous command finishes, you should be back to the 
Windows cmd prompt. Type:
exit
so to close it.

4_ Shut down the system. Boot, use F12 during POST so to select the 
USB drive. Can you see the Clonezilla Live boot menu?

Regards,
Ady.