[syslinux] boot fails on some system

[Jethro Tull]

On Fri, 14 Apr, 2017, 19:04:42 +0000, Ady Ady via Syslinux wrote:
> > 
> > "Missing operating system." 
> > "Operating System not found" 
> > 
> > and keep still ...  I can reboot the computer with Ctrl + Alt + Del.
> 
> 
> A simple search in the Syslinux wiki (or even a web search) would tell 
> you that you are probably lacking the "boot" (aka "active") flag 
> enabled on the adequate (primary) partition.

Right, that probably why I have already highlighed the point on boot flag in
one of my previous email.

> After trying that, I would suggest, based on comments you previously 
> posted, for you to start by trying a simple one-and-only FAT partition, 
> on a simple USB flash drive, using one (live) distro, and only one.

yeah, why not ... I'll try.

> Using multiple partitions, with the possibility of multiple different 
> distributions / tools while having enough compatibility with multiple 
> different systems at the moment seems to be (much) further down the 
> road. 

Not so ... As I stated in one of my previous emails my first attempt was
successful on both computers. It was using a FAT partition and syslinux but
without using mbr.bin for the hard drive's mbr.

> Moreover, there are auxiliary tools that can help 
> less-knowledgeable users, instead of doing all the steps manually. If 
> you have some Windows OS, there are even more auxiliary tools to choose 
> from, and with them, many web sites / forums dedicated to the matter.

I know many tools that can make a usb pendrive bootable. I don't like using
such magic tools.

> Additionally, I would suggest reading, a lot. Just a basic page would 
> be the page about USB devices on the sysrescuecd site.

I know about this page, several methods are provided, most using specific
scripts, and the latest using the same thing as I'm doing here. I'll probably
have a look at their scripts.

> Regarding the system that is not booting, you might probably want to 
> check whether it is a UEFI system.

In my previous email I mentionned the failing laptop was about ten years old.
I think at that time I had never heard of UEFI. Also I dumped all the needed
information about the BIOS of both computers I have in the email opening this
thread, yesterday.

> 
> Finally, please consider that the specific directories in which you 
> install SYSLINUX and the location of specific files (and their 
> versions) are also part of the troubleshooting process.

There are an infinite number of issues that could make something not working.
I reported in my previous emails all the commands I'm trying to have my job
done and which distro I tried. I also mentionned that one of the two
computers I have has always booted fine with all my attempts. Also as
mentionned earlier in this email that the failing one did not fail until I
used mbr.bin. There's this page
"http://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Hardware_Compatibility"
discussing about broken systems. I have often met odd behaviours with
uncommon boot methods mostly pxe and usb, this is the exact reason I came
here i.e. to discuss about whether my computer has some old badly designed
BIOS, question for which I dumped the info I could gather about the BIOSes I
have as soon as my initial email in this thread, but not to point syslinux as
faulty. The latter would seem strange as I repeatedly pointed all along this
thread that one of the two computers I have at hand currently is booting as
expected.

> 
> Regards,
> Ady.