[syslinux] "isolinux.bin missing or corrupt" when booting USB flash drive in old PC

Ady Ady ady-sf at hotmail.com
Sat Mar 18 01:18:39 PDT 2017


> syslinux at zytor.com:
> 
> I have two older computers with Intel D865GBFLK motherboards (~2003)
> and Pentium 4 HT CPU's.  They both have the latest available BIOS
> installed.  I would like to put Debian on them.
> 
> 
> I have downloaded:
> 
>  
> http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/i386/iso-cd/debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso
> 
> 
> When I put debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso on a CD-R, it boots correctly.
> 
> 
> When I put debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso on a USB flash drive and boot 
> it, I see the following on the console:
> 
>      isolinux.bin missing or corrupt
> 
> 
> The same USB flash drive boots correctly in newer computers.
> 
> 
> Memtest86+ 5.01 on a USB flash drive boots correctly in the older
> computers:
> 
>      http://www.memtest.org/download/5.01/memtest86+-5.01.iso.gz
> 
> 
> My conclusion is that debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso, when put on a USB 
> flash drive, is not compatible with the BIOS in the older computers.
> 
> 
> I have filed a Debian bug report, and have been advised to post here:
> 
>      https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=857597
> 
> 
> Please advise.
> 
> 
> TIA,
> 
> David
 
 
Some of the things you should / could (re)test / (re)try:

_ Verify the md5sum of the ISO image.

_ Is this particular USB device _still_ capable of booting newer 
computers? What happens if you would try _again_ to boot a newer 
computer? If the error message is seen now (while it was booting OK 
before such newer systems), then it might be a sign that the USB device 
is now failing.

_ Before executing dd in order to write the ISO image to the USB deice, 
verify that you UNmount the filesystem volumes located in the USB 
device.
_ In the dd command, verify that you are _not_ using a partition as 
destination device but rather the whole device. For example, if the USB 
device is identified as '/dev/sdc' in your OS, then the dd command 
should _not_ include 'of=/dev/sdc1' but rather 'of=/dev/sdc'.
_After executing the dd command, wait enough time before extracting the 
USB device. After the dd command has finished, sometimes using a 'sync' 
command is suggested before extracting the USB device.

_ In the problematic computer(s), are there several USB ports? Have you 
tried using another USB port when booting with this device (USB ports 
in the front can frequently be a suspect, but not only those)? Is the 
USB device connected directly to the USB port? Or instead, is there 
some USB hub or similar device in between?

_ Which type of USB device is this? Are you using a USB flash drive, a 
HDD connected by USB, or some kind of (SD) card connected by USB?

_ With the USB device connected to (one of) the problematic 
computer(s), power up the system and get into the BIOS setup. In the 
BIOS setup screen(s), change the boot order in such way that the USB 
device is recognized as first boot device. Other devices such as CD-ROM 
and your local HDD should be listed after the USB device in the boot 
order (as second/third boot devices). Then save the BIOS settings and 
try booting with the USB device.

_ If the BIOS setup includes some "fast (POST) boot" or "quick (POST) 
boot" (or similar) option, disable it.

_ If the above changes in the BIOS setup are not enough for a 
successful boot with your USB device, then boot back into the BIOS 
setup screen(s) and change the way your USB is being detected at boot 
time. Sometimes a USB device in a specific computer cannot boot when it 
is detected as "USB-AUTO", but it can succeed when it is specifically 
selected as "USB-HDD", or as "USB-FLOPPY", or as "USB-ZIP'. This is 
usually selected when pressing a specific key during boot time and 
selecting a specific device type as boot device - the specific key 
(F1/F2/F12/DEL/ESC or some combination of keys) depends on your 
particular computer.

_ Some older computers might not be able to detect "big" USB devices 
correctly. Using a USB flash drive of 1GB might succeed while a bigger 
one might fail. There are too many reasons for this behavior and thus, 
too many possible workarounds / solutions; trying a smaller USB device 
is just one of many.

There are alternative ways to boot from USB devices, and they depend on 
how the ISO image was transferred onto the USB device. If you find that 
your current boot device cannot boot these old systems, then the "dd 
method" might not be a good choice for these old computers, but an 
alternative method might work.

Considering that the other USB device (the one with memtest) is booting 
correctly, you might want to describe here how exactly you transferred 
memtest to this other USB device, and what is different from it in 
comparison to the one that is having problems.

Regards,
Ady.

PS: I hope the OP is subscribed to the Syslinux Mailing List.
 
 
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