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

[David Christensen]

On 03/19/2017 01:12 AM, Ady Ady via Syslinux wrote:
> During POST, there should be some option to press some key, in order to
> select a (different) boot device. This is usually done by users when
> they want to use a different boot device just one time, instead of
> modifying the boot order in the BIOS setup screen(s).
>
> After pressing such key (specific to each system, as I described in a
> prior email), there might be different "USB" options, typically
> "USB-AUTO", "USB-HDD", "USB-ZIP", "USB-FLOPPY", among others.

The key is F10:

Please select boot device:

ADATA USB Flash Drive 0.00


> As I mentioned in a prior email, using an older version of ISOLINUX
> (and related packages) would probably give you an "isolinux.bin" file
> smaller than 32KiB, which is one of the possible solutions (if its
> current size happens to be the source for failure).

I would consider older software if it is still supported.  Is it?  If 
so, please provide a URL.  If not, no thanks.


> In another email, you mentioned your desire to use USB devices instead
> of optical ones. You do not need to build ISO images just for USB
> devices. As I explained before, there is an alternative method, better
> suited for broader compatibility than using isohybrid images. Instead
> of learning how to build ISO images just so you can burn them on a USB
> device, I would suggest learning how to use SYSLINUX. And, again, there
> are auxiliary tools that would simplify the procedure even further.

Please provide a URL for documentation that explains how to build a 
bootable USB flash drive equivalent to debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso.


> BTW, the ISO image of memtest86+ is not isohybrid. In fact, it is a
> floppy-emulation ISO image. There is an image for USB devices, but it
> is not an ISO image. So, using dd for memtest86+ doesn't mean "the same
> procedure". Or, perhaps we are talking about a different "memtest"?

My point was to prove that the computer is capable of booting from a USB 
flash drive.  I do not expect that the Memtest86+ or FreeBSD bootable 
USB flash drives use Linux or anything else in 
debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso.


> Once again, I would suggest searching for some auxiliary tool (e.g.
> RUFUS under Windows, there are many others, including those for Linux),
> or learning how to do it manually. It would certainly simplify things
> when you want to customize a/your own Linux distribution (considering
> that isohybrid is, for the most part, read-only, while using SYSLINUX
> allows for writing).

Please provide a URL for documentation that explains how to build a 
bootable USB flash drive equivalent to debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso.


> Regarding distros for older computers, there are several. The problem,
> at least at this point, is bootability. Although Antix is for older
> computers, it is also based on Debian and the latest ISOLINUX will also
> be bigger than 32KiB. Perhaps Knoppix or some (of the many) PuppyLinux
> would still use ISOLINUX 4.xx or older. SUSE derivatives also use v.
> 4.xx. Slackware derivatives too. DSL used to provide a floppy-emulation
> ISO image, but it is no longer maintained and not suitable for USB
> either.

If anyone knows of a Linux distribution targeted at 32-bit hardware, 
please say so.


> So, to sum up, if you learn how to use SYSLINUX instead of ISOLINUX,
> or, even simpler than that, search for an auxiliary tool that performs
> (all) the steps for you, you could have a USB device with whichever
> Linux distribution (for x86) you would want to customize for these
> systems.

Please provide a URL for documentation that explains how to build a 
bootable USB flash drive equivalent to debian-8.7.1-i386-xfce-CD-1.iso.


David