[ale] syslinux problem making bootable usb

[DJ-Pfulio]

If your gparted distro is more than a year old, replace it. Things changed a few
years ago and you really want the newer releases. Easiest just to get the new one.

When all else fails, try dd.  You can install mkusb-nox if you want hand-holding.

yumi should always work if you pick the distro from the list they support.
Otherwise, it is all a crap-shoot. Each distro names some of the boot files a
little differently. This is why Yumi has per-distro settings.

Not all USB ports support booting. Try different ports on the same box.


On 01/21/2016 09:07 AM, Ken Cochran wrote:
> Ok, here's the scenario so far:
> 
> Friend wants me to reset (probably clear/delete) password on his
> Win7 box.
> 
> Got both USB & ISO from http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/
> USB worked jus fine some months ago, was someone's XP box IIRC.
> 
> Have had on hand gparted for some time, as I use it from time to
> time.  Never had a problem with it.
> 
> Have on hand 2 cheap 2gb USB thumbdrives, one from Microcenter (they
> tell me it's Kingston I think) & one from a tradeshow SWAG bowl.
> 
> Ok, before I try it out in the wild, let's try it on a couple of
> my own systems:  HP 7200SFF and Lenovo T420, both Microcenter
> refurbs and both having been repartitioned with USB-booted
> gparted when acquired about a year ago & both been running fine.
> 
> Gparted works on either (cheap) USB device and on both computers.
> Chntpw does not work with either USB device or on either computer.
> Have tried chntpw via syslinux, YUMI & some thing called "rufus."
> Just for fun tried gparted with YUMI & that didn't work either but
> gparted works fine with its own setup, which uses syslinux I think.
> 
> I could use some Good & Proper way to handle the Top Item - what
> I'm doing so far just Isn't Cutting It...  {sigh}  -kc
> 
>> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
>> From: DJ-Pfulio <djpfulio at jdpfu.com>
>> Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2016 06:21:49 -0500
>> Subject: Re: [ale] syslinux problem making bootable usb
>>
>> Don't use USB3 devices or plugs.
>> Folks say to avoid SanDisk flash drives too.
>>
>> There is no way to know for certain if a specific USB storage
>> device will work with a specific USB port, until you try
>> it and it fails.  Really old USB storage (1st-gen) doesn't
>> work. About 5 yrs ago, I had good luck with almost any USB
>> storage - pre-USB3.
>>
>> So - try different USB flash storage.  I use cheap no-name
>> flash storage with the best luck. I've heard that Kingston
>> and a-data work best. I dunno. Currently using an "HP" branded
>> flash drive successfully to re-wipe ChromeOS over and over and
>> over after about 20 attempts to get Linux installed **and**
>> booting on a new Chromebook.
>>
>> Yumi is a very nice tool. Start by using one the already
>> understood ISO options and build from there.  Oh - UEFI screws
>> things up too, sometimes. Make certain legacy boot is enabled
>> for USB storage.
>>
>> OTOH, dd is pretty stupid and easy if you just need a bootable
>> ISO on flash storage.
>>
>> Unetbootin has never worked for me, but after the few 10
>> failures, I stopped trying to use it.
>>
>> On 01/20/2016 11:42 PM, Ken Cochran wrote:
>>> Yumi looks pretty good but so far I can't get it to make
>>> a bootable USB, even of gparted, which has always worked.
>>> {sigh}  -kc
>>>
>>>> From: DjPfulio <DjPfulio at jdpfu.com>
>>>> Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2016 17:32:37 -0500
>>>> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
>>>> Subject: Re: [ale] syslinux problem making bootable usb
>>>>
>>>> For the last few years I've been using dd. Works with any bootable ISO Li=
>>>> nux distribution. No multiboot allowed. Just a single ISO.
>>>> Syslinux and other boot tools don't always work on newer computers. If yo=
>>>> u must have some sort of a tool to do this, MKUSB has a GUI and there is =
>>>> a CLI version with next to zero dependencies.
>>>> If you want to use Windows for this, Yumi is the tool that has always wor=
>>>> ked for me. It supports multiboot setups.
>>>>
>>>> 99% of the time, I just use dd.
>>>>
>>>> On 20 January 2016 17:14:44 GMT-05:00, Ken Cochran <kwc at shell.theworld.co=
>>>> m> wrote:
>>>>> Hey y'all is there some kinda -fu I'm missing in making a usb
>>>>> flash drive bootable?  I'm trying to make a chntpw & it's not
>>>>> working.  I can make & run gparted on the same media just fine.
>>>>> Any nice alternatives to chntpw for "outside" resetting that
>>>>> type of password?  As always, faq, doc & pointers to FMs to
>>>>> RT are quite welcome. :)  -kc
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>