HowTo Install Fedora 10/11/12 DVD from a 4GB USB stick

[sideways]

Your saying in post # 1 I need to run the livecd-iso-to-disk command to put boot.iso on the FC11.iso file. I don't have a "boot.iso" file located in /mnt/iso/images folder. Thus the livecd-iso-to-disk command responds with the command syntax.

Where do I get the boot.iso file? Are you saying livecd command will copy the boot.iso?

Assuming the usb stick is /dev/sdd and you are in F10 and you want to transfer F11 DVD to a usb stick then the 4 steps are:

1. (if necessary) format the usb stick using gparted or similar, create one fat32/ext2/3 partition
2. (as root) type 'livecd-iso-to-disk <pathto>/Fedora-11-i386-DVD.iso /dev/sdd1'
3. copy install.img to images/ directory on the stick
4. copy Fedora-11-i386-DVD.iso to the stick

if step 2 complains about partition not being bootable then do 'parted /dev/sdd toggle 1 boot'

Ensure F10 has latest updates of livecd-tools and syslinux.

[richjoh]

Unlike the post # 1 command, your livecd-iso-to-disk command above appears to work.

It appears the livecd-iso-to-disk worked but I get "Invalid or damage bootable partition" when I boot from the usb stick. I wondering if I need to try different usb stick? I have all the files copied to the stick. The FC11 iso file is copied to the usb stick in the iso format correct, or is it uncompressed to separate DVD files?

[root@localhost ~]# livecd-iso-to-disk /<path-to>/Fedora-11-i386-DVD.iso /dev/sdd1
Verifying image...
<path-to>/Fedora-11-i386-DVD.iso:   0b6867ac3932fb3e97ef488c72f1c852
Fragment sums: a5b6269a684162879e194a2d7961a0ea48ffd9cb6ee203d941ed91d24a58
Fragment count: 20
Checking: 100.0%

The media check is complete, the result is: PASS.

It is OK to use this media.
Copying live image to USB stick
Updating boot config file
Installing boot loader
USB stick set up as live image!

[robertgray86]

Sideways:

I tried your steps and generated an DVD iso, copied the image.iso, and downloaded a boot.iso from a mirror.

I'm getting a "Boot Error" on boot up, though. My BIOS Allows for Flash Drive to be used as a "Hard Drive/HDD option", and as a "Boot by USB-FDD" option.

boot.iso was in the "root" with the DVD.iso and moved to the image folder - still no dice.

I've also tried the LiveCD Install; but am getting an error based on "lv activation failure". I've made a bugzilla entry. Booting with the LiveCD results in a string of usb-1-# type errors. The USB drives work once booted, though.

Can you provide some "remedial" guidance and list what should be in the DVD/USB; and Is there a custom spin for a generic, DVD install somewhere?

Thanks.

[sideways]

Sideways:

I tried your steps and generated an DVD iso, copied the image.iso, and downloaded a boot.iso from a mirror.

I'm getting a "Boot Error" on boot up, though. My BIOS Allows for Flash Drive to be used as a "Hard Drive/HDD option", and as a "Boot by USB-FDD" option.

boot.iso was in the "root" with the DVD.iso and moved to the image folder - still no dice.

I've also tried the LiveCD Install; but am getting an error based on "lv activation failure". I've made a bugzilla entry. Booting with the LiveCD results in a string of usb-1-# type errors. The USB drives work once booted, though.

Can you provide some "remedial" guidance and list what should be in the DVD/USB; and Is there a custom spin for a generic, DVD install somewhere?

Thanks.

Assuming the usb stick is /dev/sdb and you are in F9 or F10 and you want to transfer F11 DVD to a usb stick then the 4 steps are:

1. (if necessary) format the usb stick using gparted or similar, create one fat32/ext2/3 partition
2. (as root) type 'livecd-iso-to-disk <pathto>/Fedora-11-i386-DVD.iso /dev/sdb1'
3. copy install.img to images/ directory on the stick
4. copy Fedora-11-i386-DVD.iso to the stick

if step 2 complains about partition not being bootable then do 'parted /dev/sdb toggle 1 boot'

Ensure F9/F10 has latest updates of livecd-tools and syslinux (So if you are using a LiveCD you will need to install these)

[robertgray86]

Assuming the usb stick is /dev/sdb and you are in F9 or F10 and you want to transfer F11 DVD to a usb stick then the 4 steps are:

1. (if necessary) format the usb stick using gparted or similar, create one fat32/ext2/3 partition
2. (as root) type 'livecd-iso-to-disk <pathto>/Fedora-11-i386-DVD.iso /dev/sdb1'
3. copy install.img to images/ directory on the stick
4. copy Fedora-11-i386-DVD.iso to the stick

if step 2 complains about partition not being bootable then do 'parted /dev/sdb toggle 1 boot'

Ensure F9/F10 has latest updates of livecd-tools and syslinux (So if you are using a LiveCD you will need to install these)

1. Done. FAT32. Verified in LiveCD's gparted. gparted indicates drive flagged to "boot"
2. Done, with minor differences - mine's sdc. No complaints.
3. Done.
4. Done. Had the boot.iso on the stick as well.

I'm still getting "Boot Errors"; and when I boot w/the LiveCD, get "usb-1-4 errors" before x kicks in. USB works fine on the OS.

What else could be the problem? I know I've been exploited/hacked last week (per link). Since my harddrive install's corrupted, is there anyway that I can use a LiveCD session to burn an DVD iso directly to a USB or DVD from the internet?

Thanks.

[sideways]

There is no boot.iso for F11.

If you have Fedora 9/10 (even a livecd session) and you want to transfer the Fedora 11 DVD to a usb stick, here are the steps (all done as root)

If you don't want to wipe your usb stick, don't do this first bit, this assumes the stick is /dev/sdb, and will completely wipe it

yum install livecd-tools syslinux
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=1000
parted /dev/sdb mklabel msdos
parted /dev/sdb mkpartfs p ext2 0% 100%
tune2fs -m0 /dev/sdb1

You can use fat32 in place of ext2, but beware that if your stick is >4GB that max file size is 4GB in fat32, so an iso image larger than this won't copy.

Now, these next steps should be followed by everyone

parted /dev/sdb toggle 1 boot
umount /dev/sdb1
livecd-iso-to-disk <path to>/Fedora-11-i386-DVD.iso /dev/sdb1

Now mount the usb stick (eg. just remove and reinsert) then copy install.img and the whole dvd iso image across (takes ages)

mkdir /mnt/iso
mount -o loop <path to>/Fedora-11-i386-DVD.iso /mnt/iso
mkdir /media/<usb stick>/images
cp /mnt/iso/images/install.img /media/<usb stick>/images/
cp <path to>/Fedora-11-i386-DVD.iso /media/<usb stick>/

Finished!. You can test with qemu (if installed)

qemu -m 512 /dev/sdb

(That will just check that the usb stick boots into the installer, don't actually try to install from qemu)

[smiffy]

I used your method with F11-x86_64 and it worked perfectly. I had tried to perform an upgrade from F10 to F11 using the DVD without success but the cut-down .iso on my 4GB USB stick worked fine - and it seemed to start quicker too.

Thanks

Smiffy

[sideways]

I used your method with F11-x86_64 and it worked perfectly. I had tried to perform an upgrade from F10 to F11 using the DVD without success but the cut-down .iso on my 4GB USB stick worked fine - and it seemed to start quicker too.

Thanks

Smiffy

Thanks for the feedback. The size of the x86_64 DVD has been increasing every release, it's too big to fit on most 4GB usb sticks now, hence the fiddly edit required using isomaster. It wouldn't be so bad if the install.img file could be removed, but unfortunately it can't.

For the 32bit DVD you can now transfer it using liveusb-creator from windows. This will also probably work for x86_64 on an 8GB or 16GB stick, but for 4GB sticks the method outlined in posts #1 and #2 is required.

[smiffy]

sideways

I wasn't aware of isomaster until I read your post #2. Another useful tool for the armoury.

I had no joy when the USB stick was in its original state with a FAT file system. I had to re-partition and make an ext2 file system. I'm not sure what the problem was but after running live-iso-to-disk the stick was no longer mountable so I wasn't able to copy install.img or the .iso to it!

The upgrade from F10 to F11 ran remarkably quickly. I amused myself with a few hands of Pysol Klondike while it ran. But then the problems started. It appears that the upgrade process doesn't edit /boot/grub/grub.conf to reflect the new kernel & initrd. For reasons unknown yum wasn't updated so I had to use rpm to remove the F10 version and install the F11 version from DVD. yum -y update was in a world of hurt after that until I ran yum clean all then everything was back on an even keel. A bit of a nuisance but still quicker than a fresh install with its attendant danger of forgetting to back-up some vital .conf file.

Thanks again.

Smiffy

[smiffy]

... actually, as I've three systems to upgrade, thanks three times over!

Smiffy

[jerboyd]

hello, i'm using this howto to set up a usb stick as install media for f11 x64. after following all the steps i reboot and the installer starts up. everything goes fine until after the partitioning and boot device setup. i'm getting an error that says that it can't mount the install image. the installer than exits. has anyone else seen this behaviour?

[smiffy]

jerboyd

I've only used this method to upgrade from F10 to F11. I was unsure how to answer the question about where the install media was located but used Hard Drive in the end and this proved OK. So I'm sorry I can't help you there.

On a different tack, I said that the upgrade method didn't modify /boot/grub/grub.conf The mystery is now solved. I've finished upgrading all three systems now and on the 2nd & 3rd systems the grub.conf file was properly modified. On the 1st system I had, inadvisedly, installed Nvidia's own video driver and had 'tainted' the kernel. The upgrade method finds this and doesn't do that part of the upgrade. I've now uninstalled the driver and reverted to the standard video driver. If anyone else wants to do this - run /usr/bin/nvidia-uninstall & make sure you remove or rename the /etc/X11/xorg.conf that the Nvidia install process creates otherwise the system won't be able to enter run level 5.

Smiffy

[sideways]

hello, i'm using this howto to set up a usb stick as install media for f11 x64. after following all the steps i reboot and the installer starts up. everything goes fine until after the partitioning and boot device setup. i'm getting an error that says that it can't mount the install image. the installer than exits. has anyone else seen this behaviour?

Did you modify the dvd iso? If so, did you leave the install.img file in the images directory?
Did you call the modified iso 'Fedora-11-x86_64-DVD.iso' and copy it to the root directory of the usb stick?

[smiffy]

jerboyd

Don't know if it helps but my 4GB USB stick's root directory looks like this:

-rw------- 1 root root 3567790080 2009-06-30 18:37 Fedora-11-x86_64-DVD.iso
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2009-06-30 18:29 images
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2009-06-30 18:26 LiveOS
drwx------ 2 root root 16384 2009-06-30 18:25 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2009-06-30 18:26 syslinux

The only file in the images directory is install.img

The install process looks for an ISO image with the name Fedora-11-x86_64-DVD.iso so if you're getting the message that it can't mount the install image it's likely that the name of the ISO image is wrong. I took sideways's advice and used isomaster to remove the openoffice language files to get down to 3.3GB

Smiffy

[jerboyd]

i got it to work by following the instructions at the top of this page. they suggest running livecd-iso-to-disk on the fedora installation dvd iso whereas i was running it on boot.iso which needs to be downloaded from a mirror. i read the tutorial but missed that part. oops

i have a couple more questions on this topic.

1. is it possible to create a live dvd from a full fedora installation? i.e. install from a dvd and customize which packages i want, then update the system and then create a live dvd from that? the reason i ask is this. it is really easy to install fedora with the live media, using a live usb i was able to have a working fedora installation in less than 10 minutes using this method. afterwards though there is more work to do, i.e. install openoffice, updates etc. i would like to be able to do this with a full installation.

2. if this is possible i would like to have a usb stick with several partitions, each with a different install. one with 64 bit one with 32 bit. they could each be mirrors of installations that i could have on spare partitions on my main machine. the goal would be to be able to insert a usb stick and boot a computer, then be able to choose the partition with the proper architecture on it and do a liveusb install of a full system from there. i could keep the live installations updated on the usb drive by updating them on my machine and then recopying the install image.

if question 1 is possible what are the steps i would need to take to convert an updated installation into a live medium and if question 2 is possible how could i make the usb drive bootable but be able to choose which partition to boot from?

a great advantage to this type of setup is that i could install systems from friends and family in a fraction of the time and all from on little usb drive.

if i'm crazy just let me know and i'll shut up.