1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
|
---
title: How to Install GNU+Linux on a Libreboot System
x-toc-enable: true
...
This section relates to preparing and booting a Live USB for several
GNU+Linux distributions, on your Libreboot system, using nothing more than a USB
flash drive and the `dd` utility. For information on installing GNU+Linux,
refer to [this page](index.md).
*This section is only for the GRUB payload. For depthcharge (used on
CrOS devices in libreboot), instructions have yet to be written in the
libreboot documentation.*
## Prepare the USB Drive (in GNU+Linux)
If you downloaded your ISO while on an existing GNU+Linux system, here is how
to create the bootable GNU+Linux USB drive:
Connect the USB drive. Check `dmesg`:
$ dmesg
Check `lsblk`, to confirm which drive it is:
$ lsblk
Check that it wasn't automatically mounted. If it was, unmount it. For
example:
$ sudo umount /dev/sdX\*
`dmesg` told you what device it is. Overwrite the drive, writing your
distro ISO to it with `dd`. Here is an example:
$ sudo dd if=gnulinux.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=8M; sync
You should now be able to boot the installer from your USB drive.
Continue reading, for information about how to do that.
## Prepare the USB drive (in NetBSD)
[This page](https://wiki.netbsd.org/tutorials/how_to_install_netbsd_from_an_usb_memory_stick/)
on the NetBSD website shows how to create a NetBSD bootable USB drive,
from within NetBSD itself. You should use the `dd` method documented there.
This will also work with any GNU+Linux ISO image.
## Prepare the USB drive (in FreeBSD)
[This page](https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/bsdinstall-pre.html) on
the FreeBSD website shows how to create a bootable USB drive for
installing FreeBSD. Use the `dd` command format on that page.
You can also use the same instructions with any GNU+Linux ISO image..
## Prepare the USB drive (in LibertyBSD or OpenBSD)
If you downloaded your ISO on a LibertyBSD or OpenBSD system, here is
how to create the bootable GNU+Linux USB drive:
Connect the USB drive. Check `dmesg`:
$ dmesg | tail
Check to confirm which drive it is, for example, if you think its **sd3**:
$ disklabel sd3
Check that it wasn't automatically mounted. If it was, unmount it. For
example:
$ doas umount /dev/sd3i
`dmesg` told you what device it is. Overwrite the drive, writing the
OpenBSD installer to it with `dd`. For example:
$ doas dd if=gnulinux.iso of=/dev/rsdXc bs=1M; sync
You should now be able to boot the installer from your USB drive.
Continue reading, for information about how to do that.
## Debian or Devuan net install?
Download the Debian or Devuan net installer. You can download the ISO
from the homepage on [debian.org](https://www.debian.org/), or [the Devuan homepage](https://www.devuan.org/) for Devuan. Use this on the
GRUB terminal, to boot it from USB (for 64-bit Intel or AMD):
set root='usb0'
linux /install.amd/vmlinuz
initrd /install.amd/initrd.gz
boot
If you are on a 32-bit system (e.g. some Thinkpad X60's):
set root='usb0'
linux /install.386/vmlinuz
initrd /install.386/initrd.gz
boot
## Booting ISOLINUX Images
### Automatic Method
Boot it in GRUB using the *Parse ISOLINUX config (USB)* option. A new
menu should appear in GRUB, showing the boot options for that distro;
this is a GRUB menu, converted from the usual ISOLINUX menu provided by
that distro.
### Manual Method
These are generic instructions. They may or may not be correct for your
distribution. You must adapt them appropriately, for whatever GNU+Linux
distribution it is that you are trying to install.
If the ISOLINUX parser or *Search for GRUB configuration* options won't
work, then press C in GRUB to access the command line:
grub> ls
Get the device from above output, eg (usb0). Example:
grub> cat (usb0)/isolinux/isolinux.cfg
Either this will show the ISOLINUX menuentries for that ISO, or link to
other .cfg files, for example /isolinux/foo.cfg.
If it did that, then you do:
grub> cat (usb0)/isolinux/foo.cfg
And so on, until you find the correct menuentries for ISOLINUX. *The file
`/isolinux/foo.cfg` is a fictional example. Do not actually use this example,
unless you actually have that file, if it is appropriate.*
For Debian or Devuan (and other Debian-based distros), there are typically
menuentries listed in */isolinux/txt.cfg* or */isolinux/gtk.cfg*. For
dual-architecture ISO images (i686 and x86\_64), there may be separate
files/directories for each architecture. Just keep searching through the
image, until you find the correct ISOLINUX configuration file.
**NOTE: Debian 8.6 ISO only lists 32-bit boot options in txt.cfg. This is important, if you want 64-bit booting on your system. Devuan versions based on Debian 8.x may also have the same issue.**
Now, look at the ISOLINUX menuentry. It'll look like this:
kernel /path/to/kernel append PARAMETERS initrd=/path/to/initrd ...
GRUB works similarly; here are some example GRUB commands:
grub> set root='usb0'
grub> linux /path/to/kernel PARAMETERS MAYBE\_MORE\_PARAMETERS
grub> initrd /path/to/initrd
grub> boot
Note: `usb0` may be incorrect. Check the output of the `ls` command (in
GRUB), to see a list of USB devices/partitions. Of course, this will vary
from distro to distro. If you did all of that correctly, then it should
now be booting your USB drive in the way that you specified.
## Troubleshooting
Most of these issues occur when using Libreboot with Coreboot's 'text
mode' instead of the Coreboot framebuffer. This mode is useful for
booting payloads, like `MemTest86+`, which expect text-mode, but for
GNU+Linux distributions, it can be problematic when they are trying to
switch to a framebuffer, because it doesn't exist.
In most cases, you should use the **vesafb** ROM images. Example filename:
**libreboot\_ukdvorak\_vesafb.rom**.
### Parabola Won't Boot in Text-Mode
Use one of the ROM images with vesafb in the filename (uses coreboot
framebuffer instead of text-mode).
### debian-installer Graphical Corruption in Text-Mode (Debian and Devuan)
When using the ROM images that use Coreboot's "text mode" instead of
the coreboot framebuffer, booting the Debian or Devuan net installer
results in graphical corruption, because it is trying to switch to a
framebuffer, which doesn't exist. Use that kernel parameter on the
`linux` line, when booting it:
vga=normal fb=false
This forces debian-installer to start in text-mode, instead of trying to
switch to a framebuffer.
If selecting text-mode from a GRUB menu created using the ISOLINUX
parser, you can press `E` on the menu entry to add this. Or, if you are
booting manually (from GRUB terminal), then just add the parameters.
This workaround was found on the [Debian site](https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch05s04.html). It should also work for Devuan, and any other `apt-get` distro that provides the debian-installer (text mode) net install method.
Copyright © 2014, 2015, 2016 Leah Rowe <info@minifree.org>
Copyright © 2016 Scott Bonds <scott@ggr.com>
Copyright © 2017 Elijah Smith <esmith1412@posteo.net>
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.3 or any later
version published by the Free Software Foundation
with no Invariant Sections, no Front Cover Texts, and no Back Cover Texts.
A copy of this license is found in [../fdl-1.3.md](../fdl-1.3.md)
|
