Bootable ISO vs. Partitioning
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I would like to create a bootable Linux ISO on a USB drive under Debian 9. I found that the ISO is only bootable if it has been written to the disk /dev/XdY.
If the ISO is written to a specific partition, e.g. /dev/sdd1, then it is not bootable. What is the technical reason behind this?
It works after writing the ISO to a partition and deleting the partition afterwards using Gnome-Disk, this does not delete the file, but makes the disk bootable.
linux partition path iso bootable
edited Sep 19 at 18:45
Fabby
2,508723
asked Sep 16 at 18:43
david
133
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
I would like to create a bootable Linux ISO on a USB drive under Debian 9. I found that the ISO is only bootable if it has been written to the disk /dev/XdY.
If the ISO is written to a specific partition, e.g. /dev/sdd1, then it is not bootable. What is the technical reason behind this?
It works after writing the ISO to a partition and deleting the partition afterwards using Gnome-Disk, this does not delete the file, but makes the disk bootable.
linux partition path iso bootable
edited Sep 19 at 18:45
Fabby
2,508723
asked Sep 16 at 18:43
david
133
If you're using BIOS+MBR, what did you get if mark that partition as the only boot-able? I believe standard MS-DOS MBR code will chain boot your boot-able partition.
– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:11
I usedsudo dd if=/home/<Windows 10 ISO> of=/dev/sdXto write the ISO to the USB stick, for some reason, the option Gnome-Disk >> Edit partition >> Bootable is greyed out.
– david
Sep 19 at 18:50
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
I would like to create a bootable Linux ISO on a USB drive under Debian 9. I found that the ISO is only bootable if it has been written to the disk /dev/XdY.
If the ISO is written to a specific partition, e.g. /dev/sdd1, then it is not bootable. What is the technical reason behind this?
It works after writing the ISO to a partition and deleting the partition afterwards using Gnome-Disk, this does not delete the file, but makes the disk bootable.
linux partition path iso bootable
edited Sep 19 at 18:45
Fabby
2,508723
asked Sep 16 at 18:43
david
133
I would like to create a bootable Linux ISO on a USB drive under Debian 9. I found that the ISO is only bootable if it has been written to the disk /dev/XdY.
If the ISO is written to a specific partition, e.g. /dev/sdd1, then it is not bootable. What is the technical reason behind this?
It works after writing the ISO to a partition and deleting the partition afterwards using Gnome-Disk, this does not delete the file, but makes the disk bootable.
linux partition path iso bootable
linux partition path iso bootable
edited Sep 19 at 18:45
Fabby
2,508723
asked Sep 16 at 18:43
david
133
edited Sep 19 at 18:45
Fabby
2,508723
asked Sep 16 at 18:43
david
133
edited Sep 19 at 18:45
Fabby
2,508723
edited Sep 19 at 18:45
Fabby
2,508723
edited Sep 19 at 18:45
Fabby
2,508723
2,508723
asked Sep 16 at 18:43
david
133
asked Sep 16 at 18:43
david
133
asked Sep 16 at 18:43
david
133
133
If you're using BIOS+MBR, what did you get if mark that partition as the only boot-able? I believe standard MS-DOS MBR code will chain boot your boot-able partition.
– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:11
I usedsudo dd if=/home/<Windows 10 ISO> of=/dev/sdXto write the ISO to the USB stick, for some reason, the option Gnome-Disk >> Edit partition >> Bootable is greyed out.
– david
Sep 19 at 18:50
add a comment |Â
If you're using BIOS+MBR, what did you get if mark that partition as the only boot-able? I believe standard MS-DOS MBR code will chain boot your boot-able partition.
– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:11
I usedsudo dd if=/home/<Windows 10 ISO> of=/dev/sdXto write the ISO to the USB stick, for some reason, the option Gnome-Disk >> Edit partition >> Bootable is greyed out.
– david
Sep 19 at 18:50
If you're using BIOS+MBR, what did you get if mark that partition as the only boot-able? I believe standard MS-DOS MBR code will chain boot your boot-able partition.
– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:11
If you're using BIOS+MBR, what did you get if mark that partition as the only boot-able? I believe standard MS-DOS MBR code will chain boot your boot-able partition.
– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:11
I used
sudo dd if=/home/<Windows 10 ISO> of=/dev/sdX to write the ISO to the USB stick, for some reason, the option Gnome-Disk >> Edit partition >> Bootable is greyed out.– david
Sep 19 at 18:50
I used
sudo dd if=/home/<Windows 10 ISO> of=/dev/sdX to write the ISO to the USB stick, for some reason, the option Gnome-Disk >> Edit partition >> Bootable is greyed out.– david
Sep 19 at 18:50
add a comment |Â
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
up vote
5
down vote
accepted
- BIOS machines boot disks.
- UEFI machines boot the UEFI partition
So neither of those boot just any partition.
If you're looking to have a bootable ISO booting from a partition, you can add the ISO file to /etc/grub.d/40_custom and then grub will "boot" the ISO for you.
E.G. for gparted on my machine where /opt lives in hd2,gpt2
menuentry "GParted Live ISO"
set ISOFile="/opt/Live-ISOs/gparted-live-0.31.0-1-amd64.iso"
loopback loop (hd2,gpt2)$ISOFile
linuxefi (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live components config findiso=$ISOFile ip=frommedia toram=filesystem.squashfs union=overlay username=user
initrdefi (loop)/live/initrd.img
answered Sep 16 at 19:21
Fabby
2,508723
2
nice idea using grub for the ISO.
– Rui F Ribeiro
Sep 16 at 19:27
May I ask whylinuxefiandinitrdefi? I've only done this withoutefi.
– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:08
Because my machine is an UEFI machine and I didn't even try the originals. Ping me in chat if you want me to try @神秘德里克
– Fabby
Sep 17 at 10:05
1.) What is the technical reason that deleting a partition actually makes an ISO/drive bootable? 2.) I need to install Windows 10 on my old ThinkPad R60 and copied the ISO onto a USB stick from Debian 9, but it does not seem to be recognized as bootable by the laptop. What am I doing wrong?
– david
Sep 19 at 16:04
1
That solves the question! Thx
– david
Sep 20 at 19:57
 |Â
show 7 more comments
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
5
down vote
accepted
- BIOS machines boot disks.
- UEFI machines boot the UEFI partition
So neither of those boot just any partition.
If you're looking to have a bootable ISO booting from a partition, you can add the ISO file to /etc/grub.d/40_custom and then grub will "boot" the ISO for you.
E.G. for gparted on my machine where /opt lives in hd2,gpt2
menuentry "GParted Live ISO"
set ISOFile="/opt/Live-ISOs/gparted-live-0.31.0-1-amd64.iso"
loopback loop (hd2,gpt2)$ISOFile
linuxefi (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live components config findiso=$ISOFile ip=frommedia toram=filesystem.squashfs union=overlay username=user
initrdefi (loop)/live/initrd.img
answered Sep 16 at 19:21
Fabby
2,508723
2
nice idea using grub for the ISO.
– Rui F Ribeiro
Sep 16 at 19:27
May I ask whylinuxefiandinitrdefi? I've only done this withoutefi.
– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:08
Because my machine is an UEFI machine and I didn't even try the originals. Ping me in chat if you want me to try @神秘德里克
– Fabby
Sep 17 at 10:05
1.) What is the technical reason that deleting a partition actually makes an ISO/drive bootable? 2.) I need to install Windows 10 on my old ThinkPad R60 and copied the ISO onto a USB stick from Debian 9, but it does not seem to be recognized as bootable by the laptop. What am I doing wrong?
– david
Sep 19 at 16:04
1
That solves the question! Thx
– david
Sep 20 at 19:57
 |Â
show 7 more comments
up vote
5
down vote
accepted
- BIOS machines boot disks.
- UEFI machines boot the UEFI partition
So neither of those boot just any partition.
If you're looking to have a bootable ISO booting from a partition, you can add the ISO file to /etc/grub.d/40_custom and then grub will "boot" the ISO for you.
E.G. for gparted on my machine where /opt lives in hd2,gpt2
menuentry "GParted Live ISO"
set ISOFile="/opt/Live-ISOs/gparted-live-0.31.0-1-amd64.iso"
loopback loop (hd2,gpt2)$ISOFile
linuxefi (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live components config findiso=$ISOFile ip=frommedia toram=filesystem.squashfs union=overlay username=user
initrdefi (loop)/live/initrd.img
answered Sep 16 at 19:21
Fabby
2,508723
2
nice idea using grub for the ISO.
– Rui F Ribeiro
Sep 16 at 19:27
May I ask whylinuxefiandinitrdefi? I've only done this withoutefi.
– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:08
Because my machine is an UEFI machine and I didn't even try the originals. Ping me in chat if you want me to try @神秘德里克
– Fabby
Sep 17 at 10:05
1.) What is the technical reason that deleting a partition actually makes an ISO/drive bootable? 2.) I need to install Windows 10 on my old ThinkPad R60 and copied the ISO onto a USB stick from Debian 9, but it does not seem to be recognized as bootable by the laptop. What am I doing wrong?
– david
Sep 19 at 16:04
1
That solves the question! Thx
– david
Sep 20 at 19:57
 |Â
show 7 more comments
up vote
5
down vote
accepted
up vote
5
down vote
accepted
- BIOS machines boot disks.
- UEFI machines boot the UEFI partition
So neither of those boot just any partition.
If you're looking to have a bootable ISO booting from a partition, you can add the ISO file to /etc/grub.d/40_custom and then grub will "boot" the ISO for you.
E.G. for gparted on my machine where /opt lives in hd2,gpt2
menuentry "GParted Live ISO"
set ISOFile="/opt/Live-ISOs/gparted-live-0.31.0-1-amd64.iso"
loopback loop (hd2,gpt2)$ISOFile
linuxefi (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live components config findiso=$ISOFile ip=frommedia toram=filesystem.squashfs union=overlay username=user
initrdefi (loop)/live/initrd.img
answered Sep 16 at 19:21
Fabby
2,508723
- BIOS machines boot disks.
- UEFI machines boot the UEFI partition
So neither of those boot just any partition.
If you're looking to have a bootable ISO booting from a partition, you can add the ISO file to /etc/grub.d/40_custom and then grub will "boot" the ISO for you.
E.G. for gparted on my machine where /opt lives in hd2,gpt2
menuentry "GParted Live ISO"
set ISOFile="/opt/Live-ISOs/gparted-live-0.31.0-1-amd64.iso"
loopback loop (hd2,gpt2)$ISOFile
linuxefi (loop)/live/vmlinuz boot=live components config findiso=$ISOFile ip=frommedia toram=filesystem.squashfs union=overlay username=user
initrdefi (loop)/live/initrd.img
answered Sep 16 at 19:21
Fabby
2,508723
edited Sep 16 at 21:26
answered Sep 16 at 19:21
Fabby
2,508723
answered Sep 16 at 19:21
Fabby
2,508723
answered Sep 16 at 19:21
Fabby
2,508723
2,508723
2
nice idea using grub for the ISO.
– Rui F Ribeiro
Sep 16 at 19:27
May I ask whylinuxefiandinitrdefi? I've only done this withoutefi.
– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:08
Because my machine is an UEFI machine and I didn't even try the originals. Ping me in chat if you want me to try @神秘德里克
– Fabby
Sep 17 at 10:05
1.) What is the technical reason that deleting a partition actually makes an ISO/drive bootable? 2.) I need to install Windows 10 on my old ThinkPad R60 and copied the ISO onto a USB stick from Debian 9, but it does not seem to be recognized as bootable by the laptop. What am I doing wrong?
– david
Sep 19 at 16:04
1
That solves the question! Thx
– david
Sep 20 at 19:57
 |Â
show 7 more comments
2
nice idea using grub for the ISO.
– Rui F Ribeiro
Sep 16 at 19:27
May I ask whylinuxefiandinitrdefi? I've only done this withoutefi.
– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:08
Because my machine is an UEFI machine and I didn't even try the originals. Ping me in chat if you want me to try @神秘德里克
– Fabby
Sep 17 at 10:05
1.) What is the technical reason that deleting a partition actually makes an ISO/drive bootable? 2.) I need to install Windows 10 on my old ThinkPad R60 and copied the ISO onto a USB stick from Debian 9, but it does not seem to be recognized as bootable by the laptop. What am I doing wrong?
– david
Sep 19 at 16:04
1
That solves the question! Thx
– david
Sep 20 at 19:57
2
2
nice idea using grub for the ISO.
– Rui F Ribeiro
Sep 16 at 19:27
nice idea using grub for the ISO.
– Rui F Ribeiro
Sep 16 at 19:27
May I ask why
linuxefi and initrdefi ? I've only done this without efi.– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:08
May I ask why
linuxefi and initrdefi ? I've only done this without efi.– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:08
Because my machine is an UEFI machine and I didn't even try the originals. Ping me in chat if you want me to try @神秘德里克
– Fabby
Sep 17 at 10:05
Because my machine is an UEFI machine and I didn't even try the originals. Ping me in chat if you want me to try @神秘德里克
– Fabby
Sep 17 at 10:05
1.) What is the technical reason that deleting a partition actually makes an ISO/drive bootable? 2.) I need to install Windows 10 on my old ThinkPad R60 and copied the ISO onto a USB stick from Debian 9, but it does not seem to be recognized as bootable by the laptop. What am I doing wrong?
– david
Sep 19 at 16:04
1.) What is the technical reason that deleting a partition actually makes an ISO/drive bootable? 2.) I need to install Windows 10 on my old ThinkPad R60 and copied the ISO onto a USB stick from Debian 9, but it does not seem to be recognized as bootable by the laptop. What am I doing wrong?
– david
Sep 19 at 16:04
1
1
That solves the question! Thx
– david
Sep 20 at 19:57
That solves the question! Thx
– david
Sep 20 at 19:57
 |Â
show 7 more comments
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If you're using BIOS+MBR, what did you get if mark that partition as the only boot-able? I believe standard MS-DOS MBR code will chain boot your boot-able partition.
– ç¥žç§˜å¾·é‡Œå…‹
Sep 17 at 2:11
I used
sudo dd if=/home/<Windows 10 ISO> of=/dev/sdXto write the ISO to the USB stick, for some reason, the option Gnome-Disk >> Edit partition >> Bootable is greyed out.– david
Sep 19 at 18:50