USB install with Centos6

RLtech · Post by **RLtech** » 2011/07/22 15:36:32

Ok, I am having a lot of issues getting this to work. I have read the instructions on http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/InstallFromUSBkey . Has anyone even tried to follow these with the Centos6 64 bit? They do not work.

First point is the command "mv syslinux/isolinux.cfg syslinux/syslinux.cfg" won't work. The instructions have you build a 10 meg boot partition. That dir has a 30 meg file so this will not work. I upped the size to 100 meg and finish the usb creation. When booting, it will not see the the iso's so will not continue with the install.

I would appreciate any help on this. Thank you.

skolnick · Post by **skolnick** » 2011/07/22 15:41:26

Hi!

The link you provided does not exist, please post the exact instructions (or the correct link) you followed.

Edit: This is funny, if I click the link, it tells me the page does not exist, but if I type it then it takes me to the page. The link seems to be made for CentOS 5, could you please post the exact errors you are getting? maybe that helps to fix your problem and to create a wiki page for CentOS 6.

Regards.

RLtech · Post by **RLtech** » 2011/07/22 15:48:50

I corrected the link. It was including the . at the end of the sentence. Those are the instructions provided on the wiki, and the link that every question about usb installs on this forum is linked too. It has been updated this month, but I can't get it to work with centos6. It works like a champ with Centos5, but not with 6.

skolnick · Post by **skolnick** » 2011/07/22 15:51:44

Hi!

Thanks for correcting the link, I didn't notice the dot at the end. Please post the exact errors you get (and the commands that produce them) so the whole process can be debugged and the wiki corrected for CentOS 6 (if necessary).

Regards.

pschaff · Post by **pschaff** » 2011/07/22 18:24:03

Welcome to the CentOS fora. Please see the recommended reading for new users linked in my signature.

The alternate procedures at the end of the page are the only ones known to work for CentOS-6. Added a note to that effect.

RLtech · Post by **RLtech** » 2011/07/22 19:37:44

Here is what I did.

d # delete existing partition - repeat as necessary
n # new partition
p # primary
1 # partition number
# take the default
+200M # add 200 MB
t # change the type
b # VFAT
n # new partition
p # primary
2 # partition number
# take the default
# take the default
a # toggle bootable flag
1 # partition number
w # write to disk

mkfs.vfat -n boot /dev/sdg1
mkfs.ext2 -m 0 -b 4096 -L data /dev/sdg2

cd /dir/of/iso/images

mkdir /media/DATA/centos
mkdir /tmp/cdimage
mount -ro loop CentOS-6.0-x86_64-bin-DVD1.iso /tmp/cdimage
cp -v CentOS-6.0-x86_64-bin-DVD*.iso /media/data/centos; sync

syslinux -s /dev/sdg1
dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sdg ## The wiki is incorrect here. It lists /usr/share/syslinux/mbr.bin

cd /media/boot
cp -rv /media/cdimage/isolinux syslinux
mv syslinux/isolinux.cfg syslinux/syslinux.cfg
rm -f syslinux/isolinux.bin

One thing to note is it takes at least 5 minutes to boot. Maybe even more. Loading initrd just takes forever. When it boots, I get an error of vesamenu.c32 not a COM32R image. At the boot prompt I type linux rescue just to test it out. It tells me it cannot find an iso. I do a ctrl-shift to get another TTY and I see the following errors

failed to open /mnt/isodir//centos/images/install.img
LOOP_CLR-FD failed for /mnt/runtime /dev/loop0: No such
unable to find centos imstallation images on hd

I put install.img from the iso into /centos/images/install.img on /dev/sdg2 and the boot up to rescue finally works. but it takes a very long time to get there.

Any ideas on the vesamenu issue? I found on https://projects.centos.org/trac/livecd/wiki/ImageFlash that it is a problem with syslinux. but I'm using the syslinux from the iso.

CentOS