Multibootusb: Getting boot error

[amitst]

I am trying to boot 12.0 Ubuntu using my 8GB usb stick. I installed MultiBootUsb software and installed 12.04 ISO on it. When I rebooted my desktop by setting usb boot option in my bios, I got "boot error" string on my screen.

What might be wrong? My current Ubuntu version:

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 13.04
Release: 13.04
Codename: raring

Can you please let me know if I am missing anything?

[TheFu]

I've never been successful using Linux-based multi-boot creators. This really sucks, since I use Linux for 99% of what I do, but have to use Windows to create multi-boot Flash drives?

Some flash drives will not work with some systems to boot too. Even from the same flash maker, there are differences and weirdness happens.

Anyway, if you have WinXP or later, Yumi is the tool that has **never** let me down. This is from our friends at pendrivelinux.

Update: at the bottom of that page, it says

YUMI on Linux: YUMI should function via WINE from within a running Linux environment. However, the format drive option will not work.

There is hope!

[C.S.Cameron]

I have had good results using MultiBootUSB, (by Kumar and Sundar).
Computer USB boots vary, in my computer BIOS, I need to set the USB as my first hard drive.
MultiBootUSB must be set up on a computer running grub2.

[sudodus]

I am trying to boot 12.0 Ubuntu using my 8GB usb stick. I installed MultiBootUsb software and installed 12.04 ISO on it. When I rebooted my desktop by setting usb boot option in my bios, I got "boot error" string on my screen.

What might be wrong? My current Ubuntu version:

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 13.04
Release: 13.04
Codename: raring

Can you please let me know if I am missing anything?

Please describe your computer: brand name, model, cpu, ram (size), graphics driver, and if you have standard bios or uefi. It will make it easier to help.

And are you trying to install the 32-bit or 64-bit Ubuntu (i386 or amd64)?

[amitst]

Please describe your computer: brand name, model, cpu, ram (size), graphics driver, and if you have standard bios or uefi. It will make it easier to help.

And are you trying to install the 32-bit or 64-bit Ubuntu (i386 or amd64)?

Processor: Intel® Core™2 Duo CPU E4600 @ 2.40GHz × 2
Graphics card: Intel® 945G x86/MMX/SSE2
32-bit current OS and trying to install 32-bit only.

How to find out the type of BIOS?

Please let me know the commands if you still want to find out certain information.

[amitst]

I've never been successful using Linux-based multi-boot creators. This really sucks, since I use Linux for 99% of what I do, but have to use Windows to create multi-boot Flash drives?

Some flash drives will not work with some systems to boot too. Even from the same flash maker, there are differences and weirdness happens.

Anyway, if you have WinXP or later, Yumi is the tool that has **never** let me down. This is from our friends at pendrivelinux.

Thanks, your tip worked and I could boot using USB. Though I had to use my office laptop with Win7 to format the USB and run YUMI on it.

I am interested in All-Linux solution to the issue, as my home desktop only contains Ubuntu. I would like to add further distros on USB through Linux and not Win7.

Secondly YUMI didn't work well through Wine. It didn't show me the USB drive letter to copy the distro to.

[TheFu]

a) I'm glad we found a work-around. Yumi just works.
b) I'm with you in wanting a Linux-only solution. I've tried 4 different methods and NONE of them worked on 3 different machines with 4 very different USB flash drives.
c) yumi under WINE will not show "drive letters", since Linux doesn't use those. Some programs work very well with WINE, but others require ... er ... coaxing. I was one of the first people to get Quicken 2006 and later working under WINE, so I'm pretty familiar. For my uses, WINE is a 20% solution - it works with 20% of the programs I'd like.

Yumi can be used to add at least 10 (perhaps many, many, many more) distros to a single Flash drive. I've had over 15 on mine during InstallFests ... that includes gparted, clonezilla, SystemRecovery/Rescue and Boot-Repair versions, but also Ubuntu x32/x64 desktop/server LXDE, debian, CentOS, Fedora, SUSE, TinyCore, DSL, Puppy, and a few others. It sorta just works, though I wish it let me queue up all the distros to be added, then did the copies all at once instead of 1-at-a-time. Yumi has **never** not worked for me and I've never seen it fail at an installFest .... I'll take that back - it did fail trying to install a corporate Win7x64 ISO last week. Had to use the Microsoft tool for that. Meh.

I'd also point out that I tried to use MultiBootUSB last week - it seemed to work, but never would boot. I was using the same hardware that worked with Yumi (a dual boot Asus Eee).

[sudodus]

Processor: Intel® Core™2 Duo CPU E4600 @ 2.40GHz × 2
Graphics card: Intel® 945G x86/MMX/SSE2
32-bit current OS and trying to install 32-bit only.

How to find out the type of BIOS?

Please let me know the commands if you still want to find out certain information.

It should be straightforward to install 32-bit linux system on that hardware, which you have also done while I was away from the keyboard

It can be nice with multiboot pendrives, but not that simple to get it working, as pointed out by TheFu. An alternative is to keep the iso files and have a fast USB 3 pendrive, and flash the iso you want to use one at a time. It does not seem as fancy, but it has a higher success rate.

A problem with a multiboot pendrive is also that the iso files get old and need to be replaced, and the tweaks to boot from it might change from one version to the next one, so you need another version of YUMI or Multisystem.

Have a look at the following links for more details about making USB boot drives and booting from them.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...n/FromUSBStick
Ubuntu Forums tutorial "Howto make USB boot drives"

[oldfred]

I just install grub2 to all my flash drives and create my own grub.cfg. Then I can boot any ISO I copy to flash drive.
Once you have grub2 installed to MBR, then it is just like the hard drive methods here but drive will always be hd0,1 (if first partition). I sometimes boot from second or third partition on a flash drive. But boot drive is always hd0 and drive order can change when booting from one drive and you have several.

This will boot an ISO from a hard drive.
ISO Booting with Grub 2 from Hard drive - drs305
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2/ISOBoot
Examples - you may copy & edit for your path & ISO version
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Gr...OBoot/Examples
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1549847
Boot ISO from harddrive. To install it would have to be different partition
[SOLVED] Using grub 2 to boot an iso off hard drive old examples
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1535864


Examples below are where flash drive is labeled PrecideInstaller, grub2, or MC4GB. Just use your label for how flash drive is mounted.
Install grub2 2.00 boot loader to gpt partitioned flash drive from Raring (it used media/fred as mount)
mount
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/media/fred/PreciseInstaller /dev/sde
sudo grub-mkconfig -o /media/fred/PreciseInstaller/boot/grub/grub.cfg
sudo chmod 777 -R /media/fred/PreciseInstaller/boot


MultiBoot USB with Grub2 (boot directly from iso files)
Basically you just install grub2, create a folder for the isos and edit a grub.cfg to loop mount the isos.
HOWTO: Booting LiveCD ISOs from USB flash drive with Grub2
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1288604
http://ubuntu-ky.ubuntuforums.org/sh....php?t=1535864
Install grub2 to USB -general info, note that path for 12.10 and later to flash drive includes your $USER name
http://members.iinet.net/~herman546/....html#GRUB_USB
Label partition if grub2 & mount:
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/media/grub2 /dev/sdb
How to make a GRUB_II USB
http://members.iinet.net/~herman546/....html#GRUB_USB
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/media/fred/MC4GB /dev/sdb
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...tly_From_GRUB2

I have had this work for MBR(msdos) and gpt partitioned flash drives formatted FAT32, NTFS and ext4(with journal turned off).

[amitst]

Thanks oldfred.

At first I found the information provided by you overwhelming. However, I simply tried out the following commands and it worked,
> sudo grub-install --root-directory=/media/amit/MULTIBOOTUSB /dev/sdb
> Created isos dir in /media/amit/MULTIBOOTUSB/boot/isos and copied couple of isos (Ubuntu 11.04 and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS)
> Created grub.cfg and added two menu entries (Ubuntu 11.04 and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS) as mentioned at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1288604

I was able to boot into both ISOs.

Now I intend to put lighter Ubuntu flavor on an older desktop hardware at my relative's place (I guess it has older USB1 slot). I am thinking of putting Xubuntu. I have heard Lubuntu is lighter as well. Any suggestions about specific flavor?

I also want to get 12.04 LTS version there are they don't know much about computers and will not upgrade OS unless I go there and upgrade them.

I hope the menu entries for Xubuntu/Lubuntu/Fluxbuntu in grub.cfg are similar to what I have put for Ubuntu.