[yocto] Problem creating bootable flash

[Paul D. DeRocco]

> From: Chris Tapp
> 
> I've had a few issues using the Cedartrail PRV images on an 
> eUSB drive on an DN2800MT.
> 
> I'm not installing the same way as you:
> 
> 1) I use dd to copy the hddimg to a USB stick;
> 2) I use this to boot the system using the 'install' syslinux 
> item (have to be quick at boot time to catch the prompt).
> 
> Everything worked great using a mini-PCIe drive, but was 
> failing to install to the eUSB most of the time as the drive 
> wasn't detected - I expect it takes too long to be ready 
> before the install script gives up. A couple of changes to 
> the script fixed this and the image would then install.
> 
> However, it wouldn't boot. I found two issues:
> 
> 1) The install script configured grub to use sdb. This was 
> where the eUSB was when the script ran, but it's sda when 
> used as the boot device. Another install script fixed this.
> 2) I also needed to add 'rootwait' to the kernel command line 
> or else the rootfs wasn't ready at boot time, resulting in a 
> kernel panic.
> 
> The issues with the installer are recorded in the bug tracker 
> at https://bugzilla.yoctoproject.org/show_bug.cgi?id=4059.
> 
> It's possible that you may need 'rootwait', but I'm not sure 
> anything else that I found is related to what you're seeing.
> 
> Can you try dd'ing the image on to a USB stick to see if that 
> will boot? If it does, that would at least show that the 
> image is good and it's the eUSB that is causing the pain, as 
> it was for me.

That's a different issue. Your problem at least shows that the BIOS is
loading grub from the SSD. My problem precedes that.

When I dump the beginnong of the .hddimg file, it's clear that it doesn't
contain a partition table, so it's intended for writing to an existing
partition. I recreated the partition table with gparted, used dd to copy the
image to /dev/sdb1 again, and this time remembered to mark it bootable. I
think the original "Error loading operating system" came from the original
partition table code not finding a partition that had been marked bootable.
Now, the screen just goes blank, but when I look at syslinux.cfg, it's
obvious that that's caused by the console being redirected to a serial port,
which in my system is used for something else. So I just need to learn about
syslinux, and the kernel command line options.

At least, I think that's all I have to do to get this baby booted.

-- 

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco at ix.netcom.com