Update.... I was able to create a working "portable" USB disk by installing on the *internal* disk, and then dd'ing it over to the USB disk (and zero-ing the internal disk to make sure it didn't boot from there). However, a 2nd older system still does not see the USB disk as a boot device. I'm thinking this might be because anaconda is creating the partition table as GPT, and the older system might not understand it? As a test, I am trying again with a 2nd disk with a DOS partition table. On Mon, Jun 25, 2018 at 10:11 AM, ja <ja@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Mon, 2018-06-25 at 10:04 -0400, Go Canes wrote: >> On Mon, Jun 25, 2018 at 8:51 AM, Patrick O'Callaghan >> <pocallaghan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> > On Mon, 2018-06-25 at 08:47 -0400, Go Canes wrote: >> > > But then >> > > when I go to boot the external drive, it immediately displays >> > > "Operation System not found" - Note that is is "Operation", *not* >> > > "Operating". >> > >> > That could be a message from your BIOS, which would imply it's not >> > finding even the first stage boot block. Check BIOS settings. >> >> I get a single bit of disk activity when I try to boot off the >> external drive, so it is at least *trying* to find the 1st stage boot >> block. While I am obviously not 100% certain, my thinking is that >> something isn't quite right with the grub config. >> >> Let me see if I can't take a peek at the 1st sector and see what is in there. >> _______________________________________________ >> users mailing list -- users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >> To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >> Fedora Code of Conduct: https://getfedora.org/code-of-conduct.html >> List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines >> List Archives: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/message/LM6 >> JXUM7VIHINSRBULEAUS3ZPJEBNTAG/ > > I have tidied up my efforts about USB booting - it might help > The mailer will probably destroy the layout though! > > 2018_06_03 > > //----------------------------------- > The latest "standard" SSD layout is as follows. > The "BIOS boot partition" may well not be required as grub2 data is probably located in sectors 1 -> 2047 > The separate /boot partition (sda3) may well not be used. > [root@gtx:~]$ gdisk -l /dev/sda > Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT. > Disk /dev/sda: 250069680 sectors, 119.2 GiB > Model: Voyager GTX > Main partition table begins at sector 2 and ends at sector 33 > Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries > Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name > 1 2048 4095 1024.0 KiB EF02 BIOS boot partition 1MiB none ???? > 2 4096 1028095 500.0 MiB EF00 EFI System 500MiB vfat /boot/efi > 3 1028096 2097152 522.0 MiB 8300 Linux filesystem 1GiB ext4 /boot > 4 2099200 18876415 8.0 GiB 8200 Linux swap 8GiB swap > 5 18876416 134219775 55.0 GiB 8300 Linux filesystem ext4 / > 6 134219776 250069646 55.2 GiB 8300 Linux filesystem ext4 spare > //----------------------------------- > If the UEFI does not "see" the SSD then check the status of the Protective MBR boot flag using gdisk/fdisk > To CLEAR the flag gdisk /dev/sda p ; v ; x ; n ; w ; > To SET/CLEAR the flag fdisk /dev/sda M ; i ; a ; i ; w ; q ; > //----------------------------------- > USB SSD TRIM - As root > /home/ja/bin/wiper.sh --verbose --commit /dev/sda1 > //----------------------------------- > To discover how the machine was booted > 1. Check grub menu entries for linux16 or linuxefi > 2. When booted in UEFI mode efibootmgr will provide relevant information > //----------------------------------- > To ensure that the device will run on the widest range of machines > dnf install dracut-config-generic To force a generic initrd > To force an existing kernel to use a "fully configured" initramfs file then > dracut --regenerate-all --force > //----------------------------------- > Creation of an SSD (USB or SATA) device that will boot on both BIOS and UEFI based machines. > References: > https://blog.heckel.xyz/2017/05/28/creating-a-bios-gpt-and-uefi-gpt-grub-bootable-linux-system/ > https://superuser.com/questions/801515/is-a-hybrid-linux-usb-stick-for-uefi-legacy-bios-possible > > Currently it is not known how the fedora installer determines which boot mechanism to use. > > Once a bootable installation has been achieved (BIOS or UEFI) the "alternative" boot mechanism > can be installed. Both of the possibilities described below have been well tested. > Triple check the correct device name at all stages, /dev/sda is assumed below. > > Case 1: The machine has booted from a BIOS install Install the UEFI boot loader > mkfs -t vfat /dev/sda2 if required (double check sda2) > mount /dev/sda2 /boot/efi (double check sda2) > dnf [re]install grub2-efi-x64 shim-x64 efibootmgr this should populate /boot/efi/EFI/fedora > grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg create the UEFI .cfg file* > geany /boot/efi/EFI/fedora/grub.cfg change linux16 > linuxefi,initrd16 > initrdefi* > grub2-install --target=x86_64-efi /dev/sda This is unnecessary - DO NOT USE - why? > > Case 2: The machine has booted from a UEFI install Install the BIOS boot loader > mount /dev/sda3 /boot probably not required > dnf [re]install grub2-pc only installs 3 files > grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg create the BIOS .cfg file* > geany /boot/grub2/grub.cfg change linuxefi > linux16,initrdefi > initrd16* > grub2-install --target=i386-pc /dev/sda install grub on the MBR (double check sda) > double check that /boot/grub2/grub.cfg is not over written by grub2-install > > *When a kernel update occurs the appropriate grub.cfg may require re-generation. > This has been tested when booted using both UEFI & BIOS. No changes are necessary as both grub.cfg files > are updated and include the correct entries for linux[efi | 16] and initrd[efi | 16]. > > _______________________________________________ > users mailing list -- users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Fedora Code of Conduct: https://getfedora.org/code-of-conduct.html > List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines > List Archives: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/message/DEYO3A4HY3RIYRJSOD3NEFRHSXPXBAGK/ _______________________________________________ users mailing list -- users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Fedora Code of Conduct: https://getfedora.org/code-of-conduct.html List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines List Archives: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/message/AERUP3JH3HOZEOIPLWQYX7EXHQEKETJ5/
