[ale] Favorite diag bootable images

Discussion:

Ken Cochran via Ale

2018-09-27 14:10:09 UTC

Hey ALE, wonder what's favorite or highly recommended
these days wrt USB-bootable PC diagnostic/repair toolkits.
Keeping on-topic, best I can tell, what I've seen (e.g. gparted)
is Linux-based. Guess that would stand to reason - should be
able to at least "see" all hardware & it's immune to the (ahem)
"sicknesses" of (ahem) other OSes. Thanks, -Ken
_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
***@ale.org
https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

Jeff Hubbs via Ale

2018-09-27 14:16:26 UTC

Permalink

SystemRescueCD.

Post by Ken Cochran via Ale
Hey ALE, wonder what's favorite or highly recommended
these days wrt USB-bootable PC diagnostic/repair toolkits.
Keeping on-topic, best I can tell, what I've seen (e.g. gparted)
is Linux-based. Guess that would stand to reason - should be
able to at least "see" all hardware & it's immune to the (ahem)
"sicknesses" of (ahem) other OSes. Thanks, -Ken
_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
***@ale.org
https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

A. P. Garcia via Ale

2018-09-27 15:30:34 UTC

Permalink

On Thu, Sep 27, 2018, 10:16 AM Jeff Hubbs via Ale <***@ale.org> wrote:

SystemRescueCD.

That's what I normally use. It's Gentoo-based, but it's well stocked. I've
never run into an issue where something is incompatible or missing from it.

Well, ok, once, like 10 years ago. A particular distro had a filesystem
that needed to be created by a particular version of ext2.

Ken Cochran via Ale

2018-09-28 22:59:35 UTC

Permalink

Ok, well I've been trying to make a bootable USB flash drive
with/of it, finally did it with their Windows-based install
tool & the thing won't boot (e.g. get past grub) due to lack
of a kernel (what?). Haven't been able to make a bootable
USB at all with OSX, dunno what kinda PEBKAC...

What I'm trying to do is get an old Vista (yeah, I know,
ewww) box to boot & it's complaining about some kind of
missing /boot/-something- file & naturally (so far) there's
no OS install media (one of my chief complaints against MS -
no media & even if you DO manage to find it, it wipes out
*everything* if you use it).

SystemRescueCD looks like a Nice Tool to have in my box but
so far I'm having no luck getting it to work. I've long used
(for example) gparted with no (or at least minimal) issues.
Sorry for off-topicness.

-k

Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2018 10:16:26 -0400
Subject: Re: [ale] Favorite diag bootable images
SystemRescueCD.

_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
***@ale.org
https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

dev null zero two via Ale

2018-09-28 23:02:02 UTC

Permalink

netboot.xyz

of course you have to trust an internet based PXE boot but.. meh

Post by Ken Cochran via Ale
Ok, well I've been trying to make a bootable USB flash drive
with/of it, finally did it with their Windows-based install
tool & the thing won't boot (e.g. get past grub) due to lack
of a kernel (what?). Haven't been able to make a bootable
USB at all with OSX, dunno what kinda PEBKAC...
What I'm trying to do is get an old Vista (yeah, I know,
ewww) box to boot & it's complaining about some kind of
missing /boot/-something- file & naturally (so far) there's
no OS install media (one of my chief complaints against MS -
no media & even if you DO manage to find it, it wipes out
*everything* if you use it).
SystemRescueCD looks like a Nice Tool to have in my box but
so far I'm having no luck getting it to work. I've long used
(for example) gparted with no (or at least minimal) issues.
Sorry for off-topicness.
-k

Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2018 10:16:26 -0400
Subject: Re: [ale] Favorite diag bootable images
SystemRescueCD.

_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

--
Sent from my mobile. Please excuse the brevity, spelling, and punctuation.

A. P. Garcia via Ale

2018-09-29 02:04:11 UTC

Permalink

Did you Google free utilities to turn a bootable CD into a bootable USB
drive?

Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2018 10:16:26 -0400
Subject: Re: [ale] Favorite diag bootable images
SystemRescueCD.

_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

DJ-Pfulio via Ale

2018-09-29 02:15:34 UTC

Permalink

Like dd? No special tools needed, unless you want a multi-boot setup.

Post by A. P. Garcia via Ale
Did you Google free utilities to turn a bootable CD into a bootable USB
drive?
Ok, well I've been trying to make a bootable USB flash drive
with/of it, finally did it with their Windows-based install
tool & the thing won't boot (e.g. get past grub) due to lack
of a kernel (what?). Haven't been able to make a bootable
USB at all with OSX, dunno what kinda PEBKAC...
What I'm trying to do is get an old Vista (yeah, I know,
ewww) box to boot & it's complaining about some kind of
missing /boot/-something- file & naturally (so far) there's
no OS install media (one of my chief complaints against MS -
no media & even if you DO manage to find it, it wipes out
*everything* if you use it).
SystemRescueCD looks like a Nice Tool to have in my box but
so far I'm having no luck getting it to work. I've long used
(for example) gparted with no (or at least minimal) issues.
Sorry for off-topicness.
-k

Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2018 10:16:26 -0400
Subject: Re: [ale] Favorite diag bootable images
SystemRescueCD.

Steve Litt via Ale

2018-09-30 03:15:56 UTC

Permalink

On Fri, 28 Sep 2018 22:15:34 -0400

Post by DJ-Pfulio via Ale
Like dd? No special tools needed, unless you want a multi-boot setup.

dd if=booter_dvd_img.iso of=/dev/hdc

produces thumb drives that don't work, on certain distros.

If the computer has a CD or DVD drive, why not use it for the boot OS,
and use the usb port for a blank thumb drive on which to place rescued
data?

SteveT

Steve Litt
September 2018 featured book: Quit Joblessness: Start Your Own Business
http://www.troubleshooters.com/startbiz
_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
***@ale.org
https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

DJ-Pfulio via Ale

2018-09-30 13:40:10 UTC

Permalink

Get a better distro.

Srsly, being able to boot from a flash drive using either legacy BIOS or UEFI
should "just work" these days. If it doesn't, you need a better distro, IMHO.

Whether any flash drive and any USB2 port are compatible for booting is a
different question. I've found no sure way to know. Noname, brand name flash
doesn't matter. I've had problems booting from USB3, but most USB2 plugs in the
last 15 yrs can work, with the right flash media.

And don't forget that many laptops have SDHC slots. Those usually connect to the
same USB2 controller, so booting from them is possible too. All those old 2G
SDHC cards are useful again!

And add a BS=1M option to the dd command. Much faster.

Post by Steve Litt via Ale
On Fri, 28 Sep 2018 22:15:34 -0400

Post by DJ-Pfulio via Ale
Like dd? No special tools needed, unless you want a multi-boot setup.

_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
***@ale.org
https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

Steve Litt via Ale

2018-09-30 03:12:56 UTC

Permalink

On Fri, 28 Sep 2018 18:59:35 -0400

Post by Ken Cochran via Ale
SystemRescueCD looks like a Nice Tool to have in my box but
so far I'm having no luck getting it to work.

Define "work". Does System Rescue CD not boot? Does it not GUI? Can it
not mount things? Does one of its programs not work? Is it missing a
program you need?

I've had supreme success with System Rescue CD with these two tips:

1) Download the latest System Rescue CD

2) Burn it to CD or DVD. Thumb drive booters are *always* iffy for me:
YMMV.

SteveT

Steve Litt
September 2018 featured book: Quit Joblessness: Start Your Own Business
http://www.troubleshooters.com/startbiz
_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
***@ale.org
https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

Jim Kinney via Ale

2018-09-27 14:26:37 UTC

Permalink

I generally use just a live image of the same release as the fubared
system. That way I have the same, familiar tool chain.

Hey ALE, wonder what's favorite or highly recommendedthese days wrt
USB-bootable PC diagnostic/repair toolkits.Keeping on-topic, best I
can tell, what I've seen (e.g. gparted)is Linux-based. Guess that
would stand to reason - should beable to at least "see" all hardware
& it's immune to the (ahem)"sicknesses" of (ahem) other
OSes. Thanks, -Ken_______________________________________________Ale
JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists athttp://mail.ale.org/mailman/listi
nfo

--
James P. Kinney III

Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you
gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his
own tail. It won't fatten the dog.
- Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain

http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/

DJ-Pfulio via Ale

2018-09-27 15:02:15 UTC

Permalink

Post by Jim Kinney via Ale
I generally use just a live image of the same release as the fubared
system. That way I have the same, familiar tool chain.

_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
***@ale.org
https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

Sam Rakowski via Ale

2018-09-27 14:30:15 UTC

Permalink

I like grml.
Sent via BlackBerry
_______________________________________________
Ale mailing list
***@ale.org
https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

appl-cidr via Ale

2018-09-30 03:46:21 UTC

Permalink

Sent with [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com) Secure Email.

@ Ken Cochran:
I have had luck with systemrescuecd on usb with:
# isohybrid systemrescuecd.iso
# dd if=systemrescuecd.iso of=/dev/sdb (use disk, sdb; not partition sdb1)

Versatile admin tool.