failed to make usb bootable disk(in detail)

[zengmao]

the USB disk：

[root@localhost m]# dmesg |tail
sdb: assuming drive cache: write through
SCSI device sdb: 7843840 512-byte hdwr sectors (4016 MB)
sdb: Write Protect is off
sdb: Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00
sdb: assuming drive cache: write through
 sdb: sdb1 sdb2 < sdb5 >
sd 3:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdb
sd 3:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0
usb-storage: device scan complete
SELinux: initialized (dev sdb1, type vfat), uses genfs_contexts
[root@localhost m]#

/dev/sdb is the USB disk：

[root@localhost m]# parted /dev/sdb
GNU Parted 1.8.1
Using /dev/sdb
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted)

the old disk-partion：

(parted) print                                                           
Model: Kingston DataTravler 2.0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 4016MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system  Flags
 1      0.51kB  100MB   100MB   primary   fat16        lba 
 2      100MB   4016MB  3916MB  extended               lba 
 5      100MB   4016MB  3916MB  logical                lba

delete the old disk-partion：

(parted) rm 5
(parted) rm 2
(parted) rm 1

create new disk-partion：

(parted) mkpart                                                          
Partition type?  primary/extended? primary                               
File system type?  [ext2]? fat32
Start? 0                                                                 
End? 50M                                                                 
(parted)
(parted) mkpart                                                     
Partition type?  primary/extended? extended                              
Start? 49.4M                                                             
End? 4016M                                                               
(parted) mkpart
Partition type?  primary/logical? logical                                
File system type?  [ext2]? fat32
Start? 49.5M                                                             
End? 4016M 

(parted) print                                                           
Model: Kingston DataTravler 2.0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 4016MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  49.4MB  49.3MB  primary                lba 
 2      49.4MB  4016MB  3967MB  extended               lba 
 5      49.4MB  4016MB  3967MB  logical                lba 

(parted) quit

format /dev/sdb1:

[root@localhost m]# mkfs.vfat /dev/sdb1
mkfs.vfat 2.11 (12 Mar 2005)

mount usb-disk：

[root@localhost m]# mount  /dev/sdb1 /mnt/tmp

use grub-install script：

[root@localhost m]# grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/tmp '/dev/sdb'
Probing devices to guess BIOS drives. This may take a long time.
Installation finished. No error reported.
This is the contents of the device map /mnt/tmp/boot/grub/device.map.
Check if this is correct or not. If any of the lines is incorrect,
fix it and re-run the script `grub-install'.

(fd0)   /dev/fd0
(hd0)   /dev/sda
(hd1)   /dev/sdb
[root@localhost m]#

edit /mnt/tmp/boot/grub/grub.confit's not ok under /mnt/tmp/boot yet)

[root@localhost grub]# cat grub.conf
default=1
timeout=5

title Boot Linux
root (hd1,0)
kernel /vmlinuz
initrd /initrd.img
[root@localhost grub]#

copy vmlinuz,initrd to /mnt/tmp/boot or /mnt/tmp is not ok...

while I reboot my os ,it boot from the hard-disk not from usb-disk....

I have set BIOS boot from usb-hdd first....

what's wrong?????


help me,please!!!!!

[waterhead]

I'm not sure exactly what it is you want to accomplish. If you just want to have Fedora boot from a USB (pen) drive, there is an easier way to do it.

First, you want the Fedora LiveCD iso file. You don't need to burn it to a disk, you can just mount the image. First you need to create a folder to mount it in. Do these commands as root.

su
Password: <enter root password>

mkdir /fedora

You then need to mount the .iso file. As of this writing, the latest is F10-i686-Live.iso, so that is what I will use. I will also assume that it is in your home folder.

mount -o loop /home/<username>/F10-i686-Live.iso /fedora

The following are my personal notes on doing the rest:

Run commands as root

Find the disk:
# fdisk -l

Format the disk (sdb1):
# fdisk /dev/sdb1

Command (m for help):d (delete any existing partitions)

Command (m for help):n (create a new partition)
Command action
e extended
p primary partition (1-4)
p

Partition number (1-4):1

Command (m for help):t
Partition number (1-4):1
Hex code (type L to list codes):6 (for fat16)

Command (m for help):w (to write the changes to the disk)

Format the card. You may need to unmount it first:
# umount /dev/sdb1
# mkfs.vfat -F 16 /dev/sdb1

Mount it again. You need syslinux and Mtools installed, Then run syslinux on the card:
# syslinux /dev/sdb1

Copy the CD files to it. Then rename the folder isolinux to syslinux. Then rename isolinux.cfg to syslinux.cfg

Using syslinux is the key to booting from a USB pen drive. To copy the files, use the cp command.

cp /fedora /dev/sdb1

[zengmao]

I only want to boot the existed system redhat..

but not to boot by usb(pen) driver and install fedora from harddisk

[b2bwild]

I only want to boot the existed system redhat..

but not to boot by usb(pen) driver and install fedora from harddisk

Its bit confusing...

I guess you want to create a bootable usb drive or no?
have you tried Unetbootin

[waterhead]

I guess that the OP must have an external hard drive, that has a USB connection.

The computer must be able to boot from an external USB drive. Not all computers can do this, and most older computers cannot. You would have to go into the computer's BIOS, and change the settings to boot from a USB drive.