This guide assumes that you are using the GNU GRUB bootloader directly. If you’re using SeaBIOS, it’s quite intuitive and works similarly to other BIOS software; refer to the documentation on https://seabios.org/SeaBIOS.
This guide explains how to prepare a bootable USB for Libreboot systems that can be used to install several GNU+Linux distributions. For this guide, you will only need a USB flash drive and the dd
utility (it’s installed into all GNU+Linux distributions, by default).
These instructions are intended to be generic, applicable to just about any GNU+Linux distribution.
If you downloaded your ISO while on an existing GNU+Linux system, here is how to create the bootable GNU+Linux USB drive:
Connect the USB drive. Check lsblk
, to confirm its device name (e.g., /dev/sdX):
lsblk
For this example, let’s assume that our drive’s name is sdb
. Make sure that it’s not mounted:
sudo umount /dev/sdb
Overwrite the drive, writing your distro ISO to it with dd
. For example, if we are installing Foobarbaz GNU+Linux, and it’s located in our Downloads folder, this is the command we would run:
sudo dd if=~/Downloads/foobarbaz.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=8M; sync
That’s it! You should now be able to boot the installer from your USB drive (the instructions for doing so will be given later).
This page on the NetBSD website shows how to create a NetBSD bootable USB drive, from within NetBSD itself. You should the dd
method documented there. This will work with any GNU+Linux ISO image.
This page on the FreeBSD website shows how to create a bootable USB drive for installing FreeBSD. Use the dd
method documented. This will work with any GNU+Linux ISO image.
If you downloaded your ISO on a LibertyBSD or OpenBSD system, here is how to create the bootable GNU+Linux USB drive:
Connect the USB drive. Run lsblk
to determine which drive it is:
lsblk
To confirm that you have the correct drive, use disklabel
. For example, if you thought the correct drive were sd3, run this command:
disklabel sd3
Make sure that the device isn’t mounted, with doas
; if it is, this command will unmount it:
doas umount /dev/sd3i
The lsblk
command told you what device it is. Overwrite the drive, writing the OpenBSD installer to it with dd
. Here’s an example:
doas dd if=gnulinux.iso of=/dev/rsdXc bs=1M; sync
That’s it! You should now be able to boot the installer from your USB drive (the instructions for doing so will be given later).
Download the Debian or Devuan net installer. You can download the Debian ISO from the Debian homepage, or the Devuan ISO from the Devuan homepage.
Secondly, create a bootable USB drive using the commands in #prepare-the-usb-drive-in-gnulinux.
Thirdly, boot the USB and enter these commands in the GRUB terminal (for 64-bit Intel or AMD):
set root='usb0'
linux /install.amd/vmlinuz
initrd /install.amd/initrd.gz
boot
If you are on a 32-bit system (e.g. some Thinkpad X60’s) then you will need to use these commands (this is also true for 32-bit running on 64-bit machines):
set root='usb0'
linux /install.386/vmlinuz
initrd /install.386/initrd.gz
boot
Boot it in GRUB using the Parse ISOLINUX config (USB)
option. A new menu should appear in GRUB, showing the boot options for that distro; this is a GRUB menu, converted from the usual ISOLINUX menu provided by that distro.
These are generic instructions. They may or may not be correct for your distribution. You must adapt them appropriately, for whatever GNU+Linux distribution it is that you are trying to install.
If the ISOLINUX parser
or Search for GRUB configuration
options won’t work, then press C
in GRUB to access the command line, then run the ls
command:
ls
Get the device name from the above output (e.g., usb0
). Here’s an example:
cat (usb0)/isolinux/isolinux.cfg
Either the output of this command will be the ISOLINUX menuentries for that ISO, or link to other .cfg
files (e.g, /isolinux/foo.cfg). For example, if the file found were foo.cfg, you would use this command:
cat (usb0)/isolinux/foo.cg`
And so on, until you find the correct menuentries for ISOLINUX.
For Debian-based distros (e.g., Ubuntu, Devuan), there are typically menuentries listed in /isolinux/txt.cfg or /isolinux/gtk.cfg. For dual-architecture ISO images (i686 and x86_64), there may be separate files directories for each architecture. Just keep searching through the image, until you find the correct ISOLINUX configuration file.
NOTE: Debian 8.6 ISO only lists 32-bit boot options in txt.cfg. This is important, if you want 64-bit booting on your system. Devuan versions based on Debian 8.x may also have the same issue.
Now, look at the ISOLINUX menuentry; it’ll look like this:
kernel /path/to/kernel append PARAMETERS initrd=/path/to/initrd ...
GRUB works similarly; here are some example GRUB commands:
set root='usb0'
linux /path/to/kernel PARAMETERS MAYBE_MORE_PARAMETERS
initrd /path/to/initrd
boot
Note: usb0
may be incorrect. Check the output of the ls
command (in GRUB), to see a list of USB devices/partitions. Of course, this will vary from distro to distro. If you did all of that correctly, then it should now be booting your USB drive in the way that you specified.
Most of these issues occur when using Libreboot with coreboot’s text-mode
with libgfxinit for video initialization. This mode is useful for text mode payloads, like MemTest86+
, which expect text-mode
, but for GNU+Linux distributions it can be problematic when they are trying to switch to a framebuffer, because no mode switching support is present (Linux/BSD kernels do Kernel Mode Setting, so they are able to initialize a frame buffer in bare metal regardless of whatever coreboot is doing).
When using the ROM images that use Coreboot’s text mode
, instead of the coreboot framebuffer, while using libgfxinit, booting the Debian or Devuan net installer results in graphical corruption, because it is trying to switch to a framebuffer while no mode switching support is present. Use this kernel parameter on the linux
line, when booting it:
fb=false
This forces debian-installer to start in text-mode
, instead of trying to switch to a framebuffer.
If selecting text-mode
from a GRUB menu created using the ISOLINUX parser, you can press E
on the menu entry to add this. Or, if you are booting manually (from GRUB terminal), then just add the parameters.
Markdown file for this page: https://libreboot.at/docs/gnulinux/grub_boot_installer.md
This HTML page was generated by the untitled static site generator.