USB Creator makes USB stick not bootable for pc

  • Hi

    I have run the LibreELEC USB-SD Creator and downloaded the generic amd/intel distribution.
    After that I wrote it to my USB stick.

    I was planning on installing LibreELEC on an "old" HP pc (intel core2duo).
    In the BIOS settings I changed to boot from usb device. That did work.
    But I still get the message "non bootable disk found, press key" (or sort of).

    I tried it with Rufus but still no luck. (chose dd image)
    I have installed Ubuntu from an USB stick a year ago on that pc. So there is no problem I guess.

    It seems to me that this gz file distribution is not a bootable image for pc's? Something like that?
    I dont know. Please enlighten me.

    Regards
    Harribo
    Netherlands

    Edited once, last by Harribo (January 31, 2017 at 8:47 PM).

  • The disk image for Generic (PC) builds works just fine. Just because it does not work for you, doesn't mean it does not work for other users as well.

    Possibly the boot sector on your USB stick has a problem.
    Try cleaning and fully reformatting it using this windows tool from HP.
    After that, rewrite the disk image onto your USB stick.
    Alternatively, try a different USB stick.

  • Did you use the creator to write the file directly to the USB disk, what is downloaded is a .gz file which is compressed in a non standard way. If you write the original file (.gz) to the usb disk directly it won't work


  • what is downloaded is a .gz file which is compressed in a non standard way.


    .gz is standard compression format. Obviously you can't write this file directly to usb stick. Instead it must be unpacked first. But this part is doing Creator internally.


  • .gz is standard compression format. Obviously you can't write this file directly to usb stick. Instead it must be unpacked first. But this part is doing Creator internally.


    I have tried two different usb sticks.
    I have also used diskpart to delete all partitions, after that I quick format it under Windows.

    I know that the gz file is compressed.
    I am a programmer and system engineer myself. I work over 20 years with this.
    Not that I know every thing of course.
    Can it be usb stick brand dependable?

    It really does not make the stick bootable until now. Maybe I will try on a different pc.
    Thanks

  • I tried now that hp format tool. Installed again. Also on another pc.
    Still it does nowhere boot.

    Now I will try making that linux usb bootable. Using Lubuntu.
    [hr]
    Ok I have now tested Lubuntu on a usb stick.
    That does also not work.

    I am now thinking that both my usb sticks are unable to be bootable?
    The first usb stick is a very old usb stick of 2gb, the second usb stick is a new but very cheap usb stick.

    Can this be the problem?
    If it can...what kind of usb stick must I buy then?

    Edited once, last by Harribo (February 1, 2017 at 1:34 PM).

  • It would be nice to be able to create a cd from the expanded file which appears to be a standard .img file but neither windows 7 or imgburn recognise it.
    I've done this hundreds of times with other distros.
    That might be an answer for Harribo

    Another point: it would be nice to know if loaded from a flash drive, this gives you the option to install to the hard disk or run from memory, and the option to install either the 32 or 64 bit version.

  • I also have the same problem. MOBO is Intel DQ965GF (older, dual core.) Boots fine with USB created Ubuntu (64-bit) installation, but with any OpenELEC or LibreELEC USB installation, computer returns "insert bootable..." I've attempted all BIOS settings (Legacy, UEFI on/off) with no luck. From what I can guess, this is a situation of the USB installer creating the bootable drive that's incompatible with this motherboard/bios. Because installations work fine with Ubuntu 64-bit, we can eliminate bad USB drives or corrupted files (multiple attempts/downloads.) I tried using Rufus, but because this is an IMG file (here & OpenELEC) I can't change any of the settings (IMG defaults to "DD" for IMG) and results are same. If the IMG file could be converted to ISO, I could possibly boot from CD/DVD, but everything I've read says this can't be done. Any suggestions? Thanks.

  • Do a manual installation and use GRUB or whatever bootloader appears to work on Ubuntu. Installation is an over-rated word because all we're doing is creating two partitions, formatting them as ext4, installing syslinux to the disk, then copying the KERNEL/SYSTEM files and extlinux.conf to the boot partition. There's no reason why you can't use other bootloaders.

  • Ok you make it seem not too difficult. But how do I cope with LibreELEC installation files?
    Can you will/give me a full description? Including grub etc. Starting with a new usb stick?

    I am not stupid with these things but I must know what to do.

  • Create a USB and the LE install files are in the boot partition of the USB, or grab the update .tar file and unpack it, they're in the target folder. I'm not aware of anyone writing up exact instructions for this scenario, but "install grub linux" returns 500k+ results in Google and the rest requires "gparted" and some copy/paste in Ubuntu so I guess there's some instructions around. Just have a go, you can't break anything..


  • Create a USB and the LE install files are in the boot partition of the USB, or grab the update .tar file and unpack it, they're in the target folder. I'm not aware of anyone writing up exact instructions for this scenario, but "install grub linux" returns 500k+ results in Google and the rest requires "gparted" and some copy/paste in Ubuntu so I guess there's some instructions around. Just have a go, you can't break anything..

    It seems ridiculous to have to do all that. There are instructions how to do it
    Installation - LibreELEC
    The main danger AFAICS is the install from USB doesn't give you the option to run it from memory as most sensible Linux installs do, people like to try things rather than committing irrevocably to disk from the start!
    The options are default: automatic boot, tab gives the 'option' of 'installer live' . Maybe this is run from memory? Who knows. After that you get a choice of Quick Install, Repair/Upgrade or Logfile.
    And (apparently) since version 7, there is no option to install the 32bit version.
    PS to the OP, after writing to the USB stick you should be able to see files/directories in it, if you can't then it hasn't copied them correctly

  • Live will run the system but forgot everything you set up.
    Run will run from stick and all changes are preserved.
    Installer runs installer to install LE to some other disk.

    Edited once, last by vpeter (February 2, 2017 at 5:33 PM).


  • Ok you make it seem not too difficult. But how do I cope with LibreELEC installation files?
    Can you will/give me a full description? Including grub etc. Starting with a new usb stick?

    I am not stupid with these things but I must know what to do.

    Create a USB stick with two partitions.
    Make it bootable with grub Legacy. (Install Grub Legacy to the stick MBR)

    Add the following stanza to /boot/grub/menu.lst file

    title LibreELEC
    root (hd0,0)
    kernel /KERNEL boot=UUID=<UUID of root partition> disk=UUID=<UUID of storage partition> quiet

    Copy both KERNEL and SYSTEM files from an image to the root partition.

    That should be all that is needed ...... I have been using this for years, since first using Openelec.

    Edited once, last by chewitt (February 3, 2017 at 5:40 AM).

  • My Intel NUC refused to boot from my flash drive created with the Libreelec USB creator utility. No way Pedro whatever I tried !.

    I knew it would boot of a flash drive made using the create_installstick.exe from Openelec.

    So I downloaded OpenELEC-Generic.i386-5.0.8 and extracted it to a folder on my PC.

    Then I installed LibreELEC-Generic.x86_64-7.0.3.img.gz to my flash drive using the Libreelec USB creator.

    I opened the Openelec folder and opened the folder 'target' and deleted the four files inside.

    Now I explored the files on my USB flash drive and copied KERNEL, KERNEL.md5, SYSTEM and SYSTEM.md5 from there to the folder 'target' within my Openelec folder.

    Using MiniTool Partition Wizard Free I deleted all the partitions on my Flash drive repartitioned and formatted it.

    Open the Openelec folder and use create_installstick.exe to create the Bootable flash drive

    Booted my troublesome NUC of it and worked perfectly. (Previously I had to install Openelec first and update to Libreelec from there. )

    Edited once, last by StuinUK (February 2, 2017 at 10:47 PM).


  • Create a USB stick with two partitions.
    Make it bootable with grub Legacy. (Install Grub Legacy to the stick MBR)

    Add the following stanza to /boot/grub/menu.lst file

    title OpenELEC
    root (hd0,0)
    kernel /KERNEL boot=UUID=<UUID of root partition> disk=UUID=<UUID of storage partition> quiet

    Copy both KERNEL and SYSTEM files from an image to the root partition.

    That should be all that is needed ...... I have been using this for years, since first using Openelec.


    Alternative menu.lst...

    uuid () > nul
    set UUID=%?%
    kernel /KERNEL boot=UUID=%UUID% disk=LABEL=whatever ssh quiet

    I use that with a storage partition (called 'whatever' in the above example) on the USB stick or on my hard drive.

  • This is all Linux stuff I suppose??? I am working from Windows 7.
    Install Grub Legacy? GRUB are files to make a stick bootable???

    It seems simple to you, to me this is all new.

    Create two partitions....with...diskpart???
    And after that?
    Pls help, if you want