Rescue USB Stick

Author: Bernd Schemmer
email: Bernd.Schemmer@gmx.de
Homepage: http://bnsmb.de

Last update: 02.07.2015/bs

Contents

 
  1. Rescue USB Stick
    1. Contents
    2. Introduction
    3. Files and directories on the partition /dev/sdb1
    4. Files and directories on the partition /dev/sdb2
    5. Boot partitions and ISO files on the USB Stick
    6. ISO images on the USB stick
    7. Boot Menues and Screenshots
      1. DSL
      2. Knoppix
      3. Slax
      4. Puppy
      5. c't Desinfect 2013
      6. Hiren's BootCD
      7. FalconFour Ultimate Boot CD
      8. Windows 7 x86 Maintenance ISO image
      9. grml
      10. System Rescue CD
      11. Darik's Boot and Nuke
      12. Clonezilla
      13. Parted Magic
      14. GParted
      15. AVIRA AntiVir Rescue System
      16. Kaspersky Rescue CD 10
      17. BitDefender
      18. Deft
      19. DEFT Zero
      20. Kali Linux
      21. BackTrack
      22. BlackArc Linux
      23. Network Security Toolkit
      24. SMART_LINUX
      25. Trinity Rescue Kit
      26. SmartOS
      27. Solaris 10
      28. Solaris 11
      29. Tribblix
      30. Firefly (Solaris 11 Rescue)
      31. Milax
      32. Ultimate Boot CD
      33. Knoppicillin 6
    8. Internals
      1. Partitiontable
      2. Boot Manager
      3. Virtual Machine Software
    9. Howtos
      1. How to create a new partition on the USB stick
      2. How to install a boot manager in one of the partitions
      3. How to add an image that uses syslinux
      4. How to boot from another partition in grub4dos
      5. How to chainroot from grub4dos to a boot loader in a partition
      6. How to chainroot to an ISO image file
      7. How to add another Casper using boot image
      8. How to add another live-initramfs using boot image
      9. How to add another Knoppix based boot image
      10. KNOPPIX Cheat Codes
    10. Links
    11. History


Introduction


This is an 128 GB USB stick with a collection of various rescue tools for x86 PCs. The rescue tools are mainly Linux Images but Solaris Images (Milax, SmartOS, Solaris 10 and Solaris 11), two Windows XP images and a Windows 7 x64 Maintenance image are also included. There are also some binaries for Linux and Windows on the first partition of the USB stick that can be used without booting the USB stick.

All images can be booted from the USB stick. In addition, some of the ISO images used to create the partitions on the USB stick are also on the USB stick.

Note that the USB stick also contains some tools for Solaris SPARC.

Notes:

/dev/sdb is used as device for the USB stick in Linux in this documentation. The device used for the USB stick on your machine may be different.


Sample screenshot from the boot manager in the master boot record of the USB stick [as of 02.07.2015]:


... and the 2nd page:

... and the 3rd page



The Solaris Sub Menu [as of 26.06.2015]




.. continued


.. continued



The ISO Images Sub Menu

... continued



Files and directories on the partition /dev/sdb1


/dev/sdb1 is a FAT formated primary partition for data (for all Operating systems).

Note:

This is the only partition that is visible in Windows.


Directory
 Content
 Version
 Comment
./backup
 privat backup files

/data
 privat data files

/hd
 HD image files
currently only WindowsNT image for Qemu
./bin/java
 Java programs

./bin/java/ireasoning
 MIB Browser
 10.0 (Build 3805) 2014
 http://ireasoning.com/
./bin/java/jangle*
 SNMP GUI
 0.13
 http://www.petertribble.co.uk/Solaris/jangle.html
./bin/java/jperf*
 GUI for iperf
 2.0.2
 http://sourceforge.net/projects/iperf/
Note:

The Windows, Linux, and Solaris binaries for iperf are also on the USB stick.
./bin/java/jxplorer*
 LDAP Browser
 3.3
 http://jxplorer.org/
./bin/java/kSar.5.1.0-beta2
 a GUI to analyze sar files
 5.1.0 beta2
./bin/java/swat*
 StorageTek Workload Analyzer
 3.02
 http://support.oracle.com , see
https://blogs.oracle.com/henk/entry/swat_3_02_has_been
./bin/linux32
 Linux 32 Bit binaries

./bin/linux64
 Linux 64 Bit binaries

./scripts
 Unix Scripts

./bin/SiSoftware Sandra Lite 2012.SP2
 Sandra Lite


./bin/solaris
 generic Solaris Tools

./bin/sol_sparc
 Solaris SPARC tools

./bin/sol_x86
 Solaris x86 Tools

./bin/usb_tools


./bin/usb_tools/syslinux-4.05 Image dir on the USB stick for syslinux

./bin/usb_tools/grub4dos-0.4.4 Image dir on the USB stick for grub4dos

./usb_tools/BOOTICE.EXE
 Windows tool to write the boot sector for various boot manager
see here
./bin/windows
 Windows tools
4allcalc
7zip
FileCommander
Firefox
FileZilla
Putty
MobaXterm
NcFTP
Notecase
NotePad
SysInternals
VNC
VirtuaWin
WinSCP
Wireshark
Xerver
multiple defragmentation tools for Windows
KeePass
TrueCrypt
qemu
etc.
./winfaq/winfaq.chm
 Windows FAQ

./img/general
 general image/package files


./img/java
 java image/package files

./img/linux32
 Linux 32 Bit image/package files

./img/linux64
 Linux 64 Bit image/package files

./img/solaris_sparc
 Solaris SPARC image/package files

./img/solaris_x86
 Solaris x86 image/package files

./img/usb
 Image files for the tools used to create the USB stick

./img/windows
 Windows image/package files

./iso
 ISO image files for x86

./iso/sparc
 ISO image files for SPARC

./mydsl Damm Small Linux Extension directory

./Putty
 Private putty files



Files and directories on the partition /dev/sdb2


The partition 2 is used for the Solaris installation (Milax, Solaris 10, and Solaris 11). Please ignore this partition in all non-Solaris OSses.

Be aware that Linux creates devices for the Solaris slices on /dev/sdb2 :


[266037.981868] sd 36:0:0:0: [sdb] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[266038.019867]  sdb: sdb1 sdb2 sdb3 sdb4 < sdb5 sdb6 sdb7 sdb8 sdb9 sdb10 sdb11 sdb12 sdb13 sdb14 sdb15 sdb16 sdb17 sdb18 sdb19 sdb20 sdb21 sdb22 sdb23 sdb24 sdb25 sdb26 >
 sdb2: <solaris: [s0] sdb27 [s1] sdb28 [s2] sdb29 [s3] sdb30 [s4] sdb31 [s8] sdb32 [s9] sdb33 >

But due to the missing UFS drivers in Linux these devices  (sdb27 to sdb33 in the example above) are not usable in Linux.



Boot partitions and ISO files on the USB Stick


Note:

The keyboard layout for most ISO images is US. To change the keyboard layout to German use "setxkbmap de" while in a terminal .

To become root in mostly all Live Linux image use " sudo su -", the root passwords for the images listed in the table below (if required).
CDROM Image used / OS
 Version
 Architecture
 Description
 Homepage / download
 signature file for the boot manager
 Boot
Manager
 Can boot from ISO image
 Comment
DSL - Damm Small Linux 4.11.rc2 32 Bit
 a Live Linux Image
 http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/index_de.html dsl.sig
 syslinux yes
 this is still Linux 2.4.x
Knoppix V7.4.2 2014-09-28
(DVD image)
 64 Bit
 the Linux Live Image
http://knopper.net/ knoppix.sig
 syslinux yes
 see also the notes for KNOPPIX based images
and the KNOPPIX Cheat Codes
Slax 7.0.8 x86_64 64 Bit
 another Live Linux Image http://www.slax.org/ slax.sig
 syslinux

Puppy 5.7
 32 Bit
 another Live Linux Image http://puppylinux.org puppy5x.sig syslinux no
c't Desinfect 2013
 4/2013
Linux Image with virus scanner
 c't 4/2013
 ctdesinfect.sig
 syslinux no
Hiren's BootCD 15.1
 32 Bit
 Mini Windows XP and other tools
 http://www.hiren.info hiren.sig
 syslinux Linux : no
Windows XP: yes
FalconFour Ultimate Boot CD
v4.61 32 Bit
 Customized version of Hiren's BootCD
 http://falconfour.wordpress.com/tag/f4ubcd/ fb.sig
 grub4dos
 yes
grml
 grml96-full_2014.11
 32 Bit
64 Bit
 the swiss army knife for sys admins http://grml.org/download/ grml.sig
 syslinux yes
SystemRescueCD 4.0.3 64 Bit
 32 Bit
64 Bit
 a rescue CD
 http://www.sysresccd.org sysrescue.sig
 syslinux yes
Ultimate Boot CD 5.1.1
5.2.9
various tools
 http://www.ubcd.org/ ISO Boot only - no separate partition on the USB stick n/a
 yes
Knoppicillin 6
 Koppicillin 6 8/2007
 32 Bit
 c't Rescue Disk

with some harddisk tests tools:

 4) Fujitsu Drive Test 7.00             
 5) Hitachi Feature Tool 2.07           
 6) Hitachi Fitness Test 4.11           
 7) Samsung HUTIL 2.10
 8) Seagate SeaTools for DOS 2.07 (GUI)
 9) Seagate SeaTools for DOS 1.10 (TUI)
10) Western Digital DLD 5.04f

 http://www.heise.de/download/knoppicillin-download.html
 ISO Boot only - no separate partition on the USB stick n/a
 yes
 Note:

Linux from the Knoppiclin Partition does not start
Darik's Boot and Nuke
 2.2.6
 32 Bit
 tools to nuke disks
 http://www.dban.org
 dban.sig
 syslinux yes
CloneZilla
 2.3.2-22-amd64
 64 Bit
 a Linux Live Image to copy harddisks
 http://www.clonezilla.org/
 clonezilla.sig
 syslinux
 no
Parted Magic
 2012_12_25_x86_64 64 Bit
 a Linux Live Image with Partition tools http://partedmagic.com/ pmagic64.sig
 syslinux no
 Note:
Newer versions are not free anymore
GParted
 0.16.1-1-i486
 32 Bit
 Gparted
 http://gparted.org/
 gparted.sig
 syslinux no









AVIRA AntiVir Rescue System
 20.08.2014
 32 Bit
 Virus scanner
 http://www.avira.com/de/download/product/avira-antivir-rescue-system/
 antivir.sig
 syslinux
 no
Kaspersky Rescue CD 10
 10
 32 Bit
 Virus scanner
 http://support.kaspersky.com/de/viruses/rescuedisk
 kaspersky.sig
 syslinux
 no
BitDefender

32 Bit
 Virus scanner
ISO Boot only - no separate partition on the USB stick n/a
 yes









DEFT
8.2
 64 Bit
 a Linux Live distribution for forensic analysis
 http://usb.deftlinux.net/
 deft.sig
 syslinux no
 DEFT Documentation
DEFT Zero
 RC 1
 32 Bitsudo
 "What’s DEFT ZERO?

This new mini DEFT distro is fully optimized for the acquisition and hashing of mass storage devices, in just 400 MB! Due DEFT Zero’s light weight and the fact that it can be loaded entirely into RAM at computer boot, it allows you virtually to turn any computer (even a really obsolete one) into a storage media cloner device."		 http://usb.deftlinux.net/ deftzero.sig
 syslinux no
 DEFTZero Documentation
Kali Linux
 1.0.6
 64 Bit
 a Linux Live image for security checks http://www.kali.org/
 kali64.sig
 syslinux no
 KALI Documentation
Kali Linux 1.0.9
 64 Bit
 a Linux Live image for security checks http://www.kali.org/ kali109.sig
 syslinux no
 KALI Documentation

Note:

In qemu you must add vga=vmware to the qemu command for this image!
BackTrack
 5R3
 64 Bit
 a Linux Live image for security checks
 http://www.backtrack-linux.org/backtrack/backtrack-5-release/
 backtrack.sig
 syslinux
BackTrack is no longer developed - the successor of BackTrack is Kali Linux
BlackArc
 2014/10/07
 64 BitBlackArc
 "BlackArch Linux is a lightweight expansion to Arch Linux for penetration testers and security researchers. "
blackarch.sig
 syslinux no
 http://blackarch.org/index.html

Root User:
root / blackarch
Network Security Toolkit
 2014-02-20
 32 Bit
 Network security applications
 http://www.networksecuritytoolkit.org/nst/
 nst.sig
 syslinux no

 see also:
http://sectools.org/
Root User:
root / nst2003
SMART Linux
2014-06-19
 32 Bit
 Forensic Tools
 http://www.asrdata.com/forensic-software/smart-linux/
 smart.sig
 syslinux no
Trinity Rescue Kit
 3.4
 32 Bit
 Trinity Rescue Kit or TRK is a free live Linux distribution that aims specifically at recovery and repair operations on Windows machines, but is equally usable for Linux recovery issues http://trinityhome.org/
 trinity.sig
 syslinux yes
 Installation hints:

Label the TRK partition with a unique label - e.g. TRK_3_4

Add the parameter

vollabel=TRK_3_4

to all APPEND lines in the syslinux config file

Note:
The default Label used in the scripts is
TRK_3.4









SmartOS
v0.147+
20140221T0421472
 64 Bit
 Smart OS Live Image  (OpenSolaris) http://smartos.org/ smartos.sig
 n/a
 yes

To use JWM  in SmartOS   do

mount /dev/dsk/c0d0s3 /mnt
cd /mnt/applications/tools/jwm

The keyboard layout for SmartOS is US.
Tribblix
 April 28th 2015
Milestone 15		 64 Bit
 "Tribblix is an operating system derived from OpenSolaris, OpenIndiana, and Illumos, with a retro style and modern components." http://www.tribblix.org
 n/a
(Partition 2 ) 		n/a
 no
 User account:
jack / jack

root account:
root / tribblix

Note:

Works currently only in QEMU with the USB stick as hda1.
Milax

 0.3.2
0.4
0.5
 32 Bit
 An Open Solaris Live Image
 http://www.milax.org/ n/a
(Partition 2 )
 grub 0.97 yes
 A current version of JWM is part of this Milax installation

Login User: alex, password alex

Root pasword is "root"

The keyboard layout is US; "setxkbmap de" to switch to German
Solaris 10
 Solaris 10 U10
 64 Bit
32 Bit
 Solaris 10 Maintenance Image
n/a
(Partition 2 )

 n/a
 n/a
Solaris 10
 Solaris 10 U11
 64 Bit
32 Bit
 Solaris 10 U11 Installation DVD image
ISO Boot only - no separate partition on the USB stick n/a
 yes
Solaris 11
 Solaris 11.2
 64 Bit
 Solaris 11.2 Live Image
n/a
(Partition 2)
 n/a
 yes

To use JWM  in Solaris 11  do

mount /dev/dsk/c0d0s3 /mnt
cd /mnt/applications/tools/jwm
Firefly 0114
 Solaris 11 Rescue Image
 64 Bit
 A failsafe image for Solaris 11
ISO Boot only - no separate partition on the USB stick n/a
 yes




















ISO images on the USB stick


ISO images on the USB stick (in /iso [as of 02.07.2015])


-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  639619072 Jul  3 08:45 avira_rescue-system_20140820.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  405094400 Jul  3 08:45 bitdefender-rescue-cd.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 4156686336 Jul  3 08:50 blackarchlinux-live-2014.10.07-x86_64.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  161480704 Jul  3 08:50 clonezilla-live-20140114-saucy-amd64.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root   10852352 Jul  3 08:50 dban-2.2.6_i586.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 3317876736 Jul  3 08:55 deft-8.2.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  422615040 Jul  3 08:55 deftZ-rc1.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 1083179008 Jul  3 08:56 desinfect2013.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root   52824064 Jul  3 08:56 dsl-4.11.rc2.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  731609088 Jul  3 08:57 F4UBCD-4.61.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root   89554944 Jul  3 08:57 firefly_0114.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  229638144 Jul  3 08:57 gparted-live-0.20.0-2-i486.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  957349888 Jul  3 08:58 grml96-full_2014.11.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  524382208 Jul  3 08:59 Hiren's.BootCD.15.1.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  623890432 Jul  3 08:59 Hiren's.BootCD.15.2.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  247199744 Jul  3 09:00 k6d_6.0.2.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 3138715648 Jul  3 09:04 kali-linux-1.0.6-amd64.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 3234840576 Jul  3 09:07 kali-linux-1.0.6-i386.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  288229376 Jul  3 09:07 kav_rescue_10.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 4258379776 Jul  3 09:12 KNOPPIX_V7.4.2DVD-2014-09-28-DE.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  132249600 Jul  3 09:12 milax032.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  109574144 Jul  3 09:13 milax04.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root   97263616 Jul  3 09:13 milax05.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 2023751680 Jul  3 09:16 nst-20-5663.i686.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  286261248 Jul  3 09:16 pmagic_2012_12_25.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  197132288 Jul  3 09:16 pmagic_2012_2_27_x86_64.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  261480448 Jul  3 09:16 redobackup-livecd-1.0.4.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  171829248 Jul  3 09:17 slacko-5.6-4G-NON-PAE.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  172826624 Jul  3 09:17 slacko-5.6-PAE.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  169869312 Jul  3 09:17 slacko-5.7.0-PAE.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  239628288 Jul  3 16:27 slax-German-7.0.8-x86_64.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  282531840 Jul  3 09:17 smartos_v0.147_20140221T0421472.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  734248960 Jul  3 09:18 SMART-Ubuntu-2014-06-19.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 2254110720 Jul  3 06:46 sol-10-u11-ga-x86-dvd.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 1064273920 Jul  3 06:43 sol-11_2-live-x86.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  405999616 Jul  3 09:19 systemrescuecd-x86-4.3.0.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  999731200 Jul  3 09:20 tribblix-0m15.iso
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root  602079232 Jul  3 09:20 ubcd529.iso


iso/sparc:
total 305568
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 225751040 Nov  2  2009 milax032sparc.iso
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  87142400 May 18  2011 systemrescuecd-sparc-0.4.0.iso

Note:

A lot of the live images (but not all) can boot direct from the ISO image using an grub4dos entry like this:

title Windows 7 64 Bit Maintenance ISO image
  map (hd0,0)/iso/Win7PESE_x64.ISO (hd32)
  map --hook
  root (hd32)
  chainloader (hd32)
  boot

Using an ISO boot you do not need space for an additional partition but you can not change the default boot options for the image then.
Be aware an ISO image must be in a continuous area on the USB stick to use it for booting.

Boot Menues and Screenshots

DSL

Knoppix





Slax

Puppy

 

c't Desinfect 2013




Hiren's BootCD



FalconFour Ultimate Boot CD




... and the 2nd page:






Windows 7 x64 Maintenance ISO image








grml


System Rescue CD








Darik's Boot and Nuke

Clonezilla

Parted Magic









GParted







AVIRA AntiVir Rescue System


Kaspersky Rescue CD 10


Graphic mode:

Text mode:




BitDefender

Deft

DEFT Zero







Kali Linux

BackTrack



BlackArc Linux

Network Security Toolkit


SMART_LINUX

Trinity Rescue Kit

SmartOS


Solaris 10


Solaris 11

Tribblix






Firefly (Solaris 11 Rescue)

Milax


Ultimate Boot CD


Knoppicillin 6

Internals

Partitiontable


Disk /dev/sdc: 115.3 GiB, 123802484736 bytes, 241801728 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x2b69cc43

Device     Boot     Start       End   Blocks  Id System
/dev/sdc1  *         2048  94373887 47185920   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc2        94373888 113248255  9437184  bf Solaris
/dev/sdc4       113248256 241801727 64276736   5 Extended
/dev/sdc5       113250304 113362943    56320   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc6       113364992 113979391   307200   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc7       113981440 115005439   512000   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc8       115007488 116133887   563200   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc9       116135936 126779391  5321728   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc10      126781440 133949439  3584000   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc11      133951488 136409087  1228800   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc12      136411136 136718335   153600   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc13      136720384 138194943   737280   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc14      138196992 139671551   737280   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc15      139673600 141148159   737280   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc16      141150208 148318207  3584000   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc17      148320256 152825855  2252800   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc18      152827904 153237503   204800   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc19      153239552 154714111   737280   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc20      154716160 164956159  5120000   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc21      164958208 167055359  1048576   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc22      167057408 177297407  5120000   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc23      177299456 177649663   175104   6 FAT16
/dev/sdc24      177651712 178061311   204800   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc25      178063360 186451967  4194304   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc26      186454016 187478015   512000   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc27      187480064 188094463   307200   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc28      188096512 188137471    20480   6 FAT16
/dev/sdc29      188139520 188753919   307200   b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdc30      188755968 197144575  4194304   b W95 FAT32


Boot Manager

The boot manager used for the master boot record of the USB stick is grub4dos.

The main menu file for the boot manager grub4dos is ./menu.lst.
Other menu files for grub4dos are: cdimages.lst, smartos.lst, solaris10.lst, and harddisk.lst.

The grub4dos boot manager menu is password protected.

In each partition is a separate boot manager installed.

For the boot manager used on the separate partitions see the table above.

Virtual Machine Software


Various versions of Qemu for Windows are installed on the USB stick:  ./bin/windows/qemu/.

Qemu for Linux 32 Bit is "installed" on the USB stick: ./bin/linux32/qemu/

Qemu for Linux 64 Bit is "installed" on the USB stick: ./bin/linux64/qemu/

Qemu for Solaris x86 is also installed on the USB stick:  ./bin/sol_x86

The SmartOS image contains kvm .
For testing purpose the USB stick can also be booted in a Virtual machine, example

sudo qemu-system-x86_64  -net nic -net user -hda /dev/sdb -m 4g  -sdl -k de

or (using this command the mouse does NOT work in Solaris)

sudo qemu-system-x86_64  -net nic -net user -hda /dev/sdb -m 4g -k de -display vnc=:2 -usb -usbdevice tablet

If the X Server does not work in a live image add the qemu parameter -vga vmware.

Note:

In VMWare or VirtualBox it's more difficult to use a physical device for virtual machines therefor I prefer qemu or kvm for testing.


Howtos

How to create a new partition on the USB stick


 Because of the "hidden" devices for the Solaris slices (see here) you MUST use this approach to create new partitions :

- use fdisk to create the new partition(s)

- umount all (!) partitions from the USB stick

- physically detach the USB stick (!)

- reattach the USB stick

Now you can create filesystems on the new partition(s), copy files, etc.


How to install a boot manager in one of the partitions



Most ISO images use the boot manager syslinux. To install the syslinux boot manager into a partition use (in Linux!):

syslinux /dev/sdb<partition_number>

Then change to the directory with the mounted partition and rename the directory isolinux to syslinux and the file isolinux.cfg to syslinux.cfg.


That's it ... in some cases the syslinux files in the ISO image do not match the installed syslinux boot manager; in this case just copy the syslinux files from the running Linux.


To install another boot manager in one of the partitions you might use the Windows binary bootice. If you do not have a Windows installation for executing bootice you can use the Windows image on the USB Rescue stick:

- boot the USB Rescue Stick in qemu:

sudo qemu-system-x86_64  -hda /dev/sdb  -net user -net nic -m 2g -k de -boot c -enable-kvm -usb

- select one of the boot menue entries for Windows XP

- in Windows XP then change to the directory c:\bin\windows\usb_tools and execute "bootice". Now you can use bootice to write a specific boot manager to one or ore more of the partitions:


How to add an image that uses syslinux


To copy a ISO image or CDROM using syslinux to the USB stick do

- create a new partition on the USB stick and change the partition type to 0b (W95 FAT32) ( Caution: Read this first)

- create a FAT filesystem on the new partition (mkfs.vfat -n <volname> <partition>)

- copy all files from the ISO image or CDROM to the new partition

- configure syslinux on the new partition if not already included in the the ISO image:

    - rename the directory /isolinux to /syslinux

     - rename the file isolinux.cfg to syslinux.cfg

     - rename the file isolinux.bin to syslinux.bin

     - Then install syslinux to the MBR of the new partition using

        syslinux --install /dev/sdb<no>

       e.g

         syslinux --install /dev/sdb5

Last add an entry for the new partition to the grub4dos config file menu.lst.

How to boot from another partition in grub4dos


Create a unique signature file on the partition, e.g.

mount /dev/sdb17 /mnt
touch /mnt/puppy.sig
umount /mnt

Then use an entry like this in the grub4dos config file menu.lst:

(do NOT use fixed partition names -- use signature files instead)

title Puppy\nPuppy 5.6
#  root (hd0,6) 
  find --set-root /puppy.sig
  kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=atahd psubdir=/ cpkeys=de-latin1
  initrd /initrd.gz

How to chainroot from grub4dos to a boot loader in a partition


Create a unique signature file on the partition, e.g.

mount /dev/sdb20 /mnt
touch /mnt/backtrack.sig
umount /mnt


Then use an entry like this in the grub4dos config file menu.lst:

title BackTrack Linux\nBack Track 5R3 64Bit Gnome
  find --set-root /backtrack.sig
  map +1 (fd0)
  map --hook
  root (fd0)
  chainloader +1
  boot

Note:

You must install the neccessary boot loader in the partition (/dev/sdb20 in this example), of course.

How to chainroot to an ISO image file


Use an entry like this in the grub4dos config file menu.lst:

title Ultimate Boot CD ISO
fallback 8
find --set-root /iso/ubcd511.iso
map /iso/ubcd511.iso (0xff) || map --mem /iso/ubcd511.iso (0xff)
map --hook
chainloader (0xff)
savedefault --wait=2


Note:  Booting from an ISO image does only work if the booted OS uses only interrupt calls to read from the boot device!

How to add another Casper using boot image


 
"Casper is a hook for initramfs-tools used to generate an initramfs capable to boot live systems
 as those created by make-live" (see the man page for casper)

Casper is for example used for Live Images based on Ubuntu.

Unfortunately Casper does not work correct out of the box on USB sticks if there are more than one partition using Casper on the same medium. Therefor some additional steps are necessary to make Casper work.

First copy the image to the USB stick and  add the partition with the Live Image to the menu.lst file.

Then correct the live Image on the USB stick (in this example we assume the image is on the partition /dev/sdb20)

mount /dev/sdb20 /mnt
cd /mnt

# rename the directory casper to another unique name (unique = not used for other images using Casper on the medium).

mv casper casperbt

and correct the syslinux.cfg file entries:

cd /mnt/syslinux

mv syslinux.cfg syslinux.org

sed -e "s#/casper/#/casperbt/#" -e "s#boot=casper#boot=casper live-media-path=/casperbt#g"  syslinux.org >syslinux.cfg

umount /mnt

syslinux -i /dev/sdb20

Notes:

Do not change the value for the keyword boot - this MUST be casper.

If the Live Linux image uses include files in the main config file you must also change "casper" to the new name ("casperbt" in this example) in the include files!

Other useful parameter for the initrd statement in syslinux.cfg are:

locales=de_DE.UTF-8 keyboard-layouts=de  keyboard-variants=de_nodeadkeys toram

To activate debugging add the following parameter after boot=live

debug debug=y

Now debug messages are written to the file /run/initramfs/initramfs.debug (debug activates the debug logging and debug=y activates a "set -x" for all init scripts).

  

How to add another live-initramfs using boot image


"live-initramfs is a hook for the initramfs-tools, used to generate a initramfs
capable to boot live systems, such as those created by live-helper(7).
This includes the Debian Live isos, netboot tarballs, and usb stick images.

At boot time it will look for a (read-only) media containing a "/live"
directory where a root filesystems (often a compressed filesystem image like squashfs) is stored. If found, it will create a writable
environment, using aufs, for Debian like systems to boot from.

live-initramfs is a fork of casper.
casper was originally written by Tollef Fog Heen <tfheen@canonical.com>
and Matt Zimmerman <mdz@canonical.com>."
(see the manpage for live-initramfs)

live-initramfs is used for a lot of Linux Live distributions.

Unfortunately live-initramfs (like Casper) does not work correct out of the box on USB sticks if there are more than one partition using live-initramfs on the same medium. Therefor some additional steps are necessary to make live-initramfs work.

First copy the image to the USB stick and  add the partition with the Live Image to the menu.lst file.

Then correct the live Image on the USB stick (in this example we assume the image is on the partition /dev/sdb23)

mount /dev/sdb23 /mnt
cd /mnt

# rename the directory live to another unique name (unique = not used for other images using live-initramfs on the medium).

mv live gparted

and correct the syslinux.cfg file entries:

# if there is only a directory called isolinux rename that directory to syslinux:

mv isolinux syslinux

cd syslinux

# note: if only a file called isolinux.cfg exists copy this file to syslinux.cfg first

cp isolinux.cfg syslinux.cfg

mv syslinux.cfg syslinux.org

sed -e "s#/live/#/gparted/#" -e "s#boot=live#boot=live live-media-path=/gparted#g"  syslinux.org >syslinux.cfg

umount /mnt

syslinux -i /dev/sdb23


Notes:

Do not change the value for the keyword boot - this MUST be live.

If the Live Linux image uses include files in the main config file you must also change "live" to the new name ("gparted" in this example) in the include files!

Other useful parameter for the initrd statement in syslinux.cfg are:

locales=de_DE.UTF-8 keyboard-layouts=de  keyboard-variants=de_nodeadkeys toram

To activate debugging add the following parameter after boot=live

debug debug=y

Now debug messages are written to the file /run/initramfs/initramfs.debug (debug activates the debug logging and debug=y activates a "set -x" for all init scripts).

How to add another Knoppix based boot image


To add another Knoppix based image to the USB stick you must change the syslinux config files:

First rename the directory KNOPPIX on the partition to a new name, e.g

mv KNOPPPIX KNOPPIXDVD

Next add the parameter for the KNOPPIX directory to all entries in the syslinux config file:

cd boot
mv isolinux syslinux
cd syslinux
sed "s/initrd=minirt.gz/initrd=minirt.gz knoppix_dir=KNOPPIXDVD /g"  isolinux.cfg>syslinux.cfg


Be aware the initrd on the original KNOPPIX  DVD only supports the first 15 partitions on the harddisk devices for booting!

KNOPPIX Cheat Codes

                     CHEATCODES AND HINTS FOR KNOPPIX V7.4
==============================================================================
                         (last update: 28.09.2014)

These options (can be combined) work from the boot prompt:

### General ###
adriane                             Start blind-friendly, talking desktop
debug                               Debug boot process step-by-step
expert                              Interactive setup for experts
knoppix                             Knoppix w/ 32bit Kernel
knoppix64                           Knoppix w/ 64bit Kernel
knoppix 2                           Runlevel 2, Textmode only
knoppix init=/bin/bash              Start bash as process 1 instead of init

### Language/Country ###
knoppix lang=ch|cn|de|da|es|fr|it   specify language/keyboard
knoppix lang=nl|pl|ru|sk|tr|tw|us   specify language/keyboard
knoppix keyboard=us xkeyboard=us    Use different keyboard (text/X)
knoppix utc                         Use Universal Time
knoppix tz=Europe/Berlin            Use this timezone for TZ
                                    (default: tz=localtime)

### Hardware/Workarounds ###
knoppix ide1=reset                  Try this if knoppix can't find the
                                    CD/DVD drive on old computers
knoppix no{apic,lapic,acpi,apm}     Skip parts of HW-detection (1)
knoppix no{hwsetup,udev,dhcp,fstab} Skip parts of HW-detection (2)
knoppix no{pcmcia,sound,swap}       Skip parts of HW-detection (3)
knoppix nousb                       Skip parts of HW-detection (4)
knoppix nolapic                     Disable local APIC (differs from noapic)
knoppix noideraid                   Disable IDE-Raiddisk detection
knoppix pnpbios=off                 No PnP Bios initialization
knoppix acpi=off                    Disable ACPI Bios completely
knoppix acpi=noirq                  Disable ACPI IRC routing only
knoppix acpi=force                  FORCE ACPI Bios initialization
knoppix noacpid                     Do not start ACPI even daemon
failsafe                            Boot with (almost) no HW-detection
knoppix pci=irqmask=0x0e98          Try this, if PS/2 mouse doesn't work *)
knoppix pci=bios                    Workaround for bad PCI controllers
knoppix ide2=0x180 nopcmcia         Boot from PCMCIA-CD-Rom (some notebooks)
knoppix mem=512M                    Specify Memory size in MByte
knoppix wheelmouse                  Enable IMPS/2 protocol for wheelmice
knoppix nowheelmouse                Force plain PS/2 protocol for PS/2-mouse

### Desktop ###
knoppix desktop=kde|gnome|icewm     Use specified WM instead of LXDE (1)
knoppix desktop=fluxbox|openbox     Use specified WM instead of LXDE (2)
knoppix desktop=larswm|evilwm|twm   Use specified WM instead of LXDE (3)
knoppix no3d                        Don't use compiz 3d fuctions
knoppix 3d                          Try compiz even on slow cards w/o dri

### Graphics ###
knoppix screen=1280x1024            Use specified Screen resolution for X
knoppix hsync=95                    Use 95 kHz horizontal X refresh rate
knoppix vsync=60                    Use 60 Hz vertical refresh rate for X
knoppix xmodule=fbdev|vesa|svga     Use specified Xorg-Module (1)
knoppix xmodule=nouveau|radeon      Use specified Xorg-Module (2)
knoppix xmodule=intel|vmware|s3     Use specified Xorg-Module (3)
knoppix norandr                     Disable Xorg RandR feature (may be
                                    useful if wrong resolution was detected)
knoppix noddc                       Don't query monitor for resoution
knoppix nocomposite                 Don't use Xorg Composite extension
knoppix vga=normal                  No-framebuffer mode, but X
knoppix nodrm                       Don't load graphics acceleration modules
knoppix nofb                        Don't load framebuffer modules
knoppix nomodeset                   Don't use Kernel Mode Settings for X
fb1280x1024                         Use fixed framebuffer graphics (1)
fb1024x768                          Use fixed framebuffer graphics (2)
fb800x600                           Use fixed framebuffer graphics (3)
fb640x480                           Use fixed framebuffer graphics (4)

### Configuration / Persistent image ###
knoppix nonetworkmanager            Don't start network manager
knoppix toram                       Copy to RAM and run from there
knoppix tohd=/dev/sda1              Copy to Harddisk and run from there
knoppix fromhd=/dev/sda1            Boot from previously copied CD-Image
knoppix bootfrom=/dev/sda1/KNX.iso  Access image, boot from ISO-Image. ***)
knoppix knoppix_dir=KNOPPIX         Directory to search for on the CD.
knoppix knoppix_name=KNOPPIX        Cloop-File to search for on the CD.
knoppix noswap                      Don't use existing swap partitions
knoppix nozram                      Don't use zram compressed swap-in-ram
knoppix forensic                    Don't use swap and mount read-only
knoppix secure                      Disable root access
knoppix mkimage                     Create persistent image as needed
knoppix noimage                     Ignore persistent image or partition

### Knoppix Terminalserver/Client ###
knoppix nfsdir=hostip:path          Use nfsdir as /mnt-system for TS client
knoppix hostname=name               Set TS client hostname
knoppix hostname=auto-mac           Set TS client hostname from MAC address
knoppix hostname=auto-clock         Set TS client hostname from clock

### Various ###
knoppix noeject                     Do NOT eject CD after halt
knoppix noprompt                    Do NOT prompt to remove the CD
knoppix testcd|testdvd              Check live medium for defects
knoppix splash                      Use splash.ppm in initrd as boot pic
knoppix trace                       create an open() trace in /open.trace

Hint: Using the default DE-bootimage, SYSLINUX boots with german
keyboard layout. The '=' letter is located at Shift-0 on this keyboard
(just in case you want to change keyboard and language with lang=us). If
you need to change the keyboard layout later in X, and can't find a
convenient tool in the preferences, use "setxkbmap 'ca(multi)'" in order
to set up a new (multi-language canadian, in this example) keyboard
layout

*) Try "knoppix pci=irqmask=0x0e98" if (you have an old notebook and)
your PS/2 mouse doesn't work, Possibly caused by a BIOS-flaw on your
board, BIOS updates can sometimes help.

If your KNOPPIX CD produces strange noises during boot, or you see
frequent errors like "cloop: read error", or programs on your desktop
are crashing randomly, then your CD image is probably defective or
incomplete, or your CD-burner created a defective CD due to wrong
writing speed or bad media. This is actually the most common error
reported. Please boot with "knoppix testcd" to check if the CD or DVD is
OK. Installing and starting Knoppix from flash disk is recommended and
much faster than running from CD or DVD.

In case of a failing hardware autodetection, try booting with any of
the "no-" options as shown in the table above, like in
   knoppix nodrm nomodeset no3d noaudio noapm noapic nolapic
           acpi=off pci=bios pnpbios=off nodma nopcmcia noscsi nousb ...
to skip some critical parts of the autodetection system.

The "noswap" and/or "forensic" boot option is useful for a forensic
analysis without touching existing swap partitions.

Some Boards apparently don't pass the proper memory size to the
linux-kernel. It may cause the message "Panic: cannot mount root file
system" and the system hangs. Use "knoppix mem=512M" to solve that
problem if your system has 512MByte memory for example (caution:
you MUST use a capital "M" here).

When installing to read/write media, such as flash disks (using
flash-knoppix), you can add a swap file in order to replace missing
physical RAM by persistent storage space. You can create this swap
file like this from the running system:
  dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt-system/KNOPPIX/knoppix.swp
  mkswap /mnt-system/KNOPPIX/knoppix.swp
  swapon /mnt-system/KNOPPIX/knoppix.swp
Please be aware that swapping on flash media can be painfully slow, and
is no perfect replacement for real RAM. The zram ram-compression feature
(available from Knoppix 7.0.1) can extend the usable ram range to a
certain degree.

---

If you need additional modules for starting controllers needed at boot
time, just copy the corresponding *.ko files from /lib/modules/* over to
/modules in the initial ramdisk (remaster needed).

If you place an update*.zip or update*tar.gz file on the medium holding
the KNOPPIX data, it will be unpacked onto the overlayed filesystem
before starting "init", thus allowing quick reconfiguration of the
system.

The file "knoppix.sh", if residing in the main KNOPPIX directory, will
be execuded after autoconfiguration and before starting the graphical
desktop. It can be used in order to start additional services.

If you wish to remaster the CD, please don't forget to specify
    -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
    -b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin -c boot/isolinux/boot.cat
as option to mkisofs. Otherwise your CD or DVD won't be bootable. The
directory KNOPPIX, containig the compressed filesystem file "KNOPPIX",
must be located in the top level directory of the CD.

Caution: X-Screensaver: Don't start xlock or any screensaver that
requires a password. There are no default passwords on KNOPPIX,
i.e. all accounts are LOCKED unless you explicitly set a password.
See also README_Security.txt about this issue.
If you accidentially hit the screensaver button in KDE,
switch to one of the textconsoles by Control-Alt-F1 and kill
the screensaver (or just set a password for the knoppix user).

If you would like to edit your X-Server configuration manually
(config file /etc/X11/xorg.conf), use "knoppix 2" to boot
into runlevel 2 (textmode only) and, after changing the X
configuration, start the X environment with "init 5". Note that
you can always leave the graphical environment with "init 2", and
restart it later with "init 5".



Links
What
 Website
 Comment
grub4dos homepage
 http://sourceforge.net/projects/grub4dos/
 The directory on the USB stick with grub4dos is
./bin/usb_tools/grub4dos-0.4.4

The Image  file is here : ./img/usb
syslinux homepage
 http://www.syslinux.org
 The directory on the USB stick with syslinux is
./bin/usb_tools/syslinux-4.05

The Image  file is here : ./img/usb
grub legacy
 http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/grub-legacy.html
JWM documentation
 img/jwm/JWM_short_online_help.html



Casper man page
 http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/precise/man7/casper.7.html
live-initramfs man page
 http://grml.org/online-docs/live-initramfs.en.7.html
Debian Live Manual
 http://live.debian.net/manual/stable/html/live-manual.en.html
MultiBoot USB Stick Howto
 http://www.gtkdb.de/index_7_1184.html
bootice
 http://bbs.ipauly.com/ bootice is a (windows) tool to write various boot file managers to the mbr or pbr.


History
Date
 Version
 Author
 Description
 Comment
16.10.2012
 1.0.0
 Bernd Schemmer
 initial public version
03.01.2013
 1.1.0
 Bernd Schemmer
 updated the images used to create the USB stick
05.01.2013
 1.2.0
 Bernd Schemmer
 added Milax 0.4 and Milax 0.5
01.05.2013
 1.3.0
 Bernd Schemmer
 added c't Desinfect 2013
12.05.2013
 1.4.0
 Bernd Schemmer
 added gparted 0.16
added Kali Linux 1.0.3
created the compressed tar archive /cygwin.tar.gz
removed the directory cygwin


14.05.2013
 1.5.0
 Bernd Schemmer
 Updated clonezilla to 14.03.2013
Updated grml to 2013.02
Updated SystemRescueCD to 3.6.0
Added Network Security Toolkit (nst) 18
removed the compressed tar archive /cygwin.tar.gz
05.03.2014
 1.6.0
 Bernd Schemmer
 Added FalconFour Ultimate Disk V4.61
Added Trinity Rescue Kit 3.4

Updated Puppy to 5.6 non-PAE w/ develop tools
Updated DSL to 4.11 RC2
Updated slax to 7.0.8
Updated clonezilla to 14.01.2014
Updated grml to 2013.09
Updated Network Security Toolkit (nst) to 2014-02-20
Updated Knoppix to 7.2
Updated SmartOS to v0.147+ 20140221T0421472
JWM for the SmartOS image updated to v1.0.12
Updated SystemRescueCD to 4.0.1
Updated deft to 8.0
Updated kali to 1.0.6
Updated Smart Linux to 11.12.2013
Added Ultimate Boot CD 5.2.9

Removed: pmagic32
Removed: Redo Backup and Recovery
25.08.2014
 1.7.0
 Bernd Schemmer
 Updated Knoppix to 7.4 64 Bit
Updated SystemrescueCD to 4.03 64 Bit
Updated Puppy to 5.7
Updated Clonezilla to 2.2.3-25-amd64
Updated Deft to 8.2
Updated Smart Linux to 19.06.2014
Updated Avira to 20.08.2014
14.12.2014
 1.8.0
 Bernd Schemmer
 Added Solaris 11.2
20.12.2014
 1.8.1
 Bernd Schemmer Updated GRML to grml96-full_2014.11
27.12.2014
 1.8.2
 Bernd Schemmer
 Added BlackArc 2014/10/07
02.05.2015
 1.8.3
 Bernd Schemmer
 Added DEFT Zero
07.06.2015
 1.8.4
 Bernd Schemmer
 Added Knoppicillin
26.06.2015 1.8.5 Bernd Schemmer Updated MIB Browser to 10.0 (Build 3805)
Added Tribblix Version April 28th 2015, Milestone 15
Updated Knoppix to 7.4.2 (2014-09-28)
Removed the partition for Knoppicillin - only CD Image boot is now implemented
Update clonezilla to 2.3.2-22-amd64
Updated smartos to the latest image
02.07.2015
 1.8.6
 Bernd Schemmer
 Added Windows 7 64 Bit Maintenance ISO image
Updated various windows binaries in /bin/windows
Added more hints for creating a Rescue USB stick




back top top