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Clarification of "Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide" Section 4.3.3.2

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  Clarification of "Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide" Section  4.3.3.2 Richard Owlett <rowlett@cloud85.net> - 2018-04-03 13:10 +0200
    Re: Clarification of "Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide" Section 4.3.3.2 "Thomas Schmitt" <scdbackup@gmx.net> - 2018-04-03 14:10 +0200
      Re: Clarification of "Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide" Section 4.3.3.2 "Thomas Schmitt" <scdbackup@gmx.net> - 2018-04-03 14:20 +0200

#194438 — Clarification of "Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide" Section 4.3.3.2

I wish to 'manually copy files to the USB stick — the flexible way'.
I will be using either
    debian-9.4.0-i386-netinst.iso
or
    a purchased DVD-1 of Debian 9.1.0


Section 4.3.3.2 says in part:
> Mount the partition (mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt) and copy the following
> installer image files to the stick:
> 
>     vmlinuz or linux (kernel binary)
> 
>     initrd.gz (initial ramdisk image)
> 
> You can choose between either the text-based or the graphical version
> of the installer. The latter can be found in the gtk subdirectory. If
> you want to rename the files, please note that syslinux can only process
> DOS (8.3) file names. 

In both sources I find a file named "vmlinuz".
In neither source do I find a file named simply "linux".
I do find "isolinux.bin" in both sources.

What are the difference among those three.
Which should I use?

TIA

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#194444 — Re: Clarification of "Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide" Section 4.3.3.2

Hi,

Richard Owlett wrote:
> I do find "isolinux.bin" in both sources.
> What are the difference among those three.

The file isolinux.bin is an El Torito "no emulation" boot image for
(legacy) BIOS. It is the first program that is executed by BIOS
when the ISO image is presented on CD, DVD, or BD media.
It is jobless on an USB stick.


> Which should I use?

Looking at the directory tree of debian-9.4.0-i386-netinst.iso i'd say
one of:
  /mnt/iso/install.386/gtk/vmlinuz
  /mnt/iso/install.386/vmlinuz
  /mnt/iso/install.386/xen/vmlinuz
and one of
  /mnt/iso/install.386/gtk/initrd.gz
  /mnt/iso/install.386/initrd.gz
  /mnt/iso/install.386/xen/initrd.gz

"xen" is for a virtual machine, i guess. "gtk" is the graphical installer.
and the "vmlinuz" in the parent is then probably what 4.3.3.2 in
  https://www.debian.org/releases/stretch/i386/ch04s03.html.en
tells you to look for as non-graphical installer.

I'd combine the chosen "vmlinuz" with the initrd.gz file from the same
directory.


> In neither source do I find a file named simply "linux".

Above URL states
  "change the name of the kernel binary to “linux” if you used a netboot image"
which probably refers to
  http://ftp.nl.debian.org/debian/dists/stretch/main/installer-i386/current/images/netboot/
So i guess it's "vmlinuz" on installation ISOs and "linux" under some
other circumstances.


Have a nice day :)

Thomas

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#194447 — Re: Clarification of "Debian GNU/Linux Installation Guide" Section 4.3.3.2

Hi,

i wrote:
> The file isolinux.bin is [...] jobless on an USB stick.

For the archive:

It is jobless on an USB stick which gets created according to the
prescriptions in 4.3.3 of
  https://www.debian.org/releases/stretch/i386/ch04s03.html.en

It has a job as second program that gets started when booting a flatly
copied isohybrid ISO onto the USB stick. (See 4.3.1)
The program started by BIOS is then in the Master Boot Record and has
the only task to load and execute isolinux.bin.


Have a nice day :)

Thomas

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