Problem with makeHDD script

[Brian49]

I usually install IFL to a USB pendrive (on /dev/sdb1 on my Linux system) by running the makeHDD script. The installation has always gone through without a hitch. However, when trying to install IFL 2.78 using the script, I get these messages in the terminal:

Error converting to codepage 850 Invalid argument
Cannot initialize 'S:'
Bad target s:/ldlinux.sys
util/syslinux: failed to create ldlinux.sys
Installation of boot loader to /dev/sdb1 failed...exiting

Please help me figure out what is going wrong here. Many thanks.

[TeraByte Support(TP)]

Brian49 wrote:
> I usually install IFL to a USB pendrive (on /dev/sdb1 on my Linux system)
> by running the makeHDD script. The installation has always gone through
> without a hitch. However, when trying to install IFL 2.78 using the script,
> I get these messages in the terminal:
>
> Error converting to codepage 850 Invalid argument
> Cannot initialize 'S:'
> Bad target s:/ldlinux.sys
> util/syslinux: failed to create ldlinux.sys
> Installation of boot loader to /dev/sdb1 failed...exiting
>
> Please help me figure out what is going wrong here. Many thanks.


Nothing changed in makeHDD specifically for 2.78 (the script hasn't changed since June 2012)

To help us duplicate the problem, please let us know:
1. The last IFL version where you know it worked as expected
2. Especially, what distribution are you running it from (the distro name, the version, and whether it's 32 or 64 bits)

[Brian49]

Thanks for responding.

(1) The script last worked unproblematically with IFL 2.77.

(2) My distro is Linux Mint Debian Edition 32-bit, tracking Debian SID with all package upgrades installed. This edition doesn't have version numbers as it is a rolling release.

[DrTeeth]

On Wed, 9 Jan 2013 09:31:58 PST, just as I was about to take a herb,
Brian49 disturbed my reverie and wrote:

>My distro is Linux Mint Debian Edition 32-bit, tracking Debian SID with all package upgrades installed.

Could it be, because LMDE is "...using Romeo for unstable packages,
LMDE continuously changes as it receives updates and new software.
Compared to a frozen version of Linux Mint which changes very little
once it's publicly released, it's not as stable". Maybe LMDE is broken
and not the script? Just a thought.

I tried LMDE, but had to putz around too much to make it work so
prefer the 'regular' Mint releases.
--

Cheers

DrT
______________________________
We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in
our lives; but we can always choose whether or not
to dance in the puddles (Jewish proverb).

[Brian49]

This issue with the makeHDD script is the one and only glitch of any kind that I've encountered in the past several months. So the installation itself isn't broken, although of course it's possible that some upgraded package or other might be implicated. The IFL ./setup script continues to be trouble-free.

[TeraByte Support(TP)]

Brian49 wrote:
> Thanks for responding.
>
> (1) The script last worked unproblematically with IFL 2.77.
>
> (2) My distro is Linux Mint Debian Edition 32-bit, tracking Debian SID with
> all package upgrades installed. This edition doesn't have version numbers
> as it is a rolling release.


Since makeHDD, or anything else related to it, didn't change with 2.78, you will most likely get the same error when you run 2.77 now.

To try to duplicate the problem, I installed LMDE from the 32-bit Mate/Cinamon DVD, and updated to all current packages. However, I don't get that codepage error (or any other error) when I run makeHDD.

You should be able to work around this for now by using a Linux parttiion (partition type 83h) as the target partition, rather than FAT/FAT32. That would cause makeHDD to format the partition as ext2, and install extlinux instead of syslinux as the boot loader - which should get around that error. To do that, just change the /dev/sdb1 partition type to 83h (Linux native) with fdisk or other partitioning tool, reboot, and then run makeHDD to install to the partition as you normally would.

As far as determining the source of the error, the following information would be useful:
1. Which desktop are you running? Mate/Cinamon, or XFCE, or?
2. What are the contents of your /etc/apt/sources.list file?
3. What is the output of 'env' when run from the terminal that you are running makeHDD from?

Also, since you're running essentially Sid/Unstable, it's possible this is a package bug that will go away with a future update.

[Brian49]

(1) I'm running the Xfce desktop.

(2) Contents of /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ unstable main
deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import
deb ftp://ftp.deb-multimedia.org/ sid main
deb http://debian.tu-bs.de/project/aptosid/debian/ sid main fix.main (I use this only for Linux kernel updates)
deb http://packages.siduction.org/xfcenext/ unstable main (I use this only for Xfce-specific packages)

(3) Output of 'env' from the terminal (with a placeholder for my username):

GLADE_PIXMAP_PATH=:/usr/lib/glade3/modules
SHELL=/bin/bash
TERM=xterm
XDG_MENU_PREFIX=xfce-
XDG_SESSION_COOKIE=d012284f9cacbc963a4b500900000a23-1357821052.510220-1135899487
USER=<username>
GLADE_MODULE_PATH=:/usr/share/glade3/pixmaps
USERNAME=<username>
SESSION_MANAGER=local/<username>-pc:@/tmp/.ICE-unix/2111,unix/<username>-pc:/tmp/.ICE-unix/2111
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg
PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games
DESKTOP_SESSION=xfce
PWD=/home/<username>
LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
MDM_XSERVER_LOCATION=local
SHLVL=2
HOME=/home/<username>
LOGNAME=<username>
XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/local/share/:/usr/share/:/usr/share/mdm/:/usr/share
DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:abstract=/tmp/dbus-6wa6R7pgAE,guid=f231c8090f26ea37499d167750eeb47c
MDMSESSION=xfce
WINDOWPATH=7
DISPLAY=:0.0
GLADE_CATALOG_PATH=:/usr/share/glade3/catalogs
MDM_LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
XAUTHORITY=/home/<username>/.Xauthority
_=/usr/bin/env