Can't get server to boot with Live CD/USB
by jeffry7 from LinuxQuestions.org on (#5HD7T)
Hi folks,
I have this old server. It has Debian on it, but it is an old version of Debian. It needs to be upgraded because things are starting to not work. That is another story.
I wanted to back it up before doing the upgrade and I went and got the latest Clonzilla. The server won't boot Clonezilla. It just skips over the boot media and goes on to the hard drive. I know the USB is good because I can boot another machine with it. Although the other machine is a UEFI machine. I know the server is fine because it can boot an old (many years) Clonezilla Live CD I have.
I used the old Clonezilla CD to back up the server and then tried to upgrade the machine. This failed and I now have a cryptic Grub error message. That is another story. (And don't worry about it. This is why I made the BUP first.)
The solution is to boot with a live CD or USB and re-install grub. (Apparently.) System Rescue CD won't boot. Boot repair disk, another rescue distro won't boot. I already know Clonezilla won't boot.
I tried rufus, and tux boot. I also tried manual methods of preparing the USB stick.
(I strongly suspect that what caused the grub install to fail is related to the reason why these live distros won't boot, ie that this is an old BIOS boot machine not a UEFI boot machine.)
So, my question for this post is where can I get a live CD that will actually boot? Is there some way to prepare a Live CD or USB that will boot on this machine?
Thanks!
I have this old server. It has Debian on it, but it is an old version of Debian. It needs to be upgraded because things are starting to not work. That is another story.
I wanted to back it up before doing the upgrade and I went and got the latest Clonzilla. The server won't boot Clonezilla. It just skips over the boot media and goes on to the hard drive. I know the USB is good because I can boot another machine with it. Although the other machine is a UEFI machine. I know the server is fine because it can boot an old (many years) Clonezilla Live CD I have.
I used the old Clonezilla CD to back up the server and then tried to upgrade the machine. This failed and I now have a cryptic Grub error message. That is another story. (And don't worry about it. This is why I made the BUP first.)
The solution is to boot with a live CD or USB and re-install grub. (Apparently.) System Rescue CD won't boot. Boot repair disk, another rescue distro won't boot. I already know Clonezilla won't boot.
I tried rufus, and tux boot. I also tried manual methods of preparing the USB stick.
(I strongly suspect that what caused the grub install to fail is related to the reason why these live distros won't boot, ie that this is an old BIOS boot machine not a UEFI boot machine.)
So, my question for this post is where can I get a live CD that will actually boot? Is there some way to prepare a Live CD or USB that will boot on this machine?
Thanks!