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## How to Prepare the USB Flash Drive on a Linux (Red Hat/SUSE) System

Before You Begin

This procedure requires the use of `parted` utility version 1.8.6 or later. Do not use earlier versions of `parted`.

1. Extract (unzip) the contents of the `syslinux-`version`.zip` archive file.

   # `unzip syslinux-version.zip`

   Where version represents the Syslinux version number.

2. Insert the USB flash drive into a working USB 2.0 port.
3. Use the `tail` command to identify the USB flash drive’s device name.

   # `tail /var/log/messages`

   You should see the device name (such as, `sda` or `sdb`). Example output is shown below:

       Nov 12 13:19:29 server kernel: scsi 4:0:0:0: Lexar, Inc. USBdisk PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS
       Nov 12 13:19:29 server kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] 1030750208 512-byte hardware sectors (1030 MB)
       Nov 12 13:19:29 server kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
       Nov 12 13:19:29 server kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
       Nov 12 13:19:29 server kernel: sdb:
       Nov 12 13:19:29 server kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
       Nov 12 13:19:29 server kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0

   | Caution - Be sure to confirm and make a note of the device name of the USB flash drive (`/dev/sda`, `/dev/sdb`, etc.). The instructions listed here require you to delete existing partition(s) on the USB flash disk. Making a mistake in identifying the device might cause you to erase a hard disk.

4. Create a single bootable partition on the USB flash drive using `parted`, as follows:

   Note - This procedure requires the use of `parted` utility version 1.8.6 or later. Do not use earlier versions of `parted`.

   Note - These steps require superuser (`su - root`) access.

   1. If Linux has automounted the device, unmount it first.

      # `umount /dev/sdX1`

      Where X is the drive letter for the USB flash drive (for example, `/dev/sda` or `/dev/sdb)`, and `1` indicates the first partition.

   2. Use `parted` to delete all partitions and create a new bootable FAT32 partition:

      # `/sbin/parted /dev/sdX`

      Where X is the drive letter for the USB flash drive (for example, `/dev/sda` or `/dev/sdb`).

      The `parted` command prompt displays.

   3. Enter the following commands in the order listed and follow the prompts to create your bootable primary partition:

      - `(parted):` `mklabel`

        You will be prompted to create a disk label type. If `msdos` is not listed as the default, you will need to enter`msdos` at the appropriate prompt, as shown in the example below:

            Warning: The existing label on sdx will be destroyed and all
            data on this disk will be lost. Do you want to continue?
            Yes/No: yes
            New disk label type? msdos

      - `(parted):` `mkpartfs`

        Creates a new partition on the disk. Answer the prompts to confirm that this will be the `primary` partition, `fat32` format, spanning the entire disk minus the last megabyte (starting at `1`, and ending at `-1`). Example output is shown below:

            Partition type? primary/extended? primary
            File system type? [ext2] fat32
            Start? 1
            End? -1

      - `(parted):` `set 1 boot on`

        Sets the boot flag for this partition.

      - `(parted):` `set 1 lba on`

        Sets the lba (Linear Block Addressing) flag for this partition.

      - `(parted):` `print`

        Displays the current settings for the new partition. Example output is shown below:

          Model: Lexar, Inc. USBdisk (scsi)
          Disk /dev/sdb: 1031MB
          Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
          Partition Table: msdos

          Minor   Start   End     Size    Type     Filesystem  Flags
           1      16.4kB  931MB   1031MB  primary  fat32       boot, lba
          (parted)

      - `(parted):` `quit`

        Quits the `parted` utility.

5. Navigate to the Syslinux `mbr` directory:

   # `cd path/mbr`

   Where path is the folder to which you extracted Syslinux.

6. Locate the Syslinux master boot record file `mbr.bin` in the `mbr` directory and write it to the disk using the following command:

   # `cat mbr.bin > /dev/sdX`

   Where X is the drive letter for the USB flash drive (for example, `/dev/sda` or `/dev/sdb`).

7. Navigate to the Syslinux `unix` directory:

   # `cd path/unix`

   Where path is the folder to which you extracted Syslinux.

   Note - For later versions of Syslinux, the `unix` directory might be replaced with a `linux` directory. If so, replace the `unix` directory name with `linux`.

8. From the Syslinux `unix` directory, enter the following command:

   # `./syslinux /dev/sdX1`

   Where X is the drive letter for the USB flash drive (for example, `/dev/sda` or `/dev/sdb`), and `1` indicates the first partition.

   Note - In the next step you will need to specify the mount point. If autofs is running, it might have auto–mounted the drive partition to some other mount point. If this happens, unmount it by entering the command:

   `umount /dev/sdX1`

9. Mount the drive to a mount point by entering the command:

   # `mount -t vfat /dev/sdX1 /mnt`

   Where X is the drive letter for the USB flash drive (for example, `/dev/sda` or `/dev/sdb`), and `1` indicates the first partition. For this example, the mount point is `/mnt`.

10. Extract the contents of the `SIA-`version`.zip` archive file to the USB flash drive by entering the following command:

    # `unzip -q -d /mnt ~/path/SIA-version.zip -x “source/*”`

    Where path represents the path to the directory where the `.zip` file is located, and version represents the SIA version number. The `“source/*”` parameter excludes the any source files from the extraction to save time and disk space.

11. Unmount the USB flash drive:

    # `umount /mnt`

12. Remove the flash drive from client machine.

    The USB flash drive is now ready to boot SIA.

Next Steps

To begin the OS installation using the SIA USB flash drive, see Setting BIOS Parameters and Booting Off the SIA USB Flash Drive.

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