General TC > General TC Talk
New Boot Drive 16 GB -> 4 GB
patrikg:
--- Quote from: MTCAT on February 05, 2026, 05:09:35 PM ---Attached disk.txt here, can see some strange things with sdc1, so this is the reason for the non-booting maybe, how to fix this though?
--- Code: ---Disk /dev/sda: 128.0 GB, 128043712512 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 15567 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda2 11 15568 124955648 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 11 15568 124954624 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sdb: 16.0 GB, 16039018496 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 15296 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 14664 15015920 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sdc: 4009 MB, 4009754624 bytes
207 heads, 55 sectors/track, 687 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 11385 * 512 = 5829120 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 1 666 3789808 83 Linux
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(0, 1, 1) logical=(0, 0, 33)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(471, 206, 55) logical=(665, 156, 43)
Disk /dev/sdd: 16.0 GB, 16039018496 bytes
207 heads, 55 sectors/track, 2751 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 11385 * 512 = 5829120 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdd1 * 1 666 3789808 83 Linux
--- End code ---
--- End quote ---
* Open the device: Start fdisk for the specific drive (replace /dev/sdX with your actual device name, e.g., /dev/sda) with root privileges:
sudo fdisk /dev/sdX
* Use the toggle command: Press the a key. This is the command to "toggle a bootable flag".
* Select the partition: Enter the number of the partition you want to make bootable (e.g., 1 for the first partition).
* Verify the change: Press p to print the partition table. An asterisk (*) should now appear under the "Boot" column for your chosen partition.
* Save and exit: Type w to write the changes to the disk and exit the program.
Rich:
Hi patrikg
/dev/sdc is the device he's having problems with. fdisk shows
the bootable flag is already set for partition 1. Won't your
instructions turn the bootable flag off for partition 1?
MTCAT:
Hi Rich and patrikg,
I haven't tried pattrikg's suggestion yet since, as Rich says, sdc1 already does have the asterisk there, but keeping that as a "plan-B" for sure, if all else fails could maybe try turning that off and then back on?
But anyway, I tried your commands Rich, and they did help as shown below, but I still get a "Boot error" (from SYSLinux I assume).
Does it matter that the ending point of sdc1 (non booting 4 GB drive) and sdd1 (16 GB shrunk to 3.7 GB drive that does boot) are different, could that be the issue still?
--- Code: ---
Disk /dev/sda: 128.0 GB, 128043712512 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 15567 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda2 11 15568 124955648 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 11 15568 124954624 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sdb: 16.0 GB, 16039018496 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 15296 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 14664 15015920 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sdc: 4009 MB, 4009754624 bytes
126 heads, 22 sectors/track, 2825 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2772 * 512 = 1419264 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 1 2826 3915760 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sdd: 16.0 GB, 16039018496 bytes
207 heads, 55 sectors/track, 2751 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 11385 * 512 = 5829120 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdd1 * 1 666 3789808 83 Linux
--- End code ---
Thanks,
David
MTCAT:
Hi Rich,
Sorry, ignore my last question, I can see now what your commands did to expand partition 1 on sdc to all the cylinders, not sure why it still won't boot off the 4 GB drive, could try patrikg's suggestion maybe?, otherwise may have to just wait for the 16 GB Cactus drives to show up in 6 weeks
Thanks,
David
MTCAT:
Hi Rich and patrikg,
Tried patrikg's suggestion and toggled the boot flag off, and then back on, this didn't help unfortunately.
I was able to rebuild my old original 16 GB SanDisk drive (with dd) and I guess I'll just work off that until the fancy ones show up, for some reason the slightly less fancy (compared to Cactus) SwissBit 16 GB drives do work fine in that they do boot up, and work fine otherwise, but they seem to have problems with certain other USB devices (temperature sensor, USB keyboard) which crash the computer. Which was another reason why I wanted to get the 4 GB USB2.0 Cactus pen drive going. The only other USB device I can plug in so far when using the SwissBit drives w/o crashing is a USB2.0 pen drive, so that would work for me, barely, if I used a different temp sensor (not USB) and a serial keyboard. I was originally using a roll up serial keyboard, which works, but was hoping to switch over to a mini wired USB keyboard since the roll up one is "floppy" and kind of hard to type on, but may have to stick with the serial keyboard.
I also tried a wireless keyboard/mouse (USB dongle) which I had high hopes for, it works, but when I run the acquisition program, it's VERY VERY laggy (slow to update), so it seems to be unreliable under heavier CPU load, such that it's not workable for me, unless something could modified to make it work better.
Crazy how things you think are small changes (for the better) end up being BIG changes that can't be done or are for the worse.
I thought the USB keyboard was a power issue since the SwissBit drives are USB3.0 compatible (my VortexDX3 ports, can supply 500 mA max on each of 4 ports), but the temp sensor draws only 1 mA (supposedly) and the USB keyboard I wired it to draw it's power from an external source (hooked up data lines only to USB port) and it still caused issues, so...
I may have to use an external temperature sensor, like an aquarium temp sensor ( :( ) and avoid a possible USB conflict, and my roll up serial keyboard, and leave it at that, seems a bit depressing to have to do that, but oh well, see what happens, simpler is better I suppose...wish that wireless keyboard/mouse would have worked.
Thanks for letting me talk.
David
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