Read full article - http://boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=8366
I'm trying to fix some files on a laptop that has a broken DVD drive, so I'm trying to boot a USB key. I've tried 2 bootloaders - grub4dos and syslinux (syslinux then hands over to grub4dos). In both cases the USB key works fine on my desktop - it boots from the key, menu.lst is read and then grub boots the menu options correctly, so I know there is nothing inherently wrong with the setup. However on the laptop it boots from the USB key, but then grub4dos does not appear able to read menu.lst and so does not boot correctly.
If I use grub4dos as the bootloader then it boots grub but grub seems to ignore the USB key and simply says 'trying hd0,0 non-MS' 'trying hd0,1 Ext2' and so on, working it's way through my hard disk partitions. If I use syslinux as the boot loader on the USB key and have syslinux pass control over to grub4dos, then syslinux boots correctly and I end up at a grub menu. However instead of having the options from menu.lst on the USB key, I have 3 options to search for menu.lst. Whichever one I click it fails to find it. However I can now go to a grub command line. Running 'find' shows that on my desktop (where the key works), the USB key is seen as hd0 whereas on the laptop (where it fails) the USB key is seen as fd0. Is this the problem?
I read on here that the partition format can make a difference. I've tried formatting it as FAT32, FAT16 using a USB formatting tool (which according to beeblebrox gave a partition type of OE) and FAT16 using vista to format it (which gave a partition type of 06). All 3 gave the same result - they worked on the desktop and failed on the laptop.
Any ideas?
