[Bug 930447] Re: Unable to start Ubuntu 12.04 live CD with syslinux loader on Pentium M x86 Laptop due to bug in PAE kernel, initramfs or syslinux

[oliver]

I'm reprinting what I wrote in comment #105 because it is still so very
easy to install PAE, though it does require a little effort.

1) Download ISO of ubuntu flavor you wish to use, for example, xubuntu. I wil use the name xubuntu.iso, for convenience.
2) partition and format USB stick, in this example, /dev/sdb and /dev/sdb1. The USBStick has to be larger then the iso. Use mkvfat for formatting of /dev/sdb1.
3) Eject and insert the USB to have the automounter mount the USB drive. Make note of the location.
4) Use grub to install grub to the USB stick
      grub-install --no-floppy --root-directory=/media/ubuntu/2341-af31/   (obviously this will have to match the mounted path)
5) grub-mkconfig > /meda/ubuntu/2341-af31/boot/grub/grub.cfg

Open grub.cfg in your favorite editor and remove all the menuentry
sections to replace it with the following.

menuentry "Xubuntu (32bit)" {
  iso_path=/xubuntu-13.10-dvd-i386.iso
  export iso_path
  search --set --file $iso_path
  loopback loop $iso_path
  root=(loop)
  configfile /grub/loopback.cfg
  loopback --delete loop
}

Save, unmount and reboot from the USB stick.

What will happen is, the USB stick will be booted as usual by grub, grub
will then do a loopback mount of the iso, as is (so no modification to
it required). The beauty of this all is, you can add MORE iso's and just
add menu entries for them. So xubuntu 32bit, 64bit, gnomebuntu, you name
it, you can add it. The only requirement is that the iso does actually
support grub booting (e.g. has the /grub/loopback.cfg). Not all iso's
have this!

After the installer has finished, it is required however to install
fake-pae to make updates function properly, so to that extend, this
bugreport is still relevant.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/930447

Title:
  Unable to start Ubuntu 12.04 live CD with syslinux loader on Pentium M
  x86 Laptop due to bug in PAE kernel, initramfs or syslinux

Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in “syslinux” package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed
Status in Baltix GNU/Linux:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  Ubuntu 12.04 doesn't start from Desktop CD or USB with syslinux boot
  loader on Pentium M 1.6Ghz or faster Pentium M CPU - displays error
  message about missing PAE feature in CPU, but *the same* *Ubuntu
  12.04* Desktop CD/LiveUSB starts fine on *the same CPU* (and same PAE
  kernel) if GRUB boot loader is used, for example when WUBI or LiveUSB
  with GRUB boot loader, like Multisystem
  (http://liveusb.info/dotclear/index.php?pages/install ) is used!

  The error message is:
  "This kernel requires the following features not present on the CPU: pae.
  Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for you CPU."

  THIS IS AN IMPORTANT REGRESSION! People are able to install and successfully use Ubuntu 12.04 on such pretty new hardware, like IBM Thinkpad T42 laptop with Pentium M 1700Mhz processor, but the bug in syslinux (or something related) forbids Ubuntu 12.04 installation.
  This bug is reproducible on lots of computers, there are several log files and /proc/cpuinfo file attached to this bugreport, AFAIK it's enough to reopen this bug.

  ---
  ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
  Architecture: i386
  CurrentDmesg: Error: command ['sh', '-c', 'dmesg | comm -13 --nocheck-order /var/log/dmesg -'] failed with exit code 1: comm: /var/log/dmesg: Permission denied
  MachineType: IBM 2373PPU
  dmi.bios.date: 06/18/2007
  dmi.bios.vendor: IBM
  dmi.bios.version: 1RETDRWW (3.23 )
  dmi.board.name: 2373PPU
  dmi.board.vendor: IBM
  dmi.board.version: Not Available
  dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
  dmi.chassis.type: 10
  dmi.chassis.vendor: IBM
  dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
  dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1RETDRWW(3.23):bd06/18/2007:svnIBM:pn2373PPU:pvrThinkPadT42:rvnIBM:rn2373PPU:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
  dmi.product.name: 2373PPU
  dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T42
  dmi.sys.vendor: IBM

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