is there no official working guide of installing BT5R2-KDE-32 persistent USB?

[dusf345]

I have been trying to install BT5R2-KDE-32.iso to my 8GB flash drive using http://www.backtrack-linux.org/wiki/...Persistent_USB but after getting to this point, and after the computer churns for a few minutes after initially entering the command it gives errors. The input and output is below, please review.

dusf@banshee:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdf
[sudo] password for dusf: 

Command (m for help): d
No partition is defined yet!

Command (m for help): u
Changing display/entry units to cylinders (DEPRECATED!)

Command (m for help): n
Command action
   e   extended
   p   primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4, default 1):  
Using default value 1
First cylinder (1-1021, default 1): 
Using default value 1
Last cylinder, +cylinders or +size{K,M,G} (1-1021, default 1021): +2500M

Command (m for help): n
Command action
   e   extended
   p   primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4, default 2): 2
First cylinder (335-1021, default 335): 
Using default value 335
Last cylinder, +cylinders or +size{K,M,G} (335-1021, default 1021): 
Using default value 1021

Command (m for help): t
Partition number (1-4): 1
Hex code (type L to list codes): b
Changed system type of partition 1 to b (W95 FAT32)

Command (m for help): t
Partition number (1-4): 2
Hex code (type L to list codes): 83

Command (m for help): a
Partition number (1-4): 1

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

WARNING: If you have created or modified any DOS 6.x
partitions, please see the fdisk manual page for additional
information.
Syncing disks.
dusf@banshee:~$ mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n BT5 /dev/sdf1
mkfs.vfat 3.0.9 (31 Jan 2010)
/dev/sdf1: Permission denied
dusf@banshee:~$ sudo mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n BT5 /dev/sdf1
mkfs.vfat 3.0.9 (31 Jan 2010)
dusf@banshee:~$ sudo mkfs.ext3 -b 4096 -L casper-rw /dev/sdf2
mke2fs 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010)
Filesystem label=casper-rw
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
Stride=0 blocks, Stripe width=0 blocks
328656 inodes, 1313175 blocks
65658 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
Maximum filesystem blocks=1346371584
41 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
8016 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks: 
	32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736

Writing inode tables: done                            
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

This filesystem will be automatically checked every 39 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first.  Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
dusf@banshee:~$ mount | grep BT
/media/DUMP/dusf/Downloads/.transmission/BT5R2-KDE-32/BT5R2-KDE-32.iso on /media/BT5R2 type iso9660 (ro)
dusf@banshee:~$ mkdir /mnt/sdf1
mkdir: cannot create directory `/mnt/sdf1': File exists
dusf@banshee:~$ mount /dev/sdf1 /mnt/sdf1
mount: only root can do that
dusf@banshee:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdf1 /mnt/sdf1
dusf@banshee:~$ cd cd /mnt/sdf1
bash: cd: cd: No such file or directory
dusf@banshee:~$ cd /mnt/sdf1
dusf@banshee:/mnt/sdf1$ sudo rsync -r /media/BT5R2/* .
rsync: writefd_unbuffered failed to write 4 bytes to socket [sender]: Broken pipe (32)
rsync: write failed on "/mnt/sdf1/casper/filesystem.squashfs": No space left on device (28)
rsync error: error in file IO (code 11) at receiver.c(322) [receiver=3.0.8]
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (164 bytes received so far) [sender]
rsync error: error in rsync protocol data stream (code 12) at io.c(601) [sender=3.0.8]

I have the ISO mounted to /media/BT5R2.

I have read in the FAQ section I can install it from a virtual machine, or from Windows, but surely there's a supported way to install linux from linux?

dusf@banshee:/mnt/sdf1$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdf
[sudo] password for dusf: 

Disk /dev/sdf: 8010 MB, 8010301440 bytes
214 heads, 8 sectors/track, 9138 cylinders, total 15645120 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7a43caea

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdf1   *        2048     4283423     2140688    b  W95 FAT32
/dev/sdf2         4283424    15644255     5680416   83  Linux

dusf@banshee:/mnt/sdf1$ df -h 
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda5              15G  6.3G  7.9G  45% /
udev                  491M  4.0K  491M   1% /dev
tmpfs                 201M 1008K  200M   1% /run
none                  5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
none                  501M   16K  500M   1% /run/shm
/dev/sda7             210G  208G  2.4G  99% /media/DUMP
/dev/sda6              14G  7.7G  5.3G  60% /home
/home/dusf/.Private    14G  7.7G  5.3G  60% /home/dusf
/dev/sda1              56G   48G  8.2G  86% /media/WINXP
/dev/loop0            2.7G  2.7G     0 100% /media/BT5R2
/dev/sdf1             2.1G  136K  2.1G   1% /mnt/sdf1

I am using Ubuntu 11.10.

Perhaps the guide simply does not apply to BT5R2-KDE-32 and there is no guide for new users to install it from linux? Last time I used Unetbootin I was advised to use Persistent USB with fdisk instead...

I successfully installed BT5R2-KDE-32 with Unetbootin as per the guide on the Wiki but when running live it would take a long long time to start, seemed buggy freezing, hanging for over 10 minutes after logging off and doing a sudo shutdown -h now, and eveutally it would not start up at all.

I then downloaded BT5-KDE-32 and installed successfully using the guide at the start of this thread but it just gave me a 'boot:' prompt when I tried to boot from USB.

Tried installing BT5-KDE-32 again after confirming the MD5, but this time when trying to boot I saw:

Error: file not found

grub rescue>

I then installed it using Windows USB Universal Installer but on trying the same I would just see some information on syslinux and then a 'boot:' prompt.

I am not sure where to go from here, please advise!

[dusf345]

dusf@banshee:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdf
[sudo] password for dusf: 

Command (m for help): d
No partition is defined yet!

Command (m for help): u
Changing display/entry units to cylinders (DEPRECATED!)

Command (m for help): n
Command action
   e   extended
   p   primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4, default 1):  
Using default value 1
First cylinder (1-1021, default 1): 
Using default value 1
Last cylinder, +cylinders or +size{K,M,G} (1-1021, default 1021): +2500M

Command (m for help): n
Command action
   e   extended
   p   primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4, default 2): 2
First cylinder (335-1021, default 335): 
Using default value 335
Last cylinder, +cylinders or +size{K,M,G} (335-1021, default 1021): 
Using default value 1021

Command (m for help): t
Partition number (1-4): 1
Hex code (type L to list codes): b
Changed system type of partition 1 to b (W95 FAT32)

Command (m for help): t
Partition number (1-4): 2
Hex code (type L to list codes): 83

Command (m for help): a
Partition number (1-4): 1

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

WARNING: If you have created or modified any DOS 6.x
partitions, please see the fdisk manual page for additional
information.
Syncing disks.
dusf@banshee:~$ mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n BT5 /dev/sdf1
mkfs.vfat 3.0.9 (31 Jan 2010)
/dev/sdf1: Permission denied
dusf@banshee:~$ sudo mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n BT5 /dev/sdf1
mkfs.vfat 3.0.9 (31 Jan 2010)
dusf@banshee:~$ sudo mkfs.ext3 -b 4096 -L casper-rw /dev/sdf2
mke2fs 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010)
Filesystem label=casper-rw
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
Stride=0 blocks, Stripe width=0 blocks
328656 inodes, 1313175 blocks
65658 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
Maximum filesystem blocks=1346371584
41 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
8016 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks: 
	32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736

Writing inode tables: done                            
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

This filesystem will be automatically checked every 39 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first.  Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
dusf@banshee:~$ mount | grep BT
/media/DUMP/dusf/Downloads/.transmission/BT5R2-KDE-32/BT5R2-KDE-32.iso on /media/BT5R2 type iso9660 (ro)
dusf@banshee:~$ mkdir /mnt/sdf1
mkdir: cannot create directory `/mnt/sdf1': File exists
dusf@banshee:~$ mount /dev/sdf1 /mnt/sdf1
mount: only root can do that
dusf@banshee:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdf1 /mnt/sdf1
dusf@banshee:~$ cd cd /mnt/sdf1
bash: cd: cd: No such file or directory
dusf@banshee:~$ cd /mnt/sdf1
dusf@banshee:/mnt/sdf1$ sudo rsync -r /media/BT5R2/* .
rsync: writefd_unbuffered failed to write 4 bytes to socket [sender]: Broken pipe (32)
rsync: write failed on "/mnt/sdf1/casper/filesystem.squashfs": No space left on device (28)
rsync error: error in file IO (code 11) at receiver.c(322) [receiver=3.0.8]
rsync: connection unexpectedly closed (164 bytes received so far) [sender]
rsync error: error in rsync protocol data stream (code 12) at io.c(601) [sender=3.0.8]

[clone]

I then installed it using Windows USB Universal Installer but on trying the same I would just see some information on syslinux and then a 'boot:' prompt.

I am not sure where to go from here, please advise!

press the enter key at the 'boot' prompt. much like you would using hiren's. i was expecting something more complicated at first, as well. hope this helps.

[muts]

Your output says it all, a more careful read would have pointed out the issue:

rsync: write failed on "/mnt/sdf1/casper/filesystem.squashfs": No space left on device (28)

Try using +3000M instead of +2500 for backtrack 5 r2.

[thorin]

This seem weird to me:

dusf@banshee:~$ mount | grep BT
/media/DUMP/dusf/Downloads/.transmission/BT5R2-KDE-32/BT5R2-KDE-32.iso on /media/BT5R2 type iso9660 (ro)
dusf@banshee:~$ mkdir /mnt/sdf1
mkdir: cannot create directory `/mnt/sdf1': File exists
dusf@banshee:~$ mount /dev/sdf1 /mnt/sdf1
mount: only root can do that
dusf@banshee:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdf1 /mnt/sdf1
dusf@banshee:~$ cd cd /mnt/sdf1
bash: cd: cd: No such file or directory
dusf@banshee:~$ cd /mnt/sdf1
dusf@banshee:/mnt/sdf1$ sudo rsync -r /media/BT5R2/* .

Why did /mnt/sdf1 already exist when you tried to create it? Did you try ls'ing it before you used it as a mount point? Did you try this process multiple times?

Before trying your rsync it might be a good move to do a "df -h" to ensure you have the expected amount of free space.

[F3L1X]

Have you not tried unetbootin? It comes with backtrack and rarely fails to work. Applications > Other > unetbootin

[parrotface]

Just installed BT5r2 to 8Gb sdhc card inserted into USB slot card reader with No problems.
Using Hp laptop with a faulty sd slot hence the USB slot card reader. Laptop running Ubuntu
sd card setup as a single partion formated fat32.
Run Unetbooting and set persistant 3000
When finished Inserted SD card into eeepc netbook and it boots and runs OK

[dusf345]

Your output says it all, a more careful read would have pointed out the issue:

rsync: write failed on "/mnt/sdf1/casper/filesystem.squashfs": No space left on device (28)

Try using +3000M instead of +2500 for backtrack 5 r2.

I did see that error, but as someone new to BT, although not to linux, I still did not know exactly what to resize or how doing so would affect everything else. Thanks for explaining to me yesterday on IRC, and I mailed you earlier as per your request to confirm that it has solved the problem, please update the wiki for others with the same problem, and the included solution to the one I am about to outline.

BT5R2-KDE, although installed still did not boot, instead displaying the following error message:

SYSLINUX 4.02 debian-20101016 EDD Copyright (C) 1994-2010 H. Peter Anvin et al
vesamenu.c32: not a COM32R image
boot:

press the enter key at the 'boot' prompt. much like you would using hiren's. i was expecting something more complicated at first, as well. hope this helps.

This did not work for me this time with BT5R2-KDE, or last time with BT5-KDE, but I was able to resolve it by copying vesamenu.c32 from the native linux filesystem on my computer, and pasting it replacing vesamenu.c32 in /isolinux and /syslinux although I am not sure whether one or both is required. I have read online, but nowhere on backtrack-linux.org, that this fixes the problem due to some discrepancy between the version of syslinux and the version of boot.cat.

Why did /mnt/sdf1 already exist when you tried to create it? Did you try ls'ing it before you used it as a mount point? Did you try this process multiple times?

This existed already because I had been trying many many times to get BT installed on the flash drive

Before trying your rsync it might be a good move to do a "df -h" to ensure you have the expected amount of free space.

That's just it, to the best of my knowledge 2500M was the correct amount of space as that's the value that's stipulated in the guide. I appreciate all the guides at my fingertips here provided by the community, but if people asking for help with install problems are brushed off and referred to wiki guides said guides should at least be accurate and up to date!

Have you not tried unetbootin? It comes with backtrack and rarely fails to work. Applications > Other > unetbootin

Thanks but yes, please see my original post:

Last time I used Unetbootin I was advised to use Persistent USB with fdisk instead...

I successfully installed BT5R2-KDE-32 with Unetbootin as per the guide on the Wiki but when running live it would take a long long time to start, seemed buggy freezing, hanging for over 10 minutes after logging off and doing a sudo shutdown -h now, and eveutally it would not start up at all.

Just installed BT5r2 to 8Gb sdhc card inserted into USB slot card reader with No problems.
Using Hp laptop with a faulty sd slot hence the USB slot card reader. Laptop running Ubuntu
sd card setup as a single partion formated fat32.

BT5R2-KDE? Also, I was having problems with the persistent install on a dual partition flash drive.

Run Unetbooting and set persistant 3000

Did you try the rsync method I was having problems with, or just Unetbootin? The Unetbootin install was buggy for me, and there's not exactly much an enduser can mess up installing!

The only problems now are that BT5R2-KDE seems to run slow often freezing for up to a minute and sometimes indefinitely so that I have to remove the power to my computer to restart it. Also, is selecting log off and then at the bash prompt entering poweroff, shutdown -h now, shutdown now the correct method? All cause the computer to hang indefinitely on the BT red splashscreen, or sometimes hang on a small underscore ( _ ) top left of an otherwise empty black screen.

[DamagedPacket]

I found similar behavior with slow responsiveness and instabilities in persistent mode by using "LinuxLive USB Creator" which until now has worked like a charm creating persistent mode Backtrack drives.

[dusf345]

I found similar behavior with slow responsiveness and instabilities in persistent mode by using "LinuxLive USB Creator" which until now has worked like a charm creating persistent mode Backtrack drives.

Which images have you had problems with specifically? Have you tried BT5R2-KDE-32? I will try gnome if I have to, but being honest I have not finished looking for a solution.