Sfs file not found error

[Sugarbearsthat]

Hi, I've been trying to install bionicpup64_8.0 on my under-powered old net book, and I'm having trouble with the "sfs file not found" error.

I can run it fine from a live USB (depending on the physical usb stick - it works with some, not others), but when I install it and try to boot it from the HDD, I get this sfs error evey time.

The sfs file IS definitely there, and the grub file is pointing to the correct spot, and I've google and tried heaps of little fixes (incl repartitioning using different formats (fat32 and ext4), frugal vs full install, using various parameters in my grub file), but nothing seems to work.

Is this a common problem? And can anyone please help me with this?

[taersh]

Hi.

Probably there's a wrong definition in the kernel line of the boot menu entry in menu.lst. When booting from internal HD it needs to be defined as: pmedia=atahd.
Probably yours is defined as pmedia=cd or pmedia=usbflash ?

[foxpup]

We suppose you do frugal install ( is the preferred way )
and you have copied vmlinuz, initrd.gz and all .sfs from the .iso into a directory /bionic on a partition of your hdd.
Then maybe this is needed in the kernel line: psubdir=/bionic
Suppose you've installed grub4dos on your old laptop to boot,
then this is possibly a good entry in menu.lst:

Code: Select all

title Bionic
  find --set-root --ignore-floppies /bionic/initrd.gz
  kernel /bionic/vmlinuz psubdir=/bionic pmedia=ataflash pfix=fsck
  initrd /bionic/initrd.gz

This could be the entry that grub4dos makes.

If this does not help, show us more what you have done and where everything is.

[mikewalsh]

@ Sugarbearsthat:-

Part of the problem with your USB sticks is not down to anything you've done wrong. I found this out myself the expensive way a couple of years ago.

It's all down to the way flash drive manufacturers have started to define a USB drive in the stick's firmware. Older sticks were recognised as USB-HDDs by the BIOS. Newer ones, well.....off the top of my head, I can't remember what they're defined as now, but I know that any machine with an older BIOS simply cannot boot them, because they're not recognised any more.

They're fine with newer machines.....and older drives are fine with older generations of computers. But the combo of a new-style drive with an elderly 'puter - especially one where you can no longer update the BIOS - is NOT a happy one.....

(*shrug*)


Mike.

[bigpup]

Exactly what is the computer?
Make and model?
Do you know if the computer is old style legacy bios or UEFI?

Exactly how are you doing the install?
Details??
Using what installer program?

Hard drive is partitioned how?
What format are partition(s)?

What boot loader is installed on the hard drive?

Is Bionicpup the only OS on the hard drive?

Is the usb drive, with Bionicpup on it, removed from computer before trying to boot from hard drive install?