USB Boot w/ ISO/IMG/etc. Selection

[KlokWyze]

I've tried a bunch of different boot disk makers listed HERE and have no trouble making a boot disk for a single iso, OS, etc. How do I make a USB boot disk with a selectable menu so I can just add or remove different options at will?

Also, any site that has a bunch of different bootable "live" isos, disk tools, etc.?

I found a bootable live version of FreeDOS after a ton of searching and would have any trouble locating common Linux distros, but finding specific tools might be a pain....

 

[Juddog]

I've tried a bunch of different boot disk makers listed HERE and have no trouble making a boot disk for a single iso, OS, etc. How do I make a USB boot disk with a selectable menu so I can just add or remove different options at will?

Also, any site that has a bunch of different bootable "live" isos, disk tools, etc.?

I found a bootable live version of FreeDOS after a ton of searching and would have any trouble locating common Linux distros, but finding specific tools might be a pain....

Personally I use YUMI.

-- edit --
link: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

 

[Red Storm]

Quick Google search:

http://lifehacker.com/5584856/multibootisos-boots-multiple-live-operating-systems-from-a-usb-drive

 

[rasczak]

I've always used imgburn to create my bootable ISO's.

 

[lxskllr]

Personally I use YUMI.

-- edit --
link: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

Yumi is what I've heard of, but never used.

What are you looking for exactly? There's all kinds of tools you boot up. Just about any GNU/Linux is bootable, and there's PartedMagic, UBCD, SystemRescueCD...

An interesting GNU/Linux is Kali. For some ultralight goodness, try TinyCore.

 

[KlokWyze]

Xboot simply failed to work altogether and most the others only worked for single ISOs or were convoluted to setup. RUFUS is fast as hell, but only good for single ISOs. Good for oneoffs.

Yumi is where it's at. Seems to work the best. I actually had this working earlier, but had an issue w/ a certain machine.

 

[Juddog]

Xboot simply failed to work altogether and most the others only worked for single ISOs or were convoluted to setup. RUFUS is fast as hell, but only good for single ISOs. Good for oneoffs.

Yumi is where it's at. Seems to work the best. I actually had this working earlier, but had an issue w/ a certain machine.

The only issues I've noticed with Yumi is that some of the older BIOS setups might have issues with the file size / format of the USB stick (or even brand of the USB drive). I'm not sure why this is, but what I ended up doing was plugging several USB drives in and testing them with various BIOS setups, and stuck with the one I found that worked across the board on all of the machines I tested it on.

There were a few USB drives that I found I could not get to work with some of the older servers no matter what I did; oddly enough the most vanilla of USB drives seemed to work the best.

 

[KlokWyze]

The only issues I've noticed with Yumi is that some of the older BIOS setups might have issues with the file size / format of the USB stick (or even brand of the USB drive). I'm not sure why this is, but what I ended up doing was plugging several USB drives in and testing them with various BIOS setups, and stuck with the one I found that worked across the board on all of the machines I tested it on.

There were a few USB drives that I found I could not get to work with some of the older servers no matter what I did; oddly enough the most vanilla of USB drives seemed to work the best.

Another thing to consider it the actual physical size of the usb stick. Some are just to fat or difficult to insert into some USB slots.... I've got this:

It's frickin' huge. I do not recommend it.

 

[KlokWyze]

hmmmmmmmm............. hit another wall. the freedos (balder10) boots up fine, but I cannot see anything other than the tiny 1.44MB partition.... defeats the purpose if I can't see the firmware files I'm trying to use for flashing.

 

[KlokWyze]

For some reason or another, the built-in choice for RUFUS for FreeDos automatically mounts the USB device into that DOS environment, while the only DOS choice for YUMI, you're limited to the small partition it gives you.

sick of dealing with this.

Solution --> standalone USB boot device for DOS for flashing (using RUFUS) and another USB device for everything else, e.g., clonezilla, dban, knoppix, etc. (using YUMI).