[Fedora QA] #134: Clarify writing ISO to USB tests

[mike cloaked]

On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 11:14 PM, Fedora QA <trac at fedorahosted.org> wrote:
> #134: Clarify writing ISO to USB tests
> --------------------------+-------------------------------------------------
>  Reporter:  rhe          |       Owner:
>      Type:  enhancement  |      Status:  new
>  Priority:  major        |   Milestone:
>  Component:  Test Review  |     Version:
> Resolution:               |    Keywords:
> --------------------------+-------------------------------------------------
> Comment (by adamwill):
snip
>  The ISOs we have to consider are:
>
>  * Live images [[BR]]
>  * DVD images [[BR]]
>  * boot.iso / netinst.iso images [[BR]]
>  * install.img image [[BR]]
>
>  The writing methods we have to consider are:
>
>  * dd (and equivalent utils, e.g. Windows tools which just do a simple raw
>  image like dd does) [[BR]]
>  * livecd-iso-to-disk [[BR]]
>  * liveusb-creator [[BR]]
>  * unetbootin [[BR]]

There is possibly more to it as well - for example in the past I have
tried the dd method and it sometimes works and sometimes does not -
but I never got to the bottom of that.
There are possibly issues with whether or not the usbkey is labelled
and sometimes what the partition structure is.
Also in the past I have had to resort to booting the boot.iso image on
the key and then referencing the DVD iso file via an HD install (with
its associated images/ directory) placed on the same key in the root
directory - which did work, where booting the dvd iso directly on the
key did not. Should booting an install dvd iso directly on the key
*always" work?

In addition sometimes which usbkey is used can make a difference -

Also there is the (possibly not Fedora problem) issue of getting a
usbkey to boot on old machines where usb boot is not available from
the BIOS.

All these issues tend to make the use of usbkeys less than 100%
reliable - anyway I will run some tests with the beta trying to
install from usbkey - and report back in due course.
-- 
mike c