Multiple ISO images bootdisk

Script for creating a multiple ISO images bootdisk on a USB key

#!/bin/bash
set -o errexit

# Look in /dev/disk/by-id to find your ID
DEVICE_ID_DIR=/dev/disk/by-id
DEVICE_ID_UDEV="usb-Lexar_USB_Flash_Drive_HQS775KYVAWMRMNRWQ18-0:0"

VOLUME=MultiBoot8G
MNTPOINT=/mnt/usbdrive

IMAGES_SRCDIR=${HOME}/Downloads
IMAGES="ubuntu-10.04-desktop-i386.iso ubuntu-10.04-netbook-i386.iso \
        ubuntustudio-10.04-alternate-i386.iso ubuntustudio-10.04-alternate-amd64.iso"

if [ ! -h ${DEVICE_ID_DIR}/${DEVICE_ID_UDEV} ]; then
    echo "Device <${DEVICE_ID_UDEV}> not found"
    exit 1
fi

# Disk ID
DISK_ID=/dev/$(ls -al ${DEVICE_ID_DIR}/${DEVICE_ID_UDEV} | sed 's!.*\(sd[a-z]\)!\1!g')

# Partition ID = first partition
PART_ID=${DISK_ID}1

if [ ! -d ${MNTPOINT} ]; then
    mkdir ${MNTPOINT}
fi

# create filesystem on usb drive
sudo mkfs.vfat -n ${VOLUME} ${PART_ID}

# mount usb
sudo mount -o uid=hugo,gid=hugo ${PART_ID} ${MNTPOINT}

# Create some directories
mkdir -p ${MNTPOINT}/boot/{grub,iso}

echo "(hd0) ${DISK_ID}" > ${MNTPOINT}/boot/grub/device.map

# install grub2 on usb key
sudo grub-install --no-floppy --root-directory=${MNTPOINT} '(hd0)'

# create grub config
cat <<EOF> ${MNTPOINT}/boot/grub/grub.cfg
# grub.cfg

default  0
timeout  10

set menu_color_normal=white/cyan
set menu_color_highlight=yellow/blue

menuentry "Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop (x86)" {
  loopback loop /boot/iso/ubuntu-10.04-desktop-i386.iso
  linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/boot/iso/ubuntu-10.04-desktop-i386.iso noeject noprompt --
  initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
}

menuentry "Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook (x86)" {
  loopback loop /boot/iso/ubuntu-10.04-netbook-i386.iso
  linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/boot/iso/ubuntu-10.04-netbook-i386.iso noeject noprompt --
  initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
}

menuentry "Ubuntu Studio 10.04 (Intel x86)" {
  loopback loop /boot/iso/ubuntustudio-10.04-alternate-i386.iso
  linux (loop)/install/vmlinuz boot=casper persistent iso-scan/filename=/boot/iso/ubuntustudio-10.04-alternate-i386.iso noeject splash --
  initrd (loop)/install/initrd.gz
}

menuentry "Ubuntu Studio 10.04 (AMD64)" {
  loopback loop /boot/iso/ubuntustudio-10.04-alternate-amd64.iso
  linux (loop)/install/vmlinuz boot=casper persistent iso-scan/filename=/boot/iso/ubuntustudio-10.04-alternate-amd64.iso noeject noprompt --
  initrd (loop)/install/initrd.gz
}
EOF

# Copy images to usb key iso directory
for i in ${IMAGES}; do
    cp ${IMAGES_SRCDIR}/${i} ${MNTPOINT}/boot/iso
done

# un-mount
sudo umount ${MNTPOINT}

Error "(initramfs) Unable to find a medium containing a live file system"

With the above script, I have the following error:

(initramfs) Unable to find a medium containing a live file system

But:

 1. The kernel is loading
 2. The initrd is executing fine.

At the prompt, after having the error message, I tried:

 mount /dev/sdb2 /cdrom
 exit

But it doesn't work

Disk created by USB creator

Partitions layout:

root@server:/media# fdisk /dev/sdd

WARNING: DOS-compatible mode is deprecated. It's strongly recommended to
         switch off the mode (command 'c') and change display units to
         sectors (command 'u').

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdd: 4001 MB, 4001366016 bytes
124 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1016 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 7688 * 512 = 3936256 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000d9d3f

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdd1   *           1        1016     3905473    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Content:

ls /media/39E2-66BB/
autorun.inf  casper  dists  install  ldlinux.sys  md5sum.txt  pics  pool  preseed  README.diskdefines  syslinux  wubi.exe

If I take the USB key created by usb-creator, and I only install grub2 it works with the following configuration file /media/39E2-66BB/boot/grub/grub.cfg:

# grub.cfg

set default=0
set timeout=10

set menu_color_normal=white/cyan
set menu_color_highlight=yellow/blue

# Preferred and fallback resolutions:
set gfxmode="1024x576;800x600;640x480"
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
terminal_output gfxterm

menuentry "Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop (x86)" {
    # Set the grub "root" variable by locating the specified uuid
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid 39E2-66BB --set=root
    linux /casper/vmlinuz append noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash --
    initrd /casper/initrd.lz
}

It would seem that the problem was that the Ubuntu live CD is searching only on VFAT filesystems, not even ext2!