Bug 639718

Description of problem:
The existing documentation is not clear and excludes important grub issues

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):


How reproducible:
Every time

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Go to http://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/Fedora/13/html/Installation_Guide/Making_USB_Media-UNIX_Linux.html
2. Try to make a usbkey containing a bootable system that will run the DVD install iso and put a new clean install onto the system, or upgrade an existing one, in the same way as running a DVD install from a physical DVD.
3. 
  
Actual results:
Chances are that it won't work without further information made available to the user via the install guide.

Expected results:
Following the install guide should work without problems for creating and using a usbkey to run the DVD install.

Additional info:
The only method that I have found that works for F14 beta from a usbkey is as follows:

If you have a usbkey that is already partitioned, and automagically mounted when the key is plugged in, then the livecd-iso-to-disk command fails, but how do you unmount it?

If you right click on the desktop icon for the mounted usbkey, and select eject, then the stick umounts but the system does not put it in a mode that is set for the use of the livecd-iso-to-disk command! This is on a system running f13 and it is presumed that most people would prepare a usbkey for an f14 install from a running f12 or f13 system.

I have not checked this for KDE and only for Gnome.

On the other hand if you umount the "partition" of the stick that you want to write to using a command as root in a terminal, i.e. as root do:
# umount /dev/sdb1
and then
# livecd-iso-to-disk --reset-mbr /path-to/Fedora-14-DVD.iso /dev/sdb1

works fine and results in a bootable key.

Of course if you want to format the usbkey then you can either format ahead of time using gparted, or use the --format flag on the above command. However in this instance will it need sdb1 or sdb? The documentation needs to be clear.

The current documentation is just not clear enough to be easily understandable and followed without recourse to trial and error when the process fails,
even by experienced Fedora users (I have been with Fedora since its inception!)

I have just done this using the analogues of the above command from an f13
machine, and written the f14 beta DVD iso. The usbkey had been formatted using
gparted, with a single fat32 partition set with the boot flag. When plugging
the key in, then it mounted automagically.  Closing the nautilus window and running the umount command from the cli as I described above makes the preparation of the key work fine.

One other very important point that is missing from the documentation is the issue of where grub gets written as part of the install process when the install is initiated from a DVD iso on a bootable usbkey prepared as above.

When the install process reaches the section where grub gets written it is vital to click "Switch device", since by default grub is written to the mbr on the usbkey! - So it is vital to warn users, and make sure that that users set the first bios drive as (typically) /dev/sda and 2nd bios drive is /dev/sdb (if that is the usbkey device). i.e. this reverses the default selected by the system. Then ensure that the installer will write grub to the mba of /dev/sda.  If this is not done then grub gets written to the mbr of the usbkey by default and the resulting installed system will not boot (though it can be fixed post install using a rescue disk). 

If the above is done incorrectly an inexperienced user would likely not know how to make an alternate rescue key or CD to write grub to the MBR.  A better solution would be for the installer to default to the internal drive in the machine for writing the MBR with options to place it elsewhere, but that is beyond the brief of the documentation team, and should be the responsibility of the anaconda team presumably?

Then continue with install - and the new system will boot perfectly!

The dd command method to write the iso to the usbkey failed to give a bootable
key for me in this case, so I don't know if there is a bug in the preparation
of the f14 beta iso or if there is some other problem. If this cannot be confirmed as working then the method should be withdrawn from the install guide.