grml2usb: error: invalid arch-independent ELF magic

[jkirk]

grml2usb could not create a bootable USB device:

~/projects/grml/grml2usb on  master (e55f4f1) is 📦 v0.0.0 via 🐍 v3.11.2 
at 2026-02-12 15:53:55 +01:00 ❯ sudo grml2usb --fat16 /srv/isos/grml-full-daily20260212build616unstable-amd64.iso /dev/sdb1
Executing grml2usb version ***UNKNOWN***
Choosing syslinux as bootloader
Using syslinux as bootloader
Checking for boot flag
Are you sure you want to format the specified partition with fat16? y/N y
Note: you can skip this question using the option --force
Formating partition with fat16 filesystem
mkfs.fat 4.2 (2021-01-31)
Using ISO /srv/isos/grml-full-daily20260212build616unstable-amd64.iso
Identified grml flavour "grml-full-amd64".
Copying files. This might take a while....
Fatal: Required file logo.16 not found in /tmp/grml2usb2czrjf1g

❯ git last                                                                           
commit e55f4f1 (HEAD -> master, origin/master)
Merge: d13b845 87030b3
Author: Chris Hofstaedtler <zeha@users.noreply.github.com>
Date:   2026-02-11 11:27:56 +0100

    Merge pull request #90 from grml/zeha/cleanup
    
    Python style cleanup


❯ sudo parted /dev/sdb       
GNU Parted 3.5
Using /dev/sdb
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.                                          
(parted) p                                                                
Model: Generic MassStorageClass (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 128GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  2000MB  1999MB  primary  fat16        boot, lba

(parted) q
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.

This is the full error:

[jkirk]

FTR: Tried with --grub and this does not look so good either:

~/projects/grml/grml2usb on  master (e55f4f1) is 📦 v0.0.0 via 🐍 v3.11.2 
at 2026-02-12 16:43:29 +01:00 ❯ sudo ./grml2usb --grub --fat16 /srv/isos/grml-full-daily20260212build616unstable-amd64.iso /dev/sdb1
Executing grml2usb version v0.20.10-47-ge55f4f1 (git)
Using grub as bootloader
Checking for boot flag
Are you sure you want to format the device /dev/sdb1? y/N y
Note: you can skip this question using the option --force
Formatting partition using mkfs.vfat
mkfs.fat 4.2 (2021-01-31)
Using ISO /srv/isos/grml-full-daily20260212build616unstable-amd64.iso
Identified grml flavour "grml-full-amd64".
Copying files. This might take a while....
No /boot/grub/grub.cfg found inside EFI image, looks like Secure Boot support is missing.
Skipping syslinux installation, ISO does not support it
Synching data (this might take a while)
Installing default MBR
Installing grub as bootloader
/usr/sbin/grub-install: error: /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/modinfo.sh doesn't exist. Please specify --target or --directory.
/usr/sbin/grub-install: error: /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc/modinfo.sh doesn't exist. Please specify --target or --directory.
Fatal: error executing grub-install (please check the grml2usb FAQ or drop the --grub option)
Note:  if using grub2 consider using the --grub-mbr option as grub considers PBR problematic.
Cleaning up before exiting...
Fatal: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/tmp/grml2usbyr5j4k57'

(Same error output as above)

[jkirk]

~/projects/grml/grml2usb on  master (e55f4f1) is 📦 v0.0.0 via 🐍 v3.11.2 
at 2026-02-12 16:45:19 +01:00 ❯ sudo ./grml2usb --fat16 /srv/isos/grml-full-daily20260212build616unstable-amd64.iso /dev/sdb1
Executing grml2usb version v0.20.10-47-ge55f4f1 (git)
Choosing syslinux as bootloader
Using syslinux as bootloader
Checking for boot flag
Are you sure you want to format the device /dev/sdb1? y/N y
Note: you can skip this question using the option --force
Formatting partition using mkfs.vfat
mkfs.fat 4.2 (2021-01-31)
Using ISO /srv/isos/grml-full-daily20260212build616unstable-amd64.iso
Identified grml flavour "grml-full-amd64".
Copying files. This might take a while....
Fatal: Required file logo.16 not found in /tmp/grml2usb1u1xxxig

[jkirk]

❯ dpkg -l | grep grub
ii  grub-common                                      2.06-13+deb12u1                          amd64        GRand Unified Bootloader (common files)
ii  grub-efi-amd64                                   2.06-13+deb12u1                          amd64        GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (EFI-AMD64 version)
ii  grub-efi-amd64-bin                               2.06-13+deb12u1                          amd64        GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (EFI-AMD64 modules)
ii  grub-efi-amd64-signed                            1+2.06+13+deb12u1                        amd64        GRand Unified Bootloader, version 2 (amd64 UEFI signed by Debian)
ii  grub2-common                                     2.06-13+deb12u1                          amd64        GRand Unified Bootloader (common files for version 2)

❯ dpkg -l | grep syslinux     
ii  syslinux                                         3:6.04~git20190206.bf6db5b4+dfsg1-3+b1   amd64        collection of bootloaders (DOS FAT and NTFS bootloader)
ii  syslinux-utils                                   3:6.04~git20190206.bf6db5b4+dfsg1-3+b1   amd64        collection of bootloaders (utilities)

[jkirk]

❯ ls -lR /media/jkirk/GRML/
/media/jkirk/GRML/:
total 12
drwxr-xr-x 5 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:45 boot
drwxr-xr-x 3 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:45 grml
drwxr-xr-x 3 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:45 live

/media/jkirk/GRML/boot:
total 12
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:45 addons
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 05:03 grmlfullamd64
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:45 grub

/media/jkirk/GRML/boot/addons:
total 3112
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  995840 Dec 23 07:06 ipxe.efi
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  351699 Dec 23 07:06 ipxe.lkrn
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  161280 Nov 29 09:22 memtest
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  161280 Nov 29 09:22 memtest86+x64.efi
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk 1118720 Feb 12 05:03 netboot.xyz.efi
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  383404 Feb 12 05:03 netboot.xyz.lkrn

/media/jkirk/GRML/boot/grmlfullamd64:
total 64560
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk 51942696 Feb 12 05:03 initrd.img
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk 14161536 Feb  7 07:43 vmlinuz

/media/jkirk/GRML/boot/grub:
total 0

/media/jkirk/GRML/grml:
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 3 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 05:03 grml-full-amd64

/media/jkirk/GRML/grml/grml-full-amd64:
total 300
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  19644 Feb 12 05:03 grml-cheatcodes.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk     92 Feb 12 05:03 grml-version
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk   4096 Feb 12 05:03 images
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk   4252 Feb 12 05:03 index.html
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  18638 Feb 12 05:03 LICENSE.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  70060 Feb 12 05:03 md5sums
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk 165317 Feb 12 05:03 packages.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk    875 Feb 12 05:03 README.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk   3400 Feb 12 05:03 style.css

/media/jkirk/GRML/grml/grml-full-amd64/images:
total 24
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  197 Feb 12 05:03 button.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  767 Feb 12 05:03 favicon.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk 4347 Feb 12 05:03 linux.jpg
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk 6375 Feb 12 05:03 logo.png

/media/jkirk/GRML/live:
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:45 grml-full-amd64

/media/jkirk/GRML/live/grml-full-amd64:
total 948276
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk        25 Feb 12 05:03 filesystem.module
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk 971030528 Feb 12 05:03 grml-full-amd64.squashfs

[jkirk]

❯ sudo ./grml2usb --mbr --fat16 /srv/isos/grml-full-daily20260212build616unstable-amd64.iso /dev/sdb1
Executing grml2usb version v0.20.10-47-ge55f4f1 (git)
Choosing syslinux as bootloader
Using syslinux as bootloader
Checking for boot flag
Are you sure you want to format the device /dev/sdb1? y/N y
Note: you can skip this question using the option --force
Formatting partition using mkfs.vfat
mkfs.fat 4.2 (2021-01-31)
Using ISO /srv/isos/grml-full-daily20260212build616unstable-amd64.iso
Identified grml flavour "grml-full-amd64".
Copying files. This might take a while....
Fatal: Required file logo.16 not found in /tmp/grml2usbjqp03ams

[jkirk]

❯ sudo ./grml2usb --bootloader efi --fat16 /srv/isos/grml-full-daily20260212build616unstable-amd64.iso /dev/sdb1
Executing grml2usb version v0.20.10-47-ge55f4f1 (git)
Checking for boot flag
Are you sure you want to format the device /dev/sdb1? y/N y
Note: you can skip this question using the option --force
Formatting partition using mkfs.vfat
mkfs.fat 4.2 (2021-01-31)
Using ISO /srv/isos/grml-full-daily20260212build616unstable-amd64.iso
Identified grml flavour "grml-full-amd64".
Copying files. This might take a while....
No /boot/grub/grub.cfg found inside EFI image, looks like Secure Boot support is missing.
Skipping syslinux installation, ISO does not support it
Synching data (this might take a while)
Skipping MBR installation for EFI-boot
Note: grml flavour grml-full-amd64 was installed as the default booting system.
Note: you can boot flavour grml-full-amd64 using 'grml-full-amd64' on the commandline.
Finished execution of grml2usb (v0.20.10-47-ge55f4f1 (git)). Have fun with your Grml system.

[jkirk]

❯ ls -l /media/jkirk/GRML/
total 20
drwxr-xr-x 5 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:54 boot
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:54 conf
drwxr-xr-x 3 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:54 efi
drwxr-xr-x 3 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:54 grml
drwxr-xr-x 3 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:54 live

~/projects/grml/grml2usb on  master (e55f4f1) is 📦 v0.0.0 via 🐍 v3.11.2 
at 2026-02-12 16:57:37 +01:00 ❯ ls -l /media/jkirk/GRML/efi 
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk 4096 Feb 12 16:54 boot

~/projects/grml/grml2usb on  master (e55f4f1) is 📦 v0.0.0 via 🐍 v3.11.2 
at 2026-02-12 16:57:41 +01:00 ❯ ls -l /media/jkirk/GRML/efi/boot 
total 636
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk 651264 Feb 12 05:03 bootx64.efi

~/projects/grml/grml2usb on  master (e55f4f1) is 📦 v0.0.0 via 🐍 v3.11.2 
at 2026-02-12 16:57:46 +01:00 ❯ ls -l /media/jkirk/GRML/boot/grub 
total 124
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  1725 Feb 12 16:54 addons.cfg
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk  4096 Feb 12 05:03 fonts
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk    29 Feb 12 16:54 footer.cfg
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk   356 Feb 12 16:54 grmlfullamd64_default.cfg
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk  4314 Feb 12 16:54 grmlfullamd64_options.cfg
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk  4096 Feb 12 05:03 grml-theme
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk   664 Feb 12 16:54 grub.cfg
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk   838 Feb 12 16:54 header.cfg
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk  4096 Feb 12 05:03 help
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk   541 Feb 12 16:54 help.cfg
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk 24576 Feb 12 05:03 i386-efi
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk 24576 Feb 12 05:03 i386-pc
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk   221 Feb 12 16:54 loopback.cfg
-rw-r--r-- 1 jkirk jkirk   754 Feb 12 16:54 netboot.cfg
drwxr-xr-x 2 jkirk jkirk 24576 Feb 12 05:03 x86_64-efi