[Stupid Question] How can I boot my ISO/tar/ext2 image created with buildroot?

On 2012-04-20, Willy wrote:

Hi,
I've created an image (in various formats: ext2/iso/tar) with buildroot
11/2011.
Until now I've used unetbootinet to create a bootable usb pen drive for
testing in the target machine (i386).

Now I want put the image to my hard disk, and boot from that.

How can I put the image into the hard drive and make it bootable?

Thanks a lot!

You'll need a bootloader of some sort (grub, lilo, etc.), and of course an
appropriate kernel. Beyond that, just create a normal ext2/3/4 filesystem
in a normal partition, and make sure the boot loader is in a partition
marked bootable (or the MBR).

There really shouldn't be that much different between a USB drive and a hard
disk, beyond getting the BIOS to look at the right device (which I'd imagine
would be harder with the USB drive than the hard disk).

-Scott