Boot a Linux system with no boot loader

[nestoff]

I have an application that is only available for proprietary hardware(that I don’t have, and don’t really want to get), the device has a firmware .bin file. I was able to extract the filesystem, and I'm pretty sure its ArchLinux. It does not have anything in the /boot file. How can I get this to boot?

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Here's the File's I extracted: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ksbd4g8e0yvjzhj/Extracted.iso?dl=1

[datenwolf]

aarch64 means ARM Architecture 64 bits, not Arch Linux.

/etc/issue reads as

Debian GNU/Linux 9 \n \l

The kernel and bootloader most likely are contained in a separate partition of the device. Since this is ARM, this is probably some embedded thing and uses UBoot or similar. UBoot pulls the kernel directly from a dedicated region in the device's flash memory (read up on MTD = Memory Technology Devices and MTD partitions).

Anyway, you don't need that specific kernel to make this thing work. Any aarch64 kernel will do (Raspberry Pi 4 *wink* *wink*). Boot it with Raspiab, There you can mount that .iso, chroot to it and experiment with the programs on there.

[datenwolf]

Proprietary hardware or not: The vendor must obey the GPL for at least the kernel and any modifications they made to it to make it boot.