Booting Using External HDD

[Miiky]

Hi fellas! this is my first post in here!

I installed kubuntu on my external HDD to use it to boot another computer, BUT, what I forgot was the boot issues. How can I paste the booting files on my HDD using windows 7?

Thanks in advance

Best Regards

Miiky

[Snowhog]

IF the HDD you installed Kubuntu to is fully bootable, then if you are 'adding' that HDD to another PC, ensure that the boot order of the HDDs in the BIOS are set to see the Kubuntu HDD first.

[Miiky]

IF the HDD you installed Kubuntu to is fully bootable, then if you are 'adding' that HDD to another PC, ensure that the boot order of the HDDs in the BIOS are set to see the Kubuntu HDD first.

I formatted my external hdd using kubuntu's partition editor and then installed kubuntu on the hdd using my main computer. Now I try to boot on the other pc and I get only a black screen :/

[Snowhog]

Is the other PC 'exactly the same' hardware wise as the one you had the HDD in that you installed Kubuntu on? If the video card is different, you will have issues. Are the two PC's both 32-bit or both 64-bit CPU's? If they are not the same, you will have issues.

You need to give us the hardware specifications of both PC's.

[Miiky]

The one I used is a AMD Phenom II X6, Sapphire Radeon HD5850(1gb), 4G Ram, Motherboard asus (can't tell the model right now);

The other is a prebuilt acer with amd II x2, integrated graphics with no hdd or dvd-rom. I think the issue is the bootloader or something like that, that it's not present on my external harddrive, instead it is or it was on my computer. It was installed sucessfully on my external hdd, but it can't boot. I assume that is it but idk how to solve it. Sorry for the delay, my wife was using my pc :/

[Snowhog]

Likely then, because this was the 2nd HDD, that when you installed Kubuntu, that you told Grub to install itself on the 1st HDDs MBR? When this HDD is reconnected to the original PC, when your reboot, do you see the Grub menu or not?

[dibl]

The problem with installing *buntu (or any other Gnu/Linux) on an external hdd or USB stick is that if you configure it for the computer that it was installed on (which may happen automatically), and then run over to another computer and try to boot it, the configuration is no good unless the hardware is identical. If you need a "fits 'em all" installation, then what you need to do is set up a "Live CD" image on the USB drive and boot that. The "Live CD" images are configured to boot on a maximum variety of hardware, so that's your best chance at a "universal" OS.

unetbootin is a good way to install the ISO as a bootable OS.

[Miiky]

snowhog, nope I had to use windows 7 dvd and then repair by using commannd prompt.

dibl, unetbootin is an OS that I can install on my external hdd using daemon tools? Cuz I have no free dvd's / cd's atm

I'm what u can call a noob so, any help will be much appreciated ^^

[zzzleepy]

Unetbootin is a program that copies a LiveCD image to a USB flash drive or hard disk and makes it bootable. It has the option to give Kubuntu an amount of space on the drive that will be used to store files, settings, passwords etc, so when you boot again next time you don't have to configure it all over again. You can install Unetbootin from the repositories and try it out, it is very easy...

[Miiky]

thanks! Much appreciated!

[james147]

The problem with installing *buntu (or any other Gnu/Linux) on an external hdd or USB stick is that if you configure it for the computer that it was installed on (which may happen automatically), and then run over to another computer and try to boot it, the configuration is no good unless the hardware is identical. If you need a "fits 'em all" installation, then what you need to do is set up a "Live CD" image on the USB drive and boot that. The "Live CD" images are configured to boot on a maximum variety of hardware, so that's your best chance at a "universal" OS.

unetbootin is a good way to install the ISO as a bootable OS.

You would be surprised, as long as all the drivers are install (which I think kubuntu does by default) then it should work on any computer you can boot it with. The only problems are if you install the proprietary drivers and create a xorg.conf which screws up the auto configure.

See here for how to reinstall grub, and make sure you install it to the external drive rather then the internal one. Then you should be able to boot kubuntu from the external drive.

[Miiky]

You would be surprised, as long as all the drivers are install (which I think kubuntu does by default) then it should work on any computer you can boot it with. The only problems are if you install the proprietary drivers and create a xorg.conf which screws up the auto configure.

See here for how to reinstall grub, and make sure you install it to the external drive rather then the internal one. Then you should be able to boot kubuntu from the external drive.

thanks buddy!

And thanks everyone for all the help! as soon as I solve the problem, or if I have any question, I'll be back bugging you guys or thanking you

Best regards!

Miiky

[dibl]

You would be surprised, as long as all the drivers are install (which I think kubuntu does by default) then it should work on any computer you can boot it with. The only problems are if you install the proprietary drivers and create a xorg.conf which screws up the auto configure.

It is pretty amazing what you can do with Gnu/Linux, compared to Windows or Mac, in this regard. I got a bargain on a Dell Latitude E6500 on E-Bay, because it had a broken ethernet transceiver and no hard drive, but it was otherwise in excellent condition. I bought a 40GB SSD (SATA), installed it in an ethernet-connected desktop, and proceeded to install the Linux OS of my choice on it, with no custom configuration. Pulled the SSD out of the desktop, installed it in the E6500, booted it, and then installed the Broadcom wifi firmware from a USB stick, installed the Nvidia driver for the GPU, configured wireless networking, and VOILA I have a kickass laptop for under $300 USD total cost.

But, bearing in mind the variations in installers, hardware detection during installation, and the normal range of human errors and unintended consequences of choices made during installation, I'm sticking with the recommendation to just go with a Live CD configuration for the USB stick or external hdd, if the goal is to boot it on lots of unknown configurations -- at least until the novice is comfortable configuring a "plain vanilla" installed system, which may need the occasional tweak to boot correctly on unexpected hardware combinations.

[Miiky]

my unetbootin doesn't detect my external harddrive :/ what can I do?

instead it detects my one and only usb flash drive ( 100mb lol ) and my main harddrive ( c: ) The other partitions and external harddrive it doesn't detect ;/

[james147]

I think there is an option to list all devices (at least from what I remember of it)