Gusty USB boot

[lotech]

Hi there,

I tried to install Gusty on USB flash but can't make it boot, the error is can't find kernel image :

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2007/09...ibbon-install/

I reformat the flash and reinstall the MBR and repeat the install few times but still can't make it work, I wonder if anyone successfully installed it, or please let me know how your do it, thanks !

[Qqmike]

Re: Gusty USB boot

I haven't tried this yet.

Can't find kernel image is just that -- it can't find the kernel. That may be a directory problem (it should be in /boot ?), or it may be because the kernel statement is missing a kernel option.

If I had a 4 Gig UFD handy, I'd try this for you.

For now, have a look at this:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=499478

I would try this as follows:
use the regular Live Desktop CD installer for Kubuntu Gutsy.
Choose the "Manual" method (of partitioning).
In Step 6, see the Advanced button at lower right? Click it, then indicate where to put GRUB:
NOT in the MBR of your current BIOS drive! But specify to put GRUB in the MBR of the flash drive.
Now, you need to find this out beforehand. Say you have two internal drives. They will be hd0 and hd1, and so your flash drive will be hd2 and you would type (hd2) to indicate the MBR of the flash drive.

Worth a try. It may go slow, as he indicates, because the USB interface is slow compared to installing to an internal hard drive.

[lotech]

Re: Gusty USB boot

Thanks for the tip I'll try that later. Btw I have Puppy Linux installed on flash, it is so designed the write back is cached and reduced so to prolong the life of the flash drive, for all install method I've seen for ubuntu simply treated the flash as hard disk without the above 'feature', so I wonder if it is easy to do it or needs kernel recompile ??

[Qqmike]

Re: Gusty USB boot

Good questions. I haven't been following this subject as closely as I was in the past, but your post is getting me motivated again.

Here's a posting from a well-known, credible Linux guy, and it might shed light on this; however, it is for Feisty and I thought I had heard that things were improved in Gutsy for USB (?).
UFD Install Feisty/Linux: HowTo: Install Feisty on a bootable USB Flash drive
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=476302

My stuff on flash drives (including Puppy, Super Grub Disk, and GParted) is here:
How To Make GRUB Thumb Drive
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081748.0

Some more good ones:
USB UFD booting, Feisty on:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...l\Open\Command

Boot from USB even if your BIOS does not support it:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootFromUSB
The following explains this a bit better, step-by-step:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...+from+USB+grub


I understand that Puppy has specifically addressed the issue of re-writes to the flash drive, and that reference is in my Puppy posting (How to Make GRUB Thumb Drive, above).

[lotech]

Re: Gusty USB boot

Thanks for the detailed info. I'll take some time to study it.

[lotech]

Re: Gusty USB boot

I successfully installed this :

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2007/10...-from-windows/

I find 256M memory is just too little for any kind of Linux USB boot except the trimmed down one like Puppy.

[Qqmike]

Re: Gusty USB boot

Interesting and thanks for the info. What, do you think, is behind your experience with >256 MB memory for USB boot -- the way these things use the ramdisk thing?

I keep noticing that HP format tool showing up in these How-To's for USB flash drives. I took a look at it, but never used it, and thus far have only used GParted Live CD to do *all* my USB flash drive partition editing and for everything else (internal and externals USB drives).
BTW, in terms of booting and configuring the bootloader, as yet, I have not seen any difference between external USB drives and USB flash drives. And, to the extent this is true, it would be because BIOS sees them both the same way. Everything in that thumb drive How-To I mentioned works for both UFDs and USB external drives. Just a side note, wondering if anyone else has any thoughts along these lines.

[lotech]

Re: Gusty USB boot

I use mainly Puppy for USB boot, I try Gusty simply because I use it at home, and I feel Debian package management system is the best. I don't have too many different hardware to test the install, I only have an old notebook with 256M which is USB bootable, my home PC is bit old doesn't support that so can't test.

[Qqmike]

Re: Gusty USB boot

Hi lotech,

See:

How To Make GRUB Thumb Drive
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081748.0
Reply #12: Install Kubuntu 7.10 to a flash drive (UFD)

I installed 7.10 to a flash drive just as I would to a hard drive; no problems excepting adjusting GRUB so it boots right. I used a 4 GB flash drive (on sale at CompUSA today, Kingston, $35 -- a year from now, that will seem like a high price to pay for 4 GB!). I even used it to download Super Grub Disk to Live CD, then used SGD to boot the Kubuntu 7.10 on the flash drive. It all worked fine. Just thought you'd be interested.

[lotech]

Re: Gusty USB boot

Thanks Qqmike for the tip, I just worry about the flash will 'finish' soon with lot of r/w cycle like a hard drive, I hope someone will come up with a solution like 'Puppy Linux' which limits the write cycle by caching it.

[Qqmike]

Re: Gusty USB boot

I agree. It's a fun experiment. And it would be good for emergencies or as a limited-use portable OS, but I don't know how these things will hold up under daily, constant use. I just put Thunderbird email on it from ubuntuzilla, works great -- that could be handy, again, for limited/special use.

[lotech]

Re: Gusty USB boot

I use Puppy just now and everyday without too much problem except occasional crash, but I still like Debian based one they got better packaging system, also tried DSL it is almost what I wanted, but since I use Kubuntu at home so I want it for portable as well.

[Qqmike]

Re: Gusty USB boot

Puppy is probably one of the best for the flash drive application. I need to take some time and mess with Puppy. I put it, GRUB, Super Grub Disk, and GParted on a 512 MB flash drive, and of course, still only used about half the space. (That's also in the How-To link.)

[lotech]

Re: Gusty USB boot

One good thing about Puppy is it uses a simple FAT partition, so that I can share my other m$ apps. on the same flash. On the other hand Kubuntu may not suitable for portable use until slimmed down a bit.

[Qqmike]

Re: Gusty USB boot

By the way, just to be clear here, lotech and I are talking about installing Kubuntu to a flash drive as a full, regular installation, as you would to any drive. We are not talking about building a Live USB flash drive that runs as does a Live Kubuntu CD. There are plenty of How-To's on both subjects. On building a Live Kubuntu flash drive, there are ways to make a persistent data partition on the flash drive so you can save data and configuration settings. The issue of wearing out the flash drive with many re-write cycles is a concern and applies to a full Kubuntu installation to flash drive or to a Live Kubuntu flash drive where a persistent data partition has been incorporated (the data partition may be subject to wear-out). Just wanted to clear this up. To build a Live Kubuntu flash drive, you only need a 1 GB flash drive.