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**Qqmike** · Nov 22, 2008, 08:16 AM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

well, two things come to mind

1 For some external HDDs (those that don't have eSATA or where the motherboard does not support eSATA), to make the external drive recognized, you have to shut the machine down, connect and turn On the external HDD (to the USB and to the power source and turn On the power switch on the external drive), then turn on the PC and boot up. (i.e., an exterrnal HDD may NOT be perfectly hot-pluggable)

2 When you install Kubuntu to that external HDD from the Live CD, the installer will NOT see the external drive as hd0. The drive hd0 >>> is always the drive that the PC boots from at that PC session: that's how BIOS and GRUB see hd0 <<<.
Your external drive might be seen as hd1 or hd2, etc. You can figure that out. If you have just one internal hard drive that the PC is booting from, that drive is hd0; then the external should be hd1. So you'd tell the installer to put GRUB in hd1 (e.g., with the Live Kubuntu CD, that's Step 6, Advanced button at lower right--which it sounds like you already know about).

Here's some reading that's related:
How To Make GRUB Thumb Drive
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081748.0
How to install K/Ubuntu 7.04 to an external USB hard disk drive (HDD), Reply #1
- - - - -
Build a LIVE Kubuntu Flash Drive, How-To
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...089474.new#new
Step-by-step
-- with Persistence -- using GRUB all the way (i.e., no Syslinux): Reply #7

**Qqmike** · Nov 22, 2008, 08:20 AM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

now ... you could use the Live CD to "re-install GRUB" using the GRUB files in the external Kubuntu to the MBR of the external, thusly:

How To GRUB Methods - Toolkit
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081671.0
(see the part about root--setup--quit, reinstalling GRUB)
(i.e., no need to reinstall Kubuntu to the external drive; just "reset" GRUB)

**unDragon** · Nov 22, 2008, 08:36 AM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

thank you

the external hard drive is just a box with a wsb wire, no buttons, no power suply. I tryed all the possible ways of connecting it turn on -plug, plug- turn on, live cd- plug- install, plug- live cd- install...
at the instalation, the internal hard drive was not connected, nor at the startup, so I think it should be still hd0 (maybe I didn't understand something).

I will try the grub links

[edit] forgot to say that I installed it on another computer and booted first time, when I plugged it here, bibn't boot (so it boots on other computer, but here it doesn't)

**unDragon** · Nov 22, 2008, 08:48 AM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

just went with it to a 64bit laptop (I installed it here on x86 pc) with hdd, and it boots, here it doesn't... so, grub seams to work, do you have any other ideas?

**dibl** · Nov 22, 2008, 08:55 AM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

It sounds like the drive is relying on the USB bus to provide power. All USB busses (i.e. older USB busses) don't provide all the power that the USB 2.0 spec says is supposed to be there.

Tests:

- do non-powered USB devices (memory sticks, for example) work on that PC?
- if you boot a Linux Live CD on another computer, will that USB hard drive work there?

If both those tests indicate "YES", I think you've got a low-power USB connection. Which of course is not fixable by any software tweaks. :P

**unDragon** · Nov 22, 2008, 09:21 AM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

I don't understand :P

-In windows, the hard drive works fine on the pci usb card (and it is a non-powered device) . It stops and restarts on the on board usb ports (which I didn't know didn't work well untill now, that's why I bought this pci card).

-if I plug the external hard drive in other computer, I just have to press the power button to get it booting and running.

then what else should I do, I added the extra usb's with that card, I was hoping that would be it...

**unDragon** · Nov 22, 2008, 10:11 AM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

in other words, I think the card gives enough power to the hard disk (bought it today, and I asked for something that works for an external hard drive).

If there'n no other way, what should I do to use a bootable cd to boot onto the external hard drive?

**dibl** · Nov 22, 2008, 10:57 AM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

Originally posted by unDragon

-In windows, the hard drive works fine on the pci usb card

Ohhhh - on the same PC? If that's the case, then the hardware is fine -- sorry.

OK, if you have a Kubuntu Live CD, you could just boot it. Once the OS is loaded and you have the GUI, pop the external drive's connector into the USB bus and let's see what happens. If nothing, then we'll know it's some systemic problem with Kubuntu 8.10. If it connects and powers up and offers you the drive to use, then we'll know it's something about your installation that is different from the Live CD default system.

**unDragon** · Nov 22, 2008, 11:39 AM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

The live cd seez the hard drive. That's how I installed it

and also formated it from the live cd.

[edit] "offers you the drive to use" -> you mean, I can boot with the live cd and tell it that I want to start the system that the external hard drive has? If so, how do I do that? A small popup message appears with / and /windows (The partitions I have on the hard drive) but if I click on those, it just opens the file browser at /media/?(or something like that)

**unDragon** · Nov 27, 2008, 03:25 PM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

no one? Any ideea is ok

**Qqmike** · Nov 27, 2008, 04:40 PM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

No, but you might (probably can) boot the OS on the external HDD using the Super Grub Disk Live CD:
Super Grub Disk, http://www.supergrubdisk.org/

**unDragon** · Nov 28, 2008, 09:05 AM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

auto super groob disk doens't see it
can't install super grub disk usb because grub says corrupted partition table :-X added the 300 mega ext3 partition at the beginning and still nothing

it seams it just doesn't want to work on this computer... I'll be using putty and putftp untill I learn how to do a bit more

I am sad thow that I'll be using that hard drive as a big usb stick

**Qqmike** · Nov 28, 2008, 09:20 AM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

You want to use SGD as a Live CD, right/ not as USB or on a HDD.

Try many and different options in the SGD menus--some might fail where others may work.

:... grub says corrupted partition table Lips sealed added the 300 mega ext3 partition at the beginning ..."

The partition table is not in any partition; it's in the Master Boot record--the first sector (= the first 512 bytes of the disk). So, the 300 MB partition is not it. Corrupted partition table, not good. I don't know if TestDisk can fix that partition table, or if you need to re-oartition the drive (using GParted Live CD).

TestDisk links and description:
RESCUE Partitions & Data
Data Rescue Links & Comments & Tips
TestDisk -- PhotoRec -- Knoppix (or other Live CDs)
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3091847.0

**unDragon** · Nov 28, 2008, 04:06 PM

Re: boot Kubuntu 8.10 from external hard drive on PCI USB 2.0 card

guess what!

I'm on linux now

This tutorial worked, I had the same thing as yufend66 and his solution worked: root=UUID=...

now: put in the cd and boot from the cd than boot the hard drive

Thank you for the support ^.^