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**Qqmike** · Nov 24, 2008, 05:51 AM

Re: Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC

I take it the SD card has been partitioned and formatted? Then you've run the Kubuntu installer to put Kubuntu in some partition of the SD card? Yes, it means you want GRUB installed to the Master Boot Record (MBR) of the SD card. But (I think) you need to specify the SD card in GRUB notation. Usually, on most systems, the MBR of sdc would be denoted by (hd2). The first partition would be (hd2,0), the second partition would be (hd2,1). GRUB starts counting drives hdx from zero and partitions from zero.

Before running the Kubuntu installer, you can use the Live CD to explore the drives.

With the SD card partitioned and formatted and plugged in,
Start the Live Kubuntu CD
Choose the option to run it Live (i.e., not to install yet)
Now you are in a Live Kubuntu CD session.
Open the terminal K > System > Konsole
type
sudo grub
and press Enter
to get a GRUB prompt, grub>, at which type this command:
grub> geometry (hd<Press the TAB key now>
and that will list your drives in GRUB notation (hdx,y), including the SD card.
You can explore individual drives this way:
grub> geometry (hd0)
grub> geometry (hd1)
etc.
Now write that stuff down (if necessary), and get outa there:
grub> quit
$exit
Now you are back to the Kubuntu screen, where (as I recall) there's an Install icon somewhere (upper left of Desktop?).
And, if you feel ready, you can install.

If SD is hd2, then the MBR is designated using parentheses like so:
(hd2).
That should make the SD bootable.

Now, I don't mean to confuse you here, but, another option is to put GRUB in the boot sector of the Kubuntu partition. So, using this example, if you put Kubuntu in the first partition of hd2, that would be (hd2,0), and you can also install GRUB to (hd2,0).
But the SD card will not be bootable. You would have to boot into it by chainloading:
when you see a GRUB menu upon rebooting (if you do!--if you have one already), then
Hit the "c" key
grub> chainloader (hd2,0)+1
grub> boot
should boot you into a boot menu at Kubuntu, from which you can select Kubuntu (topmost entry) to boot into.
Furthermore, either from a live CD or after booting into Kubuntu, you can install GRUB to the MBR of the SD card using the GRUB files you installed to the Kubuntu boot sector (using the How To GRUB Methods - Toolkit, see below).

=> this is flexible and you have many options to get this SD going without re-installing Kubuntu after it's installed to the SD.

At Konsole, another useful command for exploring drives is, as you may know,
sudo fdisk -lu
(-lu = letter ell as in list and letter u as in units)

To format that SD card, try the best: GParted Live CD, free download at:
GParted: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

Related how-to's:

How To Make GRUB Thumb Drive
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081748.0
Reply #1: How to install K/Ubuntu 7.04 to an external USB hard disk drive (HDD)
Reply #12 Install Kubuntu 7.10 to a flash drive (UFD)
Reply #13 Kubuntu 7.10 on LIVE Flash Drive
- - - - -
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
- - - - -

How To GRUB Methods - Toolkit
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081671.0

Herman's:
Bigpond, home: http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/
(click to the GRUB page)

Finally, Super Grub Disk can also, <probably>, boot into the Kubuntu on the SD card, assuming GRUB did get installed somewhere on that card.
Super Grub Disk:
http://www.supergrubdisk.org/

I've given you more than you asked for because it seems you are into this sort of thing.

**dibl** · Nov 24, 2008, 07:58 AM

Re: Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC

Originally posted by Qqmike

... assuming GRUB did get installed somewhere on that card.

There's the problem.

I have an Eee PC 4G/701, and I have sidux installed on the SSD, and a Windows XP VM on a 16G SDHC card.

I have attempted to install an OS to boot on the SDHC card -- most recently I was trying to set it up to dual boot with Windows XP on the SDHC card and Linux on the SSD, but there is some impediment to writing the NTLDR or Grub on the SDHC card - I'm not sure what the problem is, but I think it is some combination of the BIOS and the fact that the card reader is a USB interface. I wasted many hours re-trying all combinations of the BIOS boot drive settings and running the Win XP installation, and it simply won't seek/find the boot sector on the card (tried 3 different cards to make sure it wasn't the card itself).

Sooooooooooo -- other than setting up a VM and using VMware Player to run it off the SDHC card, I can't offer you much hope.

**dibl** · Nov 24, 2008, 12:09 PM

Re: Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC

A little research turned up some potentially useful information here:

http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEeePC/HowTo/Install

Note in particular "This works because the BIOS knows how to boot directly from FAT partitions. This boot mode is called "superfloppy" mode and is supported by the Eee PC BIOS for USB devices and SD cards."

So it appears there is a way -- I don't know whether that Debian installler supports installing other OS's or not.

**mrsmith** · Nov 24, 2008, 08:46 PM

Re: Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC

Thanks Qqmike and dibl.

Instructing the installer to install grub on hd2 did the trick. There's still a small annoyance where it hangs for a minute or two at "Waiting for resume device" before finishing starting, but it's not really an issue, since the internal drive boots fast enough for school use.

The only other problem is that it doesn't give me an option for which image to use when booting from the SD card, but I'm going to try removing all of them but the eeepc one, and hopefully it will load that one.

Thanks.

**alpinist** · Nov 24, 2008, 09:34 PM

Re: Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC (fixed)

One other option that may be easier. The linux action show recommended to disable the SSD(s) in BIOS before booting the installer. Then when you install to the SDHC it will just put grub on that drive and not mess with your existing installs. Then you can boot to that drive in the future.

**Qqmike** · Nov 24, 2008, 09:40 PM

Re: Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC (fixed)

interjection (both dibl and alpinist are talking over my head here

) ...

"The only other problem is that it doesn't give me an option for which image to use when booting from the SD card, but I'm going to try removing all of them but the eeepc one, and hopefully it will load that one."

Not sure what you mean. If it's a matter of booting XP on your (hd0,0) partition, just include a boot menu entry for XP in the menu.lst on the SD card Kubuntu (/boot/grub/menu.lst), using the map dance referenced above (when XP is on a non-first HD).

**mrsmith** · Nov 26, 2008, 02:02 AM

Re: Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC (fixed)

Gave up on XP somewhere between SP2 and SP3.

By images I was referring to the kernel versions (I think). When booting from the internal drive, I can hit escape when grub loads and one's 8.04XXX or something, and the other's eeepc something, both with recovery modes.

On the SD, the only option that shows up is the generic 8.04XXX. Uninstalling the generic kernels didn't work, and left the SD unbootable. Fortunately, I'm just playing with it for now so I didn't loose anything and the reinstall was much easier once I knew where to send grub.

As long as I can boot it, I don't mind meddling with it until I can get it how I want it, though I'll always appreciate suggestions.

Thanks again.

**mrsmith** · Nov 26, 2008, 06:44 PM

Re: Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC

OK, so it's not quite fixed yet.

I fixed the hang at "Waiting for resume device" by modifying "/usr/share/initramfs-tools/scripts/local-premount/resume" and replacing the ". ./scripts/functions" section with...

if [ ! -e "${resume}" ]; then
exit
fi

I was getting an error 21 on grub when loading from the SD card so I changed the HD option when grub loads from (hd2,0) to (hd1,0). Now, I can hit escape at BIOS and choose either the internal drive or the SD card and both load quickly and reliably.

The only problem remaining is that neither wireless or ethernet work when loading from the SD card (though, oddly enough, the USB network connection works). The internal drive worked fine with the same version (though I've upgraded to the eeepc kernel since then) so I don't really know why the SD card wouldn't unless it's loading with diferent permissions or something, and I'm not sure how to check or fix it if that's the case.

Anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks.

**Qqmike** · Nov 26, 2008, 07:16 PM

Re: Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC

sorry, out of my area

But did want to congratulate you on some pretty good boot work, not that you need that from me (looks like you're doing quite well over there on your own!).
Nice work, thus far mrsmith.

**dibl** · Nov 26, 2008, 07:30 PM

Re: Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC

Yep, I second the vote -- great work!

If you could convince me that Win XP can be installed on the SDHC card and made to boot from there, I'd give 'er another try here. My dream is a dual boot capability on my Eee PC, with Linux (and Grub) on the SSD and Win XP on the SDHC card. But I could never get Win XP to finish installing itself, and NTLDR, on the SDHC card. That needs to happen first, I think, before Linux and Grub goes down on the SSD.

**mrsmith** · Nov 26, 2008, 08:02 PM

Re: Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC (fixed)

Thanks

I'm kinda learning as I go and mostly relying on google and looking up what others have done, but I've got a few SD cards lying around and an old XP CD somewhere. I'll have to wait till after the holiday, but if I can get kubuntu working well enough, I might as well try putting windows on a card. I haven't needed it in a while, but I guess it's better to have and not need than need and not have.

Gotta get this wireless up first though.

*update*

I think I finally got it all working. The last part was to use the USB network connection to add the eeepc repository found at array.org to the sources list, install the eeepc kernel, then do a full update.

After the update, I purged kernel 2.6.24-21, leaving the eeepc kernel as the default at boot.

On the SD card, I then went to /boot/grub/menu.lst and changed all instances of (hd2,0) to (hd1,0) so I wouldn't have to do it manually when grub loads.

Everything works just fine now. Without an SD card it will automatically boot from the internal drive. With one in, I can Esc at BIOS and select which one to load. Both boot quickly and without anything weird. Both wired and wireless are working fine now too.

Thanks for the help. I'm really glad (and kinda surprised) it's working well now.

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Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC (fixed)

Installing kubuntu (8.04) on an SD Card for an Eee PC (fixed)

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