Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

[Linkmaster]

To all of your out there that think it will be a great idea to install an OS on your mini/USB[referred to now as "mini"], watch out for this very annoying problem. Moving the GRUB mount point from the harddrive to the mini. This can be remedied by reinstalling GRUB2 onto your harddrive using a LiveCD, but it results in much more work. If you make sure to avert the issue by either taking out the harddrive of your computer[hardware technical skills is a requirement for towers, not so much for a netbook/laptop] or by double and triple checking that you have the mount point on your original Linux/OS that you wanted it to be on.

Just helpful advice to people, hope it is actually useful. To the Linux-Veterans, if you feel its necessary, add any advice and additional information. I don't want people having the same problem as I did, and the person who posted the issue about ubuntu/kubuntu and stuff.

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

So could you be more specific as to the method taken to "install" to this mini ?

IF you did an actual install from the cd or an additional usb then YOU didn't pay attention to wear the installer was putting the boot loader (grub) and let it over right the MBR of the primary drive (the HD) whar you should have picked the MBR of the mini to install the boot loader to or chose none (the instaler on 10.10 wont let you not install it ) and then chain load the grub on the mini from the grub on the HD install.

usually if your making a portable OS you make a LIVE-USB or mini with a tool like the usb startup disk creator in the application's menu in system.

if using the usb startup disk creator you wouldn't get this problem you experienced

VINNY

[Linkmaster]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

Nah, the startup disk creater creates essentially a LiveCD, but on a stick with persistence. I installed the actual OS on the USB. I know that it was my fault, haha. I was simply saying that to give advice to others to make sure it doesn't happen to them as well. I'm looking at it like this: if we can help people prevent a problem before it happens[this won't happen all the time, but its worth making it a little easier]then time can be alliviated from those who work hard to help others. Just my thoughts.

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

Aaa got ya

so hows it running and what size mini was it .

VINNY

[Linkmaster]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

Its an 8gig, and its running terrible, in fact, its not running at all. I keep getting an kpstartupconfig4 or some sort message, saying my installation was bad. I'm not sure what happened, I browsed for a bit, and found that this:

sudo chown -Rv <username>.<username> /home/<username>

will end the problem. but I am not positive of this. Advice would be appreciated :P

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

well need more info to even try to help.

like is it a usb stick left in the computer .......are you booting it through the mane installs grub or just pointing the BIOS to it ...........dose it start to boot then give SOME ERROR and what is the exact error or do you get the error befor it even starts to boot ........do you get to a login window?
has it ever booted ......how did the install seam to go?

I'v never tried to do a real install to a usb ........to many probs come to mind .........but I will try it in the next day or so and see what we see

the command you posted would be useful if any files in /home/you on the usb got set root wile you were doing something their .......just remember to run it on the usb's /home/you.

that sead the live usb you get with the start up disk creator dose prity good you can install more apps save things and because of the persistence file they stay after a reboot.......and you can take it anywhere.

VINNY

[Linkmaster]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

It is like a thumbdrive, its a TOSHIBA 8gig, thumbstick. Thats the best description I have of it. I point the BIOS at it, it loads Kubuntu10.10, I get to the login screen, I attempt to log in, I get this error message

kstartupconfig4 does not exist or fails. error code 3 please check your installation.

That may not be it word-for-word, but its certainly close.

And my advice for trying: Take out the internal harddrive so that you don't accidentally delete GRUB. Thats what happened to me Dx

The installation went fine though, which is why I find it so strange.

When I tried the disk creator[since I wanted it to be easy first time around]it only created a basic LiveCD. It was almost[not quite, it was a little faster]then a regular LiveCD. So I opted to install it instead. Well, things got hairy, I did something wrong with Linux Mint 9KDE, and erased GRUB, got GRUB back with the LiveCD of Kubuntu 10.10, and tried installing Kubuntu instead, and then that message. I am so confused by all of it.

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

you can try renaming the ~/.kde and see if that helps ..........wile at the login window press in sequence and hold ctrl>alt>F1 and login thare then

mv /home/you/.kde /home/you/.kde.old

then exit and ctrl>alt>F7 back to the login and try agin.

and do the same for or remove the 2 hiden files in /home/you
.Xauthority and .ICEauthority

the kstartupconfig4 should be in /usr/bin .........if it is not we have bigger problems
than maybe just permission or config probs in ~/

VINNY

[Linkmaster]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

I tried the code that you just mentioned, and I got this error message

mv: cannot stat `/homejoshua/.kde' : No such file or directory

...this is a bad sign, I just feel it. Because I looked inside the /bin file, and there is nothing about kstartupconfig4

I might have to attempt to redo it

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

that should be /home/joshua/.kde ...............not /homejoshua/.kde

VINNY

[Linkmaster]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

Wow. Total goof on my part, the files where encrypted, and I thought I decrypted them already. Turns out that they weren't. I just totally got it to log me in, no problems now. I was doing a lot of "cd" and the such, and finally got frustrated and typed "exit" and it said I should try something about "ecryptsfs" so I did, and took like, ten guesses at the password, finally got it right, and then I tried to move the file over again, and it worked that time, and then I was like "heck, lets try logging in" and it did! So thats great, haha. Your help was VERY important to me. Now just to remember what I did to connect to the internet/etc...Dx

EDIT: I forgot a forward slash in my haste of typing. that was me reading the text from my other computer that the USB was booted from

EDIT2: I figured it out. I don't know why I'm on these forums, I'm doing better everytime, troublshooting is perhaps better then immediately jumping the gun

[Linkmaster]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

I could use a little help in getting the desktop effects back. I'm not sure exactly why its not working, I"ll upload a picture to show what I'm talking about, it is saying that

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

if the desktop effects were working ....but now aren't something got changed in the config or the vid diver ore settings .......in your screenshot I see a kernel upgrade going on in the background yes/no was that a standerd upgrade?

you can try the renaming of the ~/.kde as discussed earlier that will start you with a new set of default settings and if that dose not work you can just replace your old one to restore your customizations.

what is your GPU.

lspci | grep VGA

VINNY

[Linkmaster]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

Yeah, I ran the upgrade through Konsole with

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

So I'm guessing its good, I believe. I'm running the stick off a different computer, rather then my netbook, so that could possibly be the difference, but I'll put here what your code spit out:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV710 [Radeon HD 4350]

Not sure if thats useful or not

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing an OS on a mini/USB--helpful advice

I'm running the stick off a different computer, rather then my netbook, so that could possibly be the difference,

this may be the problem.......when you do an install the install sets things up for the box it's instaling to.........where as a live system will do it's best to detect and config for each box it's booted to.

witch is why for a portable system you should stick with a LIVE-USB

as to what the code spit out.......it is the GPU (graphics processing unit) of the box you ran it on
and would/may be useful if you were going to stay on this box ...

VINNY