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The title says most of it: I'm trying to install Arch to a USB HDD and boot from that.
I followed the Beginner's guide to the letter: GPT partition table, BIOS boot partition with right code (verified in cgdisk), ext4 partition, swap partition, ntfs partition. Installed grub BIOS as usual, no errors reported.
When I reboot, after the HDD spinning up and being checked, I get a BIOS(?) message that says:
Reboot and Select proper Boot device
or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key
I retried with a plain MBR partition table (and mark the first ext4 partition as bootable), and I get the same error. I'd stuff the HDD inside the case, but the USB case has very nice cooling which may prove beneficial for a HTPC which is always on...
I can boot from USB, because the Arch iso was dd'ed to a USB flash drive. It seems the HDD is just not bootable enough.
Is there anything I am doing wrong on the Arch side or is my BIOS being difficult?
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OK, the usual thing happened when you ask help on a forum.
I googled some more and found an option in the BIOS to set the "USB emulation type" and set that to "Hard Drive".
This gives me a "GRUB" followed by a blinking cursor. I must have messed something up in the install. I'll try with GPT again tomorrow and let you guys know how that ends up.
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Well, I've got good news and bad news.
Replicating this setup on a USB stick (16GB) even with GPT partition table works fine and the system boots.
This means though there is something in my USB HDD's controller that is preventing GRUB from loading. For now I will run Arch from the memory stick, although that's not ideal.
If anyone knows if and how I should suggest this problem to GRUB devs or whoever, I am willing but need help with that :-)
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