You are not logged in.

#1 2006-08-19 21:48:07

mvinnicius
Member
From: Rio de Janeiro - Brasil
Registered: 2006-02-16
Posts: 86

Ach in a USB stick

Is it possible to install a working Arch on a USB stick to use with a diskless machine?


Keep swimming.
Dolly, in Finding Nemo

Offline

#2 2006-08-19 23:05:05

jaboua
Member
Registered: 2005-11-05
Posts: 634

Re: Ach in a USB stick

It should be possible, but I'm not quite sure how.

Note that the computer will need bios support for booting from USB, unless you plan on using a cd/floppy to boot the USB key.

Offline

#3 2006-08-20 01:44:24

sash
Member
Registered: 2005-10-16
Posts: 155

Re: Ach in a USB stick

There is Minimax (http://www.kotek.net/minimax/) but appears that the project is not maintained anymore.

Offline

#4 2006-08-20 03:07:18

Gullible Jones
Member
Registered: 2004-12-29
Posts: 4,863

Re: Ach in a USB stick

Minimax sucks. It stuffs everything on a 30 MB initrd, which means tough luck for buggy BIOSes that don't support high-speed USB.

Offline

#5 2006-08-20 07:57:10

gradgrind
Member
From: Germany
Registered: 2005-10-06
Posts: 921

Re: Ach in a USB stick

Sorry, I can't directly help you - I don't have the hardware.

But I do remember some other thread about this - I suppose you have done a forum search? I think syslinux is often used for USB boots.

If you want an Arch system to try out, I would be very pleased if you had a look at my larch scripts. They are designed for live CD building, but it should be no big job to convert them for a USB stick. And it would be nice to be able to add this feature to the larch project ...

http://four.fsphost.com/gradgrind

Offline

#6 2006-08-20 13:29:49

mvinnicius
Member
From: Rio de Janeiro - Brasil
Registered: 2006-02-16
Posts: 86

Re: Ach in a USB stick

I will take a look, thank you.


Keep swimming.
Dolly, in Finding Nemo

Offline

#7 2006-08-20 13:44:32

rayjgu3
Member
From: Chicago IL usa
Registered: 2004-07-04
Posts: 695

Re: Ach in a USB stick

yes you can install it to & boot off usb if your pc will boot off of it . its been a while since i had one going but i was able to do it .
2 things come to mind 1)make sure you put usb modules in  ".initrd" 2) install mdadm .
those are only 2 issues that i can think of the 1st being the biggest (at least for me) i messed with mkinitrd for some time till i got the right mix
now that we're switching to  .mkinitcpio  i would suggest you get familiar with it 

another thing just came to mind i was unable to boot it off other pc's only the 1 where i installed

so try it have fun

Offline

#8 2006-08-20 13:55:14

mvinnicius
Member
From: Rio de Janeiro - Brasil
Registered: 2006-02-16
Posts: 86

Re: Ach in a USB stick

Did you have any trouble with filesystems? I've been testing some other distributions, and the old scheme syslinux-FAT32 seems to be the only one that works, but i wasn't trying a real instalation.


Keep swimming.
Dolly, in Finding Nemo

Offline

#9 2006-08-20 15:32:38

rayjgu3
Member
From: Chicago IL usa
Registered: 2004-07-04
Posts: 695

Re: Ach in a USB stick

syslinux  i dont think worked for me niether did grub i had to use lilo
its been probably over a year since i messed with it so i cant recall all of it
just what sticks out... ya know
i installed on ext3 no swap so windows has a bit of a problem with ext3 so i didnt get syslinux in that way although i belived i tried through arch ,i dont recall
i just browsed through my old posts but i dont see anything there that jumps out at me , i know i didnt document what i did but i did share with others who asked bout booting usb but currently im blind ,i dont see the posts
i dont think theres any thing more than what i put here though.
try it yourself its fun you might learn something , i know thats how i do it jump in ,try it make mistakes ,learn .

Offline

#10 2006-08-20 22:58:17

mvinnicius
Member
From: Rio de Janeiro - Brasil
Registered: 2006-02-16
Posts: 86

Re: Ach in a USB stick

I'm not avoiding the fun. wink , just choosing the field to play...Thanks for the trouble insearch for anything that could help me.


Keep swimming.
Dolly, in Finding Nemo

Offline

#11 2006-08-22 14:56:08

gradgrind
Member
From: Germany
Registered: 2005-10-06
Posts: 921

Re: Ach in a USB stick

Update:

larch (version 1.1.0) now installs to USB-stick. I hope you will find it to your liking.

Offline

#12 2006-08-22 15:02:43

brazzmonkey
Member
From: between keyboard and chair
Registered: 2006-03-16
Posts: 818

Re: Ach in a USB stick

gradgrind you should post a link whenever you mention larch, not everyone knows it (yet). i'll do it for you this time wink
http://four.fsphost.com/gradgrind/


what goes up must come down

Offline

#13 2006-08-22 17:36:59

gradgrind
Member
From: Germany
Registered: 2005-10-06
Posts: 921

Re: Ach in a USB stick

Better?

Offline

#14 2006-08-22 18:19:36

brazzmonkey
Member
From: between keyboard and chair
Registered: 2006-03-16
Posts: 818

Re: Ach in a USB stick

great ! wink


what goes up must come down

Offline

#15 2006-08-22 18:48:17

Mr Green
Forum Fellow
From: U.K.
Registered: 2003-12-21
Posts: 5,893
Website

Re: Ach in a USB stick

bring back Archie  :cry:


Mr Green

Offline

#16 2006-08-22 18:54:50

mvinnicius
Member
From: Rio de Janeiro - Brasil
Registered: 2006-02-16
Posts: 86

Re: Ach in a USB stick

Better than better...great! I'll testit a.s.a.p!! lol


Keep swimming.
Dolly, in Finding Nemo

Offline

Board footer

Powered by FluxBB