USB Install

scottuss · 2010-01-06 15:27:03

OK, so I installed Arch onto my 4gb USB Stick, as per usual procedures (I also read through the "Installing Arch Linux on a USB Key" wiki article.

The problem is that everything worked fine, then I did some updates, which seem to have broken the installation. I suspected a kernel upgrade had done it, so I followed through the guide to run mkinitcpio with the USB hook (I forgot to do it on first install, I fixed this and it worked OK) but now I'm back to not being able to boot, with mkinitcpio not fixing anything.

I have an Arch CD that I can boot from, so, any ideas?

Thanks so much in advance!

JuseBox · 2010-01-06 15:45:17

scottuss wrote:

OK, so I installed Arch onto my 4gb USB Stick, as per usual procedures (I also read through the "Installing Arch Linux on a USB Key" wiki article.
The problem is that everything worked fine, then I did some updates, which seem to have broken the installation. I suspected a kernel upgrade had done it, so I followed through the guide to run mkinitcpio with the USB hook (I forgot to do it on first install, I fixed this and it worked OK) but now I'm back to not being able to boot, with mkinitcpio not fixing anything.
I have an Arch CD that I can boot from, so, any ideas?
Thanks so much in advance!

Have you tried to roll back the "updates" you installed?

scottuss · 2010-01-06 15:55:51

JuseBox wrote:

scottuss wrote:
OK, so I installed Arch onto my 4gb USB Stick, as per usual procedures (I also read through the "Installing Arch Linux on a USB Key" wiki article.
The problem is that everything worked fine, then I did some updates, which seem to have broken the installation. I suspected a kernel upgrade had done it, so I followed through the guide to run mkinitcpio with the USB hook (I forgot to do it on first install, I fixed this and it worked OK) but now I'm back to not being able to boot, with mkinitcpio not fixing anything.
I have an Arch CD that I can boot from, so, any ideas?
Thanks so much in advance!
Have you tried to roll back the "updates" you installed?

No, but I'd like to run with the versions of packages I have installed now if possible. I suppose going backwards is worth a try, but I will want to update at some point!

Thanks for your reply!

JuseBox · 2010-01-06 15:57:37

scottuss wrote:

JuseBox wrote:
scottuss wrote:
OK, so I installed Arch onto my 4gb USB Stick, as per usual procedures (I also read through the "Installing Arch Linux on a USB Key" wiki article.
The problem is that everything worked fine, then I did some updates, which seem to have broken the installation. I suspected a kernel upgrade had done it, so I followed through the guide to run mkinitcpio with the USB hook (I forgot to do it on first install, I fixed this and it worked OK) but now I'm back to not being able to boot, with mkinitcpio not fixing anything.
I have an Arch CD that I can boot from, so, any ideas?
Thanks so much in advance!
Have you tried to roll back the "updates" you installed?
No, but I'd like to run with the versions of packages I have installed now if possible. I suppose going backwards is worth a try, but I will want to update at some point!
Thanks for your reply!

The thing is if you can get it to work by rolling back then you know there is an issue with a package... Then i would install packages one by one until you find the package that broke your install. Then you can report a bug report or try to find a fix narrowing it to one package

scottuss · 2010-01-06 15:59:43

JuseBox wrote:

scottuss wrote:
JuseBox wrote:
Have you tried to roll back the "updates" you installed?
No, but I'd like to run with the versions of packages I have installed now if possible. I suppose going backwards is worth a try, but I will want to update at some point!
Thanks for your reply!
The thing is if you can get it to work by rolling back then you know there is an issue with a package... Then i would install packages one by one until you find the package that broke your install. Then you can report a bug report or try to find a fix narrowing it to one package

I'll probably go through that later then when I get some free time. Thanks for the help!

grey · 2010-01-06 16:00:29

From what I've heard, installing arch (or any linux system) on a usb stick in the same way you install on a regular disk isn't recommended, because of (a) poor write speeds and (b) limited lifespan of the stick due to the large number of read / writes. That's why most distributions implement persistent installations on a USB stick with temporary file systems residing in RAM, which are written only at synchronization points.

For Arch this is done by larch (http://larch.berlios.de).

scottuss · 2010-01-06 16:03:16

grey wrote:

From what I've heard, installing arch (or any linux system) on a usb stick in the same way you install on a regular disk isn't recommended, because of (a) poor write speeds and (b) limited lifespan of the stick due to the large number of read / writes. That's why most distributions implement persistent installations on a USB stick with temporary file systems residing in RAM, which are written only at synchronization points.
For Arch this is done by larch (http://larch.berlios.de).

Thanks, I kinda already knew that (I've been booting Ubuntu from a USB stick for a few years)

I really wanted a "proper" install, by all accounts it is possible, if not recommended.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-01-06 15:27:03

USB Install

#2 2010-01-06 15:45:17

Re: USB Install

#3 2010-01-06 15:55:51

Re: USB Install

#4 2010-01-06 15:57:37

Re: USB Install

#5 2010-01-06 15:59:43

Re: USB Install

#6 2010-01-06 16:00:29

Re: USB Install

#7 2010-01-06 16:03:16

Re: USB Install

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