Boot Knoppix 3.6 from USB key - How To (Success!)

[mlap]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to the group, but not to Unix. I've been involved with it since the early 80's, but haven't used it consisently since then.

I've been looking thru all these forums on how to run/boot Knoppix from
a USB key and haven't found anything recent other than this:

http://rz-obrian.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/knoppix-usb

HOWEVER.... After a bit of tinkering and looking thru source code, I have
successfully been able to boot Knoppix 3.6 from a 512MB Sandisk cruzer USB key.

I want to document the complete process because I know how many of you are interested in doing this also.

I'm in a bit of a dilema because I am leaving on a trip in the morning for a couple weeks and won't have time to describe what I did in as much detail as I'd like, but I will try and give a brief description in my next post until I return and can give a step by step description along with what pkgs I removed to fit everything on 512MB.

Cheers,

Mike LaPierre

[j.drake]

Great, I'm certainly looking forward to it. I tried this before with 3.4 and failed, and then got sidetracked with my own vacation.

jd

[eco2geek]

I'm all ears. (Almost bought one of those Sandisk Mini Cruzers today.)

[mlap]

Well it's late and I wish I could do this in more detail, but this is the best
I can do for now. I also want to give credit to the other people who've
done this with previous versions because it was their info that helped me
come up with my method. This is just a draft, and with any version of
Unix, there are always many ways of reaching the same results.

=================================

First, partition your flash drive with fdisk and set the partition type to "6".

Next format it with "mkfs vfat"

Now mount your flash drive and copy the contents of your remastered
version of knoppix from your CD or ISO file so that will fit in the capacity of your USB flash drive.

"cd" to the /boot/isolinux directory and "mv" everything up to the root of
your flash drive and remove the whole "boot" directory.

"mv" the ISOlinux.bin and ISOlinux.cfg files to SYSlinux.bin and SYSlinux.cfg. (The 1st 3 letters are only capitalized for clarification).

Now this part I'm not certain about and need to verify what I did, but I
may have modified the "linuxrc" files in both the "minirt24.gz" and "minirt26.gz" files. The linuxrc file is slightly different than described in the link in my previous message, but I don't have time to verify any
changes I *might* have made.

Try them the way they are, they may work unmodified.

"umount" your flash drive.

Next you need to run SYSLINUX on your flash drive, *BUT* NOT the one
that is on the Knoppix 3.6 disto, you'll either need to update it OR
download a Windows/DOS version from:

http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/boot/syslinux/

and get version "syslinux-2.11.zip" for windows

You'll of course need to boot up windows to run the program.

This needs to be the last step I believe, because *I Think* it writes the
bootsector based on info from syslinux.cfg (I'm not sure).

The syntax would be "syslinux x:" where "x:" is the drive letter
windows sees your flash drive as.

I've had to change the 1st boot device in the BIOS to "USB ZIP",
it may be different for you.

I've only been able to test this so far on an VIA Epia Mii 10000.
A couple of times I've gotten to the point where the penguin shows
up in the top left (This is just before the "linuxrc" begins executing),
and got a "kernel panic" because it's unable to mount the root filesystem
and the system halted. I've rebooted and tried again and things started right up. I've also tried just typing "knoppix 5" at the boot prompt (which
is default anyway) and that seemed to give it whatever delay or encouragement to work also.

I hope this will be enough of a guide to help some of you continue
and maybe iron things out a little more by the time I return. At that
point I'll be happy to write a How To with explicit detail and directions
and add any improvements any of you may have.

Mike

[jbreiden]

Thanks, but no luck here. The BIOS doesn't even recognize the USB drive as bootable, which seems really weird. I don't think it is a hardware problem, because this is a 1 GB PQI iStick. I can boot Damn Small Linux no problem from a smaller PQI iStick on the same Epia ME6000 motherboard. Other differences; FAT32 filesystem instead of FAT16, and I ran syslinux 2.11 from Knoppix, not Windows. I don't see why either would be problematic.

[mlap]

I'm in a little bit of a rush right now, but I hope also post a message with the boot process and messages you should see at each stage.

jbreiden, you're right, I don't think FAT32 vs FAT16 should matter, but ...

I sounds to me since you've been able to boot DSL off your stick, that
you're not even getting SYSLINUX to go yet. Are you getting any msgs
to indicate the boot process from your stick has started?

You should be able to (I think) to take a freshly formatted stick and
run syslinux against it, attempt to boot and see the "Syslinux 2.11..."
message. If you can get that, you're headed in the right direction....
Try FAT16 (type 6 in fdisk), just for kicks.

I don't expect to have net access while I'm gone, but if I do, I'll check back.

Mike

[jbreiden]

You are right, it doesn't even get to syslinux at boot. The problem seems tied to this thumb drive, since others work. Maybe my motherboard can't boot from USB2 devices, only USB1 (I should look into whether there is a BIOS upgrade). Or maybe there is something special about the 1GB PQI iStick or how it lays out the tracks/cylinders or something. I tried filesystem type 6 (FAT16), I tried making the partition smaller (511MB), I tried syslinux 2.04 and 2.11, I tried giving the -s flag on syslinux /dev/sda1, and I tried marking the partition bootable and non-bootable. Nothing gets me to the isolinux prompt. Weird how the smaller USB 1.1 PQI stick works fine.

[drmarathe]

I have a Toshiba Sattelite 1805-S274 and I just bought a 128 MB Transcend Stick USB 2.0. Can anyone help me get it to work on Knoppix. [My Hard disk controller has crashed and I have to use Knoppix. And I have to save my work on this Stick. Real urgent.] I am supposed to mount it but what works, I don't know. I have alsready formatted it on a Win98 and have transferred some files on it. And they are visible under Windows 2000. Does anyone know how to get my Notebook modem to work under Knoppix.

Thanks

[eco2geek]

[My Hard disk controller has crashed and I have to use Knoppix. And I have to save my work on this Stick. Real urgent.] I am supposed to mount it but what works, I don't know.

Assuming you're running Knoppix from the live CD: plug the USB key in and boot Knoppix. Knoppix will automatically show an icon for it on the desktop. From the context menu, you can mount it and change its read-only status to read/write.

Assuming you're running a hard disk installation of Knoppix: plug in the USB key (it shouldn't matter whether it's before you boot or after KDE's up, since Knoppix uses "hotplug"). As root, in a console, type

mkdir /mnt/sda1
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1

and you should be good to go. It should be mounted on /mnt/sda1.

(Note: If you have more than one storage device connected, for example a USB key and a USB hard drive, they usually show up as /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb1, etc. in my experience.)

[jbreiden]

I got excited when I saw a report on a Debian page about a successful boot VIA EPIA-M 10000 mainboard, BIOS Version 1.0F, 512 MB USB 2.0 stick. Flashed my BIOS to 1.0F and... no change. I think I'm going to give up. (I also tried the other tricks on that page: install-mbr and even putting the filesystem on /dev/sda instead of /dev/sda1)

http://d-i.pascal.at/

[drmarathe]

I am booting form a CD. My HD has crashed.
Have a Toshiba Satelite 1805-S274.
First I did not put the stick in USB and started Knoppix Kernal 2.4.26. It shows in the fstab file 4 entries(sda1, sda2,sda3,sda4):

#Added by Knoppix
/dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1 auto noauto, users, exec 0, 0

This is after plugging in the Stick in the USB port. It shows Hard Disk Partition [sda1 thru sda4] on the desktop. But if I click on anyone it gives error Could not mount.Not a valid block device.

So subsequently

I logged in as root and did
#mkdir /mnt/flash
then when I type in
#mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/flash
It gives error
#Mount: /dev/sda1 is not a valid block device

I have tried mounting /dev/sda2, /dev/sda3 and even /dev/sda5. Nothing works.

If I tried to edit fstab file, and remove those entries.
It doesn't allow me to save it.

Second Try:

I have tried first putting the stick in USB and then booting.
Knoppix.
It syas in the beginning USB found, managed by Hotplug. Rescanning .. [001 002]

After the desktop comes up, It shows 4 partitions on the desktop
Hard Disk 1 thru 4 but no sign of Stick. If I clik on any of them it says

Step 1:
Could not mount device
Mount: /dev/sda1 is not a valid Block drive

Step 2:
Have run Utilities, Tools, USB Viewer. After a long time it shows i the left panel:
USB OHCI Root Hub
... usb-storage
If I click on usb-storage it shows all the details of the
device including the correct size etc.
Which means it has recognised the USB stick

But it doesn't show it in the the 'fstab'

Step 3:

Now how do I mount it? What to do with these non-existing hard drives?

By the way I am a Professor of IT and have used in the past
SCO Xenix. But that was 10 years ago.

Thanks a million for your patience and help.

[champagnemojo]

Correct me if I'm wrong drmarathe, but I assume your USB stick is not partitioned. In that case would it not just be /dev/sda (or possibly /dev/sdb)?

[drmarathe]

Thannks Champagnemojo but /dev/sda doiesn't seem to work. Gives me an error /dev/sda or /dev/sdb is not a block device"

I have a Transcend Jetflash 128 MB brand new Stick for USB 2.0 and it is working fine on Windows. Also /utilitis/tools/usb view recognises it as

Flash Disk
Manufacturer: USB
Serial No. 61100740FC7A4D7D
Speed: 12 MB/s
USB Version : 2.00
Device Class: 00(>ifc)
Device Subclass: 00
Device Protocol: 00
Max Default Endpoint size: 64
Number of Configurations: 1
Vendor Id: 0ea0
Product ID: 2166
Revision No. 2.00

So I think it is being recognised ok.

The question seems to be what /dev/xxx entry corresponds to this Flash Rom. I am logging in as Root shell so I don't think it is an issue of permissions.

I need the correct value of this XXX. Any ideas.

Thanks

[champagnemojo]

It seems like it should really be /dev/sdX (and you'd think the X would be a or b). Are you sure you have all of the right kernel modules loaded?

[jbreiden]

Ok, here's what I ended up doing. Don't know if all steps are
necessary:

BIOS stuff

1) Flashed the BIOS of my EPIA ME6000 to version 1.13
2) Changed display setting in BIOS to 'LCD' to get a readable display
3) Enabled 'boot from USB-HDD' option in BIOS

From CD-booted KNOPPIX

4) Ran mkfs.vfat directly on /dev/sda (no partition table)
5) Copied KNOPPIX CD contents to /dev/sda
6) Moved boot/isolinux/* to top level of /dev/sda
7) Renamed isolinux.[cfg|bin] to syslinux.[cfg|bin]

Edited linuxrc files (still in CD-booted KNOPPIX)

8) Copied minirt24.gz to /tmp
9) cd /tmp && mkdir 24 && gunzip minirt24.gz
10) mount -o loop minirt24 24
11) edited 24/linuxrc
a) add a 4 second delay after modules are loaded
b) force FOUND_KNOPPIX to be /dev/sda and mount that to /cdrom
12) unmount 24 && gzip minirt24.gz
13) Copy modified minirt24.gz back to the USB drive
14) Repeat the whole thing with minirt26.gz

Get USB key ready to boot (still in CD-booted KNOPPIX)

15) Download syslinux-2.11.tar.gz
16) Unmount /dev/sda
17) Untar and run syslinux on /dev/sda

Boot from USB Key

18) Boot from USB key. (I use the USB2 cheatcode for speed).

And that is about it. I can easily fit an entire KNOPPIX on the 1GB PQI
iStick, which is great. More fiddling than I hoped for, but the end
result is a no moving parts computer. I may post the exact linuxrc patch and
more detailed instructions somewhere on the web in the future, unless I am
too lazy.

[jdmml]

I was wondering if you could send me your version of knoppix that has been made to fit a 512 MB usb key

[pbs]

Making Knoppix 3.6 Bootable from a 1 GB USB Flash Memory Stick
2004/10/28 pbs

REQUIRED: 1 GB or more USB stick, Knoppix_V3.6-2004-08-16-EN CD or similar, and an alert mind.

I've benefited from many suggestions on the web. In kind thanks, here is a yet more "compleat" and commented recipe.


PREPARATION:

Read everything through completely before beginning.

Be awake and alert! While experimenting and learning (the hard way!), I corrupted a couple hard disk partition tables by mistyping -- sda and hda are one character apart, and subconcious habits are dominant when weary! Backups are good. If you decide to try this, the consequences are yours.

You'll need to be root for these operations. CTRL-ALT-F1 (or F2,F3,F4) is a quick way to switch to root console access, CTRL-ALT-F5 puts you back into the GUI as knoppix rather than as root. Depending on how your hardware is assigned at boot time, the USB stick may be referenced as sda, sdb, or sdc, etc. Notice there is a difference between /dev/sda and /dev/sda1, being the entire drive as a block device or its first partition respectively.

Backup any important files on your USB to a folder on another disk; the USB stick WILL be reformatted in the process below, and it is then very easy to copy them back afterwards.

Backup sector 0 from the USB stick (and any other important hard drive!) somewhere safe like onto a floppy. It contains the MBR in the first 306 bytes and the partition table for the first four partitions in the remaining 206 bytes. If need be and you've goofed, you can replace this later by swapping input if= and output of= locations (don't mix them up). Five minutes now can save days of recovery later.

dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/fd0/myUSBMBR.bin bs=512 count=1
dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/fd0/myHDMBR.bin bs=512 count=1


PROCESS:

Partition and format the USB stick. This will wipe out your previous data! Use cfdisk to create a partition >700 Mb (not sure how much is needed), make it bootable and of type 06 for FAT16, and lastly write the configuration back to USB. The menus are easy to use.

cfdisk /dev/sda
...
mkdosfs /dev/sda1

Download free SysLinux 2.11 (http://syslinux.zytor.com/) to get a viable MBR for the USB stick. The next commands transfer only 306 bytes rather than 512 because mbr.bin is only that long, leaving the trailing 206 partition table bytes of the sector unchanged.

cd /Path/To/Unpacked/Syslinux2.11/
dd if=./mbr.bin of=/dev/sda

Use syslinux to install ldlinux.sys located at beginning of partition (it doesn't have to be redone later, and both v2.04 included with knoppix or v2.11 worked fine for me).

./syslinux /dev/sda1

Now copy the boot files from the CD.

mkdir /mnt/sda1
mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
cp /cdrom/boot/isolinux/* /mnt/sda1
cd /mnt/sda1
mv isolinux.cfg syslinux.cfg
rm isolinux.bin
rm boot.cat

Edit linuxrc inside minirt24.gz (repeat for minirt26.gz if you want)

cp minirt*.gz /tmp
gunzip /tmp/m*.gz
mkdir /mnt/m24
mkdir /mnt/m26
mount /tmp/minirt24.gz /mnt/m24 -o loop -o rw
mount /tmp/minirt26.gz /mnt/m26 -o loop -o rw

Edit /mnt/m24/linuxrc and add a line midway through the file ...

test -n "$FOUND_USB" -a -z "$NOUSB" && DEVICES="$DEVICES /dev/sd?[1-9] /dev/sd?[1-9][0-9]"

... as shown in the following snippet which shows the lines immediately prior and after. Find it by looking for the commented section line reading

# Now that the right SCSI driver is (hopefully) loaded, try to find CDROM
<snip>
test -n "$FOUND_SCSI" -a -z "$NOSCSI" && DEVICES="$DEVICES /dev/sd?[1-9] /dev/sd?[1-9][0-9]"
test -n "$FOUND_USB" -a -z "$NOUSB" && DEVICES="$DEVICES /dev/sd?[1-9] /dev/sd?[1-9][0-9]"
DEVICES="$DEVICES /dev/hd?[1-9] /dev/hd?[1-9][0-9]"
<snip>

If you edited it somewhere else as knoppix (e.g. in the GUI), then copied it back as root,
you may have to set linuxrc back to being root owned.

ls -al
chown root:root /mnt/m24/linuxrc
ls -al

To repeat this for /mnt/m26, you can just copy the file as both kernel 2.4 and 2.6
linuxrc files were identical in KNXv3.6 when I compared them with diff.

cp /mnt/mr24/linuxrc /mnt/m26

Umount, recompress, and put back on USB stick. Minirt*.gz already has the necessary USB driver files and appropriate sleep times in it now, so there's no need to add those.

umount /mnt/m2*
gzip -9 /tmp/mini*
cp /tmp/mini*.gz /mnt/sda1

Now copy over the Knoppix directory from the cdrom. Have patience, it's big, and you're probably working at USB1.0 rather than USB2.0 speeds as that's the tested Knoppix default.

cp -r /cdrom/knoppix /mnt/sda1

If you like the initial webpage at startup, then copy

cp /cdrom/index.html /mnt/sda1

Unmount USB stick and WAIT for changes to finish writing.

umount /dev/sda1

Select boot from usb in your PC BIOS -- the specifics are system dependent -- and reboot.


FINAL NOTES:

If upon booting you want the USB stick to be writeable, you'll have to mount it again as a loop device. The USB partition containing /KNOPPIX/Knoppix file system is already mounted as read-only, and unfortunately the default desktop icon Hard Disk [sda1] refers to that. Create a new mount point /mnt/myusb to write to the drive.

mkdir /mnt/myusb
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/myusb -o loop -o rw

ALWAYS remember to unmount the new USB stick access point first to save all cached changes before quitting, or you might corrupt the stick and have to start completely over.

umount /mnt/myusb

Hint: if it won't unmount, close all GUI windows that display this drive, cd / to get out of /mnt/myusb in all work spaces, e.g. CTRL-ALT-F1 to F4. You may even have to "init 3", thus closing the GUI to get stuck Konqueror inodes to release (check with "ps aux"). Then try umount /mnt/myusb again. "init 5" will restart the GUI, or "init 6" will complete the shutdown.

An alternative is to figure out how much is needed for Knoppix and it's boot files, limit the first partition size, and to create a second partition for writing user data. Starting with one partition first helps get it all working; also if everything is all in one space, if you suddenly need room on the USB from another OS or computer, you can wipe out /knoppix/knoppix, then replace it from CD later, though it may get fragmented on rewriting.


.ISO BOOT?:

Setting up the USB to boot from a .ISO stored on itself is less easy to do. It requires access to a number of programs in a non-ISO-encapsulated /knoppix/knoppix file system to accomplish the root transfer, and there's not enough room for both. I suppose one could add the necessary programs (and dependencies?) to minirt.gz, but it would likely take much more effort. Cool, but is it really worth it?


LAST RITES:

If in the process of experimenting with making the USB stick bootable, you've somehow corrupted it so badly that it cannot be mounted or reformatted under Linux or Windows, and even dd fails (yikes!) to wipe sector 0 with if=/dev/zero count=1, and feel your new stick is utterly destroyed ... don't despair. Http://www.killdisk.com has a freeware windows console utility that runs even under win2k's and winXP's direct disk access restrictions to wipe all blocks on a chosen drive to zero, with no mounting or existing format questions asked. RTFM. And triple check you've got the right drive! You can then reformat. This worked when even the HP Utility format utility got stuck.

Or worse, suppose you've wiped out the MBR and the partition table of the wrong hard drive, thus losing the starting cluster number for each partition in spite of the precautions above. You can still possibly recover it with "gpart", which will go searching for lost partition tables -- IF you've not made any further writes to the disk: i.e. don't write any type of data, don't delete and recreate partitions with cfdisk, qtparted, or whatever else tempts you. These will rewrite the very information tables needed for recovery. Best advice now is stop, relax!, have a cup of tea, and think it through before trying anything. Don't be hasty. I had already mucked everything up beyond gpart's powers before even knowing it existed, which left me rebuilding my HD from scratch. Now you at least have a valuable headstart hint, if you've read this in time.


POSTLUDE:

Good luck, go forth and multiply by sharing; enjoy your bootable, full function Knoppix USB stick with lots more applications, storage, and tinier form factor than a PDA! :)

[tuxlmt]

Edit linuxrc inside minirt24.gz (repeat for minirt26.gz if you want)

cp minirt*.gz /tmp
gunzip /tmp/m*.gz
mkdir /mnt/m24
mkdir /mnt/m26
mount /tmp/minirt24.gz /mnt/m24 -o loop -o rw
mount /tmp/minirt26.gz /mnt/m26 -o loop -o rw

Edit /mnt/m24/linuxrc and add a line midway through the file ...

test -n "$FOUND_USB" -a -z "$NOUSB" && DEVICES="$DEVICES /dev/sd?[1-9] /dev/sd?[1-9][0-9]"

... as shown in the following snippet which shows the lines immediately prior and after. Find it by looking for the commented section line reading

# Now that the right SCSI driver is (hopefully) loaded, try to find CDROM
<snip>
test -n "$FOUND_SCSI" -a -z "$NOSCSI" && DEVICES="$DEVICES /dev/sd?[1-9] /dev/sd?[1-9][0-9]"
test -n "$FOUND_USB" -a -z "$NOUSB" && DEVICES="$DEVICES /dev/sd?[1-9] /dev/sd?[1-9][0-9]"
DEVICES="$DEVICES /dev/hd?[1-9] /dev/hd?[1-9][0-9]"
<snip>

If you edited it somewhere else as knoppix (e.g. in the GUI), then copied it back as root,
you may have to set linuxrc back to being root owned.

ls -al
chown root:root /mnt/m24/linuxrc
ls -al

To repeat this for /mnt/m26, you can just copy the file as both kernel 2.4 and 2.6
linuxrc files were identical in KNXv3.6 when I compared them with diff.

cp /mnt/mr24/linuxrc /mnt/m26

Umount, recompress, and put back on USB stick. Minirt*.gz already has the necessary USB driver files and appropriate sleep times in it now, so there's no need to add those.

umount /mnt/m2*
gzip -9 /tmp/mini*
cp /tmp/mini*.gz /mnt/sda1


All tweaking with minirt2?.gz can be replaced by KNOPPIX cheatcode.
My idea is leave minirt2?.gz as is. This allows just overrite it when new KNOPPIX version comes.

Do add cheatcode fromhd=/dev/sda1 to command line or syslinux.cfg

[pbs]

All tweaking with minirt2?.gz can be replaced by KNOPPIX cheatcode.
My idea is leave minirt2?.gz as is. This allows just overrite it when new KNOPPIX version comes.

Do add cheatcode fromhd=/dev/sda1 to command line or syslinux.cfg


Thanks. That is much simpler for many purposes.

The longer edit does provide autodetection for which drive the stick was mounted (sda1,sdb1,sdc1 ...); this can vary if there are extra slots for assorted camera memory cards or other USB sticks, which may or may not be inserted at boot time. One less thing to remember.

Take your pick.

pete

[bfree]

.ISO BOOT?:

Setting up the USB to boot from a .ISO stored on itself is less easy to do. It requires access to a number of programs in a non-ISO-encapsulated /knoppix/knoppix file system to accomplish the root transfer, and there's not enough room for both. I suppose one could add the necessary programs (and dependencies?) to minirt.gz, but it would likely take much more effort. Cool, but is it really worth it?

You might want to look at this (http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14680) which outlines one approach to getting iso booting working. The linuxrc patch could be much simpler if you wanted (I had pretty much written a patch to linuxrc so the section to scan the $DEVICES uses an if/esle to make it check if a "fromiso" cheatcode was present and if so to hunt the drives for KNOPPIX.ISO instead of KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX and if it finds one to loop mount it as /cdrom and then check it for KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX and break if it has it.

[larrycow]

hi !
I tried to make an usb hdd running under knoppix 3.6. :-(
just becasue it's larger :-D
In fact this is an hdd ide plugged in a external usb box.
With flonix it perfectly worked !
But with knoppix....

Something is missing !

Is there any bootable floppy disk for this ? (just like it was for flonix) ?
How to make it ?
bye ! gona sleeeeeep ;)


[sorry for my english : this is not my first language :-P)

[larrycow]

Yes,
now i am sure! The only thing i need is a bootable floppy to run the usb drive.
But i didn't find anywhere any details or howto :-(

An idea ?
have a nice day ;)

[larrycow]

OK !
Everything 's all right :)
i found floppies there :
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13443&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=10

exactly, here are the download links :
http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/eco2geek/knx-boot-disks/knx-36-floppy-1.img
http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/eco2geek/knx-boot-disks/knx-36-floppy-2.img

i really enjoy !
gonna try to put then in a one :-P

bye

[piper]

Hi,

I managed to get it on USB key and boot, but during USB probing. i got this error

"Can't find KNOPPIX filesystem, sorry
Dropping you to a (very little) shell
Press reset button to quit."

Any pointer?

Thanks again :)

[larrycow]

hello Piper,
I got exactely the same, before i try to boot with the two boot floppies
If you have made the syslinux on your key, and added the famous line in the linuxrc, you may try to boot from the two floppies : may be you 'll have any answer.

good luck :)

larry

[piper]

i think to get it to detect sda1 we need to force USB probing for storage before anything else and mount it as /cdrom, i'm gonna try it and see if it works

[piper]

Finally, i've got kernel 2.4 to work, still working on 2.6

[NamShub]

I followed pbs's instructions, I see the main KNOPPIX boot screen (the one where we enter cheatcodes) but it is stuck there. I can not input anything; F2 and F3 doesn't work.

I started with knoppix 3.7

Any clues? :?

[alexus]

is it possible to do this whole preparation without burning CD?

[Q-killer]

I followed pbs's commands as well......... however when I get to:

mount /tmp/minirt24.gz /mnt/m24 -o loop -o rw
mount /tmp/minirt26.gz /mnt/m26 -o loop -o rw

I get the message

mount: you must specify the filesystem type

so these files are not getting mounted. I tryed specifying a few different file systems... but the autofs in mount didn't detect it like it should have, so I dunno...I am using knoppix 3.7

what should I do to fix this? :roll:

[Boggy B]

I followed pbs's instructions, I see the main KNOPPIX boot screen (the one where we enter cheatcodes) but it is stuck there. I can not input anything; F2 and F3 doesn't work.I'm getting that too, but i followed the first set of instructions in this thread; i think it might be might be a 3.7 thing. I'm downloading 3.6 now, but i won't be able to finish it today.
is it possible to do this whole preparation without burning CD?If you're in Linux, you can mount the .iso image as a filesystem, if you're in windows you can mount it with something like daemon tools (Google it).

[masoet]

When attempting to mount the miniroot's , remember to gunzip the .gz first before attempting to mount with -o loop.

gunzip mini24.gz
mount -o loop mini24 /mnt

good luk

[alexus]

maybe we can do some clear step by step info how to do that?

[jbreiden]

I followed pbs's instructions, I see the main KNOPPIX boot screen (the one where we enter cheatcodes) but it is stuck there. I can not input anything; F2 and F3 doesn't work.

I started with knoppix 3.7

Any clues? :?

Exact same problem. I had a success with Knoppix 3.6 using the instructions I posted earlier in this thread.
No luck with 3.7 (using my instructions) or 3.8.1 (using pbs's instructions, minus the part about modifying minirt.gz)

[jbreiden]

I followed pbs's instructions, I see the main KNOPPIX boot screen (the one where we enter cheatcodes) but it is stuck there. I can not input anything; F2 and F3 doesn't work.

I started with knoppix 3.7

Any clues? :?

Exact same problem. I had a success with Knoppix 3.6 using the instructions I posted earlier in this thread.
No luck with 3.7 (using my instructions) or 3.8.1 (using pbs's instructions, minus the part about modifying minirt.gz)

OK! Turns out I was using syslinux-3.0.7. Switching to syslinux-2.11 for the
"./syslinux /dev/sda1" step, everything works. I don't know what's different
between the two versions of syslinux (it isn't mbr.bin; that didn't change)
but it makes the difference.

This is on the 1Ghz EPIA MS motherboard from VIA, booting from
the onboard compact flash drive. It's kind of slow (about one megabyte
per second read speed) from the Kingston "Elite Pro" 1GB compact flash card.
But there's no moving parts anywhere, so I'm happy.

Final note: I skipped mucking about with minirt.gz and just use a cheatcode
on the command line. Very simple.

knoppix bootfrom=/dev/sda1

[alexus]

i recently bought a 1gb usb drive, and i want to make knoppix 3.8.1 on that usb..

any points/tips would be really nice..