Re: Got Knoppix 5.0.1 successfully booting from USB key
Quote:
Originally Posted by Krellan2
Great work on the Wiki. However, I've got a couple of questions:
- How would one alter the instructions to achieve the same end but as USB-HDD rather than USB-ZIP. Is it as simple as just using Partition 1 rather than Partition 4 and how would one do this?
- I can't get my USB Key to boot correctly / at all - it is simply ignored at boot up. Is there a way of checking that I've done the partitioning, formatting, loading process correctly. At the moment, I don't know if it's a BIOS problem or a user problem in using your Wiki?
Many thanks, if you can help.
Martin
Re: Got Knoppix 5.0.1 successfully booting from USB key
Quote:
Originally Posted by martinveasey
- How would one alter the instructions to achieve the same end but as USB-HDD rather than USB-ZIP. Is it as simple as just using Partition 1 rather than Partition 4 and how would one do this?
To my knowledge, USB-HDD is simply a relaxation of the USB-ZIP "standard".
Here's what makes USB-ZIP special:
It uses partition 4, not any other partitions
It uses CHS (cylinder head sector), not LBA, when booting the disk
It uses a variable number of cylinders, but it must use a constant 64 heads and 32 sectors
It has a maximum of 1GB in size, due to CHS's limit of 1024 cylinders
USB-HDD is simply a relaxation of these requirements, I think.
You can use whatever partition you want
You can use LBA, and in fact, it is highly recommended to do so
You can use 255 heads 63 sectors (the maximum allowed)
You can use a disk of whatever size you want
If this is wrong, please correct me.
Quote:
- I can't get my USB Key to boot correctly / at all - it is simply ignored at boot up. Is there a way of checking that I've done the partitioning, formatting, loading process correctly. At the moment, I don't know if it's a BIOS problem or a user problem in using your Wiki?
In my Wiki page, I have a little checklist of 5 things you can try. It's about halfway down the page. I had to do each of those steps at various times, trying to get the BIOS on several different computers to correctly see the USB key.
I'm not sure how you would go about verifying that you got it set up correctly to boot. If you have an old small hard drive, around 1GB in size, that you know for sure that your BIOS will always recognize, you can try reformatting that old hard drive in exactly the same way you would the USB key. Then, try booting from the hard drive.
Linux is good about treating block devices all the same: the steps you use for the hard drive will work identically to the USB key. You can then use that hard drive for Knoppix :)
Re: Got Knoppix 5.0.1 successfully booting from USB key
Quote:
Originally Posted by Krellan2
In my Wiki page, I have a little checklist of 5 things you can try. It's about halfway down the page. I had to do each of those steps at various times, trying to get the BIOS on several different computers to correctly see the USB key.
I'm not sure how you would go about verifying that you got it set up correctly to boot. If you have an old small hard drive, around 1GB in size, that you know for sure that your BIOS will always recognize, you can try reformatting that old hard drive in exactly the same way you would the USB key. Then, try booting from the hard drive.
Linux is good about treating block devices all the same: the steps you use for the hard drive will work identically to the USB key. You can then use that hard drive for Knoppix :)
Many thanks for that. Interestingly, after prodding and poking around a bit, the boot is now working.
It won't help anyone else, but I think I'm sorted out.
Martin