booting knoppix 3.6 from usb thumb drive

[jbreiden]

I would like to boot Knoppix 3.6 from a 1GB USB thumb drive. I've been booting Damn Small Linux from a thumbdrive for some time, and can't wait to switch to a full Knoppix. The best instructions I can find on the net [1] are from Matthias Muller against an older Knoppix. The instructions are mainly about modifying the miniroot, which seems clear enough. I took everything they said about boot.img:/miniroot.gz and used it in boot/isolinux/minirt24.gz; taking care of USB modules and modifying linuxrc. However, the final instructions seem very 'syslinux' oriented, as opposed to 'isolinux' which Knoppix apparently uses now. Not being very familiar with either system, I'm not sure how to translate for Knoppix 3.6, or if that is even possible. Any hints or suggestions or pointers are stongly appreciated.

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

[eco2geek]

It would seem that the first thing you need is a thumbdrive that can actually boot your computer. Mine (128M Memorex USB ThumbDrive) will not.

(Apparently you can boot off a Lexar Jump Drive.)

That said, there seem to be two approaches:

• Use syslinux, as explained in this thread from the Damn Small Linux forums; or
• Use GRUB, by modifying the instructions on this page to suit your nefarious purposes.

You could also use DOS and fdisk (instructions here), then use LOADLIN. Although that approach makes me nervous. I'd want to make sure my hard drive was disconnected before I did anything to the USB key with DOS fdisk.

[jbreiden]

Thanks. I'm pursuing under a different forum thread (someone
is reporting good results, and I am trying to duplicate.) Maybe
will come back to grub et. al. if that doesn't pan out.

http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12964