Booting from USB without BIOS support (using CD?)

[quadphonic]

Greetings,

I have installed KNOPPIX v6.0.1 to USB flash stick using the utility on the Live-CD, but have subsequently learned that my computer's BIOS does not support booting from USB.

Is it possible to use the Live-CD to boot from USB, perhaps with a command from the "Boot:" prompt?

I am new to Linux and want to use the terminal in KNOPPIX to learn UNIX shell script and directory structures, and would prefer to do so from the "safe" environment of a USB flash disk, rather than attempting to install to the hard disk.

Thank you in anticipation

[klaus2008]

My old laptop does not support booting from USB flash devices, too. But one day I found a solution. I use a small programm called "PLoP Boot Manager" http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html running from CD.

[quadphonic]

Thank you klaus2008, for your prompt reply and assistance with this query.

[chip.ling]

Greetings,

I have installed KNOPPIX v6.0.1 to USB flash stick using the utility on the Live-CD, but have subsequently learned that my computer's BIOS does not support booting from USB.

Is it possible to use the Live-CD to boot from USB, perhaps with a command from the "Boot:" prompt?

I am new to Linux and want to use the terminal in KNOPPIX to learn UNIX shell script and directory structures, and would prefer to do so from the "safe" environment of a USB flash disk, rather than attempting to install to the hard disk.

Thank you in anticipation

1. Burn a Knoppix v6.0.1 on the CD.

2. Make sure your BIOS setting can boot from the CD drive first.

3. Insert the CD to your machine.

4. Power on the machine and let it boot all the way to the X-window appears.

5. Now insert your USB stick to the machine, knoppix will find your USB stick and will assign a device name to it. It could be sdb1 or sdb4 depends how you create your USB stick to boot format.

6. Remember that device name: I assume it is sdb1 and I will use this name until the end of this message.

7. OK, now shutdown the knoppix.

8. Remove your USB stick after the machine is shutdown.

9. Re-insert the USB stick to the machine. Leave the CD in the CD drive.

10. Power on the machine again.

11. When it boots up, it will boot from the CD and the Knoppix screen will appear.

12. At that time, key in the following:

knoppix   bootfrom=/dev/sdb1

The USB stick will take over the boot process and after the boot, leave the USB stick on the machine while you are using knoppix but you can remove your cd from your machine.

Step 1 to 8 only need to do it once. Every subsequence boot start from step 9 to 12.

Rgds,
Chip

[klaus2008]

knoppix   bootfrom=/dev/sdb1

In Knoppix 6.0.1 there is no boot option "bootfrom".

Knoppix 6.2.1 allows you to boot from USB devices by using the fromhd cheatcode:

knoppix fromhd=/dev/sdb1

The following procedure workded for me in addition to using the PLoP bootmanager.
1. Read the Knoppix 6.0.1 iso into an iso editor
2. Deleted KNOPPIX directory
3. Saved the edited iso
4. Burnt the iso as usual to CD
5. Booted the new Knoppix CD with inserted USB flash device
The search algorithm found my Knoppix on the flash device.

[chip.ling]

In Knoppix 6.0.1 there is no boot option "bootfrom".

Knoppix 6.2.1 allows you to boot from USB devices by using the fromhd cheatcode:

knoppix fromhd=/dev/sdb1

The following procedure workded for me in addition to using the PLoP bootmanager.
1. Read the Knoppix 6.0.1 iso into an iso editor
2. Deleted KNOPPIX directory
3. Saved the edited iso
4. Burnt the iso as usual to CD
5. Booted the new Knoppix CD with inserted USB flash device
The search algorithm found my Knoppix on the flash device.

Sorry Folks, my mistake.

I tested out the bootfrom cheat code using the 5.1.1 CD and 5.1.1 on USB with my non-USB-bootable P3 machine.

Just don't aware that the 6.0.1 chops out all those useful LiveCD features. My assumption is that they should be backward compatible. However, it proves that I was wrong.

Got a feeling that the latest 6.x version is shifting away from LiveCD idea. It's more on newer hardwares and expects the users to install to the HD.

Rgds,
Chip

[Capricorny]

Got a feeling that the latest 6.x version is shifting away from LiveCD idea. It's more on newer hardwares and expects the users to install to the HD.

I wouldn't say it exactly so. In 6.3 DVD, it seems that Klaus has taken care to include most usually needed packages and plugins. He has a simple, but principally unsolvable problem: Packages continue to grow, plugins multiply etc, so in any given space, an ever growing number of packages has to be left out. To me, both the CD and DVD versions of 6.2.1 seem to strike a reasonable balance, but there will always be discussions about the exact selection.

Personally, I would have liked less stash and fewer alternatives, and more tools instead.

As for the problem of booting, it's really simple with 6.2.1. Just setup BIOS to boot from CD/DVD, setup the stick with the "Install Knoppix to flash" option, insert the original CD/DVD, insert the usb stick (make sure you know what it will be named, e.g. by issuing fdisk -l), I assume /dev/sdb1 here, do a simple startup with

  knoppix fromhd=/dev/sdb1 no3d screen=1280x800

(or whatever your monitor resolution is for the screen= parameter)

[Harry Kuhman]

(or whatever your monitor resolution is for the screen= parameter)

To me, this seems to indicate a major flaw in the concept. I want Knoppix to be a system that will boot and work on whatever system I boot it on. I use it for many things, from data recovery to testing new systems, to just showing friends Linux running on their hardware. If I have to customize a usb device for a particular screen then I would rather just use the CD or DVD.

[Capricorny]

(or whatever your monitor resolution is for the screen= parameter)

To me, this seems to indicate a major flaw in the concept. I want Knoppix to be a system that will boot and work on whatever system I boot it on. I use it for many things, from data recovery to testing new systems, to just showing friends Linux running on their hardware. If I have to customize a usb device for a particular screen then I would rather just use the CD or DVD.

This is a flaw introduced in 6.2.X, it worked perfectly (as far as I could check) in 6.0.1, and I don't think CD/USB has got anything to do with it.

On a somewhat deeper level, I think it illustrates a basic problem with a significant OSS system being essentially a one-man enterprise. And I really don't think Klaus is to blame for that.