Talk:USB Based FAQ
Hello! After discussion in the forums, I made a new Wiki page about installing Knoppix on a USB key and making it bootable.
http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Bootable_USB_Key
If this new page looks good to you, is it OK to link it in from this page, so that others will have an easier time finding it?
Josh
--Krellan 01:26, 18 Sep 2006 (GMT)
Great instructions here but I wouldn't call this a FAQ. More like 'Boot from USB Key Howto'.
3.9
Most of these instructions appear to be dated - my install of 3.9 (home= problems notwithstanding) was much simpler, but did require up-to-date versions of install-mbr (1.1.8) and syslinux (3.0.8). I have a writeup, but need to flesh it out before changing this page. Also, the anonymous poster above is right - this is more of a HOWTO, rather than a FAQ, at least in its current form. --NightMonkey 09:23, 24 Jun 2005 (GMT)
Edit from Krellan on 14 Oct 2006: I have tested and came up with an alternate "recipe" for creating a Knoppix-based bootable USB key: http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Bootable_USB_Key These instructions are for use under the Knoppix 5.0.1 CD, and don't require the HP Windows XP USB formatter tool. It doesn't use GRUB. Instead, it boots with the same title screen Knoppix already uses for the CD, so all "cheat codes" will continue to work. Remaining space on the USB key can still be seen by Windows if necessary, and/or a Knoppix persistent encrypted home directory can be created in that space. I recommend trying this "recipe", as it has worked quite well for me and others. --Krellan 20:45, 14 Oct 2006 (GMT)
Edit from Ruymbeke on March 23rd 2006: A lot of, if not most of the USB dongles are not bootable by default. You may want to use the HPUSBFW.EXE tool (XP only) to make it bootable by changing the geometry of the device and perform a low level (re-)format. It may reduce slightly the overall size of the drive (to make it bootable) but I have run it successfuly on all my USB dongles: pqi, lexar, corsair, ... You will find this tool and an alternate method for booting Knoppix 4.02 from a USB dongle using grub.exe or loadlin.exe from a dos boot in here: http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=93758#93758 http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=101293#101293 (Knoppix 5.0 addon)
Edit from mswoon on 14 Apr 2006: I didn't have to do the above - just add test -n "$FOUND_USB" -a -z "$NOUSB" && DEVICES="$DEVICES /dev/sd?[1-9] /dev/sd?[1-9][0-9]" at the right place in linuxrc as documented in http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=64999 and it worked on a 2GByte Memorex with no problem. Not that I don't trust you, but can you release the source code for that XP-only software?
Edit from Rustycar on 24 Sep 2008: Note that you may need to set partition 1 bootable - simply go in with fdisk or cfdisk and set the bootable flag (use the 'a' command in fdisk). At work we had a batch of non-bootable (dos) sticks that started booting once I set the bootable flag. YMMV!
