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Richard
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Live USB questions. [SOLVED]
« Thread Started on Apr 4, 2011, 7:26am »

Trying to get persistence to work with SalineOS on a USB key.

Installed as follows:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb then create partition table w/gparted
then
dd if=/path/SalineOS-1.3.1-i386.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M;sync

1. Boots and runs OK, but with no persistence. Serves well to install on netbook but not as a run anywhere USB key. I want it to run from different computers basically just using the cpu and storing data on the USB key.

2. Strange: Gparted shows the following on the above USB key:
Warning: Invalid partition table - recursive partition on /dev/sdb.
Additionally, there is no partition on the USB, shows the entire space as Unallocated? Essentially it shows as empty, so I can't add a live-rw partition. Or anything else.

How to create a SalineOS USB key with persistence?
I'll try most any suggestion.

« Last Edit: Apr 7, 2011, 11:38am by Richard »

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Anthony Nordquist
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Re: Live USB questions.
« Reply #1 on Apr 4, 2011, 7:36am »

If you have a big enough USB key the best way is to boot the live DVD and do an install targeting partitions you create on the USB key. Install grub to /root and then reboot to another installed Linux distribution and run gksu grub-update. Now, reboot again to the install on the USB key and do a grub-install to the mbr of the USB key. You then have a much faster system than if you try and add persistence to a live USB key. As the system, libraries and applications won't have to be decompressed before you run them.

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Richard
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Re: Live USB questions.
« Reply #2 on Apr 4, 2011, 7:41am »

OK. I'll try that again.

It has worked before, just not with Sos. I probably left out a step.

More news soon.

Nope. Must be doing something wrong.

Using
dd if=salineos-1.3.2.iso of=/dev/sdb
works and will boot but no persistence.
Great for installing to a netbook but not as a portable distro.

There must be a way to do this.

« Last Edit: Apr 5, 2011, 5:39pm by Richard »

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Anthony Nordquist
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Re: Live USB questions.
« Reply #3 on Apr 7, 2011, 12:30am »

A quick guide to installing to the USB key.

1. Boot a live environment either through a DVD or a separate USB key.

2. Run through a regular installation process just target partitions you create on the USB key for swap and /root (Optionally you could do home too). You should use ext3 on installs to USB as it will prolong the life of your USB stick. When the installer asks where to install GRUB select the root partition.

3. Reboot to another Linux distribution that uses Grub2 (Your desktop/laptop OS), mount the USB key by opening it in Thunar and then run the command update-grub as root.

4. Reboot again to the install on the USB key, which is now listed in your Grub menu.

5. Open a terminal and issue the command su then input your root password and hit enter.

6. Input the following command changing sdX to the correct label of your USB device. You can look up all the devices on your machine by using the command cat /proc/partitions, they are listed by their size in megabytes.
grub-install --no-floppy --recheck /dev/sdX

7. The next time you reboot to your desktop/laptop OS you should make sure the USB key is not connected to your machine and run update-grub again. This will clear out errors about missing operating systems when the key isn't inserted.

Other information:
The install on the USB key won't be as effective at configuring itself for other hardware, it will work on most machines but in some scenarios it won't boot properly on a machine that the live USB disk would.

Doing a full install will allow the operating system to run significantly faster than using a live USB key.

If you used sgfxi to install proprietary drivers on your USB install you should revert to the native Xorg drivers before attempting to run it on another machine. You can do this by following the sgfxi instructions with the exception you replace the sgfxi command with this one: sgfxi -n

You can re-enable the proprietary driver at any time by running sgfxi again by following the instructions in the user manual as they are written.

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Anthony Nordquist
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Re: Live USB questions.
« Reply #4 on Apr 7, 2011, 12:35am »

Richard, I believe the issues you are having with your 16 gig USB key are related to data contained on the USB keys master boot record. Following the post above should clear it up nicely and get everything working (I hope). I will look into getting a guide for proper live USB persistence, but even after that is done it will require a great big disclaimer that you really shouldn't install SalineOS to a hard disk from a persistent key. Several issues could arise from this without doing a lot of modifications to the installer, modifications that would cause loss of flexibility I really don't want to lose.

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Richard
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Re: Live USB questions.
« Reply #5 on Apr 7, 2011, 6:38am »

Thanks, Anthony for the detailed information.
I'll give this another try later today following your instructions above.

Now that you mention it, I do remember, I believe that Peppermint removed the installer when using persistence, just I never saw a reason why I had to use either a CD or a regular USB key to install.

I've also seen differences in building keys on a desktop and a netbook. Always attributed the problem to the cheap desktop, but maybe the problem is trying to extend something where it wasn't intended?

NOTE: And the biggest oops of all was not booting from a LiveDVD to make the key. Haven't tested it but just realized that is probably the problem. Used to be a real problem with Puppy: had to have a LiveCD in order to build a USB key.

More later. Thanks.

« Last Edit: Apr 7, 2011, 7:06am by Richard »

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Richard
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Re: Live USB questions.
« Reply #6 on Apr 7, 2011, 11:37am »

Well, this is really embarrassing. :-[

Step 1, seems to be the most important, and the one that I overlooked,
because I didn't want to reboot: boot from a LiveCD/DVD.

Insert the USB key and have it recognized or mount it.
That way, the only installable disk is the USB.
If you install as Anthony states above, persistence is, in fact, a fact.

My Dad used to say, "A blind hog finds an acorn now and them."

« Last Edit: Apr 7, 2011, 11:39am by Richard »

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casey972oo
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Re: Live USB questions. [SOLVED]
« Reply #7 on Apr 14, 2011, 6:27am »

Hi there ! ... to everybody ! ...

I allready did fix me an USB-Stick ... with ' SalineOS ' on it ... version ' 1.3.2-i386 ' ! ...

before all ! ... I used an ' Acer-Ferrari-One ' (AMD64) ... with ' LINUX Mint 1o Julia ' on it ! ...
had the ' .iso-image ' downloaded on my hard-disk ! ... and burned it right on a USB-Stick ... with just 1.o GB ! ...
this action did work out fine ... by using ' UNetbootin ' ! ...

and USB-Key works ! ... will try now ... if this will work on my ' Acer-Aspire-One ' ... and on my ... ' TOSHIBA NB1oo ' ! ...

talk to ya lata ! ...

casey972oo

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casey972oo .. on ' Packard Bell Butterfly ' ! ... ' Intel Pentium SU41oo ' ... with ' SalineOS 1.5 ' ... entire disk ! ...

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