DSL Ideas and Suggestions :: Suggestion: single-partition USB key install

I've been running DSL from a USB key for a while now, and it's very cool.

Now, I often do not carry a USB key with me, but I always have my tiny USB-key-based MP3 player, and I equally often just use that to carry my critical data around.

What I'd really like is to be able to run DSL off the MP3 player, but when I'm not using DSL have the MP3 player act as a normal pendrive if it's plugged into a host computer, and to be able to play MP3s as normal.

It seems to me that the only thing necessary to be able to do that is to have a normal frugal install to the USB key, but have it use only a single partition, for the image and the user data, so that the MP3 player software can use the entire key (with multiple partitions the player only sees the first partition, and the same happens with the key plugged into a host computer).

Would it be tough to add this as an option for the install-to-USB-key script?

Mark

I think the option is available already!

In all the USB-stick installations that I have made I only have 1 partition in the USB-stick, which has the DSL and all the data I have.

It is called USB-HDD installation. I think the USB-ZIP installation makes 2 partitions? Dont know, newer tried it...

But it would be a good idea to backup the mbr and partition table of your MP3 player before installing DSL, so if it doesn't work you can undo the changes. I mean If your mp3-player needs the mbr or filesystem to be of certain type to be able to play mp3.s it could stop working....

Or do the "poor mans" install.. it doesn't change anything..

Sorry to have taken so long to get back to this one....

Anaconda, thanks for your reply.

Quote

I sit corrected. You are quite right, the USB-ZIP and USB-HDD installations are different. I was working on a machine that only has USB-ZIP booting. HDD makes a single partition, ZIP makes two.

Is there an explanation somewhere of why they do the partitioning differently, BTW?

Cheers,
Mark

ZIP style booting is based on the Iomega Zip drives.
These super floppy drives are 100MB and 250MB in size.
We have never had much luck in trying to make ZIP style boot on anything larger than the above. And as part ot the history of DSL. We started with a read-only section so we kept it as small as possible, 50MB. Also to support the then most popular 64MB pendrive. We could have the base system and a backup on the same small 64MB pendrive. Later, we added the writeable ability to the first partition.

original here.