USB ZIP method

Forum: User Feedback
Topic: USB ZIP method
started by: VROEM!

Posted by VROEM! on Oct. 24 2006,17:50

I recently started using DSL on a 128MB USB stick trying to boot an old Epia.
The Epia board could only boot USB sticks using the USBZIP method. Since I did not have a CD at my disposal to burn and boot from it first, I decided to try and figure out how to do the install manually.
It turned out that I could not find out what the "USBZIP" method is exactly and therefore I could also not find out how to prepare my stick for USBZIP booting by hand.
Preparing a stick for the USBHDD method is easy, as it is documented on a few sites, but what changes should be mate for the USBZIP method is unclear to me.

Could someone please explain this to me and hopefully also add a pragraph about this on the wiki?

Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on Oct. 24 2006,18:20

Unless you currently have some distro working on that system or another system available, you're still in the same boat whether you do USB-HDD or USB-ZIP - manually or automatically.

What kind of resources do you have available?

Posted by VROEM! on Oct. 24 2006,18:24

I have several debian machines working and two of them can also boot windows XP.

Note that I did manage to boot another machine using the USBHDD method, but since that one held the only USB stick I have here I could not use it to create a USBZIP stick.

Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on Oct. 24 2006,20:19

I think the main difference between the scripts is zip uses mkdiskimage (perl script that "creates a blank ms-dos formatted hdd image") rather than dd to set the drive geometry.

Since you have another linux machine, you could probably copy the pendrive_usbzip.sh script over with mkdiskimage (if one isnt there) and just run that script.

Alternatively, I have heard that you can use usb-installs through vmware, and you could try it that way - if your computer can run that.

Posted by humpty on Oct. 26 2006,17:40

if you have a spare hd partition, you can try copying the /KNOPPIX dir to it and use a bootfloppy. (i'm not sure wether the hd partition has to be fat16 or not)