DSL on USB stick from Windows XP HOWTO
Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: DSL on USB stick from Windows XP HOWTO
started by: tronik
Posted by tronik on Dec. 19 2004,07:20
After months of waiting to use DSL on my USB key rather than just via the CD, just because its damn cool, I finally decided to go ahead and get a new usb-key. My generic pocketflash 128 wasn't working with DSL for any number of reasons, so I bought a new Lexmark 128mb Elite drive. Works like a charm...This is how to install DSL to a USB Key from Windows XP (98,NT,2000?) workstation without burning the ISO and without having to boot into DSL from the CD and partition theUSB key. (of course if you want to partition it you'll have to use a partitioning tool, cfdisk, or something else like that)
1. Procure USB Key and make sure it is formatted with FAT, just to be sure its working. (ugh.)
2. Download the images necessary (as of this writing, bootimage 0.8 was used and filesystem image 0.9.0.1 was used.) and also download WinImage (a share/freeware program -- google it.), and install Daemon Tools or some other ISO viewing/manipulating program.
3. Open winimage, Select the boot image you wish to use, select "Use removable disk (x:) with x: being the drive letter of your USB key you wish to install DSL onto.
4. Select write image. It may say 'image must be resized' blah blah. Do it.
5. (addendum--Once that is complete, open the main DSL zip file (rather than the ISO image) and extract the contents onto the USB drive. Make sure you extract with folder names. It's okay to overwrite the current content of the USB drive.) View the USB drives contents in windows Explorer. Mount the filesystem image to another drive. The filesystem image contains a directory called 'boot'. You can overwrite the files in the root of the USB Key with the files from boot/. This basically replaces bootimage 0.8 (since it seems to not be updated with the system release) with what I'll just call bootimage-current. (basically the boot files for whatever filesystem image you're using) In this case, 0.9.0.1. 5.
6. Confirm overwriting of the files. Assuming your bios is up to date, and you've read a lot of the other facts on 'making sure your usb key will work with your bios, etc') then all you should have to do is reboot and set the USB drive as the boot drive. DSL boots up, loads, and thats where I'm writing this from.
7. For more help on 'customizing' your DSL install check doom4's post in this forum about 'DSL on USB-stick HOWTO' It also goes over some DSL basics that I didn't cover. < doom4's thread > < http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....;t=3613 >
For the record, stay away from cheap knockoff USB keys...they're fine for windows and stuff like that but apparently it doesn't like DSL.
Basically I wrote this because there is no one be all and end all guide. Perhaps someone should compile all of this useful forum information into an official "install faq"...a lot of the other howtos don't seem to cover it in a completey detailed manner from start to finish, and I didn't find one that specifically helped for Windows XP straight to DSL without a lot of work (practically none really now that i think about it). If i've stepped on any toes or been redundant here I'm sorry.
Thanks for DSL. It's pretty cute, and may actually be pretty useful! I'm a BSD System Administrator, and so I haven't really been a fan of linux distributions for a while, but I like your style, DSL.
Posted by shwouchk on Dec. 21 2004,16:35
hi!I wanted to point out that when i did this I kept getting an error about the knoppix filesystem not being found, after searching for USB devices... (unless i also had the CD tucked in)...
from what I understand, some *hci modules werent loaded, and it somehow couldnt recognize the stick from which it was running... (weird, isnt it? :P)
anyway, i tried not overwriting the files, and it worked... so if you run into problems, you can try that.
Posted by Aaron on Jan. 13 2005,19:56
tronik,Your tutorial is much appreciated, it succeeded where many of the other How-Tos failed. The difference:
| Quote |
5. Once that is complete, view the USB drives contents in windows Explorer. Mount the filesystem image to another drive. The filesystem image contains a directory called 'boot'. You can overwrite the files in the root of the USB Key with the files from boot/. This basically replaces bootimage 0.8 (since it seems to not be updated with the system release) with what I'll just call bootimage-current. (basically the boot files for whatever filesystem image you're using) In this case, 0.9.0.1. |
This step made all the difference, thanks again.
Posted by tronik on Jan. 17 2005,07:42
=) thank you. welcome to dsl on pendrive!
Posted by ke4nt1 on Jan. 17 2005,09:33
With the exception of using winblows to do this ( yuck! )your post and tutorial are very well done.. Good Work.
For those of us who don't have, or want,
a $200.00 - 1.5GB + copy of winblows XP on our systems,
could you explain how to do this , using only your little DSL CD and a USBkey?
That would be even better!
73
ke4nt
Posted by Reresh on Jan. 17 2005,22:48
This is good encouragement to try out DSL on usb pendrive.I have a simple question (as I know next to nothing on Linux):
I have winimage, dsl-0.9.2.iso (is this the bootimage you refer to?), and daemon tools.
What is filesystem image 0.9.0.1?
Thanks for your help and patience
Posted by DonttPanic on Jan. 18 2005,01:39
| Quote (ke4nt1 @ Jan. 17 2005,04:33) |
| With the exception of using winblows to do this ( yuck! ) your post and tutorial are very well done.. Good Work. For those of us who don't have, or want, a $200.00 - 1.5GB + copy of winblows XP on our systems, could you explain how to do this , using only your little DSL CD and a USBkey? That would be even better! 73 ke4nt |
Although I haven't tried it, I'd imagine to put it on the USBkey you would just have to make sure the key has a partition that is writable in linux. Then use the USB installation script in the menu under Apps>Tools to install it on the USBkey. That seems to me to be the easiest way to accomplish this.
Posted by Reresh on Jan. 18 2005,18:20
I have DSL working on my flashdrive. Sorry for what now looks like silly questions, due to my lack of knowledge.Other than that - the instructions worked without a hitch.
Thank you
Posted by tronik on Jan. 19 2005,13:46
I'm glad everyone finds this tutorial useful. In response to Ke4nt:I didn't put how to do it from DSL in my tutorial because thats already been covered in several other tutorials/posts ;p If they're inadequate I'd be happy to do that as well, not to step on anyones toes though.
I did it from Windows to make it easier for people who weren't experienced with Linux / Partitions / Stuff like that to have a simple way to install to pendrive and run that way without having to reboot and go into an operating system that is (as yet) foreign to them (but hopefully after rebooting on the pendrive, will become second or even first nature to them!) ;D
It is also now possible to ascertain or request / comment / add to a LIVE book of support knowledge being put together by myself and SaidinUnleashed at < http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/talk/node/51 >
I hope this tutorial continues to be useful ;) Congratulations to those who have been successful thus far.
Posted by ke4nt1 on Jan. 19 2005,17:29
Thanks for your response, tronik ..Let me repeat that your efforts and work on both your tutorials
and the book documentation are very worthy. Again, good work!
I guess my thinking is leaning towards "less dependence" on M$.
I wouldn't 'choose' to tell someone how to do this in winblows.
If I were asked, my response would be more along the lines of ..
" Well, boot up your liveCD, and we'll go from there... "
I wouldn't want people thinking you "need" winblows to do this...
I'd need to install winblows just to follow your tutorial !
Others may have a M$ computer nearby, at work, or a relatives machine,
but won't feel comfortable downloading and installing rawrite,
or winimage, or isobuster/ultraiso, etc. onto that box.
and truly, there is no need to do so....
But I understand that by getting more people using DSL,
thru whatever means they are successful in doing so,
is only good for DSL.. so I'll retreat a bit, but
with the final thought that when we can,
especially in the official DSL documentation,
ALWAYS try to describe the "DSL" way of accomplishing things,
and leave any other alternate methods as "alternates" ..
73
ke4nt
Posted by tronik on Jan. 19 2005,22:58
| Quote |
| I wouldn't want people thinking you "need" winblows to do this... |
i would hope no one thinks you "need" windows to do this, that this is yes, just an alternative way of doing things.
| Quote |
| I'd need to install winblows just to follow your tutorial ! Others may have a M$ computer nearby, at work, or a relatives machine, but won't feel comfortable downloading and installing rawrite, or winimage, or isobuster/ultraiso, etc. onto that box. and truly, there is no need to do so.... |
I'm in no way endorsing my methodical use of the tools/operating systems as official in any way associated with DSL other than a way to get DSL onto a pendrive. I also must say that I'm probably just not as anti-windows as you seem to be. While I am not 'new' to linux, I haven't used it since 1996. DSL is the first linux distribution i've used actively since abandoning linux (as my primary source of income -- as i'm a systems administrator) for BSD variants in the mid 90s. Thats a whole nother pickle...
| Quote |
| But I understand that by getting more people using DSL, thru whatever means they are successful in doing so, is only good for DSL.. so I'll retreat a bit, but with the final thought that when we can, especially in the official DSL documentation, ALWAYS try to describe the "DSL" way of accomplishing things, and leave any other alternate methods as "alternates" |
I agree about getting more people to use DSL and being successful at booting/installing. My whole goal in writing the tutorial (which is how I did it, and I had been using DSL for about 3 days when i wrote the tutorial, so i'm relatively an infant in that respect.) I'm just happy its been able to work for a number of people so that they can experience DSL. There are usually a number of means to an end, and in this case, this is simply one alternative ending to what can become a happy story!
Again, I must confess I'm not totally anti-windows (i'm not really anti-anything, but if it works for you, hey, use it.) And I use DSL, and gentoo, and some of my servers run fedora, and Linux is great, but i'm not completely sold on it either. ;) I guess old habits die hard, and when I've been using BSD for a little over a decade, and almost a decade of solely BSD I have a little trouble sharing room in my heart for something else.
All in all, thanks =) I think. I'm just here to facilitate people in using DSL by whatever means necessary, so I hope I can succeed in doing that.
Posted by Guest on Jan. 20 2005,01:05
Ok, sorry there, but I can't get it to work.Downloaded bootimage and the iso, wrote bootimage to pendrive, overwritten all the files from dsl-9-something.iso /boot to pendrive's root...
Now, looking at all the files on my pendrive I noticed that the 50MB knoppix isn't there, obviously. I first tried to copy it to the pendrive's root dir. That gave me some error it can't find something and it'll load a limited version. Then I thought, why not put that file into /knoppix on the pendrive. Too bad that didn't work either.
I also noticed that just before the error msg it's looking for the CD, but I'd rather like to have the whole thing on my pendrive.
Posted by tronik on Jan. 20 2005,02:42
Copy everything from the ISO to the pendrive. Everything in the exact format it is on the cd/iso, when you get to that step.
Posted by mikeh on Jan. 21 2005,20:42
Thanks for the info! I can't wait to get this working. Here's the issue I'm having:It boots from the key fine. However it gets to the point where it says "Scanning for USB devices" and then it says "Cannot find the KNOPPIX filesystem", at which point I'm dropped to a basic prompt with little functionality.
Below is the filesystem listing of my USB drive. Can you tell me what I need to do? Is there any config file I need to update to point the drive to the KNOPPIX file? Is there a case-sensitivity thing on the KNOPPIX file or directory?
Thanks for the info! I can't wait to get this working. Here's the issue I'm having:
It boots from the key fine. However it gets to the point where it says "Scanning for USB devices" and then it says "Cannot find the KNOPPIX filesystem", at which point I'm dropped to a basic prompt with little functionality.
Below is the filesystem listing of my USB drive. Can you tell me what I need to do? Is there any config file I need to update to point the drive to the KNOPPIX file? Is there a case-sensitivity thing on the KNOPPIX file or directory?
| Code Sample |
total 1810 drwxrwxrwx 1 user group 0 Jan 21 15:21 KNOPPIX drwxrwxrwx 1 user group 0 Jan 21 15:25 boot -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 2048 Jan 2 00:44 boot.cat -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 110 Jul 25 2004 boot.msg -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 1592 Nov 30 00:49 f2 -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 796 Nov 30 00:52 f3 -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 256 Jul 25 2004 german.kbd -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 391 May 3 2004 index.html -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 9404 Jan 1 20:33 isolinux.bin -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 1993 Dec 8 04:27 isolinux.cfg -r--r--r-- 1 user group 7836 Jul 29 15:11 ldlinux.sys -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 994807 Aug 15 01:31 linux24 -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 36649 Dec 10 01:05 logo.16 drwxrwxrwx 1 user group 0 Jan 21 15:29 lost+found -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 790312 Dec 31 04:03 minirt24.gz -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 1940 Aug 10 06:24 syslinux.cfg KNOPPIX=: total 47856 -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 49003525 Jan 2 00:44 KNOPPIX boot=: total 0 drwxrwxrwx 1 user group 0 Jan 21 15:25 isolinux boot\isolinux=: total 1799 -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 2048 Jan 2 00:44 boot.cat -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 110 Jul 25 2004 boot.msg -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 1592 Nov 30 00:49 f2 -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 796 Nov 30 00:52 f3 -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 256 Jul 25 2004 german.kbd -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 9404 Jan 1 20:33 isolinux.bin -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 1993 Dec 8 04:27 isolinux.cfg -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 994807 Aug 15 01:31 linux24 -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 36649 Dec 10 01:05 logo.16 -rw-rw-rw- 1 user group 790312 Dec 31 04:03 minirt24.gz lost+found=: total 0 |
Thanks in advance for your help,
Mike
Posted by Srijit on Jan. 30 2005,08:21
Thank you Tronik for that simple How-to. Although i have used linux, this is the first time i am using damn small linux. however i got a little confused with step 5.| Quote |
| 5. Once that is complete, view the USB drives contents in windows Explorer. Mount the filesystem image to another drive. The filesystem image contains a directory called 'boot'. |
| Quote (tronik @ Jan. 19 2005,21:42) |
| Copy everything from the ISO to the pendrive. Everything in the exact format it is on the cd/iso, when you get to that step. |
anyway i copied all files as i read on a bit later, and i am happy to say that i am posting this from my USB drive, using firefox
Way to go !!!! ps: i think that my file system is 0.9.0.2 , if that makes any difference
Posted by DaveG on Feb. 21 2005,18:26
Very fine post. All instructions worked great, and now I have a bootable key-drive 
Took me around 20 minutes in total. The only grey area was step 5, which I'd re-write to:5. Once that is complete, open the main DSL zip file (rather than the ISO image) and extract the contents onto the USB drive. Make sure you extract with folder names. It's okay to overwrite the current content of the USB drive.
MikeH: I suspect you didn't use the "Use folder names" option from Winzip. I also got that error initially.
The only comment I'd make, is that it took me longer to find this post to install than it actually took to do the install! Can a link be posted from the home, or FAQ?
~ ~ Dave
Posted by BlackAngel on Feb. 22 2005,03:38
Ok I think I'm doing something wrong 
Alright, I have a Sony 128mb USB Drive
1. I format the USB Drive with FAT and label it BLACKANGEL
2. I use winimage to write the bootimg to the USB Drive
3. I use DaemonTools to open the DSL iso
4. I tried this both ways:
Not overwriting the files in the usb root folder with the ones in the boot folder, failed.
Overwriting the files in the usb root folder with the ones in the boot folder, failed.
5. I copy all the folders from the DSL iso to the usb drive
I try to boot and nothing comes up
I try to put USB ZIP from the bios up top, nothing comes up
I hit esc to view the boot options, no Sony USB drive What Am I doing wrong?
Posted by Arif on Mar. 01 2005,12:10
Hie all !I've booted the system from my twinmos pen drive but can't access the firefox and some other Xapplication;Can anybody tell wht wrong I've done ??
Posted by tronik on Mar. 01 2005,15:41
Can Your bios boot OTHER USB stuff? It might not be a problem with the card/procedure but with your bios...Btw, Dave, Thanks! This is just one (the first) method for doing it all from WinXP that was posted...and there have been a bout 3 others since I wrote this one ;p that other people wrote...So I guess it gets lost in the clutter. I'll see what I can do...I'll put it in the official "Documentation" today. Thanks.
Posted by Arif on Mar. 02 2005,13:41
Hie Tronic,I tryed it in two different Intel board and the result is all the same-konsole is doing well but the prob is with the x-applications.
Plz do help me.
I wanna add my language to it;How should I advance ??
and also wanna use kde with it;is it possible ?? If thn how ??
(Sorry for bothering)
Posted by Tekno on Mar. 07 2005,20:21
First of all, what files should i be seeing when i try to download DSL?Next, when i try to download the files to my computer, I get the "timed out" message.[U]
Posted by xadamz23 on Mar. 10 2005,18:57
Does this method allow you to boot DSL from WITHIN Windows? I was reading on the main DSL page that this could be done?Thanks,
Adam
Posted by tronik on Mar. 11 2005,18:57
Hi! No, this method currently does not allow you to boot DSL from inside of Windows (embedded) However, this can be accomplished by downloading the 5way tgz from the mirror and reinstalling to USB key with that method.
Posted by Sparky on Mar. 12 2005,00:37
| Quote (tronik @ Mar. 11 2005,10:57) |
| ...However, this can be accomplished by downloading the 5way tgz from the mirror and reinstalling to USB key with that method. |
Hullo;
Fwiw, I didn't roll my own but found < this image > ready to go.
I just unzipped this bad-boy to my generic (read: cheap) pen drive. Works great from inside Win2k.
hth,
-Sparky
Posted by tronik on Mar. 12 2005,15:24
Hi Sparky! ;) Correct, that is the proper version to use for an embedded system.There are 5 ways of booting DSL possible...But only one is actually supported by this method. TWO are possible, if you have enough space on your key, you can also load the embedded version onto it after you've set up the normal distribution, however, to get the most out of a Dual installation, it it recommended that one uses the 5Way setup instead.
Posted by steves on Mar. 13 2005,05:38
| Quote |
There are 5 ways of booting DSL possible...But only one is actually supported by this method. TWO are possible, if you have enough space on your key, you can also load the embedded version onto it after you've set up the normal distribution, however, to get the most out of a Dual installation, it it recommended that one uses the 5Way setup instead. |
hi,
thanks for a great distro.
i'm running the embedded under xp, very nice!
got a question, can you tell me what the best way to proceed would be...do ii start with the 5 way?
i've got a nice 512MB sandisk mini cruzer....
basically i want to create a dual boot keychain, choosing either DOS or Linux from a bootmenu, timing out to linux in 2 seconds.
i want both dos (i can be fat32 not 16, right?) and linux (ext2?) partitions, so i can load up the goodies, including embedded dsl, then load up linux goodies like nessus and nmap.
following the readme in the 5way, i tried:
cfdisk /dev/sda
and got a fatal error trying to format the cruzer, guess i cant do it from embedded dsl...maybe only real linux? or should i not be doing 5way and start with the original poster's method?
hmm..willing to not have the dual boot if that complicates things too much...
so if we take that, the simpler case, if i understand this right, i *do* need to have 2 different isos for this, right? and they are both on the keychain uncompressed?
so i'd need to get nmap, or any other addons, working twice in both distros?
trying to get my head around this...thanks for any help.
Posted by steves on Mar. 25 2005,17:20
got through the winimage and applied bootusb-0.8.img, and copied the unzipped embedded distro to the keychain...but now...| Quote |
5. (addendum--Once that is complete, open the main DSL zip file (rather than the ISO image) |
which "main DSL zip file" is that? i only see an iso ("dsl-1.0rc1-syslinux.iso") and it says not to use the ISO?
| Quote |
and extract the contents onto the USB drive. Make sure you extract with folder names. It's okay to overwrite the current content of the USB drive.) View the USB drives contents in windows Explorer. Mount the filesystem image to another drive. The filesystem image contains a directory called 'boot'. You can overwrite the files in the root of the USB Key with the files from boot/. This basically replaces bootimage 0.8 (since it seems to not be updated with the system release) with what I'll just call bootimage-current. (basically the boot files for whatever filesystem image you're using) In this case, 0.9.0.1. 5. |
what is the name of this "filesystem image"?
i can mount dsl-1.0rc1-syslinux.iso and then mount KNOPPIX/boot.img and copy those files to the keychain...thats not right tho is it?
once i get the basic install working..i'd like to try the 5 way install...
Posted by rohit on Mar. 25 2005,17:23
Your tutorial's great. I'm pushing my dial-up to the limit to get the main 50 MB file. I got other mini-distros - a Linux BBC and DSL-based luitlinux. I got a Samsung 64 MB drive. So those are my only options. Is yours a generic method to transfer distros to the USB drive provided they have proper image files like say, usbboot.img? Or do I simply transfer all files in the ISO image to the USB drive and then do a syslinux command on it?BTW, my bios shows LS120 and ZIP100 among the boot options - but no USB
. I'm using AWARD bios. Any ideas as to updates ?
Posted by alex2308 on April 02 2005,14:08
it seems im really dumb, cause when i open winimage i select open -> dsl.iso then i check my usb drive and write image stays grey. i must have missed something, right?