How can I install damn small linux in my ipod?

Forum: USB booting
Topic: How can I install damn small linux in my ipod?
started by: stryker

Posted by stryker on Dec. 26 2005,14:48

Hi. First, sorry about my english...

I have read the web, but i can't find a guide about how to install damn small linux in a usb device. I have a mp3 with 3.3 GB (it is like an ipod, but this is not from apple). I tried to extract the files from the iso (the version I downloaded was "dsl-2.0.iso" and it has only 3 folders inside, without any autorun file), and copy them to the usb device, but this don't work. I tried to run it in a livecd too, but in the desktop I can't find any reference to create an usb stick or something like that.

Can someone helpme?

SALU2

Posted by the_clocks on Dec. 27 2005,02:49

same but i want to try on my psp

Posted by ceecrb1 on Dec. 27 2005,20:09

Solution.. buy an iriver and use ROCKBOX

Posted by cbagger01 on Dec. 27 2005,20:28

You should backup your MP3 device to your hard drive (linux or FAT32 partition, not NTFS partition) before doing an installation.

First, boot DSL from livecd.
Then Upgrade to GNU Utils.
Then use emelfm to mount your hard drive partition, IE:
Start Emelfm and go to /mnt
Right click on hd partition name like "hda1" for example and choose Mount from the menu
Then open a terminal window and type:

dmesg | grep scsi -A 3

to find your mp3 player device name, for this example "sda". Then back it up with:

sudo su
dd if=/dev/sda of=/mnt/hda1/my_backup.img

It is a BIG backup, so you need plenty of free disk space and plenty of free time.

Restoration is the reverse of backup:

dd if=/mnt/hda1/my_backup.img of=/dev/sda

So now you are ready to play with your device, knowing that you have a big "UNDO" button in case of problems.

The USBHDD script will probably fail because your device is larger than 2.1GB and the FAT partition only supports sizes up to 2.1GB

So plan "B" is to either copy the files from the DSL cd over to your mp3 player and then use a DSL USB boot floppy disk to boot it up, or you can try an alternative bootloader like GRUB. The default DSL USB bootloader is SYSLINUX and SYSLINUX does not like FAT32 partitions (your mp3 player is probably formatted as a FAT32 data partition)

Search the forums or google for information on GRUB and USB booting.

Good Luck.

Posted by stryker on Dec. 30 2005,17:06

thanks a lot. I will try.

SALU2

Posted by doobit on Dec. 30 2005,17:39

Let us know how it goes.

Posted by pbransford on Jan. 05 2006,17:50

the ISO must be burned as a CD. Then, boot from that CD. The CD itself has the installer for USB devices.