Unable to install 2.1 to USB Drive
Forum: USB booting
Topic: Unable to install 2.1 to USB Drive
started by: dsquared
Posted by dsquared on Jan. 12 2006,02:55
I did have DSL2.0 installed (and can reinstall 2.0) but I am unable to perform a fresh install of 2.1 to the USB drive.I get the following error
| Quote |
| Cannot open /dev/sda Error Creating a USB-Zip compatible filesystem |
I get similiar errors if try to install to a USB-HDD
I have tried using FAT16 and FAT32 FS on the thumb drive.
ne ideas as to what is going on.
is it just a matter of editing the /etc/fstab file? if so with what
FYI in DSL 2.0 during the Boot sequence the following came up
| Quote |
| USB Found, managed by hotplug: (Re)scanning USB Devices .... sync[001 002 003 001] |
In DSL 2.1 that line now comes up as:
| Quote |
| USB Found, managed by hotplug: (Re)scanning USB Devices .... sync[001 001 001] |
is this of relevance?
Posted by roberts on Jan. 12 2006,04:46
Try booting dsl with the boot option acpi=offThis option was in v2.0 and was causing problems,
It was removed from v2.1. Looks like you may need it, if v2.0 works for you.
Posted by dsquared on Jan. 12 2006,23:28
Thanks for your help - unfortunately that did not work. I tried booting from the liveCD with "expert" mode and accepting all defaults. The line in question changes to:| Quote |
| USB Found, managed by hotplug: (Re)scanning USB Devices .... sync[001 001 001 002 003] |
I can then install DSL 2.1 to the USB drive but when I try and boot with the USB thumb drive I get the following error:
| Quote |
| Can't find Knoppix filesystem, sorry. Dropping you to a (very limited) shell Press reset button to quit. Additional builtin commands available: Cat Mount... |
Posted by Some more info -still having pro on Jan. 14 2006,15:29
Okay I have been playing with the acpi and have dsl loaded on my USB. I have been booting dsl with the "dsl acpi=off" and get the pc to boot properly maybe every other time. I would leave the PC booted in DSL nut it is a Win box and everybody else wants to stay with Windows - any ideas folks?
Posted by dsquared on Jan. 14 2006,15:36
Okay I have been playing with the acpi and have dsl loaded on my USB. I have been booting dsl with the "dsl acpi=off" and get the pc to boot properly maybe every other time. When it doesn't boot properly I get the message about not finding the Knoppix file system. Once I get the PC booted in DSL - I would like to leave it up and running but it is a Win box and everybody else wants to stay with Windows
I don't think it is a hardware problem as it doesn't show up in Win, Knoppix, kanotix or DSL Live CD's. nor did it show when booting with DSL 2.0 USB .- any ideas folks?
Posted by roberts on Jan. 14 2006,16:44
Sounds to me like a timing issue.Do you have a floppy drive on this system?
If so try the bootfloppy-usb, it has a slower boot routine just for such case.
Also, the usb ports on the back of the PC generally are faster to register than front ports.
Posted by dsquared on Jan. 14 2006,16:52
1) no floppy on system2) USB (2.0) 4 port hub connected to USB (2.0) at back
Posted by roberts on Jan. 14 2006,17:02
OK. Please try this:1. Download bootfloppy-usb.img
2. As root mount bootfloppy-usb.img /mnt/test/ -o loop
3. copy over the /mnt/test/minirt24.gz to the pendrive
Let me know.
Posted by dsquared on Jan. 15 2006,00:39
Sorry to bug you again but I have got /mnt/test/minirt24.gz but am unsure where on the pen drive I should copy it to... (btw I have 2 partitions on the drive & I have put it in the /sda2/myapps folder but this has had the effect of now taking 4 attempts to boot into dsl 2.1)thanks again for your help
Posted by roberts on Jan. 15 2006,01:02
You are replacing the current minirt24.gz on the pendrive.If booted from the pendrive, it is /cdrom/minirt24.gz so as root
cp /mnt/test/minirt24.gz /cdrom/.
if not then mount the pendrive, typically /mnt/sda1 and
cp /mnt/test/minirt24.gz /mnt/sda1/.
Posted by dsquared on Jan. 15 2006,01:10
thats the ticket THANK YOU!! 
Posted by roberts on Jan. 15 2006,01:25
That's great news.But it also, indicates that maybe we should go BACK to requiring a download of the bootfloppy-usb during the installation of pendrives. That will provide the best possible results.
See, again, local testing did not show these problems.
It is not until we have public access that some of the issues come up.
But when we can work together as a community, we can solve the problems. Now some may not like the net access download requirement during install but if it gives the BEST results then it should be so.
Posted by cbagger01 on Jan. 16 2006,06:10
Robert, it may be possible to have your cake and eat it too.If you have a special delay for USB booting, you can include this delay in the normal minirt24.gz linuxrc file.
But we do not want to see this delay all the time especially for livecd or Hard Drive frugal bootups, so it would only be activated using a special cheatcode, IE:
dsl usbdelay
and in the linuxrc:
if cmdline has "usbdelay" then
...
do the usb time delay
...
fi
and they you add the "usbdelay" cheatcode to all of the append lines inside the USB drive's syslinux.cfg file (at the same time that the cheatcode "frugal" is added to the same file).
Does this sound do-able, or am i on the wrong track?