USB Pendrive Boot on Toshiba Portege 3490CT?

Forum: USB booting
Topic: USB Pendrive Boot on Toshiba Portege 3490CT?
started by: ArchiMark

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 04 2007,21:04

Would like to support DSL by purchasing one of the USB Pendrives....

However, before I do, wondering if my ol' Toshiba Portege 3490CT laptop would support this approach?

It does have a USB port, but I know that you can't boot up from an external USB drive, need to either use Toshiba's external DVD drive with Toshiba connector or Toshiba docking station with DVD drive.

Running XP on it now....

If it won't work with this laptop, then I can just install normally and make a donation... :;):

Thanks for any and all advice...

Posted by chaostic on Oct. 05 2007,00:29

Quote (ArchiMark @ Oct. 04 2007,17:04)

Running XP on it now....

If it won't work with this laptop, then I can just install normally and make a donation... :;):

Thanks for any and all advice...

Only way to know is to try it. But you already seem convinced it doesn't work. Do you have a floppy drive on the laptop? If so, you can use a floppy to load the bootloader that then loads it from usb.

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 05 2007,01:23

Quote (chaostic @ Oct. 04 2007,17:29)

Thanks for your input, chaostic....

Wouldn't say that I'm convince that it won't work, just making a guess based upon the issue with not being able to boot up with non-Toshiba external CD/DVD drives...

Just wanted some feedback on this....

Thanks.

Posted by Juanito on Oct. 05 2007,05:32

If you don't have the bios option to boot from usb, I don't think it will work. You could use a floppy boot "from usb" but that's kind of awkward.

The best thing might be to try a boot from cd to check dsl works on your machine and, if so, partition the hd and go for a frugal hd install.

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 05 2007,14:44

Quote (Juanito @ Oct. 04 2007,22:32)

Thanks for your input, Juanito!

Will try that....

Mark

Posted by curaga on Oct. 05 2007,14:55

Of course you can boot from HD having the DSL data on a usb stick..

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 05 2007,15:03

Quote (curaga @ Oct. 05 2007,07:55)

Of course you can boot from HD having the DSL data on a usb stick..

Thanks for your input, curaga...

So, I assume that what you mean is I can have

A) DSL installed on my HD and run it from there and

B) use a USB stick as a place to keep my data files....

Mark

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 05 2007,15:04

Oops, double post...saw error message after I submitted post, so thought that it didn't post the first time...

:;):

Posted by curaga on Oct. 05 2007,15:07

A) is right, but for the usb solution I meant that you would only have the kernel and initrd on your HD, and they would boot DSL from the usb stick.

Meaning you would have both DSL and your data files on the usb stick...

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 05 2007,15:22

Quote (curaga @ Oct. 05 2007,08:07)

OK, I get it now, I think, curaga...

:;):

Thanks again for your help...

Mark

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 17 2007,16:52

Just tried booting from USB stick with DSL on it...but no go...nothing happens, just get Toshiba splash screen and then lappy freezes up...enabled USB-FDD Legacy Boot in BIOS too...

Looked on Wiki and noted that there may be an issue with using USB 2.0 stick on older machines, so maybe that's it??

Problem is I have some other sticks but not sure whether they're USB 1.0 or 2.0 as they were freebie sticks with no manufacturer's markings on them...guess I can just try them and see what happens...

Posted by curaga on Oct. 18 2007,13:27

USB-fdd would try to emulate a floppy.. it's usb-hdd you should enable..

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 18 2007,13:40

Quote (curaga @ Oct. 18 2007,06:27)

USB-fdd would try to emulate a floppy.. it's usb-hdd you should enable..

Oops......

:;):

Thanks....

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 18 2007,15:36

Only problem is that there's no setting in BIOS for USB-HDD...

Oh well...

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 27 2007,03:39

UPDATE: Got USB DSL!

Well, got USB Stick DSL working but not on my Portege....

Just got a new Sony Vaio VGN-TZ150N that USB boots and it booted up DSL just fine....

Looks great!

Overall, works great but have a question....

A) Sony has 11" widescreen display with weird resolution 1366 x 768. So right now desktop doesn't fill out display to the left and right edges...

Where do I adjust that?

Have some other questions, but don't remember them right now....

:;):

Posted by curaga on Oct. 27 2007,06:49

Check if that mode is listed with "Xvesa -listmodes". If it is, check it's number (0x156 for example)
and add 0x200 to it, so this would become 0x356. Then change that, 356, to decimal, and boot with "vga=" set to that decimal. Then change to Xfbdev, and it will use that res automatically..

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 28 2007,00:54

Quote (curaga @ Oct. 26 2007,23:49)

That did it, curaga!!!! Thanks!!!!!

Meanwhile, remembered my other questions after watching DSL bootup information....here's two items that concern me:

Code Sample

modprobe: Can't locate module block-major-2

Sr0: CDROM (ioctl0 reports ILLEGAL REQUEST.

Any ideas as to what these are about and what to do about them???

Also, haven't been able to connect to the net yet....can use either ethernet or WiFi on my laptop....

Have tried going to System>Net Setup>....

But no luck so far....what's easiest way to get connected?

Should I have had ethernet cable connected when I booted up??

Thanks!

Mark

Posted by jpeters on Oct. 28 2007,05:59

Quote (ArchiMark @ Oct. 27 2007,20:54)

Should I have had ethernet cable connected when I booted up??

Yes.......Once it's configured, you can take it out and in.......

Posted by curaga on Oct. 28 2007,10:20

that block-major-2 error just means you don't have a floppy drive. Harmless.

For the cd error, it may be a bug in the scsi stack. Try using the ide drivers instead (add "idecd" to the boot params).

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 28 2007,15:01

Quote (jpeters @ Oct. 27 2007,22:59)

Quote (ArchiMark @ Oct. 27 2007,20:54)

Should I have had ethernet cable connected when I booted up??

Yes.......Once it's configured, you can take it out and in.......

Thanks for your help, jpeters....

Rebooted with ethernet cable attached but no go....no response, see below...also tried wifi, but no go, see below...

Code Sample

ifup eth0
ifup: ignoring unknown interface eth0

iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions

I do see that on my DSL modem/router that there's no light lit up for the ethernet cable to my laptop.....

Could this also be an issue with the fact that this is a brand new Sony laptop?

Thanks,

Mark

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 28 2007,15:04

Quote (curaga @ Oct. 28 2007,02:20)

that block-major-2 error just means you don't have a floppy drive. Harmless.

For the cd error, it may be a bug in the scsi stack. Try using the ide drivers instead (add "idecd" to the boot params).

Thanks for explaining about the FDD and the CD errors, curaga...

Just tried booting with 'idecd' params, but still get same error message...

Mark

Posted by curaga on Oct. 28 2007,16:04

What's the ethernet/wifi card? Check with "lspci"

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 28 2007,16:44

Quote (curaga @ Oct. 28 2007,08:04)

What's the ethernet/wifi card? Check with "lspci"

Hmmm...booting up and DSL seems to be hanging at 'Scanning for USB devices'....been several minutes now...

Then got message "Sorry, can't find Knoppix filesystem...."

Posted by jpeters on Oct. 28 2007,18:18

Quote (ArchiMark @ Oct. 28 2007,10:01)

Have you tried another cable, and made sure everthing is okay on the router end? Does it work with windows (if you have it) ?

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 28 2007,20:58

Quote (jpeters @ Oct. 28 2007,10:18)

Quote (ArchiMark @ Oct. 28 2007,10:01)

Have you tried another cable, and made sure everthing is okay on the router end? Does it work with windows (if you have it) ?

Yes, tried another cable...but no difference...

router is OK as my other computer is connected to it OK...

Yes, I can connect to net when I'm running Windows....

Also, just tried Kunbuntu CD and it boots up fine, recognizes my display size/resolution automatically, and ethernet works!

So, this must be related to DSL not recognizing some of my hardware....right?

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 28 2007,21:02

Quote (curaga @ Oct. 28 2007,08:04)

What's the ethernet/wifi card? Check with "lspci"

Here's the whole enchilada, curaga!.....maybe it will help.... :;):

Code Sample

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 13)
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Unknown device 4229 (rev 61)
09:04.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ba)
09:04.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0832 (rev 04)
09:04.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0843 (rev 11)
09:04.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 11)

Posted by jpeters on Oct. 28 2007,22:43

You might need a driver for the Marvell Ethernet Controller, if it even works with 2.4 kernel

< http://forums.driverguide.com/showthread.php?t=21814 >

Posted by curaga on Oct. 29 2007,17:49

For the wifi, the pci.ids with DSL can't recognize that.

The newest one shows it is "PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN Network Connection".
It has experimental Linux drivers, that unfortunately require the new mac80211 wifi stack, which does not work on older kernels.

So, to get your wireless working, use the Windoze drivers with ndiswrapper.

Posted by curaga on Oct. 29 2007,17:50

The Marvell driver seems to work with kernels newer than 2.4.20
< http://www.marvell.com/drivers/driverDisplay.do?dId=153&pId=36 >

Posted by ArchiMark on Oct. 29 2007,18:11

Thanks jpeters & curage for all your help!!

Will check out that driver....