Myrosia Dzikovska said the following on 11/29/2010 07:30 AM:

Ah, maybe I should have been more specific. I know about the network boot, running over NFS, etc. It is a bit of hassle to set up, and I don't want to wipe out my hard drive just yet (it's just 4G, so I am not going to get two systems on it in parallel). I would much prefer to get a LiveUSB to work first, before kill off the Xandros on it. Hence the question about making it work with the LiveUSB.

Well I think you missed a lot. I didn't find it hassle to set up; I just copy-pasted and changed a few IP addresses. I understand the idea of not wiping out the disk. That is how I'm running. I can run a number of different kernels on that old laptop; I started this because that old laptop won't boot from my USB stick; the BIOS is too old. The LiveCD runs in memory; the PXE works the same way. You can do what you are trying to ACHIEVE using PXE. Stop focusing on the USB - its as irrelevant to this as the CD. I repeat: with PXE I'm running (more than one version of) Linux on that laptop since I can't get it to boot from the USB, all without affecting the hard disk. I suppose I could set up swap on the hard disk but that's another matter and not in the scope of this discussion. I repeat: setting up the PE server wasn't a problem. I just followed the instructions. If you are really picky, there are PE servers that can run as VMs. So on a single host without having dhcp+tftp installed, you can do a PXE boot inside your VM ;) Finally, if you read the Syslinux documentation you will find there is an option there for installing the boot mechanism of ISOLinux on other media - like a USB stick. I haven't done this myself, but if you are so inflexible as to not let go of the USB idea, you might want to investigate this option. Personally I'm delighted with the network boot. When the time comes to upgrade my other machines, including this 17" laptop which I'm using to compose this message, to 11.4, I'm going to do it with the PXEserver. I expect it to be less hassle that the rigmarole I went through with the 11.0 -> 11.1 and 11.1 -> 11.2 and 11.2-> 11.3 -- The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out, the conservative adopts them. --Mark Twain -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On Mon, Nov 29, 2010 at 14:49, Myrosia Dzikovska wrote:

Sure. But would you trust this to work when you are out somewhere in a hotel, travelling? That's what the eeepc is for, anyway. Plus, of course, running a server that I can access from outside means making sure it's sufficiently secure, hence it will add to the hassle.

At which point yes, maybe I should just wipe that disk to do an install. But I really hope there is someone here who knows how to make the LiveUSB version work.

I've been following this thread.. a bit puzzled... have you: 1. Plugged in the USB stick before booting the EEE 2. Booted the EEE and pressed F2 during the boot sequence to go into the BIOS 3. Set the USB device as the first hard drive 4. Pressed F10 to save and boot again (this is the process I follow on my EEE and it works every time) Or are you only pressing Esc during the boot to try and land in the "boot menu"? (something that I've seen on a few older EEEs) If you are doing this... is the boot booster enabled, and have you disabled it in the BIOS before trying the Esc menu thing? C. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

On Mon, Nov 29, 2010 at 17:14, Myrosia Dzikovska wrote:

...

I've been following this thread.. a bit puzzled... have you:

 1. Plugged in the USB stick before booting the EEE  2. Booted the EEE and pressed F2 during the boot sequence to go into the BIOS  3. Set the USB device as the first hard drive  4. Pressed F10 to save and boot again (this is the process I follow on my EEE and it works every time)

1. I plugged in the USB stick before booting the EEE 2. I booted EEE and pressed F2 on boot 3. This is where the failure comes: the USB device does not show up as a hard drive.

There are reports of this floating on the internet, and people seem to think that the reason is file system type: EEE bios does not recognize anything other than FAT16 or FAT32 at boot time (though it is fine with other file system types it once the kernel is loaded). Hence my question about whether it is possible to easily change the file system type on the live USB stick

Here's one of the threads mentioning the fs type problem: http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=43611

Interesting. I've done a lot of installs on various EEE models without problems. A friend of mine had a 901 and installed openSUSE on it multiple times (he was experimenting a bit before committing his main machine) and he didn't have issues.. *except* the first USB stick he used caused him problems. His solution.. use a different brand of USB stick. There was something odd about that particular USB stick that didn't play well with the 901 hardware. It was one of those free stick you get at trade shows etc... the replacement that worked was a branded one from a computer shop. This may or may not be the same issue here... but I've done installs on 901s before using USB and had no issues... so it's def possible for at least some versions of the 901 series. As for your specific issue... if I was troubleshooting I'd try a dif USB stick just in case that's the source of the issue. Alternatively, do you have a spare USB drive you can use to install? Installing from USB drive or USB stick is essentially the same procedure... just one device is bulkier than the other. C. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Myrosia Dzikovska said the following on 11/29/2010 08:49 AM:

At which point yes, maybe I should just wipe that disk to do an install. But I really hope there is someone here who knows how to make the LiveUSB version work.

Read the rest of my response about the ISOLinux boot being used on a USB. -- The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore,be regarded as a criminal offence. -- E.W. Dijkstra -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Myrosia Dzikovska said the following on 11/29/2010 11:23 AM:

Right. I guess my general take on this, I know all these options exist and are possible. But they require thinking through the issues to get them exactly right. Which contravenes purpose of the USB stick as an easy way to set things up and used. Looks like we are defining "easy" differently, but if I am to set up a permanent server serving kernels, and tie it to my mac address, or secure passwords, or whatever, then I'd rather wipe out my disk. We just have to agree to disagree on what constitutes and easier or simpler solution here ;-)

Indeed. I very, very much DO NOT want to wipe out what's on my laptop, since it contains my business accounts. However I do want to play with various other distributions And that laptop has an old bios and will not boot from USB under any circumstances. No way. As for setting up the PE server, it was a piece of cake. I already had DNS set up for for my LAN. Unpacking syslinux was one command Enabling tftp was easy. All I had to do then was alter some IP and MAC addresses in config files and rename a file -- it worked. The only "hard" bit, if you want to call it hard, was downloading the various "LiveCD" ISOimages and setting them up. Now I can download a "LiveCD" to my server and I don't need to burn it to a CD/DVD or any of that fiddly stuff to get it on a USB stick in the right place with all the MBR fiddles you are going though. Recall: the laptop in question WILL NOT BOOT from the USB stick. It has an old BIOS. This was easier for me than trying to find an archive of a newer BIOS and flashing it - something that if I got wrong rendered the laptop unusable, a situation I could not allow. Yes it was an modicum of effort, but once set up it is done for however many LiveCDs I want to try out. More to the point,it was probably less than you have expended trying to get that USB stick to work For me that is a more generic and re-usable solution. Any "not easy" is factored out, and the "simple" is drawing on the formulaic instructions of others. It is well documented and has a good support group/list. -- History knows no resting places and no plateaus. -- Henry Kissinger -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org