Linux Solutions

The tutorial will guide a user with the process of installation of Ubuntu 7.04 to a USB hard drive. A complete Ubuntu install to a USB hard drive is a relatively simple process.

Full install Prerequisites:
It is important to note the full install prerequisites.
• 8 GB + USB hard drive (note “rotating platter” we aren’t talking about a flash drive here)
• Backup any information on your USB hard drive (device will be formatted during the install process)
• Ubuntu ISO (Ubuntu 7.04 was used in this tutorial) however 7.10 should work as well
• CD Burner
Installing Ubuntu to an external USB hard drive:
Let’s go through the process of installing Ubuntu to an external USB hard drive.
1. Ensure that all internal hard drives are disconnected from your computer during the install (pull your SATA or IDE cables)
2. Download the Ubuntu 7.04 ISO, burn it to a CD and restart your computer from the live CD
3. Once the Ubuntu Live system is up and running, navigate to System-> Preferences-> Removable Drives and Media and uncheck the following options:
Mount removable drives when hot-plugged
Mount removable media when inserted
Browse removable media when inserted
4. Click the install Ubuntu icon from the desktop to begin the installation
5. At step four Prepare disk space, select the Guided-use entire disk option and elect to install to your USB hard drive:
6. When the installation has finished, select the option to restart-now
7. Boot into your system BIOS or Boot Menu and elect to boot from your USB Hard drive.
After going through the process, a user will now be booting into a full installation of Ubuntu from your portable USB device

The tutorial will help the user in installing Pendrivelinux V1 Full Blown (non compressed) to an external USB Hard Drive (Rotating Platter, not a USB flash drive or flash memory stick) via Pendrivelinux V1. To do this, we create an ext2 partition on the USB Hard Drive. Next we extract or decompress filesystem.squashfs, add a Grub Boot Menu and reconfigure xserver-xorg.

Important message
It is important to note if you already have a working Pendrivelinux V1 USB flash drive or CD (to be used as our host OS), then please backup your data before proceeding.

Recommendation
It is recommended that you disconnect (remove cables) all internal hard drives before attempting the installation process.

Basic essentials:
Following are the basic essentials:
• External USB Hard Drive (5GB+ space)
• Pendrivelinux already installed on a USB flash drive or CD

How to Install Pendrive Linux V1 to a Hard Drive:
Now, let’s see what steps we need to go through in order to install Pendrive Linux V1 to a Hard Drive:
1. Boot Pendrivelinux V1 using the Boot To Ram option
2. Remove the flash drive or CD you booted from and insert your portable USB Hard Drive
3. Open a terminal and type sudo su
4. Type fdisk -l to list available drives/partitions. Note which device is your external USB Hard-Drive (example: /dev/sdb) Throughout this tutorial, replace x with your USB Hard-Drive letter. For example, if your USB Hard-Drive is sdb, replace x with b.
5. Type umount /dev/sdx1
6. Type fdisk /dev/sdx
o Type p to show the existing partition and d to delete it
o Type p again to show any remaining partitions (if partitions exist, repeat the previous step)
o Type n to make a new partition
o Type p for primary partition
o Type 1 to make this the first partition
o Press Enter to use the default 1st cylinder
o Type +5000M to set the partition size (increase the value to create a larger partition)
o Type a to make the partition active
o Type 1 to select partition 1
o Type w to write the new partition table
7. Type umount /dev/sdx1 (again to ensure it’s umounted)
8. Type mkfs.ext2 -L PDL /dev/sdx1 to format the partition as ext2
9. Type mkdir /usbhd && mount /dev/sdx1 /usbhd
10. Type mount -o loop -t squashfs /live_media/casper/filesystem.squashfs /mnt
11. Type apt-get install rsync grub
12. Type rsync -avx –progress /mnt/. /usbhd/.
13. Type umount /mnt
14. Type grub-install –root-directory=/usbhd –recheck /dev/sdx1
15. Type cd /usbhd/boot/grub
16. Type wget http://pendrivelinux.com/downloads/menu.lst
17. Type chroot /usbhd
18. Type dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg (and follow the onscreen steps ” I recommend using the vesa driver first)
19. Type exit to exit the chrooted environment
20. Reboot your computer and configure your BIOS or Boot Menu to boot from your external USB hard drive
If all goes well, you should now be running Pendrivelinux from your external USB hard disk. If you have problems getting X to start, relaunch dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg and try different settings.
The only user is root with a password of pendrivelinux you can add users once up and running!
If you plan to boot Pendrivelinux from multiple PC’s, install xdebconfigurator to help autoprobe and autodetect video hardware.
1. Type apt-get install xdebconfigurator
2. Type rm /etc/X11/xorg.conf
3. Type cd /boot/grub/
4. Type rm menu.lst
5. Type wget http://pendrivelinux.com/downloads/new/menu.lst

The tutorial will cover the process of installing SUSE Linux to an external USB Hard Drive using the OpenSUSE Live CD. The process is made possible due to a custom Portable SUSE script. The user will basically boot from the Live OpenSUSE CD and performs the installation via the included YaST2 Install script to install SUSE to a USB Hard drive. Then the user reboots from the Portable SUSE installation and launches the custom script to convert some files in the running SUSE system for portable compatibility.
OpenSUSE running Portably from USB:
USB SUSE install Requirements:

It is good to note the USB SUSE install requirements. These are as below:
• External USB Hard Drive
• OpenSUSE Live CD
• Portable SUSE conversion script
How to make a Portable SUSE:

A user needs to be aware that before proceeding, backup all data he/she wish to save from their USB Hard Drive. In addition, physically disconnect any internally attached hard drives to avoid the possibility of installing to the wrong device.
1. Download the Live CD KDE (685MB) ISO, burn to a CD and start your system from the CD
2. Once SUSE is up and running, insert your USB Hard Drive
3. When prompted that a new medium has been detected, select the option to Do Nothing and check the box to Always do this for this type of media then click OK
4. Next, click the My Computer icon from your SUSE desktop
5. Locate your USB device from the Disk Information section on the page
6. Right click on the device and select to Safely Remove
7. Right click on the device again, this time select Properties
8. From the Properties window that appear, click the Mounting tab
9. Uncheck the Mount automatically box and click OK
10. Next, start the installer via the install icon on your desktop and follow the onscreen instructions. You can click Cancel to any pop ups notifying you of newly detected media
11. Once the installer has finished, reboot your computer. Remove the CD from the drive and proceed to boot from the USB device.
12. Continue the onscreen setup process… users and passwords etc
13. Once your up and running again, press alt+f2 and type konsolesu then press Enter
14. Type tar -zxvf *.tar.gz
15. Type ./installation and follow the onscreen instructions answering y to all of the questions
16. Type reboot to reboot and ensure that everything is still working
A user will be able to run your Portable SUSE from any PC that can boot from a USB device. It should be safe to re-attach any internal drives to your PC.

This tutorial will provide a user with guidance about the process of installing Ubuntu 8.04.1 (Hardy Heron) to an external USB Hard drive. It is possible to install Ubuntu 8.04.1 to a 4GB+ flash drive using this method as we did, however, due to the additional read/write cycles that occur on a full blown install, the life of your flash drive may be slightly reduced. This simple tutorial utilizes the Install script that is included with Ubuntu 8.04.1 making it easy to run and test the latest offering of Ubuntu without installing to a fixed internal system disk.
This is a full installation of Ubuntu and will act just like an installation to a internal hard drive. All changes are saved in real time and the system can be fully updated and edited.
Basic essentials for installing Ubuntu 8.04.1 to USB:
It is important to note the essentials for installing Ubuntu 8.04.1 to USB. These are:
• Ubuntu 8.04.1 ISO
• CD Reader/Burner
• 4GB+ USB Device
How to install Ubuntu 8.04.1 to a USB Hard Drive:
1. First, Backup any data you wish to save from your USB device
2. Download Ubuntu 8.04.1 and burn the ISO to a CD
3. Physically disconnect ALL internal hard drives before booting from the CD and performing the install. this will eliminate the possibility of installing to the wrong device and overwriting your MBR. Reattach the drives after completing this tutorial.
4. Restart your PC, and proceed to boot from the Ubuntu CD
5. From the Boot Menu, select the option to Install Ubuntu
6. Once Ubuntu has booted, you should be presented with an installation menu
7. Proceed forward answering all questions until you reach the Prepare disk space section. (1) Click the Guided - use entire disk radio option and then (2) Click the Forward button
8. On the next Who are you? page, create your user profile, then Click the Forward button
9. On the Ready to install page, Click the (1) Advanced button and (2) select your device from the dropdown list. Example: /dev/sda, then (3) Click Install
10. The installer will now proceed to install Ubuntu on the USB device. Once it has finished, Click the option to Restart now:
11. Remove the CD when prompted and proceed to reboot. Don’t forget to change your System Boot Menu or BIOS to boot from the USB device.

The tutorial will provide you with guidance on how to move your existing Wubi Ubuntu install to an external USB device. This enables you to take your Wubi install of Ubuntu with you. Moreover, because Wubi is using loopfiles (files that once mounted, act as partitions), the remaining NTFS partitioned drive space is still completely usable by Windows for storage. If you ever should decide you no longer want to play with Ubuntu, you can simply delete it from the external USB drive without the need to delete partitions etc.

USB Wubi Ubuntu Prerequisites
It is a good ideat to note the USB Wubi Ubuntu Prerequisites.
• Wubi Installation of Ubuntu preinstalled on your Windows XP system
• An external USB hard drive (capacity must be greater than the local Ubuntu folder)
• HP USB format tool

Moving Wubi Ubuntu install to an external USB drive:
1. Download the HP USB format tool and format your external USB hard drive using the NTFS file system. In addition make sure to set the Volume label to USB
2. Next, from Windows, Click Start > Run, type diskpart and press Enter
3. From the DISKPART command prompt, perform the following steps:
o Type list volume, and locate your USB drive
o Type select volume X replacing X with the volume number of your USB drive
o Type active to make the volume bootable
4. Next, copy the following folders and files from your local hard drive to the external USB drive:
ubuntu
boot.ini
NTDETECT.COM
ntldr
wubildr
wubildr.mbr

5. Next, from your USB drive, navigate to ubuntu\disks\boot\grub and open menu.lst with a text editor.
6. Scroll down to around line 132 and change all occurrences of root=UUID from
root=UUID=1234567890 to root=LABEL=USB
7. Save your changes and reboot. Set your BIOS or Boot menu to boot from the USB drive and attempt to start from the external drive.
8. Select the Ubuntu option when prompted to boot from Windows XP or Ubuntu:

It is important to note that if you prefer, to only use the portable Wubi installation, you can proceed to uninstall the Wubi Ubuntu install from your PC. However, make sure you have removed the USB drive before doing so. The Wubi uninstaller will remove it’s related files from any partition it finds them on.

UNetbootin is a Live USB creation tool that can be used to create a Live Linux USB flash drive from an ISO. Many Linux distributions are supported out of the box with custom install options available for Linux distributions that are not. It is important to mention that Live Linux USB flash drives created with this tool, do not currently utilise a persistence feature. The resulting USB Linux install will function just as it does from a CD.
How to use UNetbootin to create a Live Linux USB flash drive
The tutorial will show you how to use UNetbootin to create a Live Linux USB flash drive. The guide assumes that you are working from within Windows and have a current copy of the ISO you wish to convert.
1. Download UNetBootin for Windows
2. Download your favourite Linux ISO
3. Double click the Unetbootin Executable to start the program
4. (1) Click the Diskimage radio box (2) browse to select your ISO (3) Set your target USB drive (4) click OK to start the creation
5. Once the UNetbootin installer has completed, click Reboot Now
6. Set your system BIOS or boot menu to boot from the USB device and enjoy your favourite Live Linux on USB

The tutorial guide go through the steps required for installation of SLAX to a portable USB device via Windows. It will also cover the USB SLAX creation Basic essentials.
SLAX is basically a stripped down version of Slackware Linux. It uses the unification file system or (unionfs) allowing a read only filesystem to behave as a writable filesystem which allows the user to save system wide changes without a secondary persistent partition. The following tutorial explains how to create a Portable SLAX.
USB SLAX creation Basic essentials:
It is a good idea to note the USB Slax creation essentials as below:
• A 256MB or larger USB flash drive (fat32 formatted)
• SLAX-6.x.x.tar
• 7-Zip or other archive extraction tool
• Windows Host to perform the USB install
SLAX USB installation tutorial:
1. Download the SLAX for USB .tar file
2. Using 7-Zip extract the files from the slax-6.x.x.tar to the root of your USB stick
3. Navigate to the boot folder on your “USB device” and click bootinst.bat (Click Continue if the error message with the following text appears “Windows – No Disk Exception Processing Message c0000013 Parameters 75b6bf9c 75b6bf9c appears)
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to make the device bootable
5. Once the USB install script has finished, reboot your computer and set your BIOS or Boot Menu to boot from the USB device
6. Save your BIOS settings. On the next reboot, you should have a successful launch of your USB SLAX Linux compilation.

The tutorial guide will cover how to install, boot and run Gentoo 2007.0 from a USB device using Windows. Gentoo is a popular Linux version named after the Gentoo Penguin. Gentoo was originally created by Daniel Robbins with a goal to create a smaller portable Linux distribution that only included required programs. This Gentoo USB installation tutorial was developed per the request and with a little help from Brendan Jocson, a Pendrivelinux.com subscriber. Kudo’s goes to Brendan for helping establish this Portable Gentoo tutorial.
It is important to note that the fixgt script now moves the extracted files to the flash drive automatically. It has been tested to work in both XP and Vista.
Essentials to make a Gentoo Live USB:
• 1GB or Larger USB Flash Pen Drive
• Gentoo Linux ISO
• figt2.exe
How to create a USB Gentoo Flash Drive:
USB installation of Gentoo performs like the Live CD. Currently a persistence feature is outside the scope of this tutorial.
1. Download and launch fixgt2.exe, a GentooUSB folder is created
2. Download the Gentoo 2007.0 LiveCD and move it to the GentooUSB folder
3. Click fixgt2.bat from within the GentooUSB folder and follow the onscreen instructions
4. Reboot your PC and set your system BIOS or Boot Menu to boot from the USB device, save
your changes and reboot
5. Upon reboot, you should have a successful launch of Gentoo USB Linux from your USB
memory stick.

The tutorial guide will cover the process of installing gOS 3 Gadgets Linux OS to a USB flash drive using the gOS 3 Live CD. In addition, the persistence option can being utilized for saving and restoring changes automatically. gOS 3 is based on Ubuntu and features the Gnome desktop environment with Wbar. Wbar features a dock and stack that looks and functions much like Mac OSX fan view.
Portable gOS3 USB flash drive install essentials
It is a good idea to understand the gOS3 flash drive install essentials as below:
• Working CD Drive
• Working internet connection
• gOS 3 Gadgets ISO>CD
• 1GB+ USB flash drive
Portable gOS3 Persistent install via Live CD1. Download the gOS 3 Gadgets ISO and burn to a CD
2. Reboot your PC from the gOS 3 Gadgets Live CD
3. Insert your USB flash drive
4. Open a terminal and type sudo su
5. Type apt-get update
6. Type apt-get install syslinux mtools
7. Now type fdisk -l to list available drives/partitions (note which device is your flash drive Example: /dev/sdb). Throughout this tutorial, replace all instances of x with your flash drive letter. For example, if your flash drive is sdb, replace x with b.
8. Type fdisk /dev/sdx
o type p to show the existing partition and d to delete it
o type p again to show any remaining partitions (if partitions exist, repeat the previous step)
o type n to make a new partition
o type p for primary partition
 type 1 to make this the first partition
 hit enter to use the default 1st cylinder
 type +750M to set the partition size
 type a to make this partition active
 type 1 to select partition 1
 type t to change the partition filesystem
 type 6 to select the fat16 file system
o type n to make another new partition
o type p for primary partition
 type 2 to make this the second partition
 hit enter to use the default cylinder
 hit enter again to use the default last cylinder
 type w to write the new partition table
9. Remove and reinsert your flash drive
10. Type mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n gOS /dev/sdx1 to format the first partition
11. Type mkfs.ext2 -b 4096 -L casper-rw /dev/sdx2 to format the second partition
12. Type syslinux -sf /dev/sdx1
13. Remove and reinsert your flash drive again
14. Type cd /cdrom
15. Type cp -rfv casper dists install pics pool preseed .disk isolinux/* md5sum.txt README
casper/vmlinuz /media/gOS
16. Type cd /media/gOS
17. Type wget pendrivelinux.com/downloads/gos3/syslinux.cfg
18. Type cd casper
19. Type rm initrd.gz
20. Type wget pendrivelinux.com/downloads/gos3/initrd.gz
21. Reboot your computer and set your BIOS boot priority or Boot Menu to boot from the USB device. Save your changes and proceed to boot from your gOS USB device.
If all goes well, you should be booting into your portable gOS and be able to save and restore your changes on each boot.

This guide will provide you with information about ALL In One version of Pendrivelinux 2008, which can be run from a USB thumbdrive either natively (as a stand alone Operating System at boot), or within Windows using qemu emulation. Moreover, the user can save installed software, changes, bookmarks, email, contacts and more automatically via a persistent loop image and then restore those changes upon subsequent qemu or native boots. This is a major breakthrough as the user can now run Pendrivelinux 2008 from a USB device even if the computer cannot natively boot from USB and still save changes persistently to be restored regardless of whether booting natively or from qemu.

Kudo’s goes out to Gerardo Nevarez for the preparation of initrd.gz to make both Native and Qemu Pendrivelinux 2008 boot processes possible while running persistently.
Warnings:
• Do not attempt to use the USB drive while running Pendrivelinux via Qemu or you will corrupt the file system.
• By default, Pendrivelinux will setup user networking, so that you can mount shares on the host computer by pointing to smb://10.0.2.2. You have to set the network card to use DHCP.

Prerequisites:
It is good to note the prerequisites as below:
• 1GB or larger USB flash drive (fat32 formatted)
• AIOPendrivelinux08.zip
• Windows Host to perform the install
• PC must be able to boot from USB
Installing All In One Pendrivelinux 2008 from Windows:
1. Download AIOPendrivelinux08.zip
2. Extract the contents from AIOPendrivelinux08.zip to your USB device
3. From your USB device, click makeboot.bat to make the drive bootable

Launching All In One Pendrivelinux 2008:T
There are two ways to run Pendrivelinux (1) Natively (2) Qemu:
1. For Native boot, reboot your computer and set your boot menu or BIOS to boot from
the USB thumbdrive, save your settings and continue to boot
2. For Qemu boot, simply launch qemu.bat from the USB thumbdrive and Pendrivelinux will
launch within Windows. It is good to note that this does not work in Vista yet.

Login and passwords:
User: root password: root
User: guest password: guest

Important information
A loopfile with a capacity of 256MB has already been created on the USB flash device. If you would like to use a larger loopfile for saving changes, boot using the Boot Live (non persistent) option. Then delete the mcnlive.loop file on your flash drive and create a new VFAT loopfile by clicking the Penguin in the Taskbar and navigating to Pendrivelinux-> Create persistent loop and following the onscreen instructions.

The Remaster Live script used to create Pendrivelinux is included in the download as is seen in the screenshot above, just before the Create persistent loop entry.
This remaster was made from MCNLive and is based on the free Mandriva Linux distribution without changing the source.