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[gentoo-user] Can we please get a USB-stick install boot image?

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walt...@waltdnes.org

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Jun 30, 2010, 7:10:01 PM6/30/10
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I don't know if this is the proper list to post this request to. I've
been using linux for a dozen years, and am capable of reading and
following instructions. But, after a lot of dicking around, I still
haven't been able to modify a CD boot image get Gentoo to boot from a
USB stick. For my netbook (look ma, no CD) I ended up booting Knoppix
from a USB-stick, and installing Gentoo from there.

There are quite a few machines without CD drives being sold today, but
none that I'm aware of that won't boot from a USB stick. I believe that
USB-stick images, rather than CD images, should be the default
distributed boot images on the mirrors. And think of all the CD's that
won't end up in the landfill, after an install image is used once.

--
Walter Dnes <walt...@waltdnes.org>

Crístian Viana

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Jun 30, 2010, 7:10:02 PM6/30/10
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use UNetbootin (http://unetbootin.sf.net) to create a bootable USB stick.

Neil Bothwick

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Jun 30, 2010, 7:40:01 PM6/30/10
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On Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:52:09 -0400, walt...@waltdnes.org wrote:

> There are quite a few machines without CD drives being sold today, but
> none that I'm aware of that won't boot from a USB stick. I believe that
> USB-stick images, rather than CD images, should be the default
> distributed boot images on the mirrors. And think of all the CD's that
> won't end up in the landfill, after an install image is used once.

The problem is what size do you make the image, not all USB sticks are
equal. A simpler option is to use Unetbootin to convert the ISO onto a
USB stick.

Incidentally, you could try dd'ing the ISO to a USB stick, this works
more often that you might imagine.


--
Neil Bothwick

"It compiled? The first screen came up? Ship it!" -- Bill Gates

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Willie Wong

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Jun 30, 2010, 9:20:02 PM6/30/10
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While I'd also like to see USB boot media, I'd like to observe that
SystemRescueCD, which is based on Gentoo, is perfectly good to use as
an install medium.

W
--
Willie W. Wong ww...@math.princeton.edu
Data aequatione quotcunque fluentes quantitae involvente fluxiones invenire
et vice versa ~~~ I. Newton

Iain Buchanan

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Jul 1, 2010, 8:10:02 PM7/1/10
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here's one I prepared earlier ;)

This is from 2008:
http://nthrbldyblg.blogspot.com/2008/06/gentoo-linux-live-usb-key.html

and these are some notes of mine on syslinux which may help a bit too:
http://nthrbldyblg.blogspot.com/2010/02/syslinux-from-linux.html

HTH,
--
Iain Buchanan <iaindb at netspace dot net dot au>

Delay is preferable to error.
-- Thomas Jefferson

walt...@waltdnes.org

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Jul 2, 2010, 3:50:02 AM7/2/10
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On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 07:56:31PM -0300, Cr??stian Viana wrote

> use UNetbootin (http://unetbootin.sf.net) to create a bootable USB stick.

According to http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/#other

> The Linux version is compiled using g++, while the Windows version
> is cross-compiled using mingw32. Both use a statically linked version
> of qt4 (to eliminate external library dependencies).

...but, thanks to its fancy-schmancy GUI...

waltdnes@i3 ~ $ emerge -pv unetbootin

These are the packages that would be merged, in order:

Calculating dependencies... done!
[ebuild N ] sys-fs/mtools-3.9.11 USE="-X" 267 kB
[ebuild N ] app-arch/p7zip-4.65-r1 USE="-doc -kde -rar (-static) -wxwidgets" 2,443 kB
[ebuild N ] x11-libs/qt-core-4.6.2-r1 USE="(-aqua) -debug -doc -exceptions -glib -iconv -optimized-qmake -pch -qt3support -ssl" 156,838 kB
[ebuild N ] dev-lang/nasm-2.08.01 USE="-doc" 765 kB
[ebuild N ] dev-perl/Crypt-PasswdMD5-1.3 5 kB
[ebuild N ] perl-core/MIME-Base64-3.08 17 kB
[ebuild N ] x11-libs/qt-script-4.6.2 USE="(-aqua) -debug -exceptions -iconv -pch" 0 kB
[ebuild N ] virtual/perl-MIME-Base64-3.08 0 kB
[ebuild N ] x11-libs/qt-gui-4.6.2 USE="mng tiff -accessibility
(-aqua) -cups -dbus -debug -exceptions -glib -gtk -nas -nis -pch
-qt3support -raster -xinerama" 0 kB
[ebuild N ] perl-core/digest-base-1.16 9 kB
[ebuild N ] virtual/perl-digest-base-1.16 0 kB
[ebuild N ] dev-perl/Digest-SHA1-2.12 39 kB
[ebuild N ] sys-boot/syslinux-3.86 USE="-custom-cflags" 3,649 kB
[ebuild N ] sys-boot/unetbootin-442 465 kB

Total: 14 packages (14 new), Size of downloads: 164,491 kB

--
Walter Dnes <walt...@waltdnes.org>

Keith Dart

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Jul 2, 2010, 4:00:02 PM7/2/10
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=== On Wed, 06/30, walt...@waltdnes.org wrote: ===

> able to modify a CD boot image get Gentoo to boot from a
> USB stick.
===

I have done that. Here's basically what I did.

#!/bin/sh

ISO=/home/ftp/pub/install/install-amd64-minimal-20081213.iso

mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/sdc1
dd if=/usr/share/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sdc || exit
mount -o loop,ro -t iso9660 $ISO /mnt/iso || exit
mount -t vfat /dev/sdc1 /mnt/media1 || exit
cp -r /mnt/iso/* /mnt/media1 || exit
sync
mv /mnt/media1/isolinux/* /mnt/media1
mv /mnt/media1/isolinux.cfg /mnt/media1/syslinux.cfg
rm -rf /mnt/media1/isolinux*
mv /mnt/media1/memtest86 /mnt/media1/memtest

umount /mnt/iso
#vim /mnt/media1/syslinux.cfg
sed -i -e "s:cdroot:cdroot slowusb:" \
-e "s:kernel memtest86:kernel memtest:" /mnt/media1/syslinux.cfg

umount /mnt/media1
syslinux /dev/sdc1


-- Keith Dart

--

-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keith Dart <ke...@dartworks.biz>
public key: ID: 19017044
<http://www.dartworks.biz/>
=====================================================================

ich bins

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Jul 3, 2010, 8:50:01 AM7/3/10
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try the manual from the systemrescuecd (a very recent gentoo based livecd)

http://www.sysresccd.org/Sysresccd-manual-en_How_to_install_SystemRescueCd_on_an_USB-stick

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