HOW TO make a USB Disc with Ubuntu LiveCD and Super Grub Disc in it.

[MQMike]

iispyderii,
I am new to this thread and so will let Herman return for some of your questions. However, the very first things to check are:
1 Did you set your Dell to "Boot from USB" and include the USB stick in the list of drives recognized by your Dell BIOS? You have to enter your DELL BIOS to do all this--see your motherboard instructions.
2 Make sure you set the boot flag on your USB stick partition where your Ubuntu is installed. You can do that with GParted Live CD, highlight that partition, click the tab at the top Partition, Manage Flags, boot--click in the box.

[Herman]

Hello iispyderii,

I agree with the two point MQMike just made, those were the first two things I thought of too. My bet's on the boot flag, it does say in Pendrivelinux to set one, but ti would be easy to overlook and skip a step.

so do i need to install the super grub thing to my usb drive and instructed in this first post of the thread?

You don't have to, Super Grub Disk is extremely useful, but it's not compulsory to have Super Grub Disk just to boot a USB. If you want I can help you install Super Grub disk to your Pendrivelinux USB Ubuntu.

and if im installing the ubuntu pendrive and grub.
i had some trouble mounting the iso (where do i put it to mount it first?) and i had trouble with the grub installation on the usb.

You probably need to make your own mount point, the usual place to make a mount point in Ubuntu is in our /media directory, but you can make it anywhere. Here is a link that explains all about mounting stuff, File Systems and Mounting Page, I hope that page is easy to understand, if it isn't please complain to me and I'll try to fix it.
Then, just copy the /boot directory of Super Grub Disk for USB into your ubuntu710 partition.
Finally, you'll probably want to install Super Grub Disk's GRUB to the USB disk's MBR. That's easy, the main thing is to make sure it does go to your USB's MBR and not to just any MBR in your computer.
There are two ways to do that.

FIRST WAY
One way is when you USB drive is unplugged, to open up a terminal and type 'mount',

mount

Then, after you plug your USB in again, if it automatically mounts for you, type the 'mount' command again.

mount

Compare the output from the first mount command with that from the second mount command.
You should see if the USB is called something like '/dev/sda', or '/dev/sdc', or whatever by Linux.
Only trouble is, in my computer the ubuntu710 partition never is able to be automatically mounted for some reason. If it doesn't automount, just use 'sudo fdisk -lu' to see what your USB looks like in Linux notation (/dev/(something))

sudo fdisk -lu

Now, you get a GRUB shell, by typing 'sudo grub' in Ubuntu.

sudo grub

You use GRUB's device command, to force GRUB to register your USB drive as a drive number in GRUB notation, like (hd(drive number). Quick Guide to GRUB's Numbering System

device (hd2) /dev/sdc

Type 'root' (hd3)

root (hd2)

Type 'setup' (hd(drive number)

setup (hd2)

Type 'quit'

quit

SECOND WAY
The other way is faster and simpler for me, since the only computer I have working at the moment that can boot a USB will never automatically mount the ubuntu710 partition.
Get a GRUB shell.

sudo grub

Test to remind you which hard disks and partitions in your computer contain GRUB files,

grub> find /boot/grub/stage1

You should get some feedback like: (hd0,1) (hd1,0) , but you're still not sure which is the USB and which is in your hard disk. Probably (hd1) is the USB.
Test with GRUB's 'geometry' command to find out if (hd1) is really your USB disk.

 grub> geometry (hd1)

You should get some feedback similar to the following,
drive 0x81: C/H/S = 250/255/63, The number of sectors = 4030464, /dev/sdb
Partition num: 0, Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
Partition num: 1, Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
That indicates that we guessed correctly, (hd1) is the USB.

Tell Grub which partition it's supposed to be working in, (this depends on the output from the preceding commands, and may vary between computers, please watch it and alter the command to suit your own particular machine.

grub> root (hd1,0)

Install GRUB to MBR in the USB drive,

grub> setup (hd1)

Close the GRUB shell

grub> quit

I think that way is the best, or at least it seems that way to me, but not everyone's computer is the same, so use whichever way works best for you.

Regards, Herman

[ibbers]

Thanks for the fantastic how-to, first of all!

Using the instructions i've gotten gutsy live running on my cruzer stick...

however, i need some advice on the particular version i'm trying to get working on my stick.

I have a fit-pc at home, and after an update that broke it (compounded by me not reading up on the 'break' first before trying to fix it), i've been trying to reinstall *buntu on it. Xubuntu goes on fine, but i'd rather ubuntu.

Because of its hardware, I can only use the altenative install cd when installing (xubuntu live doesn't work, and ubuntu live definitely doesn't). Installing from a USB CD drive appears to be very flaky, so i'm hoping the USB-disk installation you've detailed (using the Alternate ISO instead) should do the trick.

So my question are (and please excuse my ignorance!):

* How do I go about editing the kernel (as you've mentioned below - "add 'vesa vga=771' as kernel parameters")? Where/how?

* I assume I'll need to edit the grub menu as well, once i've got the kernel thing fixed - where/how would i do that?

Once again, excuse my ignorance - if i can overcome these two hurdles i can get my fit-pc back up and running.

thank you in advance mate!

Ibbers


[Snipped for quoting]:
[*]You'll need a copy of SGD for USB, at the time of typing, the latest is super_grub_disk_english_usb_0.9673.tar.bz2[*]You'll also need an .iso file for whichever *buntu you want to install, or to run as a LiveCD (USB) to try it out. Super Grub Disk and Ubuntu Live CD is a good combination for a rescue disk, so you can keep this USB Disk for a rescue disk after Ubuntu is installed in your computer. You can use any Ubuntu Live CD you like. the Ubuntu 'Alternate CD', is supposed to work if you add 'vesa vga=771' as kernel parameters.[/LIST]Formatting your USB disk[LIST=1]

[Herman]

title       Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon in Persistent Mode
kernel   $(grub_device)/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper vesa vga=771 quiet splash --
initrd    $(grub_device)/casper/initrd.gz

Something like that probably.
I haven't tried the 'Alternate CD in a Live USB myself at all, I have only read that it's supposed to be possible if we add 'vesa vga=771' to the kernel options in the GRUB menu.

I would think we wouldn't care about persistence when using the Alternate CD, so I removed that in the above boot entry, but you can still keep that option if you want.

If you have around 257 MB or RAM, but the 'Desktop' LiveCD won't run, (it's extremely slow or freeezes from lack of RAM), often you can use a GParted -- LiveCD
and make a swap area on your hard disk for the Live CD to use when it doesn't have enough RAM. That makes a big difference to it, and often you'll find the Live CD will be able to perform the install after that, without any problems at all.
I'll have a try at making the USB disk from the Alternate CD myself, at the same time, and see what problems I run into, and if I run into any problems I'll try to solve them for you. I can't guarantee when I'll have that finished though, as I get interupted a lot, and I'm not even certain this will work for sure. You can try too if you like and we can post back here when we have some progress. It's up to you.

[Herman]

Okay, first the good news...
I have the USB made with the 'Alternate' CD in it and I have the menu.lst right, as far as I know, because it's booting.

Now the bad news...
It boots and I can start the first few screens of the install, then it says 'Your installation CD-ROM couldn't be mounted, this probably means your installation CD is not in the drive.", and the next screen is a red screen with a similar message to confirm that. I don't know how to get around this. The failing step is "Detect and Mount a CD-ROM.".

Here's the menu.lst for it, for what it's worth,
# You can edit this file to add your own distribution
# You can choose default to 0 to select first entry
# which it is usually the entry for the default distro
#
#Thank you adrian15!
#
# You can also set timeout to something as 10
#
# This is the shortcut to call Super Grub Disk (commented)
#title Super Grub Disk
## The two commands: setgrubdevice and usbshift are needed
## so that SGD works well.
usbshift

#configfile $(grub_device)/boot/sgd/menu.lst
#
# Just after default and timeout statements you have to put
# setgrubdevice so that grub device is correctly set.

default 0
#timeout 2
setgrubdevice # This is compulsory
# The two commands: setgrubdevice and usbshift are needed
# so that SGD works well.
usbshift
#gfxmenu /boot/grub/message
foreground ffffff
background 0c00ff
color white/brown yellow/cyan

title       Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon Alternate Install in Text Mode
kernel   $(grub_device)/install/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed vesa vga=771 quiet --
initrd    $(grub_device)/install/initrd.gz

title       Super Grub Disk
configfile $(grub_device)/boot/sgd/menu.lst

title      Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon Alternate Install in Expert Mode
kernel   $(grub_device)/install/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed priority=low vesa vga=771 quiet --
initrd   $(grub_device)/install/initrd.gz 

title      Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon Alternate OEM install (for manufacturers)
kernel   $(grub_device)/install/vmlinuz MENU=/bin/cdrom-checker-menu vesa vga=771 quiet --
initrd    $(grub_device)/install/initrd.gz 

title      Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon Alternate Install a command-line system
kernel   $(grub_device)/install/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/cli.seed vesa vga=771 quiet --
initrd    $(grub_device)/install/initrd.gz 

title        Rescue a broken system
kernel    $(grub_device)/install/vmlinuz rescue/enable=true vesa vga=771 quiet --
initrd     $(grub_device)/install/initrd.gz 

title        Memory Test
kernel    $(grub_device)/install/mt86plus  - 

title       Boot the First Hard Disk
root       (hd0)
chainloader +1

title       Boot the Second Hard Disk
root      (hd1)
chainloader +1

Now what?

Regards, Herman

[ibbers]

Okay, first the good news...
I have the USB made with the 'Alternate' CD in it and I have the menu.lst right, as far as I know, because it's booting.

Now the bad news...
It boots and I can start the first few screens of the install, then it says 'Your installation CD-ROM couldn't be mounted, this probably means your installation CD is not in the drive.", and the next screen is a red screen with a similar message to confirm that. I don't know how to get around this. The failing step is "Detect and Mount a CD-ROM.".

Now what? lol....

*sigh*.... somedays the universe just doesn't like me, does it?

Well, I may have found a workaround.... plugging my USB CD-ROM drive into a usb hub on my mini-pc (a "fit-pc"), and putting the gutsy alternate CD in there allowed me to get so far up to the install base systems stage...

so basically the instal prog is running from the USB, but drawing the installation files from the USB-CDROM drive....

the failing step of "Detect and Mount a CD-ROM" was what drew me to a usb stick solution in the first place, ironically... I hadn't been able to get a instal working from my USB CD-ROM (since fit-pc's don't have CD-ROM drives, and only 2 usb ports) as it kept failing to find itself when it went to load installer components.

Well, fingers crossed this workaround of sorts worked, i'll let you know....

lol... *sigh*....

Ib

[Herman]

Cool! you're a genius!

[MQMike]

What a relief to see there's some room here for admitting questions

Good news: My experiments putting Kubuntu 7.10 on a UFD (USB flash drive), Live-persistent, are so far successful, using these and other methods.

Other news:

Remember, I'm speaking from ignorance now. The main boot entry is:

title Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon in Persistent Mode
kernel $(grub_device)/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper persistent quiet splash --
initrd $(grub_device)/casper/initrd.gz

Using this, I was getting weird “can not access or mount /media/cdrom” messages when I tried to work on/with the UFD loaded with the Live Kubuntu—even though there was no cdrom in sight. The 2 partitions on the UFD were not mounted as /media/cdrom! They were something like /media/sdcx/etc. I don't understand the part that says file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed, and I wonder if it had something to do with this behavior. Sorry I can't be more precise. It occurred in the midst of some problematic testing and I did not try to reproduce it. So, then I went with a suggestion from both Tekno_Cowbo (see his post above) and KOLO (at Kubuntu), and I tried this method:

title Kubuntu 7.10 LIVE Persistent
root (hd0,0)
kernel /casper/vmlinuz boot=casper ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw quiet splash persistent
initrd /casper/initrd.gz

And since then, it has gone well (so far).

However, * it did not work with casper-rw formatted as ext2 *. It did work that way once or twice, but then data corruption from failure to unmount (upon shutdown) caused it to fail (in many ways, including losing my X display and some persistent settings) on subsequent re-boots.

KOLO told me to use ext3 for casper-rw, and that worked perfectly ever since (perhaps because of the journalling/checking). And I am not worried about UFD wear-out from ext3 writes. KOLO's has run 2 years with moderate use. Besides, how many UFD's do you hear about biting the dust? If mine does wear out, it will have been a very productive $17 experiment (2 GB Kingston, on sale). As always, you should back up anything important (to a second UFD or to internal/external HDD).

Then, I found this well-known Gutsy bug on unmounting these pups. It might be useful to anybody trying to fine tune, workaround, or troubleshoot:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...rt/+bug/125702
(I posted as mikeXYZ)

That's my two cents worth, FWIW. All in all, I'm very happy with the stick now (even though the correct time does not stick...)

[adrian15]

I have noticed this "geometry" issue popping up now and then, here and there!

Actually, the tip you gave at your web site about using geometry to find out what is where on the drives, that tip is one of the best tools I know of. If you combine geometry with root-setup-quit, and toss in configfile, you can rescue just about 80% of booting problems (at least temporarily, enough to get booted into an OS to make permanent repairs).

Thanks for the info on doing the updates, too. When you say that you "edited the fstab file," what are you referring to? (It's early here and maybe my brain isn't yet in gear. )

Thanks again.

It's interesting how do I hate the geometry command and how other users insist in using it!

I think it's better to mount your pretended drive with the mount command, you identify the correct device for the drive you want to work into and then you can run the device command inside the grub shell.

If you are not using grub inside linux environment, i.e., booting from SGD directly you can still use Boot & Tools -> Show partitions to identify hd0, hd1, hd2 with your actual hard disk with its partition layout.

Should I finish adopting the geometry command ?

adrian15

[adrian15]

I have a question about “persistence,” in the context of making a bootable LIVE K/Ubuntu USB flash drive.

If we make the stick persistent, an example of what we want would be to store various * static * data/configurations. Example: The background image on the Desktop (set once and for all); the selection of icons on the kicker panel; configuration/preference settings for the resident web browser, the word processor OOo Writer, and so on. These items are set once and for all and do not change—they are only “read.”

An example of what, I would think, we do NOT want would be for the LIVE K/Ubuntu (on flash drive) to be constantly writing to the flash drive such things as variable files, tmp files (both /tmp and /var/tmp), swap, and such things. There is the issue of “wearing out” the stick with re-write cycles.

In fact, one of the references raises the question (“Outstanding Questions”):
“Every single disk write goes to the USB stick, which GNOME loves to do all the time.”
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Li...0e31f46cae5951

We know that Puppy Linux (on LIVE USB flash drive) is specially designed to “optimize” this performance criterion (eliminate disk writes to the USB flash drive), whereas, I’ve read that Knoppix on a USB stick is a bad idea for this reason (“wear-out" performance).

Do we know where the current “persistent” fix stands with respect to the wear-out criterion on USB flash drives? Is this an issue?

==> What *exactly* gets written to the persistent LIVE stick?

Can anyone copy-paste the puppy linux /etc/fstab and the ubuntu /etc/fstab so that I can advise you how to edit ubuntu fstab to avoid so many unneeded read and write ?

adrian15