Re: bootable floppy for Debian-on-USB

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 07:48:26 -0700, orange wrote:

Hi Linux fans,

I'm trying to boot Debian from USB by using feraga deb2flash script:

http://feraga.com
http://svn.feraga.com/filedetails.php?repname=Deb2Flash&path=%2Ftrunk%2Fdeb2flash.py&rev=0&sc=0

I installed Debian onto flash disk with no problem. But, my computer
refuses to boot from it, no matter what I try
How do I make bootable floppy that loads 'feraga_Debian' from USB
flash?

Caveat: I am not running Debian.

It could be that you can't boot from USB if your BIOS doesn't support it.
You can either look for a BIOS update or boot from a media which is
supported by your hardware. You could boot from a cd, for example.

It might be worthwhile to verify that the flash you made boots on a newer
computer- just to rule out the possibility that something is wrong
with the bootable flash that you made.

The trouble with floppies is their small capacity. CDs are universal
and have adequate capacity. That is why I think it's best to boot
from a CD first, especially if you are claiming "newbie" status. BTW,
older hardware which refuse to boot from CDs can use a Smart Boot Manager
(SBM) boot floppy to "jumpstart" booting from a CD. Unfortunately, USB is
a different story. SBM is unmaintained and has no support for USB, IIRC.

Learning about GNU/Linux's startup procedures is definitely worthwhile.
However, doing it as a "first" project (that is, before even using
GNU/Linux at all) is a daunting prospect, IMO.

Going back to fundamentals:
The following things are necessary to start GNU/Linux:
0. Hardware with a BIOS which supports your hardware (hard disks, optical
discs, USB, etc.)

1. Bootable media with a bootloader and other essential elements.
2. Linux kernel (and initial ramdisk, if necessary)
3. Root filesystem.

I wrote about Slackware on a stick here (probably not directly applicable
to Debian):
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.os.linux.slackware/msg/f45fd1173b080c3a

And corrected a few things here:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.os.linux.slackware/msg/b70ebe8bbc58ad3b

--
Douglas Mayne
.

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