Installing minime on thumb drive

[OrdiDoc]

It is a big day today, i want to install minime on a 8 gig usb key hoping that it is going to work, i already have a question about this:

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xe9518e91

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        6374    51199123+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2            6375       38913   261369517+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5            6375       19123   102406311    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6           19124       24242    41118336   83  Linux
/dev/sda7           24243       25416     9430123+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda8           25417       38913   108414621   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 8024 MB, 8024752128 bytes
122 heads, 58 sectors/track, 2215 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 7076 * 512 = 3622912 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x04030201

I think that the usb key is /dev/sdb, correct me if i am wrong please

when i put umount/dev/sdb1 following the process on how to install on a usb key i get this ( i tried some options):

[root@localhost guest]# umount/dev/sdb1
bash: umount/dev/sdb1: No such file or directory
[root@localhost guest]# umount/dev/sdbl
bash: umount/dev/sdbl: No such file or directory
[root@localhost guest]# umount/dev/sdb


so what is wrong with what i am doing

[Bald Brick]

Well, "umount" is the program you want to run, and /dev/sdb1 is what you want to unmount, so you have to put a space between the two when you run the command: "umount  /dev/sdb1" (not "umount/dev/sdb1").

Apart from that you did not give us enough information about your sdb1. But note that you can mount and unmount partitions (like /dev/sdb1), not disks (like /dev/sdb).

[OrdiDoc]

I tried with a space between umount and /dev and it was working, my mistake...sorry

I have more issues but for now i'm back to my regular drive so i'll be posting later on. I was seeing 1 - 4 when using the command "p" and "n".....it's a usb key so there is no more than 1 partition to see, i formatted the usb key (ntfs) and going to retry with that.....

Thanks blackbird

[OrdiDoc]

and of course i still have to choose between 1 - 4 when i'm doing fdisk /dev/sdb1

This is going to be a little bit more painful that i expected it to be, following the instructions from USB PCLOS MiniMe installation Process it looks easy but maybe i need more information.

After doing fdisk /dev/sdb1 i had to write d for delete, p was for printing, got confuse, tried n got 1 - 4 again......

Note: i booted on the minime cd that i did earlier on choosing the console then su then password....i hope that i did ok with that at least   and yes i have to be spoonfed on that so any info will help.

[OrdiDoc]

I restarted everything, i really want to succeed with this and this is where i am now:

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xe9518e91

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        6374    51199123+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2            6375       38913   261369517+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5            6375       19123   102406311    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6           19124       24242    41118336   83  Linux
/dev/sda7           24243       25416     9430123+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda8           25417       38913   108414621   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 8024 MB, 8024752128 bytes
122 heads, 58 sectors/track, 2215 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 7076 * 512 = 3622912 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x04030201

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1               1        2216     7836576    7  HPFS/NTFS


Then:
[root@localhost guest]# umount /dev/sdb1
umount: /dev/sdb1: not mounted

Followed by:
[root@localhost guest]# fdisk /dev/sdb1

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdb1: 8024 MB, 8024653824 bytes
247 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1023 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 15314 * 512 = 7840768 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x6e697373

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

     Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1p1   ?      126438      246330   918008208   4f  QNX4.x 3rd part
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
     phys=(335, 10, 2) logical=(126437, 212, 33)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
     phys=(327, 84, 13) logical=(246329, 56, 32)
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdb1p2   ?      125235      160787   272218546+  73  Unknown
Partition 2 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
     phys=(371, 114, 37) logical=(125234, 235, 32)
Partition 2 has different physical/logical endings:
     phys=(256, 101, 36) logical=(160786, 134, 58)
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdb1p3   ?      118753      154287   272087568   2b  Unknown
Partition 3 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
     phys=(364, 116, 50) logical=(118752, 125, 38)
Partition 3 has different physical/logical endings:
     phys=(372, 65, 44) logical=(154286, 245, 57)
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdb1p4   ?      185747      185751       27487   61  SpeedStor
Partition 4 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
     phys=(372, 101, 51) logical=(185746, 166, 19)
Partition 4 has different physical/logical endings:
     phys=(269, 114, 52) logical=(185750, 64, 60)
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Command (m for help):

So i figure that the usb drive is "sdb" so i am using sdb1

When it gets to type d to delete a partition, i am thinking about this:

/dev/sdb1p1   ?      126438      246330   918008208   4f  QNX4.x 3rd part
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
     phys=(335, 10, 2) logical=(126437, 212, 33)

Questions.....

Is that the one that i have to delete and if yes how to i use d to to it
Am i going to have more to delete
Do i have to type n after that to create the new partition

Thanks

[OrdiDoc]

The tutorial that i'm trying to follow is this one:

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/put-pclinuxos-on-a-flash-drive-via-linux/

[OrdiDoc]

I tried something else following these instructions:

PCLinuxOS USB Flash Drive install tutorial:
1. Download the PCLinuxOS MiniMe ISO
2. Create a new folder on your computer
3. Download fixmm.zip and extract the files to the new folder
4. Run fixmm.bat from new folder and follow the on screen instructions
5. Copy all files from the minime folder to your USB flash memory stick
6. Run makeboot.bat from your USB stick to make it bootable
7. Reboot your computer and set your system to boot from the USB device
Notes: You can log into PCLinuxOS using the username: root and password: root or guest and guest

Everything was working perfectly, i did change the boot options in the BIOS, when booting it says that there is no OS on the usb drive so it can not boot from it.....

I'm really not lucky with this for now.....

[CaptainSarcastic]

Okay, I might be missing something, but I'm not sure why you are trying to follow the process you are.  The instructions you linked to are from 4 years ago, referencing this version of PCLOS:  http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=03609

Why not just boot from the live CD and install to the USB stick from there as though it were a normal hard drive?  I installed PCLOS 2010 onto a 4GB thumb drive successfully this way, although I did omit using a swap partition since it was running off the USB port and not a huge stick.  Went ahead and let GRUB go on the thumb drive and it booted fine.  For minime an 8GB should be plenty big enough.

If you're not concerned about persistence then why not just use unetbootin?  It works great with PCLOS.

[OrdiDoc]

Thanks CaptainSarcastic, i didn't realize that the instructions were from 4 years ago.

I actually have a Dual Boot installation on my laptop drive (Win 7 and PCLOS KDE) so if i put the GRUB on the stick is that going to change what i have on my hard drive? Sorry if i ask but can you explain what is persistence?

[OrdiDoc]

plllllleeeeeaaaaasssseeee

[CaptainSarcastic]

If you put GRUB on the USB stick then it won't touch your physical hard drives at all - in fact you want to make sure that you are NOT installing GRUB to the physical hard drives if you are installing to the USB stick.

To be extra safe you could disconnect the hard drives before doing the install, and run the install without them.  The GRUB installed to the USB stick won't list the other volumes, but if you are not booting from USB constantly or using the stick on different machines then that shouldn't matter.

After reattaching the hard drives and booting from the USB stick you might have to manually mount the volumes on the hard drives, but that is about the only possible issue I can think of.

[Was_Just19]

It is a big day today, i want to install minime on a 8 gig usb key hoping that it is going to work, i already have a question about this:

There are two types of installs
1. Full install just like any internal HDD in a PC
2. A 'Live' install, which is just like that on a CD, except it is on a USB device.

If you wish to do '1.' above then the standard method of installing PCLOS should work without problems for you.

If you wish to do as '2.' above then there are various options, the newest one being a  script especially written to install PCLOS Live to any removable media such as Flash Stick or USB connected HDD.
When using '2.' above, you will also have the option for changes you make to the install  to be stored and available on the next boot. That is called 'persistence'.

There are a number of threads about Live USB installs in the forum.
Most of the information is available in those threads.
If you are going to do a 'Live' install to the USB then the script I mentioned above is availabe here
http://mypclinuxos.com/forum/index.php?topic=2779.msg25128#msg25128

EDIT:
Other threads that may be of interest
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,74878.0.html
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,74879.msg645113.html#msg645113

[OrdiDoc]

Thanks for the replies Captain and JohnBoy, i will try a full install on the usb stick and make sure that GRUB is on the stick, it should be interesting