USB install and run from USB not possible 2012-10?

[ramaswamyps]

the previous version pclinuxos 2010 12 drakeinsall installed to USB pendrive correctly and i am not able to upgrade it.
i tried to install 2012 full monty in the same USB drive. it does not work.it does not go from partition stage.
i have tried ext3 ext4 both fails at partition format of USB pendrive.
wha changes have come in drakeinsaller??
advice how to go about installing this to USB and run from there.
i have got a new 16Gb flash drive for this purpose.

[agmg]

First of all, have you checked the md5sum of the iso you downloaded so to be sure that you don't have a corrupted file?
Second, have you tried partitioning your USB drive before making the installation?
Are you trying to replace the old installation or install both versions on the drive?

You can try with diskdrake, Gparted or KDE partition manager.

Additionally, the output of fdisk -l on your USB would be useful.

[ramaswamyps]

yes  have found the md5sum of the downloaded iso and the dvd md5sum are ok.
the livecd desktop coes up fine.
on trying to install to USB from livecd the format does not complete. i get the program not responding.

yes i have tried gparted cfdisk and windows easus partitioner to make ext3 partition of sdb1 full USB flash drive.
i hae even repared the MBR of the flash drive to windows 7 format.
how else i can install this to USB drive and run from it?

[agmg]

If I understand correctly, you boot from a liveCD and during the live session, you are trying to install on a USB?

While in live session, open a terminal and type:

su (root password - "root" for the live session)
fdisk -l

and post the output here.

[ramaswamyps]

alt ctl F2 shows bootup screen messages.
there it says USB hid kernel module not found.
there is no wonder it cannot format USB drive.
after the installer fails to format it cannot give any more messages.
is there any way to download kernel modules for USB drive and add it to the iso
or any other solution?

[agmg]

Lets start over...

Do you boot your system from a LiveCD and select "Install PCLinuxOS"?
Can you load a live session and see if your USB is recognized?

[Old-Polack]

alt ctl F2 shows bootup screen messages.
there it says USB hid kernel module not found.
there is no wonder it cannot format USB drive.
after the installer fails to format it cannot give any more messages.
is there any way to download kernel modules for USB drive and add it to the iso
or any other solution?

Open a terminal and enter these two commands;

[prompt ~]$ lsmod |grep usb                              <Enter>

[prompt ~]$ lsmod |grep hcd                              <Enter>

Post your results.

[ramaswamyps]

initially yes the installer finds the USB drive.
after it starts the format it does not go any further from 50% progess bar.
after that USB is not recognised any more.
again i have to boot up windows and format FAT32 then installer finds it again only to repeat the same processes.
cfdisk mke2fs -j /dev/sdb1 works
but installer wants to format it again and fails to do.
then only i found the kernel modules not loaded.
my laptop is toshiba satellie C855D-S5232 with 3 USB 2.0 ports
i have 4 Gb RAM . system is quite capable of running any linux.
i have gentoo running on a partition in hdd
i want the USB bootable pclinuxos for grub cannot be installed in the windows 8 hdd , then both windows and linux will fail to boot.
the old version pclinuxos still installs fine on the USB drive and runs.
but i cannot run any upgrade on it.
i really like to have the 64bit gnome pclos distro.
even that does not wants to install to USB.
it is real total mess !

[Just17]

Still awaiting the output of the fdisk command as requested ......

[ramaswamyps]

Code: [Select]

[root@localhost guest]#  lsmod |grep usb 
btusb                   9953  0
usbhid                 31486  0
bluetooth             134084  1 btusb
hid                    68607  1 usbhid
usb_storage            34803  0
usbcore               122231  10 uvcvideo,btusb,rts5139,usbhid,xhci_hcd,ehci_hcd,ohci_hcd,uhci_hcd,usb_storage
usb_common               589  1 usbcore
scsi_mod              154041  7 firewire_sbp2,rts5139,sg,libata,usb_storage,sd_mod,sr_mod
[root@localhost guest]# lsmod |grep hcd
xhci_hcd               71317  0
ehci_hcd               35889  0
ohci_hcd               18865  0
uhci_hcd               19832  0
usbcore               122231  10 uvcvideo,btusb,rts5139,usbhid,xhci_hcd,ehci_hcd,ohci_hcd,uhci_hcd,usb_storage
[root@localhost guest]#

i had already formated the usb drive in windows.
anyways

Code: [Select]

Disk /dev/sda: 16.0 GB, 16008609792 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 15267 cylinders, total 31266816 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0007dec0

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *          96    31266815    15633360    5  Extended
/dev/sda5             126    31266815    15633345    b  W95 FAT32
[root@localhost guest]#

it looks ok here
but it just does not work

this post is posted from livecd boot.

[agmg]

Maybe you should create a primary partition instead of an extended one?

From the live session use diskdrake to manipulate the USB.
Delete the old partition and create a new one with ext4.
Format it.

Then try to install again.

[ramaswamyps]

ok i will try that and get back here
thanks for so many replies.

[ramaswamyps]

Code: [Select]

[root@localhost guest]# diskdrake
Error: Error opening /dev/sda: No such file or directory
INTERNAL ERROR: unknown device sda
MDK::Common::Various::internal_error() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/devices.pm:186
devices::entry() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/devices.pm:201
devices::make() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/fs/type.pm:279
fs::type::call_blkid() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/fs/type.pm:287
fs::type::type_subpart_from_magic() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/fsedit.pm:197
fsedit::__ANON__() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/fsedit.pm:243
fsedit::get_hds() called from /usr/sbin/diskdrake:74
[root@localhost guest]#
oh i got stuck straight away !