Linux peeps...

[Myranda_Rose]

Anyone know why the universal USB installer I'm using to make a Linux install I can run from the USB stick isn't working? Have set USB drive as the first thing to boot from and it's formatted as a bootable USB stick... but just seems to refuse point blank to play ball

[musophilr]

How far does it get? ATM I'm having an argument with an SBC, in which it gets as far as starting the Debian installer (so it has loaded that off the USB stick) but when you tell it what kind of install you want it disappears up its own jacksie. I think its something to do with not being able to access the micro SD card which is meant to be behaving like a hard disk.

[Myranda_Rose]

I can't get the system to recognise it for the boot menu.

"USB key" and "USB HDD" are the first two items in the boot order on the bios... so clearly the laptop CAN boot from USB...

But when I press F12 to bring up the boot menu its not there. As it wont recognise it at all I can't get it to go anywhere.

I used the very same Universal USB Installer from the Ubuntu website... so it should be as bootable as needs be... but isnt.

And I've just checked that it's got an MBR so why wont the damn thing live...

[cacofonix]

The boot menu should be on the memory stick.

Just let it boot and the GRUB boot menu on the memory stick should give you the right option.

I would try a live disk install instead. I.e. use the windows live stick installer to put the .iso file onto the memory stick, reboot, let it boot into the os, which should then have an option to install to the HD.

Use Ubuntu not debian. I never have any luck with Debian recognising the wifi.

here: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/univers...easy-as-1-2-3/

[Myranda_Rose]

The boot menu should be on the memory stick.

Just let it boot and the GRUB boot menu on the memory stick should give you the right option.

I would try a live disk install instead. I.e. use the windows live stick installer to put the .iso file onto the memory stick, reboot, let it boot into the os, which should then have an option to install to the HD.

Use Ubuntu not debian. I never have any luck with Debian recognising the wifi.

here: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/univers...easy-as-1-2-3/

That's the one I used...

It just keeps booting from the hard drive no matter how far down the list I put the hard drive.

I only try using F12 to get the boot menu up is because it keeps skipping the USB stick

[cacofonix]

I tend to leave the CD drive to boot frst, which gives the BIOS time to recognise the solid state stuff while looking for the CD drive to boot, then it defaults over to the second option - in your case the memory stick.

What options does the BIOS have? I've seen a few pcs where the bios has a setting for a bus, which cunningly conceals a USB bus.


edit: did you use the format memory stick option? If you don't is doesn't necessarily make it bootable, it just copies the .iso to the stick.

[Myranda_Rose]

Bios has
USB Key
USB HDD
USB CD-ROM
USB FDC
HDD
CD
LAN
FDD

Supposedly the Universal USB Installer is only for making bootable sticks... the stick says it has a master boot record so it should at least pick it up... but nothing

[Red Rabbit]

Try unetbootin for creating the bootable USB stick - http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

I don't recall ever having a problem booting from a USB created using it.

[Myranda_Rose]

I'm just trying another bootmenu file that the first lot did in case that is any better... after that I'm going to try LinuxLive USB creator (as recommended in this weeks Micromart). If that doesnt work Ill give unetbootin a go... after all I've got three different Ubuntu ISOs to play with now, one of the feckers will work!

[cacofonix]

I'm just trying another bootmenu file that the first lot did in case that is any better... after that I'm going to try LinuxLive USB creator (as recommended in this weeks Micromart). If that doesnt work Ill give unetbootin a go... after all I've got three different Ubuntu ISOs to play with now, one of the feckers will work!

Technically an .iso file creates a bootable cd. why not try booting from USB CD and see if that works?

If it's a bootable stick it won't necessarily have an MBR. Not sure if MBRS are in the ISO9660 standard??

I fell into that trap a while ago. I had to wipe out 7.4G of an 8G stick because the MBR needed to reflect a CD standard. I had a right job formatting it back to 8G