Linux on USB disks : Puppy Linux
Today I tried out installing two separate, cut-down, versions of Linux onto a USB drive.
This post details my experience with puppy linux.
I tried getting various files but ended up using the iso download file.
ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/puppylinux/puppy-3.01-seamonkey.iso
Instead of burning a CDR I booted the cd image with Qemu, a free virtual machine emulator (available in Ubuntu Debian Gnu/Linux)
qemu -k en-gb -m 512 -localtime -boot d -cdrom puppy-3.01-seamonkey.iso /dev/sdb1
I provided the USB drive as the hard-drive to the virtual machine (/dev/sdb1) and instructed the boot drive to be the cd (’-cdrom cd-image.iso) with the option ‘-boot d’.
I booted into XVESA, XORG didn’t work.
Then I selected the install option “Install to IDE flash drive.” from the puppy installer at Menu -> Setup -> Puppy Universal Installer
I shut down the virtual machine, and rebooted, this time from the newly set-up USB disk, with:
qemu -k en-gb -m 512 -localtime /dev/sdb1
Worked fine, no issues !
Previously I had tried downloading other puppy linux files from the download server, but failed to install to a USB disk (without too much trying I must admit though in fairness)
