Linux on USB disks : Damn Small Linux
Today I tried out installing two separate, cut-down, versions of Linux onto a USB drive.
This post details my experience with damn small linux.
I tried getting various files, including the embedded zip file, but failed to install to
a USB disk. The idea seemed pretty simple, unzip the files onto the USB
disk, run sys linux. Go. But it just wouldn’t work. Kept reporting
missing files early in boot.
The alternative, boot into the system form the iso and install from there, also failed.
Note, in both cases I am booting into a virtual machine, not natively.
http://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/damnsmalllinux.org/current/dsl-4.2.5.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 dsl-4.2.5.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’.
DSL booted up into the GUI without issue.
Then
I selected the install option “USB-HDD Pendrive Install.” from the DSL Menu -> Apps -> Tools
I also tried HDD install.
Neither work. The filesystem has errors on creation. Might try again when booted native from the CD, instead of through the virtual macine.
