[plug] Installing Debian GNU/Linux onto a USBkey

[David Godfrey]

Hi Ashley,

Having done this many times.....

Although it is possible to not use an initrd, you will go insane trying.
in most instances it just don't work.

Within the initrd you will need to insert a delay, and possibly an error 
correction loop,
before and arround mounting the root filesystem (on the USBkey).
this is due to usb storage devices not being available instantly once 
the driver is initialised.
I have seen some mention that this may have been corrected in the latest 
kernels though.

It will help a lot if you put a partition label on the partition and 
mount using the "LABEL" option.

Virtually all of my USBkey installs have included networking, sound, 
midnight commander,
ppp, and other apps with a total uncompressed install space under 10Mb.

Another thing, using GRUB is a much better option than LILO.

I have also done installs that include X, Konqueror, and a subset of KDE.
Once sorted this fitted comfortably into less than 64Mb uncompressed.
(Can't remember how comfortably though!)

All of these systems were based on Debian.
While I did hand craft by selecting individual files
from a "REFERENCE" install, I only used files as found within a standard 
system.
That is I did not use busybox etc.
Having said this I did have to create a few custom config files and a 
couple of init scripts.

One last thing, just remember that FLASH devices have a limited 
write-cycle life.
Therefore be carefull about what filesystem you choose.
It may also pay to use more than one partition so that your system is 
mounted read only.


Hope this is of some help.


David Godfrey

Ashley Jennings wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I am starting to research methods for installing Debian onto a USBkey.
>
>My goal is to create an install which will boot any box into a console
>application(gumnut) that is then able to write back to the key for
>data storage.
>A secondary requirement is to automatically pick up available LANs or
>setup a dialup connection.
>
>Currently using a 256MB key and looking to keep the installed size to
>a minimum to be usable on smaller keys.
>
>I'm following the steps in this link, which is for an encrypted
>filesystem but this is not an essential requirement.
>http://www.debian-administration.org/articles/179
>
>I'd be very interested in information,links or experiences from anyone
>who has had success(or not :-) with similar installs.
>
>
>Ashley
>http://gumunt.sf.net
>_______________________________________________
>PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au
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>.
>
>  
>