Attachment 76445 Details for Bug 118179 – liveusb.xml

liveusb.xml

liveusb.xml (text/plain), 6.99 KB, created by Henrik Brix Andersen on 2006-01-07 06:52:10 UTC

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Creator: Henrik Brix Andersen

Created: 2006-01-07 06:52:10 UTC

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><?xml version='1.0' encoding="UTF-8"?>
>
>
><!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd">
>
><guide link="/doc/en/liveusb.xml">
><title>Gentoo Linux LiveUSB HOWTO</title>
>
><author title="Author">
>  <mail link="brix@gentoo.org">Henrik Brix Andersen</mail>
></author>
>
><abstract>
>  This HOWTO explains how to create a Gentoo Linux LiveUSB or, in
>  other words, how to emulate a Gentoo Linux Installation CD using an
>  USB flash drive.
></abstract>
>
>
>
><license/>
>
><version>1.0</version>
><date>2006-01-04</date>
>
><chapter>
><title>Introduction</title>
><section>
><title>The LiveUSB</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>  This HOWTO explains how to create a <e>Gentoo Linux LiveUSB</e> or,
>  in other words, how to emulate a Gentoo Linux Installation CD using
>  an USB flash drive. This is particularly useful for installing
>  Gentoo Linux on a modern laptop with no CD-ROM drive.
></p>
>
><p>
>  Although the instructions found in this document aims at emulating a
>  Gentoo Linux Installation CD using an USB flash drive, they should
>  work for any arbitrary block device as long as you adjust the device
>  names accordingly.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Prerequisites</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>  In order to use a Gentoo Linux LiveUSB you need the following:
></p>
>
><ul>
>  <li>Bootable USB flash drive (at least 64MB)</li>
>  <li>x86 computer with support for booting from USB</li>
></ul>
>
><p>
>  You will also need access to the following for creating the LiveUSB:
></p>
>
><ul>
>  <li>A computer running Gentoo Linux (or alternatively
>  another Linux distribution)</li>
></ul>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
><chapter>
><title>Preparing the USB flash drive</title>
><section>
><title>Partitioning the drive</title>
><body>
>
><warn>
>  These instructions will erase all data from the USB flash
>  drive. Make sure to backup your data first.
></warn>
>
><impo>
>  This HOWTO assumes that the <path>/dev/sda</path> device node
>  corresponds to your USB flash drive. If you have other SCSI-like
>  devices make sure to use the correct device node.
></impo>
>
><p>
>  Create a FAT32 partition on your USB flash drive and mark it
>  bootable using <c>fdisk</c>. An example partitioning scheme can be
>  seen below:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Example partitioning scheme">
># <i>fdisk -l /dev/sda</i>
>
>Disk /dev/sda: 1048 MB, 1048313856 bytes
>33 heads, 61 sectors/track, 1017 cylinders
>Units = cylinders of 2013 * 512 = 1030656 bytes
>
>   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>/dev/sda1   *           1        1017     1023580    b  W95 FAT32
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Creating the filesystem</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>  Create a FAT32 filesystem on the USB flash drive
>  using <c>mkdosfs</c>:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Running mkdosfs">
><comment>(Make sure you have sys-fs/dosfstools installed)</comment>
># <i>emerge -av sys-fs/dosfstools</i>
># <i>mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/sda1</i>
>mkdosfs 2.11 (12 Mar 2005)
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Installing a Master Boot Record</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>  Install the precompiled Master Boot Record (MBR)
>  from <c>syslinux</c> on the USB flash drive:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Installing a master boot record">
><comment>(Make sure you have sys-boot/syslinux-3.00 or later installed)</comment>
># <i>emerge -av '>=sys-boot/syslinux-3*'</i>
># <i>dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sda</i>
>0+1 records in
>0+1 records out
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
><chapter>
><title>Copying the files</title>
><section>
><title>Mounting the Gentoo Linux Installation CD</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>  Download the <path>install-x86-minimal-2005.1-r1.iso</path> file
>  from your local Gentoo
>  Linux <uri link="/main/en/where.xml">mirror</uri> site and mount the
>  ISO image on <path>/mnt/cdrom/</path> as shown below:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Mounting the Gentoo Linux Installation CD ISO image">
><comment>(Create the /mnt/cdrom/ mount point if needed)</comment>
># <i>mkdir -p /mnt/cdrom</i>
># <i>mount -o loop,ro -t iso9660 install-x86-minimal-2005.1-r1.iso /mnt/cdrom/</i>
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Mounting the LiveUSB</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>  Mount the newly formatted USB flash drive on <path>/mnt/usb/</path>
>  as shown below:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Mounting the USB flash drive">
><comment>(Create the /mnt/usb/ mount point if needed)</comment>
># <i>mkdir -p /mnt/usb</i>
># <i>mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb/</i>
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Copying the files</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>  Copy the files from the Gentoo Linux Installation CD to the
>  LiveUSB. The files needs to be reordered a bit as we will be using
>  the <c>syslinux</c> bootloader instead of <c>isolinux</c>:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Copying the files">
># <i>cp -r /mnt/cdrom/* /mnt/usb/</i>
># <i>mv /mnt/usb/isolinux/* /mnt/usb/</i>
># <i>mv /mnt/usb/isolinux.cfg /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg</i>
># <i>rm -rf /mnt/usb/isolinux*</i>
>
><comment>(The memtest86 kernel needs to be renamed for loading it via syslinux)</comment>
># <i>mv /mnt/usb/memtest86 /mnt/usb/memtest</i>
></pre>
>
><p>
>  You can now unmount the ISO image:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Unmounting the ISO image">
># <i>umount /mnt/cdrom/</i>
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Adjusting the bootloader configuration</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>  Adjust the syslinux configuration file using <c>sed</c> as shown
>  below. The <c>scandelay=10</c> parameter will introduce a 10 seconds
>  delay before attempting to mount the filesystem. This is needed to
>  allow the USB flash drive to settle upon detection.
></p>
>
><pre caption="Adjusting the boot parameters">
># <i>sed -i \
>    -e "s:cdroot:cdroot scandelay=10:" \
>    -e "s:kernel memtest86:kernel memtest:" \
>    /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg</i>
></pre>
>
><note>
>  Consider adding <c>docache</c> to the boot parameters. This will
>  allow running <c>umount /mnt/cdrom/</c> after booting so that you
>  can unplug the USB flash drive.
></note>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
><chapter>
><title>Installing a bootloader</title>
><section>
><title>Unmounting the drive</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>  Make sure you unmount the USB flash drive drive before installing
>  the bootloader:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Unmounting the USB flash drive">
># <i>umount /mnt/usb/</i>
></pre>
>
></body>
></section>
><section>
><title>Installing syslinux</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>  Finally install the <c>syslinux</c> bootloader on the USB flash
>  drive:
></p>
>
><pre caption="Running syslinux">
># <i>syslinux /dev/sda1</i>
></pre>
>
><impo>
>  You will need to rerun <c>syslinux /dev/sda1</c> each time you
>  modify the <path>syslinux.cfg</path> file for the configuration
>  changes to take affect.
></impo>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
><chapter>
><title>Using the LiveUSB</title>
><section>
><title>Booting</title>
><body>
>
><p>
>  Insert the USB flash drive and turn on the computer, making sure the
>  BIOS is set to boot from USB. If all goes well you should be
>  presented with a standard syslinux prompt.
></p>
>
><p>
>  You should be able to follow the generic installation instructions
>  found in the <uri link="/doc/en/handbook/">Gentoo Handbook</uri>
>  from here on.
></p>
>
></body>
></section>
></chapter>
></guide>

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