Gentoo Websites Logo
Go to: Gentoo Home Documentation Forums Lists Bugs Planet Store Wiki Get Gentoo!
Bug 176427 - SUGGESTION: Distribute a 1GB USB Memory Stick Image
Summary: SUGGESTION: Distribute a 1GB USB Memory Stick Image
Status: VERIFIED WONTFIX
Alias: None
Product: Gentoo Release Media
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Everything (show other bugs)
Hardware: All Linux
: High enhancement (vote)
Assignee: Gentoo Release Team
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2007-04-29 02:00 UTC by ivo welch
Modified: 2012-05-18 19:28 UTC (History)
0 users

See Also:
Package list:
Runtime testing required: ---


Attachments

Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.
Description ivo welch 2007-04-29 02:00:19 UTC
Title says it all.  They cost $10.  Figuring out how to work this stuff with syslinux etc, boot flags, etc. is a pain.   Why can't distribution of a "live distribution on USB stick" be the equivalent of an ISO image---ok, I should have to do
   dd if=myimage.img of=/dev/sdusbstick
a bzip2-ed image should do great.

Reproducible: Always
Comment 1 nm (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2007-04-29 02:11:01 UTC
It's no more of a pain than installing with a regular CD. Just follow our LiveUSB howto[1] (yes, it will be updated shortly for 2007.0). It's all you need, really.


[1] http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/liveusb.xml
Comment 2 Andrew Gaffney (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2007-04-29 04:50:57 UTC
Aside from there already being a guide for something like this, this isn't really feasible.

Creating a 1GB image leaves owners of USB sticks <1GB out in the cold. It would also leave someone with a >1GB stick with part of their stick unusable. On top of that, not all 1GB sticks are equal. They are usually "within 50MB of 1GB" sticks.
Comment 3 ivo welch 2007-04-29 12:23:49 UTC
I know.  I did.  Doesn't work for me right now, but probably not gentoo's fault (probably the USB boot system on my computer).  A dd would have made sure I have no problems.

it was just a suggestion---and I thought a low-cost one.

/iaw
Comment 4 ivo welch 2007-04-29 12:28:51 UTC
oh...and a $10 stick (soon to be a $2-$5 stick) is something people can buy for fun.  I did not think substitute for the USB instructions.  I was thinking complement.

regards,

/iaw
Comment 5 ivo welch 2007-04-29 12:32:36 UTC
I know I am being ridiculous...sorry guys.  how about a script that builds the entire USB stick (including verification that it will boot, perhaps by trying it in a VM-type environment), and can do it either from an ISO image or over the www web:

install-to-flash.sh /dev/sdxx
install-to-flash.sh -i /dev/cdrom /dev/sdxx
install-to-flash.sh -i /tmp/gentoo.iso /dev/sdxx

please close this bug again, but I wanted to get these 10 secs of attention.

regards,

/ivo
Comment 6 Andrew Gaffney (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2007-04-29 17:28:37 UTC
If you want to create such a script, then perhaps we'll consider it. Until then, I don't think anybody in releng is interested in doing anything like this.
Comment 7 Chris Gianelloni (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2007-04-30 21:37:33 UTC
I'll put this simply.  Release Engineering doesn't care about USB sticks.

The USB guide was written by another developer, and was maintained by him.  We make no guarantees that the methods described in it will work, nor do we care to guarantee it.  The method as described on the guide will *not* work with certain releases.  I know it will not work with 2006.1's media.

Also, people tend to forget that we're all volunteers.  It is very easy to tell someone else to do something.  At any rate, Andrew is right, this is a WONTFIX.  Even if you were to write up a script that did this, we wouldn't support it nor make any guarantee that it would continue to work across releases.  Sorry, but the CD media is our primary concern.  Unsupported media isn't something we care to support and we don't have the manpower to change that any time soon.
Comment 8 David Heidelberg (okias) 2012-05-18 19:28:32 UTC
Situation changed in past 5 years.

CD/DVD mechanics are no longer included in laptops and computers. 

What you think about installing from USB ?

Maybe is time to reconsider re-opening this bug. It could help to lot of Gentoo administrators.