Booting Puppy from USB pen drive

Booting, installing, newbie
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gangalee
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USB pen drive booting

#1 Post by gangalee »

I'm using the USB-installation method from the CD-booted Puppy-1.0.1 utility menu.
However, on my USB drive, I have the following files installed:
total 61316
-r-x------ 1 ira ira 6815177 2005-05-31 15:14 image.gz
-r-x------ 1 ira ira 8236 2005-05-31 15:20 ldlinux.sys
-rwx------ 1 ira ira 256 2005-05-31 15:13 --linux-.---
-rwx------ 1 ira ira 108 2005-05-31 15:20 syslinux.cfg
-r-x------ 1 ira ira 55013376 2005-05-31 15:14 usr_cram.fs
-r-x------ 1 ira ira 933988 2005-05-31 15:13 vmlinuz

I'm missing syslinux files: syslinux.com , syslinux , (optional) syslinux.doc.
Is this why it won't boot from an Award BIOS v6.00PG system?

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danleff
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#2 Post by danleff »

This is a frequently asked question when using Puppy's script to set up the stick. There are many questions that lead to determine if the stick will work.

What brand and model USB stick is this?

What setting in the bios are you trying to boot from as the first boot device?

USB-ZIP
USB-HDD
USB-FDD

The ability to boot from a USB stick using syslinux is highly dependent on the bios in your system. Unfortunately, there is no one standard between bios types for booting USB.

Is the filesystem on the stick a fat16 (the original, unaltered partition that came pre-formatted with the stick)?

When you set up the stick, did Puppy just see one partition on the stick, say sda1?

Is this a laptop or desktop? Make and model?

PakRat's method seems to work, if your system is capable of bootiong from USB. Some boot fine usinmg the USB-ZIP setting as the first boot device, some with USB-HDD.
I love it when a plan comes together

--Hannibal Smith

nduanetesh
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#3 Post by nduanetesh »

Gangalee, please see the page linked a bit further down in this post. It will tell you why your key isn't booting. (I've got a key with exactly the same files you've got, and a machine running AwardBIOS, and it boots like a champ!) Check the "BIOS Settings" section.

Danleff

I've just created a wiki page to cover problems folks might have booting their USB keys (and to save you and I from having to type the same things over and over and over...) and I humbly ask you to add your knowledge to it.

http://www.goosee.com/puppy/wikka/TroubleBootingUSBKeys

I haven't emptied my noggin onto the page yet, but I think I got it off to a good start.

ND

My appologies to PakRat, as it seems we have all hijacked your topic.

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gangalee
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USB pen drive booting

#4 Post by gangalee »

Here's my device's lsusb -vv output:
Bus 004 Device 008: ID 1005:b113 Apacer Technology, Inc. Handy Steno 2.0 (256MB)Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x1005 Apacer Technology, Inc.
idProduct 0xb113 Handy Steno 2.0 (256MB)
bcdDevice 0.50
iManufacturer 1
iProduct 2
iSerial 3
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 32
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0x80
MaxPower 500mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 2
bInterfaceClass 8 Mass Storage
bInterfaceSubClass 6 SCSI
bInterfaceProtocol 80 Bulk (Zip)
iInterface 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
can't get device qualifier: Operation not permitted
can't get debug descriptor: Operation not permitted

and here's a link to other notes: http://www.qbik.ch/usb/devices/showdev.php?id=2279

I've tried USB-ZIP
USB-HDD
USB-FDD
USB-CD-rom
SCSI
with Boot Up Floppy Seek enabled/disabled

at boot, it shows "USB Storage Device: USB FLASH DRIVE" before the PCI device listing.
The last message before hanging is "Invalid or damaged Bootable partition".
on a Desktop machine without a external USB hub.

nduanetesh
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#5 Post by nduanetesh »

Have you tried the advice on this page:

http://www.goosee.com/puppy/wikka/TroubleBootingUSBKeys

regarding your BIOS settings? Specifically, try booting the key as a hard drive, rather than a "USB-[something]"?

ND

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gangalee
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USB pen drive booting

#6 Post by gangalee »

I don't find this part in my bios: "find the setting for "Hard Disk Boot Priority". When you enter this menu, you will see a list of all of the hard drives attached to the computer, including your USB key."

nduanetesh
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#7 Post by nduanetesh »

So when you're moving through the boot options in your bios, you have a series of choices like "HDD-0", "HDD-1", "HDD-2", etc?

From the error message you're mentioning, it sounds like your BIOS are expecting an MBR structure that your key does not have...this is one problem with usb booting not being very well standardized at this point in time. I don't know how to (or even if you can) alter the mbr to the structure that your bios would like to see....unless someone else has an idea, you might be SOL as far as this key is concerned. I know if feels like giving up, but you might need to plop down $15 and get a different key. Check the wiki usb page for keys with which others have had success.

Sorry not more helpful.

ND

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gangalee
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Re: USBKey booting

#8 Post by gangalee »

Correct, I don't have the "HDD0..." options.
Thanks for your effort though.

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danleff
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#9 Post by danleff »

When you are in the bios, what options do you have?

Are you highlighting the first boot device and using the "page down" or "page up" key(s) to view/toggle through the options?

in other words, you are looking for the secton that has the boot priority settings, such as

First boot device...
Second boot device..

If you have an older system, you may not see these exact options, or even have the ability to boot ftom a USB key.

What system (make and model) do you have?
I love it when a plan comes together

--Hannibal Smith

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gangalee
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Re: USBKey booting

#10 Post by gangalee »

It's a made-up system. Check my earlier post for the BIOS version.
I've already gone through the BIOS options available to me. I'm pretty familiar w/ BIOS options, it's not there.


Guest

#12 Post by Guest »

When Puppy installs to a USB drive ity dosen't set the boot flag. You can do this with fdisk from a Win98 or Freedos bootfloppy after turning off your IDE controllers in the bios so the USB drive will be the only drive showing.

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danleff
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#13 Post by danleff »

OK, I was trying to make sure you were in the correct place, as you posted;
Correct, I don't have the "HDD0..." options.
...and this is an option under the Advanced bios features. I assume you were referring to the USB boot options. But many folks don't know about changing the boot order. I did not know if you were aware of this, not knowing your level of expertise with bios settings.

So, you need to boot via floppy, a cdrom boot disk (as noted above) or Grub.

BTW the one link about changing the boot order is terrible.

http://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setu ... ndard_cmos
As you can see the first boot device is set to floppy. This ensures that the floppy disk is read first when the system boots, and therefore can boot from windows boot disk. The second boot device is the Hard disk and third is set to LS120. If you want to boot from a bootable CD then you can set the third boot device to CD/DVD-ROM.
Is this a typo? The first boot device should be changed to boot from a cdrom or other device?
I love it when a plan comes together

--Hannibal Smith

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Flash
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#14 Post by Flash »

You're right danleff; if you want to boot from the CD, it must come before the hard drive in the BIOS boot order. Otherwise the computer will always boot from the hard drive (assuming the hard drive has a bootable partition on it) and never get to the CD drive.

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Lobster
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BIOS Boot

#15 Post by Lobster »

As well as going into the Bios

http://www.goosee.com/puppy/wikka/BootingFromCD

some Bios (mine for example uses f11 at boot) allow you to choose the boot method during boot time but without going into the depths of the BIOS
That means I can have a HD (hard disk) and Puppy CD operating system choice.


hope this is useful :)

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