Formating Linux On A Usb Hard Drive

TOO SLIM · 02-02-2008, 12:29 AM

Total Newbie In This Department ! ! ! Can Someone Tell Me In Simple Terms Exactly How To Format Linux On To A Usb Hard Drive That I'm Using On A Pvr Sat System. I've Tried, But So Far I'm Missing The Boat .. So I Figured I Would Just Start Fresh And Ask Somebody To Help Me Do It The Right Way..
Any Help Is Greatly Appreciated
Thanks
Too Slim

Ed West · 02-05-2008, 12:49 PM

Greetings!
I've been wanting to do this, too. I don't know what a Pvr Sat System is, but you might try going to this site: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/categor...ls-from-linux/ to see if they have the answers you're looking for.
Good luck!

ncsu1983 · 02-05-2008, 09:36 PM

Most installations to USB drives are referred to as frugal installs. Basically, this means everything on the CD is copied to the USB device. For a frugal install, most distros require the pen drive be partitioned as a FAT16 or FAT32. Puppy Linux, which installs easily on a pen drive, has ample documentation. Same for Damn Small Linux. I think Wolvix is the easiest to install to USB drive. Boot the live CD, then go to the Wolvix Control Center. From there, select the tab that says "Hard disk installation" or something similar, at which point you'll have 3-4 options to choose. Select "install to USB".

First things first, though:
1. From a Linux terminal, and with your USB drive inserted, type "mount" without quotes. This will tell you what files are mounted where. A USB drive will probably be listed as /dev/sda1 and will be mounted on /mnt/sda1 or some other location, but double-check to be sure.
2. Make sure you can boot from a USB drive. This shouldn't be a problem with newer machines. If your machine can't boot from a USB device, then you're wasting your time. :(

02-02-2008, 12:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
TOO SLIM Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 2 OS: xp	Formating Linux On A Usb Hard Drive Total Newbie In This Department ! ! ! Can Someone Tell Me In Simple Terms Exactly How To Format Linux On To A Usb Hard Drive That I'm Using On A Pvr Sat System. I've Tried, But So Far I'm Missing The Boat .. So I Figured I Would Just Start Fresh And Ask Somebody To Help Me Do It The Right Way.. Any Help Is Greatly Appreciated Thanks Too Slim

02-05-2008, 12:49 PM	#2 (permalink)
Ed West Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: San Gabriel, CA Posts: 16 OS: XP SP2	Re: Formating Linux On A Usb Hard Drive Greetings! I've been wanting to do this, too. I don't know what a Pvr Sat System is, but you might try going to this site: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/categor...ls-from-linux/ to see if they have the answers you're looking for. Good luck!

02-05-2008, 09:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
ncsu1983 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Midwest USA Posts: 38 OS: Linux My System	Re: Formating Linux On A Usb Hard Drive Most installations to USB drives are referred to as frugal installs. Basically, this means everything on the CD is copied to the USB device. For a frugal install, most distros require the pen drive be partitioned as a FAT16 or FAT32. Puppy Linux, which installs easily on a pen drive, has ample documentation. Same for Damn Small Linux. I think Wolvix is the easiest to install to USB drive. Boot the live CD, then go to the Wolvix Control Center. From there, select the tab that says "Hard disk installation" or something similar, at which point you'll have 3-4 options to choose. Select "install to USB". First things first, though: 1. From a Linux terminal, and with your USB drive inserted, type "mount" without quotes. This will tell you what files are mounted where. A USB drive will probably be listed as /dev/sda1 and will be mounted on /mnt/sda1 or some other location, but double-check to be sure. 2. Make sure you can boot from a USB drive. This shouldn't be a problem with newer machines. If your machine can't boot from a USB device, then you're wasting your time. :(