[gentoo-user] Re: Install from USB stick; here's how

[Grant Edwards]

On 2013-01-07, Walter Dnes <waltdnes@××××××××.org> wrote:

>   For those of you who don't want to do the tap-dance listed at...
> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/liveusb.xml
>
> * My netbook's harddrive is normally /dev/sda, except when I boot from a
>   USB stick.  The stick will become /dev/sda and the harddrive becomes
>   /dev/sdb
>
> * My desktop's harddrive is also /dev/sda.  I took the linux minimal
>   install ISO, ran isohybrid on it, with the command...
>
> isohybrid install-x86-minimal-20121213.iso
>
>   If you don't have isohybrid...
>
> emerge sys-boot/syslinux
>
> * I then copied it over to a USB stick (/dev/sdb) with the command...
>
> dd bs=4M if=install-x86-minimal-20121213.iso of=/dev/sdb

I did a 64-bit install from USB flash-drive a few days ago using the
older tap-dance, and it worked fine -- except I discovered one of my
"must have" apps is 32-bit only and didn't work correctly when run in
32-bit emulation mode (I don't know why).

So I tried Walter's recipe yesterday to do a 32-bit install.

After running the isohybrid command, I compared the resulting image
with the original.  They were identical.  I copied the image to a USB
flash drive, and it booted just fine.

It seems that the minimal install .iso images are already built for
hybrid booting from either CD or a generic block device (e.g. USB
mass-storage device).

So what's the deal with http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB/HOWTO?

Why isn't it just the steps below?

  1) Copy the minimal install .iso to USB mass storage device.

  2) Boot from USB mass storage device.  


-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! I am a traffic light,
                                  at               and Alan Ginzberg kidnapped
                              gmail.com            my laundry in 1927!