Hello to all...
I have a prob and it goes like that :
i take winuser and i show them the beuty of linux (slax mandrake etc...)
all goes ok when you use cd ..
i own some nice usb mp3 player that works also as storge device (exceptthe mp3 stuff) ..
i would like to use it for runnig a distro from it (slax?).
the thing is that you need to change the filesystem to ext2 (as said in the faq) but my player dont support ext2.
how can i make slax to boot from fat?
or how can i confiugre lilo/grub to load an iso file ?

Haven't tried Slax yet but I believe it is same for every pendrive - you just install it as though it is a hard disk. So intead of the usual hda1 one just choose sda1 etc.

Damn Small Linux is residing in my pendrive's FAT16 partition and I don't expect it to be different for Slax.

ok i will try that ...
what about the iso load by lilo (or something else)..
this way i could have sevral distro on on usb ...

You have to wait a few years yet because a standard full size distro needs about 5Gb even the average footprint may be 2.5 to 3Gb. Think you can get 2Gb memory card. Any thing higher is still in a hard disk.

Also I am not sure if a pendrive has the same booting arrangement as the MBR in the hard disk.

Even if it does I haven't seen small distros written to co-exist with each other in a USB pendrive, as they tend to grab the whole storage and install inisde, leaving no spare partition behind.

You can install many distros in an USB external hard drive but may not be happy with the bottle necking response by the USB cable.

sorry i didn't explain myself:
when i say that i i mean that i wish that there will be sevral iso files and lilo on a hdd will load them .
about distros :
slax 100 mb
knopix 750.
kinnert 600.
2005LE one/ehad 1gb.
suse 650.

if you take thous you can put up to 3 distros on one power disk(S1) player (2gb).
any way thnx...

Grub and Lilo does not load an iso file. They load the system after the files have been expanded to a workable form.

The size of the Linux in a working partition can be very different to that inside an iso file. After all what is the point of installing them if they work off as an iso image.

you configure Grub by amending its /boot/grub/menu.lst file

and for Lilo its /etc/lilo.conf

both can multiboot but an operating system must have its owmn partition.

i have to disagree with the previous post about this topic
ahem, check out my post at another site http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20959

and it would mean that in http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Win_Partition
it is indeed possible to boot just from an iso file. it is just a matter of loading the correct kernels and initrd files and a few magic cheatcodes. i am using that config right now since i'm in an office environment where i cannot burn to a cd nor to create another partition.

this is just to bring hope to the hopeless. peace!

Hey i dont know if this will help or not but... you can use a prog called QTparted its on the MEpis install section of there cd. i have a creative Zen and its normally Fat32 but i got it to be partitioned for ext.3. it takes some time. it doesnt work all the time but eventually it does.
first i had to delete the existing partition then create a new one with ext.3 sometimes it works but sometimes it doesnt.. the important thing is one it says it is now ext3 go to the test linux partition section and see if it runs into any badblocks , as mine occasinnally did. I have so far managed to put slax on it...my problem is i just havent gotten it to boot from my computer yet. maybe its my computer!? by the way. i just did this all today ..

I don't mind disagreements but neither Grub nor Lilo could work without a root dirtectory to load the system.

Putting a few iso files in a same partition and hope Grub or Lilo can pick any one to load is just a fantasy to me.

Both Grub and Lilo need to know the "root" of a system and that should always be a unique partition within a box.

hey if you are still curious , i got a distro to boot from my creative zen micro. Its called PHLAK little boy. It was made for USB booting all i needed to do extra was partition my zen with qt parted from fat32 to ext3 then i loaded the PHLAK cd and clicked on install to usb pendrive and it loaded it into my zen micro with GRUB. On the first attempt to boot it it worked and has ever since.now i can listen to my music and when i stop by a friends house bott my OS on there comp. its a beautiful thing.peace.