Installing and running linux from sdhc card

o12357 · 06-23-2009, 12:53 PM

Hi there.
im a newbie to linux and would like to use it for the first time on my laptop.
My laptop already runs windows xp and i would like to try to use linux without partitioning my hard drive, at least until i get some experience with linux.
I would like to know whether it is possible to run linux from sdhc card, and whether my sony vaio will boot from the sd card.
Any help would be much appreciated.

watcher69b · 06-23-2009, 01:15 PM

Quote:

I would like to know whether it is possible to run linux from sdhc card, and whether my sony vaio will boot from the sd card.
Any help would be much appreciated.

I have not yet seen a laptop that will boot from a SD card.
If you don't want to partition then your best bet would be a USB stick or external USB hard disk

allele · 06-23-2009, 05:21 PM

This suggests it is possible to boot from an SD card.

I will also want to boot a Sony Vaio P (which Vaio are you trying to use?) from SD, but I haven't got as far as that yet.

onebuck · 06-23-2009, 07:17 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by allele

This suggests it is possible to boot from an SD card.

I will also want to boot a Sony Vaio P (which Vaio are you trying to use?) from SD, but I haven't got as far as that yet.

Does your Sony boot a SD? The link you referenced is for a 'eee'.

allele · 06-24-2009, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Does your Sony boot a SD? The link you referenced is for a 'eee'.

I don't know yet. I have to buy an SD card first, and the postage is too much to this country, so I'm waiting a couple of weeks.

onebuck · 06-24-2009, 08:32 AM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by allele

I don't know yet. I have to buy an SD card first, and the postage is too much to this country, so I'm waiting a couple of weeks.

What does the BIOS or manual show?

Google/Linux is a wonderful resource;

Quote:

excerpt from 'How do I install Ubuntu Linux on a Netbook?';

I rebooted the computer and pressed Esc to be able to select from bootable devices, but, well, it didn't work. Not good. I tried again with the Delete key held down. No luck. Some random Google searches later and I found that "F2" was the secret "get to the BIOS" key. I tried it and it worked!

Within the BIOS you need to go to "Boot" then choose "Boot Device Priority" and find out that, well, there's nothing you can change. The order is Removable Dev., then HDD:PM-ST9160827AS (the hard drive), then ATAPI CD-ROM (which is a bit odd as the device doesn't have a CD drive.

I think you are going to need to use a USB flash instead of a SD.

o12357 · 06-24-2009, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allele

This suggests it is possible to boot from an SD card.

I will also want to boot a Sony Vaio P (which Vaio are you trying to use?) from SD, but I haven't got as far as that yet.

Thanks for the info. i am using a vaio vgn-ar21. i havent tried to boot from sd card yet. wanted to get some info first because it is the first time i try to install os beyond basic windows installation.

i am wandering whether the link you suggested is applicable as it is with regards to Eee.