Is it possible to boot any distro of linux on a live cd and then pass it on to ubuntu 9.04 on a USB-HDD? The problem i have is i don't have a hard drive and my laptop doesn't support usb-hdd booting. I've tried many options such as the usb boot cd however i get a ext3-fs mounted filesystem error. I tried a boot manager such as plop but it kept getting stuck at loading boot sector. I've checked the usb-hdd and it boots fine in a new laptop without any support. Any ideas how i can get it to boot?

The answer in your other thread with a VERY similar question is accurate.

Yes, you can boot a live CD/DVD, and do an installation to a USB device. But if your laptop doesn't support USB booting, it doesn't matter WHAT OS you put on the USB device...it won't boot. That's a limitation in your BIOS that the operating system has no control over.

I understand that regardless of the os on the USB-HDD it won't boot, however after reading around for a bit i came across various solutions to this problem. Unfortunately so far i haven't managed to succesfully implememt them. For example http://www.pendrivelinux.com/usb-boo...or-ubuntu-810/ . Apparently this is supposed to create a medium in which software on the CD boots (as my old laptop does boot from cd) and then accesses the files on the USB-HDD and only then boots the os from the hard drive. I tried this and get the error i mentioned above. Also as i mentioned, i used a boot manager called plop that promises to boot from usb without bios support with many people reporting success but for me it freezes after accessing the USB-HDD. I am not looking for a direct boot method, my previous post did recieve an accurate answer. I am simply wondering whether the usb boot cd is a hoax?

Actually I've used that boot disk...

Umm, your using grub to boot the usb-hdd?
or syslinux?

if using grub what do you have the menu.lst setup to boot?
like (hd0,1) or what?

To be honest i don't know much, if anything about linux. Whatever i did was in the instructions in the website. Also i installed ubuntu 9.04 to the entire usb-hdd (one partition) with the boot loader which i assume is grub because i haven't heard of syslinux .

sorry actually i used this one http://www.pendrivelinux.com/usb-boo...or-ubuntu-904/

OK
what format is the usb-hdd?

is it fat32 or ext3?

can you post the menu.lst thats on the usb-hdd?
copy/paste it into the post...you know

so, plaese do that and also, you installed ubuntu from the livecd?
and no errors during install right?

Lol okay i can do two of the three things...how do i get the menu.lst on my usb-hdd. There were no errors whilst installing. Tried the USB-HDD on my new laptop (that supports usb booting) and it works perfectly. It is formatted to ext3.

You can do what you want without the USB bottloader, I know for a fact. The problem is I only know how to do it on my distro. In slackware you simply boot the install cd and type
hugesmp.s root=/dev/sdax rdinit= ro

OK, here is what i found:
Source

OK
boot up the livecd
on the computer that wont boot
have the usb-hdd plugged in...

Now, once you get to desktop

open a terminal from the Ubuntu Applications menu on the top toolbar^

then type in "sudo nautilus"
without qoutes, to open file manager as root/admin

when nautilus opens, there wuill be a sidepanel on the left displaying the drives,etc
click on the usb-hdd and it will mount it and open

you should see a linux filesystem there, folders like boot, etc, usr
go in the boot folder, into the grub folder
and double-click the menu.lst file
right-click anywhere on the open menu.lst and select "select all"
then right clikc again and select "copy"
then open firefox andd come here, sign in and paste into your post the menu.lst

to linus72 i'm giving that a go right now and i'll have that info shortly

to linuxpokernut i gave it a go but it wouldn't even recognise the usb...let alone boot this time...

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 3

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=e9d431ef-2560-4116-aecf-085195a450b1 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=e9d431ef-2560-4116-aecf-085195a450b1

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## specify if running in Xen domU or have grub detect automatically
## update-grub will ignore non-xen kernels when running in domU and vice versa
## e.g. indomU=detect
## indomU=true
## indomU=false
# indomU=detect

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
uuid e9d431ef-2560-4116-aecf-085195a450b1
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=e9d431ef-2560-4116-aecf-085195a450b1 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode)
uuid e9d431ef-2560-4116-aecf-085195a450b1
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=e9d431ef-2560-4116-aecf-085195a450b1 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+
uuid e9d431ef-2560-4116-aecf-085195a450b1
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

Use the code tags to this mscorsese!
Thanks!