Install Slackware in a USB Stick
 

Hi Forum

I want to install Slackware 13 in an USB stick of about 8 Gigs.

So far, I only see two options... :

Use unetbootin to make the install, or

Make a standard install to an USB device, taking care to include a Time Delay in Lilo, so that boot has time to "see" the partitions...

Are any of these, valid alternatives...?

AFAIK, USB stick File systems are a bit intolerant to being relentlessly written on, so, If I want my USB Stick to enjoy a rather long lifetime, I have to take some precautions on Filesystem Types, as well as mount options in my /etc/fstab,

Basically I want my layout to be something like /boot-sda1;100Megs, /-sda2;4Gb, /swap-sda3;500Mb, and all the rest to /home-sda4 in FAT32 to be accessible to windoze machines I sometimes have to use...


What do you experts think of this...?

Is it advisable, or does /swap mounted in my Usb Stick will "fry" it in notime ...?


BRGDS

Alex

I'm no expert but I have installed many times to and from usb and flash drives. If you're installing directly from a CD/DVD to a usb drive then you don't need unetbootin. You need unetbootin when you want to transfer an install iso to usb for use on a machine with no optical drive to install from - or if you just want to save burning CD/DVDs for doing installs. The swap question is apparently controversial, but I have followed the advice not use a swap partition on a flash drive and haven't been burned.

Hi DonnieP

Thx for yor answer...

I have already heard something about ZipSlack...

What is this...? is it a "USB kind" of Slackware Install...?

Brgds

Alex

Hi,

I was just reading up on that too ;)

ZipSlack
http://www.slackware.com/zipslack/
http://www.slackbook.org/html/zipslack.html

Looks very interesting for a 'carry around' Slackware.

Kind regards,

Eric

Or you could try:
http://slackware.osuosl.org/slackwar...README_USB.TXT

zipslack is only available up to slack-11.0 and uses the umsdos filesystem which will make it even slower.

I'd suggest following the plan you started with, except for swap. You definitely don't want a swap partition on a flash drive. Instead, write a small routine near the top of the init scripts which creates a small ramdisk, run mkswap on it and then use swapon to activate it. That probably sounds strange to use RAM for swapspace, but the only other easy alternative is to use no swap at all -which I also do not recommend. Even a very small swap space can save you from a locked up system.

You're right about the need to append a rootdelay in lilo.conf. Just did an install myself to an SD card and it wouldn't work without this.

Hi Gnashley

What would you suggest me to put in this script....?

Probably I would have to create a custom /etc/fstab also...

What do you suggest me to do...??

BRGDS

Alex

See http://alien.slackbook.org/blog/inst...b-thumb-drive/

Be aware, the OP asked for installing onto a thumb drive, not from a thumb drive.

Hi,
I have done this many times. First format the drive and make sure you turn on the boot flag. Next check BIOS to see if the "Boot from USB" is enabled. Next go install slack in your USB and make sure you check the fdisk -l output to find out your USB drive partitions. I also use my internal HDD's swap, I actually use that single 2GB swap partition for my CentOS, Slack, and my USB devices. Install lilo to the MBR of your USB and you're done. you can configure lilo seting delay and everything the way you want to.

Oh yeah!! :doh: :redface:

http://www.linux-live.org/
http://mysticalgr.awardspace.com/?p=353

http://www.linux-live.org/
http://mysticalgr.awardspace.com/?p=353