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Hikaru79 06-23-2005 05:25 PM

Installing Debian on an external USB harddrive (NOT a flash drive)
 
I have one of those large, external hard drives that connect to your computer by a USB cable. Basically, I'd like to install Debian on that and have it be bootable anywhere, not just my home computer.

I ran the sarge installer and everything worked fine. Then it got to the part asking about where to put GRUB. I knew I didn't want it on /dev/hda because then it would only be bootable on my home computer, and I need it bootable everywhere and anywhere. So I put "/dev/sda" instead. Well, I finish the install, go to my BIOS, make sure that its boot order has "USB Drive" listed first, and reboot. But ... it boots straight to Windows :( Doesn't even pay attention to my USB drive. So, I reinstall and this time I stick the bootloader on an old floppy. Now when I boot from floppy it says "GRUB Hard Drive Error" and still no luck...

So, can anyone lend a hand? Where must I put the bootloader in order for the external drive to boot on any computer that has USB Drive as "first" in their boot order?

Thanks in advance :D

stefan_nicolau 06-23-2005 09:40 PM

A) Maybe your BIOS has a problem.
B) Look at http://www.simonf.com/usb/
and http://rz-obrian.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/knoppix-usb/
and http://featherlinux.berlios.de/usb-instructions.htm try this, to know if your BIOS is fine
C) "GRUB Hard Drive Error": I'm not sure at all, but I think this is because GRUB does not support usb without the BIOS's help. I could well be wrong


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