Asus eee from a flash drive

not_bob · 09-03-2010, 10:45 AM

This is kind of a rant with a question. The rant is, I'm shocked that so many linux distros have ignored or plainly jes don't care about the Asus eee netbook and running it from a flash drive. The setup of a flash drive is no longer even an issue, ever since the UNetbootin utility came along:

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

....which formats, dwnlds, and readies a simple flash drive with a distro and boot utility all in one simple shot (sandisks need an extra step). It even has a list of a couple dozen distros that supposedly work. Problem is, they don't! Puppy can't even detect the vid syncs, Slax virtually ignores wifi, Arch is so basic it doesn't even give as much command line instruction as Slackware (of which I'm a user). Damn! Three hundred plus distros and I can't get one dang version to simply boot to even the crudest of desktops and give me a wifi connection on a computer that has everything needed ....AND WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR LINUX!!? Chrystonachrutch!

So, I'm dwnlding kubuntu, now. All 700Mb of it! Any others distros I should avoid or do they all come up short? All I want is a simple linux OS to run from the flash drive (NO INSTALL) and give me emacs and slrn. X would be a bonus, at this point, but I ain't holding my breath.

nb

tredegar · 09-03-2010, 11:07 AM

Ubuntu 9.10 runs fine on my asus eee701-$G - I put in on a 16GB CF card in the little slot.
Everything works.
10.04 runs fine from a USB stick, but I am happy with 9.10 on the eee.

michaelk · 09-03-2010, 11:10 AM

You did not post what model you own but there are many distributions that have been tailored just for the Eee PCs. Have you even tried searching for information?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari..._distributions

FYI I run debian on mine.

tredegar · 09-03-2010, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

You did not post what model you own but there are many distributions that have been tailored just for the Eee PCs. Have you even tried searching for information?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari..._distributions

Good point, and I forgot to post my usual eee links, so here they are:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/
http://wiki.eeeuser.com/

not_bob · 09-03-2010, 04:15 PM

I forgot to add my eee model.

It's a 1005HA=EU1X-bk

Other than that, I know little about it due to the fact little info is provided with it.

Looks like Mandriva is supposed to work in all areas of concern, so I'm dwnlding a full iso, now. I always kinda liked mandrake, but haven't messed with its offshoot in yrs.

nb

rokytnji · 09-03-2010, 06:35 PM

Usually. Instead of Concentrating on a EEEPC custom Built Distro for SD card.ss I usually just make the SD card and Make it work on my Gear. I have also posted tutorials on what I have done on forums and blogs. I am not going to link to them though. A slackware user should be able to find them.

But for out of the box lightweight with a lot of tools. Puppeee fits the bill pretty well.

I have AntiX 8.5 live persistent flash drive that works on my 900, 701SD, and Acer Aspire One ZG5. It gets moved from netbook to netbook.

Same with a Puppeee frugal flash drive I made with persistence.

Also have full Installs of AntiX 8.5 on both my internal drives on 701SD and 900. 2.6.35 kernels also. Posting this on my 701SD right now.

Code:

~$ inxi -F
System:    Host antiX1 Kernel 2.6.35-3.dmz.1-liquorix-686 i686 (32 bit) Distro antiX-M8.5-686-update 27 July 2010
CPU:       Single core Intel Celeron M (-UP-) cache 512 KB flags (nx sse sse2) bmips 1795.55 clocked at 897.778 MHz 
Graphics:  Card Intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller X.Org 1.7.7 Res: 800x480@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer Mesa DRI Intel 915GM GEM 20091221 2009Q4 x86/MMX/SSE2 GLX Version 1.4 Mesa 7.7.1 Direct Rendering Yes
Audio:     Card Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller driver HDA Intel BusID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Version 1.0.23
Network:   Card-1 Realtek RTL8187SE Wireless LAN Controller driver r8180 at port d800 BusID: 01:00.0
           Card-2 Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 Gigabit or Fast Ethernet driver ATL1E at port ec00 BusID: 03:00.0
Disks:     HDD Total Size: 14.0GB (-) 1: USB /dev/sda DataTraveler_2.0 2.0GB 
           2: USB /dev/sdb Flash_Reader 4.0GB 3: /dev/sdc ASUS 8.1GB 
Partition: ID:/ size: 7.4G used: 2.4G (34%) fs: rootfs 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 60.0C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 1610 
Info:      Processes 95 Uptime 58 min Memory 131.2/1001.3MB Runlevel 5 Client Shell

Happy Trails, Rok

not_bob · 09-13-2010, 12:51 PM

Well, I'm back with kinda good news. I found a version of linux that works right outta the box.... perfectly... almost, dangit! It's moblin and it loads on flash drive as an img instead of iso, but still works. All comes up. X desktop (gnomish) with working wifi or ethernet. Strangely, wifi only works with wpa2 encryption, although the modom is set to accept unencrypted connections (XP). But, that's not the fly in the ointment.

Only one snag to zero linux config nirvana is, I can't connect to the net with the firefox browser!?!? I can reach my Motorola dsl modem directly (192.168.x.1), via firefox, but not get past it with either ethernet or wifi connections. I can ping Google, but can't connect with firefox. I turned off proxy in firefox in favor of a straight connection, but still no go. No address will resolve via firefox beyond the modem. What the hell could it possibly be? I have 2 other boxes, both xp and slackware, that have no prob viewing the web through the same modem, so it's not the motorola. Is there some firefox setting I'm not aware of?

I was gonna try Meego, the newer replacement for Moblin, but it uses Google's Chrome browser, which I will not use cuz it requires a EULA.

Any ideas?

nb

not_bob · 09-14-2010, 04:55 PM

I finally found the firefox "server not found" problem.

Some joker decided it would be great fun to enable IPv6 in the mozilla/firefox browser. Going into about:config and changing:

network.dns.disableIPv6

....from FALSE to TRUE solves the problem and web connections work as they should.

nb