I've followed many links to put Mepis on a USB flash. It worked (I believe), and I tried it two ways:

- MEPIS >> SYSTEM ASSISTANT >> USBkey
- "MEPIS Install" icon

The installation looks ok (the first one seems to only transfer the entire Mepis ISO as a 676.5MB file, the second looks like a regular Linux installation) but can not boot the USB flash.

My Notebook PC BIOS does not allow booting from USB-anything. I've tried forcing grub >> root to use /dev/sd(x,y), but grub does not recognize "sd" as a valid root device.

Any hints on how to get Mepis LiveCD to boot Mepis on a USB?

Thank you.

I'm not sure if I can help, but will need more info. What other operating systems are on hd and do you have grub installed on the hd?

Thank you for helping. I am not using the hard drive, there is no boot manager on it, and Windows is on it. This computer does not have a BIOS that will boot from USB flash memory stick (for example, pendrivelinux). I am trying to re-direct the boot from LiveCD to USB, not touching the hard drive. Thanks again.

There is a way to do it but I think you will have to put grub in your mbr on your hard drive. I'm no authority on this but have read articles where they have booted and used external hds with usb that bios wouldn't boot. Don't give up, I'll do some research and if I can come across an article that can help I'll be back.

Here's an article I found that tells you how. http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS6805529669.html At the end of the first paragraph it says all you need is a boot floppy.

Thank you Mr. Webb. I do not have a floppy drive either (when it rains, it pours). Your link on booting from floppy to USB leads me to believe I can boot from CD (not LiveCD) to USB... just have to find and manipulate the code and write it to CD. I would imagine most people would see no need to boot from CD to USB. Someone pointed out that this will be difficult, if not impossible, since I will have to load an OS, start USB drivers, then load another OS... I'm hoping "difficult" wins over "impossible." Thanks again.

Don't quote me on this but I think you might be able to install grub and point it in the USB direction. You can install grub off of the Live CD. There are articles in the forums here that have info on the subject.

Installing GRUB on the Hard Drive certainly ought to give you access to booting from the USB. But perhaps that is not the only way.

Doesn't the Live CD version also use GRUB to boot, offering a variety of choices? If so, then dropping to the GRUB command prompt and issuing the correct set of commands ought to provide direct access to booting from the USB.

Question is, since I have not yet tried this myself, are the commands provided in the preceding documentation sufficient to figure out which operands and commands are needed to access the USB directly from GRUB? If so, that is the trick. If not, then get the commands to directly address the USB from GRUB and you are there.

http://www.linux.com/articles/62434 contains the information that ought to get you what you need. Look at the information in the right hand side bar and see if that gets it for you.

Hope this helps you out!

Thank you, but I can not mangle the boss' computer, no matter how much I wish to.

Thank you for the link. This is good for booting from USB, but my BIOS does not allow for USB boot.

I wish to begin the boot process on a CD, and bootstrap the OS residing on USB.

I found some links regarding boot managers, and putting them on floppies is old-hat, but since I have no floppy (AND can not boot USB, AND will not mangle my HDD) I will keep trying. Maybe I will try long enough that some real Linux coder will do the hard work.

Thank you for your help.

I have not had success in this endeavor, so I am running OnTheGo (so I can keep apps configured from session to session), and have found some limitation:
1. Should not use the CD player (KsCD) to eject the Mepis CD - that essentially ejects the OS and nothing works... except for pressing the power-button for six seconds.
2. Can not use the rest of the OnTheGo USB for storage (big red "NOT" sign over /media/sda1).

[QUOTE=fpd;2824719]1. Should not use the CD player (KsCD) to eject the Mepis CD - that essentially ejects the OS and nothing works... except for pressing the power-button for six seconds.QUOTE]

Did you try the copy2ram code when booting the LiveCD? It may slow down the system a bit, but will provide you with the use of your cd-rom drive.

[QUOTE=neu2linux;2857390]No, I have not tried copy2ram... it that to be added to the boot parameters when the boot splash page shows up?

Exactly, just add it to the end.

Thank you for the clarification.