Boot Knoppix from a USB drive

[devrish]

hi
KNOPPIX is an operating system based on Debian designed i have run directly from a CD / DVD, one of the first of its kind for any operating system but i am looking to Boot Knoppix from a USB drive ? can any one help me to that ?
thank you

[timon]

There are many alternative ways to boot. In your master folder, create a folder called 'isolinux' and copy the contents of the boot image file (mounted in the boot folder) to master/isolinux. Now, all your boot files are easily accessed in the isolinux folder and you will not need to loop-mount a floppy image any more. It's good to keep a boot.img file somewhere on your CD though, in case somebody has trouble with isolinux.Put isolinux.bin in the master/isolinux folder and remove ldlinux.sys. That's all you need to change as far as CD layout. Now the boot message and options can easily be tweaked without the constant mounting and unmounting of the floppy image.

ISOLINUX can be downloaded from the syslinux package at [1] Using the latest versions the configuration file needs to be called isolinux.cfg not syslinux.cfg:

mv isolinux/syslinux.cfg isolinux/isolinux.cfg

To make these changes be effective when you are imaging your new Knoppix CD, change the -b and -c options for mkisofs to '-b isolinux/isolinux.bin' and '-c isolinux/boot.cat'. Also, you will need to add these command-line options: '-no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table'

Borrowing from the Remastering-HOWTO, here is my modified final mkisofs command after making the compressed image:

mkisofs -pad -l -r -J -v -V "Custom KNOPPIX" -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat -hide-rr-moved -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -o /some/where/myknoppix.iso /mnt/hda1/master
Now your boot environment is a bit easier to maintain, and your kernel can be any size you like.

knoppix .net

[Xan]

It uses syslinux to boot from a fat32 partition and isolinux to boot from a cdrom iso9660 format. For a live-usb must be formatted (FAT32) partition on the usb device, copy all files and folders within the iso live-cd and run syslinux on the partition to make it bootable.


CAUTION: The FAT32 file system does not control access rights on files => on a device for writing the security is not assured.

[Lillebror]

You'll need the following to create a Portable Knoppix:

• 8GB or larger USB Flash Drive
• Windows PC
• Knoppix Linux ISO
• fixkp531.exe

Knoppix USB flash drive creation process:

1. Download and run fixkp531.exe, a USB-Knoppix folder you can see on your PC
2. Download the Knoppix Linux 5.3.1 DVD ISO
3. copy it to the USB-Knoppix folder on your PC
4. run fixkp531.bat from the USB-Knoppix folder
5. follow the instructions
6. Reboot your PC and go to bios
7. In Boot Menu set boot from the USB device,
8. save your changes and reboot
9. on reboot, you should have a successful launch of Knoppix 5.3.1 from your USB memory stick.

[Wynn]

1. Download the Knoppix ISO
2. Next download Syslinux
3. Extract the syslinux files to C:\syslinux-3.11.
4. Insert you USB Key into a USB slot
5. Run “C:\syslinux-3.11\win32\syslinux.exe (target drive)”
6. Now mount the Knoppix ISO
7. Copy the contents of the Knoppix CD onto the USB flash drive.
8. On the flash drive to the bootisolinux directory and move it’s contents up to the root of the drive.
9. Delete the boot directory.
10. Delete ISOlinux.bin from the root of the flash drive.
11. Rename ISOlinux.cfg to SYSlinux.cfg.

[futuregeek]

This method still requires the CD to boot Knoppix but will allow you access to the CDROM after booting up.

Copy the contents of the Knoppix CD to the USB drive.
Plug in the USB drive and boot from the Knoppix CD as usual.
When prompted type:

knoppix bootfrom=/dev/XXXX

XXXX being the USB Drive location usually sdb1.