[bit_flipper]

I can only make one final suggestion to you ........ to create the drive structure and write Grub to its MBR using one of the older liveCDs like maybe Minime2008.

Alright...for the advancement of science ...I'm currently downloading a Minime-2008.iso from a rather slow server. Will post the results sometime later today.

[ClareOldie]

Be sure to wipe at least the beginning of the drive first and then create a new DOS Label using fdisk or such.
maybe wipe with
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sd? bs=512 count=1 (change the ? for your device letter)

No point in having the previous MBR & Partition Table corrupting the new setup.

Good luck.

[bit_flipper]

And the results are....

All of my machines boot MiniMe-2008 from a USB stick
All of my USB sticks work with MiniMe-2008

KDE is an alien world ...let me out of there ...

[ClareOldie]

And the results are....

All of my machines boot MiniMe-2008 from a USB stick
All of my USB sticks work with MiniMe-2008

KDE is an alien world ...let me out of there ...

OK, now that you have a working USB stick you can try changing the OS files to something later.

If it doesn't boot correctly you will at least know it is due to the OS not recognising your hardware properly and not a fault of the stick structure.
Only change the isolinux directory and the livecd.sqfs file. Make no other changes.

If later OS files do not work then you may need to investigate boot codes a bit more ... or make an initrd with whatever the newer OS is missing.

Some boot codes to try if needed

noapic
nolapic
ide=nodma
noscsi
acpi=off
acpi=on

Regards.

[bit_flipper]

Further experiments on a LiveUSB stick that boots MiniME-2008:

a) Renamed MiniME-2008 versions of directory isolinux and file livecd.sqfs
b) Installed ZEN-mini 2009.1 versions of directory isolinux and file livecd.sqfs
c) Tried booting and once again got a kernel panic with the now familiar

Code: Select all

Kernel panic - not syncing:  Fatal exception in interrupt

d) Deleted ZEN-mini 2009.1 versions of directory isolinux and file livecd.sqfs
e) Renamed MiniME-2008 versions back to their original names
f) Tried booting and MiniME-2008 boots just fine from the USB stick.

I guess, from this, one could conclude that whatever the problem is, it appears to lie somewhere in the ZEN-mini 2009.1 contents of directory isolinux and file livecd.sqfs.

Unless anyone has any other ideas that I could test, I think I'm done with this.

[ClareOldie]

Seems it is an OS incompatibility with the hardware.
The use of boot codes could overcome the problem ... but you can only get to that by experiment which is possibly not worth the effort as you have 2008 working.
Alternatively building a new initrd might solve the problem.

Maybe a google search for similar problems (error message) with your hardware would throw up suggestions for a solution.

Regards.

[bit_flipper]

Seems it is an OS incompatibility with the hardware.

If this were true, then it wouldn't run at all. The fact is that it runs when booted from a live CD and it runs when installed on a hard drive. It just doesn't run when installed on a USB stick.

Also, this is exactly the problem I am trying to address in a disaster recovery scenario. Lets say that during noon hour, when everyone is out to lunch, a tornado touches down and destroys our data center. Noooooo problem...on our way back from lunch, we just stop off at a local computer retailer, select and purchase replacement hardware based on its ablility to run PCLOS on portable media in our pocket, and set up shop at a local hotel/motel.

This means:
a) Generic off-the-shelf hardware, purchased at a moments notice
b) Running a current version of PCLinuxOS-Gnome (because that is what is backed up off-site)
c) From generic portable media in our pocket (CD/DVD ROM or USB stick)

During a disaster recovery situation, there is no time to diddle with custom BIOS settings, custom boot codes, and custom OS compilations. Generic OS configurations need to run on generic off-the-shelf hardware, booted from generic media.

As a temporary measure, I believe I can address this problem by using a three inch camcorder DVD that fits into my passport wallet I carry with me most of the time.

What I am really looking for is a current version of a generic OS I use that will boot from somthing like this attached to my keychain:
http://www.tape.com/VERBATIM-96815.html?leftmenu=memorynav
Yes, MiniME-2008 boots from this flash drive, but I use PCLOS-Gnome 2009.2, which doesn't, and neither does its sidekick, ZEN-mini 2009.1.

Obviously, I need to do much more thinking about this...

[ClareOldie]

Seems it is an OS incompatibility with the hardware.

If this were true, then it wouldn't run at all. The fact is that it runs when booted from a live CD and it runs when installed on a hard drive. It just doesn't run when installed on a USB stick.

I suppose it is unlikely to be Gnome specific ..... but wondered if you had tried any of the other releases of PCLOS such as KDE Minime 2009 or LXDE on the flash stick? .. or even the full KDE release ...

[123grump]

Also, this is exactly the problem I am trying to address in a disaster recovery scenario. Lets say that during noon hour, when everyone is out to lunch, a tornado touches down and destroys our data center. Noooooo problem...on our way back from lunch, we just stop off at a local computer retailer, select and purchase replacement hardware based on its ablility to run PCLOS on portable media in our pocket, and set up shop at a local hotel/motel.

Please forgive me for butting in, but with 25 plus years in hardware support on computers ( Senior Technical Engineer).
Your disaster recover scenario is just like the swamp draining, tame the alligator from years ago.

This means:
a) Generic off-the-shelf hardware, purchased at a moments notice
b) Running a current version of PCLinuxOS-Gnome (because that is what is backed up off-site)
c) From generic portable media in our pocket (CD/DVD ROM or USB stick)

Having been around small stand alone computer systems (Desktop Computers)
For many,many,many,many years.....

I can state for a fact that there is no such thing as ....
GENERIC off-the-shelf hardware, (SONY, TOSHIBA, LG , ..) Gen. Eric was in the military, commanding some I DON'T KNOW ARMY.

During a disaster recovery situation, there is no time to diddle with custom BIOS settings, custom boot codes, and custom OS compilations. Generic OS configurations need to run on generic off-the-shelf hardware, booted from generic media.

Generic OS configuration...
Is this the same as Third Party after market, ONE size FITS ALL ?

Very sorry for bursting your HOT AIR BALLON

[bit_flipper]

@CO

but wondered if you had tried any of the other releases of PCLOS such as KDE Minime 2009 or LXDE on the flash stick? .. or even the full KDE release ...

No I haven't. The policy here is to run Gnome, so I am really not interested in those versions. If there is a compelling reason why I should try them, I will consider doing so.

[bit_flipper]

@123grump

GENERIC off-the-shelf hardware

Around here, that means:
ASUS desktop motherboard (don't care what model)
with AMD processor (don't care what model)
and don't care what make/model any of the other components are.

Generic OS configuration

Around here that means the OS runs as it comes from the repository on the above hardware without tweaking BIOS settings, boot code settings, or doing custom compilations.

I can state for a fact that there is no such thing as ....
GENERIC

Around here, "Generic" means just that. A freaking Linux distro should be able to boot up and run as it comes out of the box on desktop hardware built by two of the big names in the computer industry, ASUS and AMD, without any tweaking whatsoever. I did not at any time state in this thread that I was trying to run it on proprietary laptop hardware.

[ClareOldie]

@CO

but wondered if you had tried any of the other releases of PCLOS such as KDE Minime 2009 or LXDE on the flash stick? .. or even the full KDE release ...

No I haven't. The policy here is to run Gnome, so I am really not interested in those versions. If there is a compelling reason why I should try them, I will consider doing so.

Only if you have an interest in finding out exactly why the current release does not work for you while previous release did.

It is possible, maybe even likely, that some hardware support is missing from the current release which was present in the previous one. It may be present in one of the other releases ... or not.

I guess a comparison of the modules available in the older working Gnome release and the newer one would show up the differences --- you may find some module required by your hardware is missing.

Regards

[bit_flipper]

I guess a comparison of the modules available in the older working Gnome release and the newer one would show up the differences --- you may find some module required by your hardware is missing.

The thought did occur to me but, unfortunately, the automatic archiver is set to keep 3 generations, so I've got .iso's for Gnome 2009.0, 2009.1 and 2009.2. Gnome 2008 dropped off the cliff 90 days after 2009.2 got added to the archive. The physical DVDs that the .iso's were burned onto seem to be long gone.

Anyway, that is looking backward. Looking forward:

a) I see on the main site that they have Kernel- 2.6.27.31 in testing. It is possible that this may get fixed with the new kernel, if it is a kernel problem.

b) If a) fails, it is probably less effort on my part to look at other Gnome distros rather than trying to resurrect past PCLOS releases that have gone down the sewer.

c) I am not sure I want to pursue b) just for the sake of having a distro on a USB stick.

I've been roaming around the local computer shops, trying to simulate an emergency shopping spree for replacement hardware. When I walk into a computer store, my question is, "Does this desktop machine I'm looking at on the display shelf run PCLinuxOS Gnome? If the answer is, "YES", then I will buy it on the spot."

I am finding that retailers will let me drop my camcorder mini-DVD with ZEN-mini on it into the DVD drive of the display machine and reboot it, but they won't let me diddle with the BIOS settings (change hard drive boot order) to see if the display machine will boot MiniME-2008 from the LiveUSB stick. The typical comment is, "If you want to mess with the BIOS, you need to pay for the machine first."

So, for my purposes, it looks like using a LiveUSB stick as an aid for selecting hardware that runs Linux is out of the question. The camcorder mini-DVD, although physically not as convenient to carry as a flash drive would be, is the practical solution that retailers will tolerate.

I think I will let this matter rest for the time being. Thanks for your help.

[Dragynn]

Wow, talk about resurrecting an old thread , how times change don't they? Now creating a USB stick with PCLOS is so easy....

To any reading this thread, I have installed Zen-mini on an old 1 gig Sandisk stick, installed perfectly and runs almost as fast as my HD install, and this is on USB 2, haven't tried it on a board that has USB 3. This is an great thing to use as a "rescue" tool, even easier than carrying around a CD, the little USB stick stays on my keychain, so I have a full version of my favorite OS at all times.

[don_crissti]

Wow, talk about resurrecting an old thread , how times change don't they?

It was a spammer.

Canned.