possible to run Linux from an external, USB harddrive?

Question

Is it possible to run Linux (RedHat or any other distro) on Inspiron 600m (or any other current model Dell laptop) from an external harddrive connected through a USB port? If it is possible, how hard/easy is it to install/run Linux in such a setup? Thanks in advance.

wwp · Answer

No, since the BIOS doesn't allow to boot from and external (USB/IEEE1394) drive. Maybe newest BIOSes allow this?

XISOP · Answer

All laptops currently being sold by Dell have this ability (because Dell is phasing out floppies). You need to set the boot order in the BIOS to USB before your internal hard disk.

Next, you need to write system files to it to make it boot. Use Dell's own USB Key Tools below to initialize the key. (All USB flash drives are pretty vanilla, just a chunk of memory, so these tools should work.)

http://support.dell.com/filelib/exportcompliance.aspx?FileID=85297&ReleaseID=R65520&location=1

As for a distribution, you might check http://www.linux.org/dist, and choose Minimalist distribution. I'm sure SourceForge has some projects for this.

The problem is that most of these distributions are meant for read-only filesystems, like CDs, and your flash drive allows writing, so it's a bit different. If you are really interested in this, you could make one yourself, including the Kernel, TCP/IP, X Window System, custom boot scripts, etc, etc.

jobless · Answer

Sorry, I should have posted this earlier. Yes, I am able to run RedHat Linux 7.3 (I don't have media of later versions) from an external, USB hard-drive on Inspiron 600m. Installation was no hassle (although I haven't been able to get wireless networking to work with Linux).

Depending on what I need to run (XP Home or Linux), I make necessary changes in the BIOS to boot from appropriate disk. That's all.

wwp · Answer

Nice to ear that. I'll check if my Inspiron 8200 (from 2002, dec, plus BIOS upgrade A08) is able to boot from USB or IEEE1394, so!

XISOP · Answer

I just realized you said USB Hard Drive, not Memory Key.  But most of the information is still accurate. In short, yes, new Dells boot USB.

wwp · Answer

No chance to make it possible w/ my I8200 (A10 BIOS upgrade), maybe too old (10 months)..

StompinRound · Answer

I have a 8600 with the 5650 geforce video,  If this works this may be a good way to get it up and running while waiting for updated drivers to be released,  I understand that the dell does support boot from usb.  has anyone tried this from a usb hard drive with this laptop.  should the hard drive be prepartitioned,  I have a 20 gig hard drive in a usb 2.0 box ,  also if installing to a usb drive would you still need to use a boot loader? or just use the boot sequence cdrom usb then hard drive.  allowing to look to the usb for a boot record 1st. does redhat or mandrake support installing to a usb device?

warwickbassist · Answer

I am attempting to install Mandrake 9.2 to by USB2 hard drive.  I used PartitionMagic to allocated empty space to install to.  The installation found the empty space and installed to the drive no problem.  I installed lilo onto the MBR of the USB drive since the 600m supports boot from USB.  I am able to boot to lilo, but upon selecting to run Mandrake I get a kernel panic.  What do I need to do to fix this?  I am a relative N00b so be descriptive please

XISOP · Answer

Kernel panics in the early stages of the boot process are usually caused by misconfigured root drives. Did you make sure that lilo is configed to pass the correct partition. During Mandrake's config of lilo it might have set your root partition to something other than the one on your USB HD. Or, the correct USB drivers might not be loaded into the stock Mandrake the kernel. They need to be compiled in, not as modules, because in order to load modules, you need to get them from the root partition, and in your case you need USB to get to the root partition.

Post the error that came before the panic to see if we can help.

warwickbassist · Answer

The last line reads: No init found Try passing init= option to kernel ????

warwickbassist · Answer

Okay, I booted into rescue mode. It was also unable to find my USB harddisk partitions. I typed 'modprobe usb-storage' and suddenly they appeared. So it was obvious that I need the usb-storage module at boot time. So what i did was copy the contents of the modules folder on the rescue cd to the /boot folder on the usb drive where it is finding GRUB. I entered module=/boot/modules.cz in GRUB and it found the compressed modules. How do I get usb-storage from the modules.cz now that it is loaded?

Message Edited by warwickbassist on 11-18-2003 11:52 AM

XISOP · Answer

This might help.

http://simonf.com/usb/

That's confusing. But it goes through how to load the USB drivers before it mounts the root partition.

I never knew what initrds are, and I still don't .

I am surprised at your knowledge so far. I have been using Linux for almost three years and I haven't delved into anything this deep this early. Maybe I'll try this on my laptop and a USB key for a no-risk Linux environ. Wouldn't it be cool to get a 256MB memory key with X and GTK+, a browser, etc?

Shyavid · Answer

Can someone please help me to install Knoppix Linux on a external hard drive usb 2.0? I could make the partitions on my USB  HDD. I made a Linux partition and a Linux swap partition and mounting the Linux partition as root. But I cannot boot Linux from my USB HDD. Please help me!!!!!!!!

sdave1284 · Answer

Wow this is great. Now I dont have to repartition my NTFS drive. How hard will it be to mount the USB if I get an error message like the others. I'm a noob with linux and want to get into it and this is a perfect solution without messing with XP and the stuff I use most. I'm just having a problem understanding that fix that was posted above. Thanks for any help.

Dave

Linux General

possible to run Linux from an external, USB harddrive?

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