On Sun, Jun 7, 2009 at 3:17 PM, Phil Mullane<pmull...@san.rr.com> wrote:
> Hi -
>
> I wasn't able to attend the Linux Lab as I had to work. Hope it went well.
>
> I did narrow down the problem a bit. I loaded Ubuntu 9.04 to the USB and
> took it to work. (Unbuntu as a program just for putting it on a USB.) It
> worked on both computers (both running Windows XP). But it doesn't work on
> my computers at home - one debian lenny 5.01 and one XP.
>
> On my home debian computer I can get in to the boot menu and select USB-FFD,
> USB-HDD, USB-CDROM, ZIP or USB-ZIP, and none of them will load Ubuntu from
> the USB. I know the USB port works because the computer "sees" the USB,
> recognizes it as a USB stick and I can open it and see the programs. When I
> say the USB doesn't work, I mean I go into the BIOS Menu, select
> one of the USB options, hit enter, the computer thinks a bit and then just
> loads my debian OS ("Verifying DMI Pool date, Grub Loading, etc") as if it
> doesn't see the USB at all. (My other home computer is an older Dell
> running XP, but I really don't care if I can't get it to work on it.)
>
> Anyway, to make a long question short: If I am NOT able to load a stick
> that I know works (on the XP boxes at work) on a linux computer that sees
> the stick, is that a BIOS problem or a software problem?
It is pretty definitely a BIOS problem.
> I get the idea
> that both the elive and the ubuntu programs are meant to work on Windows
> computers. The elive recommends using a Windows box to load itself to the
> USB and has different programs if you are doing it on Windows or Linux.
Those are different programs because you are running a different
operating system on the computer while you are creating the image on
the USB stick.
>On Ubuntu it doesn't say anything about windows vs linux, but I think they
> would assume you are probably going to use the USB on a windows computer.
When you are trying to boot the computer from the USB stick, it is not
a "windows" computer or a "linux" computer. It is a piece of hardware
under control of its manufacturer's version of a BIOS. You seem to
have a computer with a BIOS that can not boot from a USB memory stick.
Apparently it can boot from a USB floppy drive, a USB hard drive, a
USB CD drive, or a USB Zip drive.
Recently at an InstallFest I went through the procedure to make a USB
memory stick look like a USB Zip drive. I think it worked. At least
the person who needed it took the memory stick back home to try on his
computer with that kind of BIOS, and I haven't heard any complaints.
> So, does it make a difference what type of computer (Windows or Linux) you
> are using to try to boot from the USB? Would they have different programs
> that wouldn't work on each other? Or is this a BIOS problem coming from
> using a mother board and BIOS that is probably 3 years old?
Again, it is not a "windows" computer vs. a "linux" computer. It is
the characteristics of the BIOS in that particular hardware
configuration.
Something that just occurred to me, I don't know whether you have
tried this variation: On at least one of my laptop computers, the
BIOS does not have the menu choice to boot from USB unless the USB
device is connected at the time the computer is started.
(ctrl-alt-delete).
> PS I am going to try the unetbootin method and take that in to work, now
> that I know the USB can work on my work computers.
carl
--
carl lowenstein marine physical lab u.c. san diego
clowenst...@ucsd.edu
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