bil
31-12-2007 17:43:02
Here's something of a mystery that's been annoying me. I have some USB flash drives I want to use to boot Linux but the results are kind of inconsistent. I'm working with a Vista laptop (Gateway) and have managed to get most stuff working ok. Cygwin and Linux under VMWare is working (though slow) so I really don't need Linux on a USB stick but it seems pretty cool so I want to at least get it working.
Vista show one of the devices (PNY 512Mb) as a USB flash device and the other (Memorex Traveldrive 4Gb - no U3) as a USB HDD. The PNY will boot while the Memorex will not. I have been assuming that the Vista designation of USB flash and USB HDD is valid and that the BIOS is seeing the devices differently. I've used the CMOS setup to enable booting from first a USB flash and then a USB HDD. The flash device will boot (this is the PNY) regardless of the CMOS boot order and the Memorex never will.
Pretty strange stuff. The Memorex device is new and claims compatibility with at least Linux 2.4 so it should work. My USB ports are all 2.0. So, any ideas? The Memorex web site is useless, BTW and web seaches aren't too helpful either. Ideally someone has already made this work and can share the magic incantation I need.
Using:
Gateway AMD 64bit 1Gb Memory
USB 2.0 ports
Vista Home Premium
Memorex Traveldrive 2007 4Gb
PNY 512Mb
Phoenix Award Bios w/USB boot option
HP USB formating tool
Knoppix 5.1 (using recipe from website)
Vista show one of the devices (PNY 512Mb) as a USB flash device and the other (Memorex Traveldrive 4Gb - no U3) as a USB HDD. The PNY will boot while the Memorex will not. I have been assuming that the Vista designation of USB flash and USB HDD is valid and that the BIOS is seeing the devices differently. I've used the CMOS setup to enable booting from first a USB flash and then a USB HDD. The flash device will boot (this is the PNY) regardless of the CMOS boot order and the Memorex never will.
Pretty strange stuff. The Memorex device is new and claims compatibility with at least Linux 2.4 so it should work. My USB ports are all 2.0. So, any ideas? The Memorex web site is useless, BTW and web seaches aren't too helpful either. Ideally someone has already made this work and can share the magic incantation I need.
Using:
Gateway AMD 64bit 1Gb Memory
USB 2.0 ports
Vista Home Premium
Memorex Traveldrive 2007 4Gb
PNY 512Mb
Phoenix Award Bios w/USB boot option
HP USB formating tool
Knoppix 5.1 (using recipe from website)