Boot Ubuntu / Mint From A Usb Drive

[thaimite]

I am trying to set up Ubuntu or Mint for a friend.

He would like to have it installed on a bootable USB hard disk that he can take it with him on his travels so that he can access his own OS by plugging the drive in to any computer and booting from it.

I have managed to install a bootable version of Mint on a flash drive but his oldish Sony Viao does not support booting from USB as a BIOS option.

Is it possible to set up a boot manager on his hard disk that will allow him to boot from the USB drive via his laptop, and at the same time allow the drive to boot directly from any other computer.

He does not have enough disk space to do a full Linux install on his existing disk, and the age and size of the laptop make installing a new drive a major headache.

If anybody has any other suggestions other than telling him to buy a new PC (I have already tried that) I would love to hear them

Thanks

Thaimite

[welo]

Make sure that you really checked all possibilities in the BIOS. Also make sure that the USB thumb drive is plugged into the computer when accessing the BIOS. Does the BIOS list 'removable drives' as an option in the boot order?

How old is the laptop, which model? Can it really be THAT old?

[siamect]

I will not explain any details because it was long time since I did anything like this but I can point you in the right direction.

You can use both Grub or Lilo for this... Exactly how... Sorry You need to read the documentation and you may end up with a computer that does not boot at all until you get it right...

There are many other ways too...

Martin

[siamect]

How old is the laptop, which model? Can it really be THAT old?

Vaios are like that, expensive like hel_l, you hate them already after owning them for an hour and just to be mean, they stay alive forever...

Martin

[welo]

Just toyed around with Grub the other day. Prepare for a lot of reading. And if this is your first encounter with GRUB or Linux boot loaders in general, well, good luck then..

Have a read here and you will know what might expect you.

It should be easier to download a pre-made bootable CD that allows for the very same. It might not be as elegant but has a view advantages

1. no need to modify the hard-drive and breaking the Windows boot

2. can be taken along with the USB thumb drive to make it work on other computers as well

3. Just download and write the ISO file to a CD.

Start here, and it seems there are several other bootable CDs available that boot specific distros

Boot from USB without BIOS Support using a PLoP Boot Manager CD | USB Pen Drive Linux

Edited June 17, 2010 by welo

[thaimite]

Thanks for all the replies. I agree about the Vaio, but it is not my machine. I certainly would never buy one for myself. (I hate Sony's attitude to DRM etc) This modelli is at least 6 years old.

I have read on another forum that sometimes the "Boot from floppy" option on some Vaio's will boot a USB thumb drive and will try that tonight. I am not sure of any other options but definitely Boot USB is not there. The CD is an option but my friend does not like the idea of carrying a CD AND a portable disk.

Finally during other searches I have also found this link which also looks promising

Edit

Sorry Welo, while reviewing my post I notice you also posted a link to PlOP. which looks promising

Edited June 17, 2010 by thaimite

[bendejo]

There may be something in the BIOS that allows it to boot from a floppy drive. You may be able to trick it into thinking the USB stick is a floppy.

I had an early Vaio and remember having to deal with this, but I can't recall if I made it work.

[welo]

I agree. Like I said in a previous post, did you really try everything to get the BIOS options right. Even if there is no dedicated 'boot from USB' option the Vaio might still support it.

This is from a discussion about one older Sony Vaio model.

Boot Configuration

External Device Boot: Enabled (must)

Boot Priority

External Device (top)

Otherwise I'm glad to find out that PLop is a project from one of my fellow countrymen! -> www.plop.at

[Jiu-Jitsu]

If necessary, check to see if there are any BIOS updates available for that model.

[welo]

thaimite,

I'm interested in your experience with PLop. Any update?

welo

[thaimite]

<br />thaimite,<br /><br />I'm interested in your experience with PLop. Any update?<br /><br />welo<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Hi Welo.

No I passed the information on to my friend, but so far he has done nothing with it. We are both very busy here at work but I will be sure to let you know when we get trying it.

By the way all the other options did not work. He has the latest BIOS and trying to set the machine to boot from floppy or external drive did not help

He is using a Sony Vaio TR5MP

[halfhead]

Just make sure you toggle in BIOS, external boot device to enabled/yes.

You have to enable the external device boot in the bios.

Then you can press Escape at boot and this will show the boot menu.

I read this somewhere,might be of use

good luck