Linux on USB-Stick

[MasterK]

Damn Small is just small! Well there is a big problem with the syslinux boot loader. It just does not allow for a stick over 1gig. So if you tried to put Damn Small on a 2gig stick it won't boot!

Hmmm my Corsair 2GB Flash Voyager must be special... It boots Damn Small Linux (and Puppy Linux) without any problems. The drive has a single 2GB partition. and runs like a charm when the USB2.0 driver is loaded (20-22MB/sek read and 9-12MB/sek write).

Just wished my Bios would allow forcing USB2.0 interface at boot, and not just the old USB1 (with only 1 MB/sek read/write speed)

[stubbe]

I use 2gb flash voyager too. using slax in it. No problem at all.

[linuxnewb2005]

Another site selling linux pre-installed to boot up. This one's using the small 50MB linux distro called Insert that can bypass admin passwords, run virus scans, and just boot up and run snappy. I'm a big fan of Insert and use it on a CD, but haven't tried it from USB.

I think I might order one cuz I couldn't get it installed on USB. This company claims to have figured it out, but the site looks a little ghetto. Wish they had a phone number or address. Oh well, maybe I'll see if they'll answer an email at least.

Anyway, here it is http://linuxusb.nfshost.com/

[Wolfman18336]

OK, so there are special Linux's for flash-drives, but could I also do this with a second portable hard drive, and can I use a personal favorite version, SOT Linux?

[Roxoff]

You can do this with a portable hard drive. I used to run Fedora Core 4 like this (in fact, I wrote a HOWTO for this site that is in the docs forum), but there is one big drawback with USB hard drives compared to usb flash drives that caught me out. When you pick the laptop up off the table, if you dont take care, you bounce the hard disk along the floor on the end of its cable. Then it refuses to boot any more (it's at this point that you either go down the usb flash route or repartition your hard drive - I took the second option).