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GM7HUD > LINUX 09.04.09 02:50l 36 Lines 1743 Bytes #999 (0) @ EU
BID : 845383GM7HUD
Read: GUEST
Subj: Re: USB drive booting problem
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<ON0AR<GB7YKS<GB7SYP<GB7ESX
Sent: 090408/2318z 39880@GB7ESX.#31.GBR.EU $:845383GM7HUD [Witham, Esx]NNA V3.1
G6YFF wrote:-
> I suspect, but not sure of, its failure to load the required USB drivers
> in time for it to continue to load the remainder of the kernel etc.
I've not looked to see what is built in to my kernel for the Linux I run on
my Asus eeePC but that boots from USB happily. Actually it boots and runs
from SDcard but the SD card reader is a USB2.0 device so essentially it's
the same as a USB stick.
A long time ago I used an x86 kernel that had an Initrd that held the files
needed to boot. So the boot loader (Lilo in those days) loaded the kernel
and Initrd files into memory, started the kernel and the kernel used the
modules from Initrd to offer enough drive support for the whole system to
finish booting. When I first started compiling my own kernels it seemed a
royal pain to have to maintain both a kernel and Initrd with the right
stuff in it. At that point, I compiled my kernel with hard disk and CDROM
modules built in. That way the kernel always could continue loading what it
needed. I've stuck to that philosophy since. Ensure the kernel contains
enough support to boot itself and support enough media to load whatever
else it wants. Things like sound and networks and USB are loaded from disk.
Now if you want to boot from USB, I'd compile a kernel that included enough
USB drivers so that it could continue to read the filesystem from USB disks
and hard disks.
The alternative is to download a USB memory stick Linux distro and see just
which drivers are built in and how it all goes together.
There is one thing which you have got badly wrong and that is your choice
of distro. Mandriva is the WRONG one. You should be using Debian.
Preferably Debian Lenny but Debian Etch is OK for now.
73 de Andy GM7HUD
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