Running Ubuntu from a flash drive on a pc that can't boot from usb

I was reading at pendrivelinux that there is a way to run Ubuntu from a flash drive on a pc that can't boot from usb, that would be me. You must make a boot cd and be able to boot from cd with the flash drive installed. It boots from the cd and runs from the flash drive. It sounds simple enough. Have any of you tried this?

This is the link: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/usb-boot-cd-for-ubuntu-810/

I don't understand where you are supposed to type all the information being given. For my simple mind, I need exact step by step directions. Please check out the link I have posted and see what you think. Maybe someone could help me out. Thanks. I will be back and forth here today, so it may be later tonight when I can sit down and try this. Again, any help will be appreciated.

 

Where to do type it? You type it at the prompt you get after you boot from the Live CD.

 

Before you get to the desktop? Do you hit enter after you type each line as shown on pendrivelinux.com? I need exact, step by step directions.

 

No you just go to Applications->Accessories->Terminal

Besides that they have already given you precise directions in that guide.

 

LOL. I told you I am dumb. Do I hit enter after I type each line? And how do I burn the boot disc from within the live cd? I haven't looked into any of this. I want to be able to do it in one shot when I load the live cd.

I know that I need to put Ubuntu on the flash drive first. Must I do this from the live cd also, or can I do it from Windows using the persistence version? Thanks for your help.

 

Calling yourself dumb is no excuse for doing no research. It's being lazy.

Yes, you need to hit enter after each command line, just like any other CLI environment...

To burn the cd, you can use a number of tools, xcdroast is what I use, you can

Code:

sudo apt-get install xcdroast

 

I have no experience using command line. Is this xcdroast part of the live cd?
Thanks.

I did do some research on this. I just didn't understand it, hence my questions.

 

This way is easier than installing xcdroast. It should work from the LiveCD, but I've never burnt a CD using the Live CD, so....

 

I'll have to try this later tonight. Unfortunately I don't have the time now. Thanks for the info. I'll be back later.

 

I'm not having any luck with this. I am following the directions at pendrivelinux. I open a terminal and type what they said to on the first line and it says command not found. I type the second line and it says no such file or directory. The 3rd command woks and opens the menu list. I make all the entries there and I cannot save it. It gives me a message saying could not find file/home/ubuntu/ubed/boot/grub/menu.lst. Any ideas on what I am doing wrong?

 

You're probably typing them wrong. Try copying and pasting the commands. If you select the text in one window and click the middle mouse button in the console window (or click both buttons at the same time if you have no 3rd) it will paste the text in to the console.

 

I think I corrected my errors. Now where is this image? I still have the command prompt open, there is no option to save. I also have the menu list open and saved what it told me to save there. How do I burn it to cd? I don't know where the ISO is.

 

Should be in your home directory. Go to Places->Home Folder and you should see the .iso. Use that link I posted before for how to burn it.

 

There is a folder there called ubed, inside that is a folder named boot, inside that is a folder called grub, inside that is a menu list and a stage_2 eltorito. There is no ISO.
I must have done something wrong.

Also, I won't be able to burn the boot cd anyway since I have the Linux disk in my cd drive. I am guessing I will have to load Ubuntu on the flash drive, boot it from my wife's laptop and try to create the bootable cd there. Help.

 

Try step 8 again, that's the one that creates the .iso file. You'll probably have to use the USB drive to do it since the OS runs from the CD, I've never burnt a CD from a LiveCD and I'm not sure if it'd work.

 

I have Ubuntu installed on the flash drive. I looked in my BIOS with the flash drive installed and found it under hard drives. I changed the position with my hdd and it booted into Ubuntu. When I shut down and tried it again, it kept booting into XP even when I checked the BIOS to see if the usb drive was still the #1 device. I try to open the usb drive in Windows, and it is telling me to insert a device in the drive, for some reason, XP wasn't seeing the flash drive, so I unplugged it and put it back in and all is fine. I was able to boot into Ubuntu again.

My printer is recognized, but I can't print. I tried to play a dvd, I downloaded the software that popped up, but it won't play the dvd. I also tried youube, but no luck. It says I need to install a flash player, but I don't know which one. I have been trying track down these problems, but I haven't had any luck yet. Is this normal or is it my pc?

 

I don't know what you're trying to use for the DVD, but for flash/youtube as I posted above, open a Terminal and run:

Code:

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

 

I missed that, it was in the other thread. I will give it a try later. I tried to update my video drivers and I had to restart to have it take effect, but it booted into XP and the flash drive isn't being recognized again. Yet if I take it out and plug it in again, it will work and boot into Ubuntu the next time. But then for some reason, I have to do the driver update again and it won't work because I can't reboot into Linux.

I would like to be able to do the basics, sound, video, print etc, so that I can really try this out. The internet has been good so far with Firefox. I guess it's going to be like pulling teeth to figure out how to get the basics up and running. The volume keys on my keyboard don't work, yet everything else I've tried does. Do I need to find Linux drivers for my Canon printer? I just though it odd that it knows which printer I have and yet it won't print.

Thanks for taking the time to help me out. I tried to rep you again, but it won't let me.

 

kingbob,
What kind of machine(please post the specs of the machine) do you have? This will help us help you more. I have never tried to run Linux from a flash drive, so I can't speak to that.

Some background...
The problems you are having with flash and video are common. The problem stems from that fact that they are proprietary pieces of software(i.e. they are not written by the open source community) and are under the control of private companies. For example flash is under the control of Adobe and if you have an ATI or Nvidia graphics card, their drivers are made by the respective companies. There are Linux equivalents but they are not that good, because these companies refuse to open their source code. So the open source developers have to basically guess/reverse engineer the drivers themselves. If the source code to these pieces were open, I am sure we would have had amazing drivers in Linux by now. Ubuntu has really made a lot of this very simple. Let me give you some examples:

1.) If you want to play flash videos/youtube install flashplugin-nonfree. This installs Adobe's closed flash player.

2.) For your graphics card you can choose to keep the open source version of the driver or run the version made by the company. Ubuntu should present you a pop up that should ask you if you want to install this driver. Install it if you want. What does it do? It gives you 3D graphics capability for anything that uses it like games etc.

3.) Commercial DVD playback(a movie) can be a pain as well since the codec used to decrypt the DVD content is not free. This is why it is not included automatically in a lot of distros. Do a search and look up 'DVD playback in Ubuntu' and you should find a way to get this working as well.


Don't give up and keep reading/learning. Ubuntu is a good distro and makes things a lot easier than may others for Noobs. Also there is a ton of info on the web for Ubuntu. Good Luck.

 

I am running a Pentium 4 @ 2.8 Ghz, 1 gb RAM-PC 2700 333, 160 gb IDE hdd, Geforce 6200 256 mb. I have Ubuntu running on a flash drive, much better than the live cd. I also have Mint on a different flash drive. Youtube works on Mint, on my pc, I didn't install anything. On my wife's laptop, youtube video and audio is choppy with Mint. I haven't tried Ubuntu on her pc yet, maybe later tonight.

The problem I have when I download the suggested driver for my video card is restarting the pc to have the change take effect. When I restart, the flash drive isn't recognized and it boots into XP. I have unplug the flash drive and plug it back in, then restart and it will boot into Ubuntu. In my BIOS, I have to go into hard drives and then pick the usb drive that is installed to put it ahead of the hdd in boot order. Even though this setting doesn't change in the BIOS, it won'f boot from the flash drive a second time until I unplug/plug it in again. I have no idea why. I'm not the most tech savy person out there, but I can follow well written directions.

I need to read more. I downloaded the guide that was suggested in another thread here. Any idea why my printer doesn't work, of is that the driver too? It does recognize the printer, but it won't print.

 

I have installed a flash player and I can watch youtube now, but the volume control does nothing. I can't change it up or down unless I do it on the speaker itself, the Ubuntu control on the taskbar does nothing. I got a dvd to partially play, but cannot select the menu and cannot chose what to play. I don't even know how to describe what went on there.
I cannot get my printer to print either, even though it is recognized. I spent some time reading and searching but I am obviously missing something. I cannot use any of the visual effects, they won't apply and revert back to none.

After several hours of playing with this, I am really getting nowhere. I would like to be able to print, watch a dvd, adjust my sound, and use some of the cool visuals that Linux is famous for. It must be me, what am I doing wrong?

 

Some observations: Mint will reboot from flash drive after shutting down, Ubuntu won't. I have to remove the drive and plug it back in to get it to boot again. I have no idea why.

Youtube and dvd playback work out of the box with Mint, with Ubuntu I had to download a flash player and then it worked fine. I still don't have workabel dvd playback with Ubuntu. The volume controls don't work properly with either one. The Ubuntu volume control is easily accessable, with Mint it takes a few clicks to get there.

I am unable to use any of the cool 3D effects on either version. I can only uset the desktop with no special effects. I am assuming that this is due to no proper video card driver. Question, what video cards do you guys have that work properly?

And I am unable to print with either version. I have not been able to find a way to get printing to work. I have a Canon MP 600. All in all, it has been a very frustrating experience with many hours spent with no gain. I just wish I knew why. Is it my pc? I am missing something simple that I am suppsoed to be doing? Or is my experience the norm? I really would like to get one of these versions usable. If they worked correctly, there seems to be a lot to like. Any ideas or suggestions?

I don't want to drive people here crazy with questions but I think my experience could be helpful to the other beginners out there. And by now this thread has probably run it's course and won't receive much attention now. I thank you for your help.

 

kingbob,
Sorry you are having such a hard time. I think it is just some bad luck that you are having in your case and if your unlucky certain hardware can be problematic. Most hardware works great in Linux, but you can run across that certain piece of hardware that will require more tweaking. I think that is what is happening to you. SO those with hardware that is well detected will have a stress free experience while people like you will be annoyed. Don't give up. When I was running Ubuntu 8.10 x64 it was beautiful. It has been the easiest and smoothest distro I have ever used, period. I had it installed in my desktop and laptop and everything worked perfectly including my bluetooth mouse, printer, video cards, sound etc.. I barely had to do any configuration at all.

Yes, in order to use the 3D effects you will need the nvidia propriatary drivers that I mentioned earlier. Ubuntu should automatically present these to you. I have a Nvidia 6600GT card in my desktop and Nvidia Quadro FX 570 card in my laptop. Both worked fine.

Hard to say if you are doing anything wrong without sitting next to you and seeing what you are doing.

As far as the video driver. Isn't Ubuntu asking you to install it? It should have a little icon(that is green and looks like a graphics card) that pops up with a message asking you to install the restricted graphics driver. You should get that after you log in and see your desktop. Do you get that?

As far as the printer, the system should install it automatically. Linux is pretty good about device recognition now. I am using an HP LaserJet 1012 printer and it was setup automatically and printed perfectly in Ubuntu. There is a manual way to install the printer as well using a piece of software called CUPS. I can try to walk you through that and see if that makes any difference.

Edit: Hey bob. I was doing some googling for your printer to see how to set it up. Check out this link. It is a pretty involved discussion, but I think the moral of the story is that Ubuntu doesn't have the driver for your printer included. So as a temporary fix people are using the MP500 driver instead as can be seen from the excerpt of the thread I am posting below..

First, you add the following line to your "/etc/apt/sources.list"

deb http://mambo.kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~takushi/ubuntu ./

Then you do in a terminal:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libcnbj-2.6 bjfilter-2.6 pstocanonbj

Then you add a printer using the normal interface and you select the MP500 driver. For me, it works.

 

I do let it update the video card driver, but I still am unable to select any desktop effects. It will only allow none. It recognizes my printer, but it won't print. Same thing with Mint. Also, I can't restart Ubuntu without removing and reinstalling the flash drive yet I have no problem doing so with Mint on a separated flash drive. Of the two, I have a bit more function with Mint, but no printer or 3d effects with either. Thanks for the help.

 

I get an error message that it couldn't find the package. Are all of these problems due to running from a flash drive?

 

the reason mint works is that it comes with alot of the plugins already included:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Mint

I would try installing the restricted formats:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats

Code:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Q. when you installed ubuntu (or mint), did you use the "install to flash drive" option from the main menu on the desktop? (after booting the live cd)
because if you didn't use that method the install wont be setup to save any changes you make.

 

I installed it to the flash drive from Windows and run it in the persistent mode as shown at pendrivelinux.com. Would it be better to intall it from the live cd?

 

If persistent mode is working for you, then its probably the same as the menu item I was talking about. the menu item is new for ubuntu 8.10.

some info here:
http://www.howtoforge.com/installing-ubuntu-8.10-on-your-usb-flash-drive

 

Did you check out the info I posted about your printer?

 

I am online with XP now and am unable to access the mambo link, I am getting a message saying access is forbidden on this server. Is that because of my ISP? I will have to try it from Ubuntu and see what happens.

I know where to use terminal in Ubuntu, but I don't understand the /etc/apt/sources.list part, unless that is further explained iin the link I can't access.

I download the video card driver and I restart and it still says unable to enable desktop effects. I still wonder if this is due to running it from a flash drive. Literally nothing works as it is supposed to. I started another thread asking about running Linux from a flash drive and I am waiting to see if I get any replies.

 

It won't install the restricted extras.This is the message I get:

Package ubuntu-restricted-extras is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
E: Package ubuntu-restricted-extras has no installation candidate

Any ideas why?

 

Where is the /etc/apt/sources.list? I know where the terminal is, but not this. I would be so happy to get this printer working. Thanks for your help.

 

I have gotten my printer working in Mint and Ubuntu. The info you provided helped me find a very easy solution. I clicked to add a new printer even though it is the same one. It searched for a driver and couldn't find one. So I selected the Canon Pixma MP 500 from the list and it works. It turned out to be an easy fix and was not as complicted a method that was being suggested on the other forums. Thanks for your help. Rep for you.

Does anyone want to tackle the video drivers for me?

 

Here is the link to the site: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

Please post your experiences.

 

I shall. I'm trying a CrunchBang USB stick install now.

 

I hope it works out well. I just wish someone else would try Mint or Ubuntu on a usb stick and help me figure a few things out. LOL.