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- cholmon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17the next article will be "Set up RAID5 from PHP"
- crazylinuxguy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13This process seems way more complicated than the process I used to put slax on a usb drive. It is very detailed though, so I give it credit for that.
- thtroyer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9You should see the Gentoo handbook then...
This is easy stuff. ;) - zydeco, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Not if you're building an embedded linux system. This is a great howto.
- Two9A, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10It's mainly complicated by my desire to have a UnionFS between squash and tmp, to avoid write cycles. I'd assume the Slax installation process puts that in place automatically, but remember that this is a direct dump of my hard disk that I wish to boot from Flash. You could run servers, HTPCs and thin-client desktops with exactly the same procedure.
- acontorer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4If your goal is simply to remove the rotating hard drive from your system and replace it with Flash storage, alternatives include (1) installing a solid-state ATA hard drive such as http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCa ... or (2) installing a two-dollar IDE/ATA-to-CompactFlash adapter such as http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.711~r.53 ... .
- bearda, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3So put it somewhere else. You can get more than enough bandwidth out of NAS to stream your media.
- cgruber, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Yeah if you were going to make yourself a network device like a router or a firewall this can be exactly what you want. Since the hard disk will be the only thing besides fans that have moving parts removing it can greatly reduce any chance of failure.
- init100, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3"Even much of /var doesn't need to be persistent between boots. "
Though /var/log is pretty useless if it's gone after each reboot. - mccord, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3rtfa, it is explained why he doesn't want a harddrive in the first 2 paragraphs...
- welshie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Two9A's got the idea: How much of your OPERATING SYSTEM and application code changes regularly? Very little. /tmp and swap. Even much of /var doesn't need to be persistent between boots. Stick them on a ram disk with unionfs or like overlaying over the static stuff. If you've got a decent amount of RAM, or not running bloatware, you shouldn't need swap.
- paulu, on 10/17/2007, -1/+4A waste of time...why? Because you have to do more than click Apply and Ok?
- Two9A, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2And that's why I've mounted a RAM-disk as an overlay on the filesystem. TMPFS is actually quite useful outside this experiment: i use it on another box to hold /tmp, and it's mighty quick.
- drgmdp, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3damn small linux anyone?
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -9/+11That honestly looks like a RIDICULOUS waste of time.
- tsvb, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Great resource for this type of thing: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/
- cryptocom, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Exactly....and DSL even provides a method of booting your flash drive OS even if your mobo doesn't support it. It's a floppy image you can download that redirects the boot sequence from the 3.5 floppy to the flash drive.
DSL rules.
:) - xivulon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Hmm is it true that you can only boot from FAT32? Can't you put Grub in MBR? And even IF that is the case, can't you partition your flash device and use FAT32 just for /boot while keeping all the rest in ext3? That's what initrds are for. That would simplify the procedure A LOT at the expense of some more disk space. All you would have to do would be:
* copy the files over,
* reconfigure menul.lst and fstab
* add required modules to initramfs-tools and regenerate the initrd,
* disable atime, disable swap, and put /tmp and /var/logs on tmpfs (=memory) in order to minimize writes. - kungfoolou, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Obviously never worked with embedded systems before.
- Two9A, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2A few people are mentioning the resources for downloading Flash-bootable distros: the Pendrive site and so forth. I've tried to focus on booting the exact install that's on the hard disk at the moment, from Flash; a touch different.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Or you could just use a solid state drive.
http://tinyurl.com/2plxgy - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I don't understand this noiseless HTPC quest. Sure, some computers are noisy, but if you get a low power CPU and some quality fans you can have the whole thing running so quietly that you can't hear it unless you stick your ear up to the vents. In my setup I have the HTPC below the tv. My TV is a rear projection LCD and I found that the TV has a fan that actually makes more noise than the HTPC and my HTPC has a total of three fans running in it.
- cgruber, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Probably not for your home computer, but if you were building a low-power device that doesn't need mass storage it's a good way to do it. You can build a nice firewall that boots from a compact flash card.
I have a linux box that is entirely passive cooled and runs off the flash card. No moving parts what so ever. Short of a power spike or psu failure not much can actually die on it. - Orion682, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2because you can run slax, with a virtual filesystem that saves your changes, off a thumb drive and the setup requires all of 2 minutes and only rudimentary linux knowledge, that's why.
- Two9A, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1As long as the operating system has drivers for the filesystem on /home, you'll be fine. Theoretically, you could whack Windows on the USB, and mount /home onto X:, as long as you had an ext2 driver.
- HabaneroRed, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1For those of you who would prefer something a little easier: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/
They have a number of different distros to choose from, one of the easiest to install being Pendrivelinux, one of the smallest being DSL. I have done this multiple times, and it's handy to have Linux on my 512MB USB stick at the expense of only 50MB. - thcobbs, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Is this the project that has a busybox-based linux distro in the bios? That thing was freaking sweet. Boot up in seconds.
- ChazPSE, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I have Ubuntu on a key drive for use at work. I can stroll up to any computer and have my system just the way I like it in a matter of minutes instead of dealing with the usual M$ bs or a generic iso CD boot. In fact, I am writing this on a key booted PC.
Instructions at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LiveUsbPendrivePersistent. I recommend edit carefully the size of the syslinux file so it matches the key drive and finish with lilo. - polyGone, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Why in the..........never mind.
- Hermmunster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I have a 4gig flash using Sandisk Micromate. I also use linux as my primary OS. I thought, hey, this would be nice to try. Then I started reading. Talk about excessive detail. With this excessive detail comes a greater number of times for human error. So, I thought better of it.
They need to automate this such as with a bootable CD that sets this up that can then be stored away for some future use. - Grimdotdotdot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'm sure your home theater system will be stuffed with media with all the space that USB flash drive provides...
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'm guessing you are on Gentoo. Its a good tutorial, have you added it to gentoo-wiki yet?
- picsectionpleez, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I want to build a computer for my 2 children- where each one has their own pen drive and neither can "break" the computer.
- neko, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I think you could be on to something there.
LOADLIN.swf
That would bring tears to my eyes to behold. - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Flash drives have limited WRITE capabilities. If you're only READING from the flash it will last much longer.
- V1ncent, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Live CDs are the way to go. Works pretty much on any computer, especially older ones.
- CJChesterson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Hm... an Adobe Flash based virtual machine. Sounds like a great geek project to me.
- aubrey, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I picked up an addonics CF->SATA adapter and an 8GB 266X CF flash module a few months ago for use as the OS drive for my mythtv box. Reads benchmark at 40 megabytes a second, and writes go at 34 megabytes a second. So far, I've had no problems and have been extremely happy with the setup.
I'm using gentoo, and so I'm using the flash drive as the location where all the compiles for emerge take place. I am sure there is lots of read write action there. Performance wise, building on flash provides a much more noticeable speed improvement over ccache + distcc. A lot more noticeable actually.
My mysql database is on the flash as is /var/log. The myth recordings go to a real hard drive obviously.
You should read up on modern flash devices, and wear leveling and the like. I figure if manufactures are willing to warranty flash based hard drives for 5 years, the issues of them wearing out must be overblown.
Maybe I won't feel the same way after using the system for a year or so. but right now, things seem awesome. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Actually the author goes through great detail (the first 3 paragraphs) to explain that he is looking for a quiet system. So your "point" might be that you want Linux but Imran Nazar's point is clearly that the goal is to have a "quiet as possible", "truly silent" and "non-spinning medium" solution.
- CJChesterson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I put the Ubuntu install CD on a flash drive without much thought at all. Just copy the whole thing over to flash and install grub to the MBR. Then update the grub.conf to boot casper kernel. Much, much, much easier...
- wildgoosed, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0i'd rather boot from a live cd/dvd
- mbalionel, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Are there any advantages to booting your OS from a USB drive? I mean, what does it do to performance? Also, if you put your data on the hard drive, can you access it from any OS you might boot from USB; I mean, does your home partition stay put?
- cogsprocket, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1But that's hardly the point, is it? The point is not that Linux is running on flash. Any operating system will run on flash if it's a solid state drive. The point is to have Linux running on a mobile drive that can be booted on different machines, thereby carrying around your own desktop. Or possibly even to create a toolkit such as a development environment or a forensic analysis device. An internal solid-state drive is not suited for this application.
- esengulov, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1From Flash Drive :?: Awesome. Now someone one has to come up with similar article for Vista, it would be nice to give a try before switching to it.
- HiVoltRock, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0One would think this would be more useful for recovery and file system problems than running the OS exclusively off the flash drive, it's easier to have a flash drive handy than CD boot disks, not to mention the higher storage capacity
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Old news, haven't we been doing this for years now? DSL, or knoppix on a jumpdrive is great, you never know when you need it.
- lovoror, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0yes,The same to me.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Isn't flash a poor choice for an operating system though? I mean most flash drives can only go through so many readwrite cycles, and an operating system would take up a lot of those readwrite cycles in a (relatively) short amount of time.
- arma, on 10/12/2007, -9/+8At first I thought it was like booting Linux from Adobe Flash, I got excited for a sec, but then I realized that it was not that Flash lol : )
- Lorddias, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1He said he gets annoyed when his pc makes noise when hes using his home theatre entertainment system, but if his hard drive is really that loud he should have replaced that thing ages ago. Either that or likely was just convincing himself of an excuse to accomplish such a feat. I always liked my computers making noises, it was always the sound of life to me.
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