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Setting up a pendrive for installation of TCL with core2usb

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Mike7:
Hi, folks!

Before attempting to install CorePlus on my pendrive, I want to make sure I have the pendrive set up correctly.

Back in March, Béla wrote:

--- Quote ---Create a relatively small FAT or FAT32 partition (256M) as first partition for. Use remaining part as EXT and SWAP LINUX partitions later created with TC when it is up and running.
--- End quote ---

Now, I am going to install on an 8G pendrive. Should I create a 256M fat 32 partition and just leave the rest of the pendrive alone?

Can I use Gparted in PuppyLinux (my current OS) to create this boot partition, or must I do it in Windows?

Do I need to flag this small partition as bootable when I create it?

In the wiki (http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/wiki:partition) it says:

--- Quote ---When installing on a USB drive, or other solid state memory, one partition is recommended for one version of Linux, that is a root partition. This is usually formatted with the Ext2 filesystem, which is a non-journalling filesystem, to minimize writing, and lengthen the life of the memory. Do not put a swap partition on a USB drive or other solid state memory, as it will result in writing a huge amount to the drive, and greatly shorten the life of the drive.
--- End quote ---

This seems to conflict with what Béla said.

What does it all mean, in practical terms? Should I create a 256M bootable partition formatted in FAT32, and a second 7.744G partition formatted it in ext2? But that isn't possible in Windows, is it?

If I don't format in ext2, will the life of the pendrive be shortened by constant journalling?

As a solution to this problem (if it is a problem), should I try to install TCL on the pendrive from my PuppyLinux OS, instead of using core2usb.exe in Windows? Or is that unnecessary, because TCL creates ext2 partitions on the pendrive once it's installed?

I'm confused. Can someone help me out? Rich? Curaga? Béla? Anyone?

Thanks!

Mike

gerald_clark:
There many ways to install core.
http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/wiki:start#installing

If you don't need to access the thumb drive from Windows, the easiest is to boot the CorePlus CD and run the installer to install to the thumb drive.

bmarkus:
If you are on a Linux machine, no need for core2usb. It is a Windows-only installer for newcomers with no Linux.

Misalf:
I don't think there is one correct answer about what kind of partition layout to use. It depends on your needs.

One advantage of using fat32 for the boot partition is that you would be able to edit/repair it from within Windows (f.e. bad boot entry in bootloader config). It might also help to even boot on some BIOS'es (size might pe important as well).

Yes, you can use GParted from within Puppy.

On whichever partition you install the bootloader, this one should be bootable. The actual OS can be located at another partition on that drive.

You can boot Core from a FAT32 partition. However, you might want to exclude some files from your Backup and store them elsewere on the disk (instead of  ~/home/$USER ). Doing so on a Windows partition those files would loose their permission flags.

EXT2 does not do as many read/write to disk compared to EXT3/4 so flash memory can live longer.

Creating a Swap partition on a flash drive really is no good idea. Even though I rarely see TinyCore using any swap at all (actually only when I compile software).
The good news is Core uses some amount of real RAM and uses this as compressed swap (can be disabled by using  nozswap  boot code).

I never tryed core2usb.exe.

--

If you want to use this pendrive for storing files in Windows as well, you might want to make the first partition the biggest (like 6GB or so) because Windows doesn't show you any partition after the first one - even if also formated in a Windows friendly filesystem.

bmarkus:
My advice is to have a small FAT partition just to boot and change data with WINDOWS (64-128MByte) and a second EXT4 partition with /tce for normal Linux/TC use. Never use ext2, just a journaling file system. Modern USB sticks has rather long lifetime and a built-in mechanism to distribute writes over the drive. I'm using a lot and have rather old sticks but never had any failed. But had corrupted file systems where ext4 saved my life but with ext2 would have lost few month work. Also, USB sticks are cheap.

With larger drives (say 8GB or up) I'm using a third or more partition as a backup for less frequently used data.

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