General TC > Tiny Core Netbooks
Setting up a pendrive for installation of TCL with core2usb
Mike7:
Hi, Gerald.
--- Quote ---There many ways to install core.
http://wiki.tinycorelinux.net/wiki:start#installing
--- End quote ---
Unfortunately, most of the information in that wiki is for people who either have a CD drive or TCL already installed on their hard drive. I have neither.
What I have is an Asus eeePC 1000HA netbook with no optical drive and Windows XP on the hard drive. I also have an old version of Puppeee Linux 4.4 on a bootable pendrive, which I am now using as an OS because the Asus HDD is getting old and weak.
--- Quote ---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.
--- End quote ---
I don't need to access the thumb drive from Windows. But I have no CD drive. What I'm trying to figure out is the best way to install CorePlus on a pendrive using core2usb in Windows. That is, how to partition the pendrive before running core2usb. Or alternatively how to install from PuppyLinux (I have no idea at all how to do that).
Cheers!
Mike
Mike7:
Hi, Béla.
--- Quote ---If you are on a Linux machine, no need for core2usb. It is a Windows-only installer for newcomers with no Linux.
--- End quote ---
I have very little experience with or knowledge of Linux. I have been using PuppeeeLinux because it's the only Linux I was able to make a stick from that boots. But I have no idea how to use it to install CorePlus onto another stick.
Some people say I can just dd the iso to the pendrive. But other people say no. Same for using Unetbootin-for-Linux.
Any suggestions?
Cheers!
Mike
Mike7:
Hi, Misalf.
--- Quote ---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).
--- End quote ---
I think I can probably figure out how to edit TCL files from within TCL. At least, I've been able to edit a couple of PuppyLinux system files using the terminal it has.
--- Quote ---It might also help to even boot on some BIOS'es (size might pe important as well).
--- End quote ---
Yes, those could be important considerations. The PuppyLinux stick I have was created in Windows and boots fine. But it creates Linux partitions as part of a complicated boot process. I wonder if TCL will do the same thing?
--- Quote ---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).
--- End quote ---
I think I can probably figure out how to edit TCL files from within TCL. At least, I was able to edit a couple of PuppyLinux system files using the terminal it has.
--- Quote ---Yes, you can use GParted from within Puppy.
--- End quote ---
That's a relief. Strange as it may sound, I never could figure out how to create partitions and format them separately in Windows. Of course, I never got the hang of using the Windows terminal for things like diskpart. I'm strictly a user <grin>.
--- Quote ---On whichever partition you install the bootloader, this one should be bootable. The actual OS can be located at another partition on that drive.
--- End quote ---
Sorry, you'll have to excuse me, but I really have no idea what this means. I don't know what a bootloader is, to be perfectly frank, and I can't see how an OS could work in a separate partition. I know, I need to go off and study computers and Linux for a year or two.
--- Quote ---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.
--- End quote ---
Well, I don't know yet what a TCL Backup is. But it sounds like a bad idea to have the whole pendrive formatted in FAT32, right? So I'm afraid we're back to my original questions about just what partitions to make on the pendrive before doing the installation to it, and what format to make them.
How about this: If I create a small FAT 32 partition for TCL and leave the rest of the pendrive alone, as Béla originally suggested, would TCL then be able to re-format the rest of the pendrive once it's running?
--- Quote ---EXT2 does not do as many read/write to disk compared to EXT3/4 so flash memory can live longer.
--- End quote ---
I understand that. The big question is if I can make the bootable TCL pendrive in Windows using core2usb, and then somehow have the rest of the pendrive - the persistence files and backup - in ext2.
--- Quote ---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).
--- End quote ---
Yes, I've gotten the idea from reading that swapping on a pendrive is out. Too many writes. PuppyLinux avoids it by putting everything in RAM at the boot, and only saving new stuff to a save.sfs file at shutdown. Maybe TCL can work that way, too.
--- Quote ---I never tryed core2usb.exe.
--- End quote ---
Me neither, yet. But I intend to, if I can just figure out how to partition this darn pendrive <grin>.
--- Quote ---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.
--- End quote ---
Thanks. That's very useful information, even if I don't plan to use the pendrive for any Windows stuff. I had a bad experience trying to make a copy of a list of some of my PuppyLinux files in Windows. The pendrive wouldn't boot any more and I had to re-install. I lost the Puppy save file. So I'm permanently scared off of ever using a Linux pendrive in Windows.
Thanks for your help.
Cheers!
Mike
Mike7:
Hi again, Béla.
--- Quote ---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.
--- End quote ---
Are we still talking about installing with core2usb? If so, how do I create the ext4 partition? Should I create the two partitions by running Gparted on the stick from within Puppy, and then do the installation from Windows? Or can I make the ext4 partition later using TCL? (Everything I've read says not to mess around with partitions after OS installation.)
Don't I still have to install all of CorePlus (71M) into the FAT partition? Or will core2usb give me an option to put just essential boot files there?
Why would I need to change data with Windows? You mean during the installation process?
--- Quote ---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.
--- End quote ---
I'm gonna take your word on this, Béla, but I think it needs more discussion. If you're right, then someone should edit the wiki, which says to use ext2.
Personally, I don't trust these pendrives, even the newer ones. It just takes one bad spot on the chip to ruin the whole stick, I've been told. And the last thing I need is to lose a complex configuration, plus backup, due to hardware failure.
Doesn't TCL permit working in RAM, with no writing to the stick and no swapping except at shutdown?
--- Quote ---With larger drives (say 8GB or up) I'm using a third or more partition as a backup for less frequently used data.
--- End quote ---
That makes sense. I think it also makes sense to use a separate pendrive for large files. With 32G pendrives selling for ten dollars, why keep stuff on the OS stick? Except maybe when access time is especially important.
Anyway, I still don't have a clear plan for partitioning my 8G pendrive, and whether to use core2usb or try to install from Puppy.
Maybe what I should do is make a few experiments, but I don't know where to begin. When I installed Puppeee 4.4 on a 4G stick, I didn't create any partitions beforehand. The result is that I can't use most of the 4G any more. There must be some way of re-partitioning the Puppy stick without losing what's already on it, but nobody at the Puppy Linux forum could tell me how. And the prevailing wisdom is to make all your partitions before installing the OS.
I want to get it right with TCL. I'm pretty sure it's the right OS for me, and I don't want to have to re-do it once I've got it running.
Cheers!
Mike
gerald_clark:
CorePlus is an installer image.
You can use dd from puppy to copy the CorePlus ISO to a small ( 128M or larger ) Flash drive.
You can then boot that flash drive and use it to do a regular install to another flash drive.
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