I want to boot multiple linux system off a 8g thumbdrive

bmouring

Distinguished
May 6, 2006
1,215
0
19,360

Too true, but if you're adamant about it (and have found multiple distros that will all fit on an 8 gig flash drive), they all use/depend on GRUB(2) to boot, so you could at very least manually creat the file or files used to provide boot options. Let us know if you seriously want to continue tromping down this path (and even better, what your endgame is here)
 

chamaecyparis

Distinguished
Nov 21, 2010
321
0
18,810

ULTILEX is as place to start
See http://ultilex.linux-bg.org/

Put it on a like one gig partition of its own, run the included script and voila -- you have access to multiple linux distros.

On the other partition, learn how to make a bootable USB stick using Linux at
http://www.pane-free.com/pg_2.html

This is the preferred, "CrunchBang Method" due to the fact UNetBootin oftentimes does not work as advertised.
 

Jbander

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2011
55
0
18,630
"To install on USB flash device, follow these steps (applied from Slax):

Copy all files and folders from the CD to the root folder of your USB flash device.
Execute "/boot/bootinst.sh" (for Linux), or "\boot\bootinst.bat" (for Windows).
That's all. You are ready to boot ULTILEX from your USB flash device! :)"

This part I don't understand, I have ultilex on my thumb drive, I'm trying to open the thumbdrive but I need Slax to open it but it's on the thumb drive, please tell me what I'm missing ,I'm in Ubuntu 11.04.
 

bmouring

Distinguished
May 6, 2006
1,215
0
19,360
You've copied all of the content from the CD onto the flash drive, correct? If so, navigate to the USB drive's root (likely /media/$YOUR_FLASHDRIVE_MANUFACTURER/ in Ubuntu) in a terminal and execute
Code:
boot/bootinst.sh
//hint: try tab completion, for example "bo[tab]bootin[tab]sh" should get you that path
 

Jbander

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2011
55
0
18,630

I copied the content from my hardrive to my thumbdrive.
Is this what I put in terminal "/media/jon/boot/bootinst.sh"? Jon is the name of my thumbdrive. It says permission denied. As you can see I'm not to advanced in using Linux, I appreciate the help.


 

bmouring

Distinguished
May 6, 2006
1,215
0
19,360

I gave the script a quick look-over, I would suggest
Code:
cd /media/jon
boot/booinst.sh
(this is due to how the determine which disk's MBR (or master boot record) is used for housing the bootloader (you want the bootloader to be installed on the flash drive)
 

Jbander

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2011
55
0
18,630
"

I get" no such file or directory" Is there a file I need on the thumbdrive that I can look for to see if I have what I need on the thumb drive so that I can boot it? I have two files that say boot on the thumbdrive, one in parenthesize
 

chamaecyparis

Distinguished
Nov 21, 2010
321
0
18,810
I'm 'on the road,' so am sorry not to have replied sooner.

ULTILEX is simple, but must be root; once files are installed on partition of USB stick, cd to the folder where the
script bootinst.sh is located. Once there, enter command
[cpp]./bootinst.sh[/cpp]

edit: if the above does not work at first, change the script to executable

[cpp]chmod a+x ./bootinst.sh[/cpp]

then repeat the first.
 

Jbander

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2011
55
0
18,630
 

bmouring

Distinguished
May 6, 2006
1,215
0
19,360
Can you post the output of the following (with the thumbdrive "jon" plugged in)
Code:
sudo find /media/jon -iregex ".*boot.*\.sh$" -exec ls -l {} \;
(This oneliner will try to find anything named close to that filename and let us know the permissions of anything it finds)


((more detailed description of oneliner:
find something
under the directory "/media/jon"
that matches thecase-insensitive regular expression ".*boot.*\.sh$"
(.(any non-EOL character)
*(0 or more times)
boot(the letters "boot")
.*(0 or more of any character)
\.(escape-period, in other words, an actual '.' character)
sh(the characters "sh")
$(the end of the line, the "enter" character)
On any filename that matches that iregex, execute the following command (replacing {} with the match's full path): ls -l {}))
 

Jbander

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2011
55
0
18,630


-rw-r--r-- 1 jbander jbander 2251 2009-04-11 09:46 /media/jon/boot/bootinst.sh
 

chamaecyparis

Distinguished
Nov 21, 2010
321
0
18,810


Move all ULTILEX files to /jon/boot/ then run the script; that is assuming "boot" is a label of a partition: if not, all files need to be in a top level before the script is run.


NOTE for previous post -- if all being run is Windows, and you are simply trying Linux via a USB stick, ignore all other that I said. I am not good at teaching beginners, but am best when a modicum of knowledge is already in place. sorry.
 

bmouring

Distinguished
May 6, 2006
1,215
0
19,360

1) it's not executable (should look like -rwxr-xr-x)
2) what directory are you in when you execute the shell schipt? (issue a pwd)
 

Jbander

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2011
55
0
18,630


Shell script ,I looked it up and I still don't know what or were it is but if you meant just going to terminal and and issue a pwd then it is "/home/jbander"
 

bmouring

Distinguished
May 6, 2006
1,215
0
19,360

Ah, ok, so do the following:
1) Open a terminal
2) cd /media/jon/boot
3) sudo sh ./bootinst.sh

(the file bootinst.sh is a so-called shell script)
 

Jbander

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2011
55
0
18,630
 

bmouring

Distinguished
May 6, 2006
1,215
0
19,360
According to this article that error is due to using some shell other than /bin/bash. However, I would suggest changing back the symlink after you complete the install on your USB stick (other utilities may depend on the specific behavior of the shell that is linked to /bin/sh, likely dash but you can be sure by issuing ls -l /bin/sh)