Dual boot Puppy 4.1 from USB and Ubuntu on Hardive [SOLVED]

[madscientist]

I need some help here. I have Ubuntu 8.1 installed on my lappy, and I have a frugal Puppy (4.1) installed on my USB drive. When I try to boot up the lappy with my USB drive I think it get's confused as to what it's supposed to do.

I have grub installed on my lappy, and I think I have to add something to the bottom of my menu.lst file in order to tell the system to use the initrd, and kernel on the USB drive instead of the lappy, but I'm not sure what it is.

Any ideas as to what I need to add to my menu.lst file to get my USB puppy to boot on my Ubuntu system? Is there something else I need to do in order to get the USB drive to boot?

Thanks for your assistance!

[Béèm]

A copy of the menu.lst would help to better understand.

[madscientist]

Here is the menu.lst file. You can see what I tried to do at the bottom, but it didn't work.

Code: Select all

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
#            grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
#            grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
#            and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default		0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout		3

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line)  and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
#      password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title		Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root		(hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader	+1
#
# title		Linux
# root		(hd0,1)
# kernel	/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=0fe55aaf-fe99-4943-8aa4-4da70e86b362 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,0)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
##      alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
##      lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=elevator=noop quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
##      lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
##      altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
##      howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
##      memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title		Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=0fe55aaf-fe99-4943-8aa4-4da70e86b362 ro quiet splash elevator=noop
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=0fe55aaf-fe99-4943-8aa4-4da70e86b362 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic

title		Ubuntu 8.04.1, memtest86+
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

title		PuppyLinux_4.1
root		(hd1)
chainloader +1

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

[rcrsn51]

1. Make a folder inside your Ubuntu install called /puppy

2. Copy the first two Puppy files - vmlinuz and initrd.gz - from the live CD into this folder.

3. Add this menu.lst entry

title Puppy on USB
root (hd0,0)
kernel /puppy/vmlinuz pmedia=usbflash
initrd /puppy/initrd.gz

When you select Puppy from the menu, GRUB will load the kernel from the /puppy folder on your hard drive. Then Puppy's hardware detection will take over and locate the rest of its files on the flash drive.

[madscientist]

Ok, I made the directory, put the files in, and puppy started to boot. When it gets to loading up the keyboard and mouse it hangs. I don't have this problem when I plug the USB drive in other machines.

Any other ideas?

[rcrsn51]

Is there already a pupsave file on the flash drive? If so, there may be a conflict between its current settings and those required by your laptop. Either rename it or change the menu.lst entry to

Code: Select all

kernel /puppy/vmlinuz pmedia=usbflash pfix=ram

Also did you select Xorg or Xvesa video? One may be better for your hardware than the other.

[madscientist]

No, that didn't work. I renamed my pup_save file, and also pushed the software into ram during boot. I still hang at the point where it tries to set up the keyboard and mouse. It's just after the networking set up. I never even get to the point where I can choose the graphics.

I do appreciate your help.

[Béèm]

I wonder if the entry for puppy shouldn't read (hd1,0)

[madscientist]

well, that seemed to work faster, and allows me to not have to have the /puppyh directory on my laptop, but it still hangs during the puppy boot from the usb drive when it gets to probing the media (keyboard, mouse).

I'm thinking that it may be something in the puppy start up file?

[rcrsn51]

Do you have the same problem when you boot directly off the Live CD?

[madscientist]

I just tried the live CD and I ran into the same problem. I guess that might mean that there isn't a keyboard driver in this puppy? I'm trying to boot up on an Acer Aspire One which is pretty new. Maybe this is the problem?

[rcrsn51]

Well, yes. Do a forum search for "aspire". You will find lots of info about this unit.

[DaveS]

I know this is a very basic question, and I dont mean to insult, but have you set your bios on the laptop to boot from a CD and USB? Have you set the boot order? You see, I would not expect a Grub entry to be needed for your system. I use Puppy from USB, including having the save file on USB, and Ubuntu on the hard drive. If the USB is plugged in, the PC boots from it before ever reading Grub.
HOWEVER, the only way I could get it to work was to start with a USB formatted to FAT 32, and when installing Puppy on it, select the Syslinux mbr package at both the dialogues that come up during installation. Like this, these installs have been bullet-proof. No need for Grub entries. This has been fine for 4.0, 4.1, 4.1.1, and NOP 4.1-r-1. Puppy 4.1.1 is a great release, especially for this type of installation as wifi support is brilliant, and the bug in Rox which reported a non existent error when copying files between FAT 32 and Ext2/3 partitions has been fixed. NOP works with Photobucket where 4.1.1 does not (at least on my system), which I think is a Rox bug. NOP uses the Thunar file manager, but it is just a simple Pet install from package manager to install Rox if you prefer it.

[madscientist]

Thank you to everyone for their help and suggestions. I found the problem in another thread. It seems that my Aspire One laptop has a problem booting when there is an SD card loaded. If I remove the SD card I can get the laptop to boot my USB stick. I will have to dig a bit deeper to see if there was a work around posted anywhere.

Thanks again!