Install Linux & Boot Tools on a Multiboot USB Drive

Okay, so you want to try the latest Linux distributions and you don't want them installed for some reason. Or you want to just do some test driving before you commit to a full install. Or maybe you're the sort of guy that helps  family and friends with their computers and you're fond of using Linux tools to get the job done. Well, it would be handy if you had all your software tools in one small handy package. Think of the swissarmy knife a s good analogy. It may now have the best tools, but since it's pocket-able and has several different small tools, it comes in very handy in many situations.

Well, there's an easy way to create a multiple boot USB thumbdrive to enable you to boot of different tools without having to burn each one on to a CD. It's called Xboot [https://sites.google.com/site/shamurxboot/home]. It's just like UNetBootin which I wrote about on another post [http://techthroes.blogspot.com/2011/08/install-linux-onto-usb-stick.html]. What makes Xboot a little better is that it can configure you're USB drive with a bootloader enabling you to install more than just one operating system. You also have the option to install non-Linux bootable tools like  Ultimate Boot CD or Hiren's Boot CD.

Here's how to install you're favorite tools onto a USB drive with Xboot:

First, download the tool from https://sites.google.com/site/shamurxboot/download:

After you download it, you need to extract the zipped file to a location on your computer where it'll be easy to find. The Desktop usually works best. You'll always know how to get there and it'll make it a cinch to find. Click on the extracted xbootvs1.0beta14.exe file and you should see this window:

Next, from the main window (as it appears above) drag your Linux ISO images onto the open space with columns labeled Name, Size, CAtegory, etc. It's really that simple. Just click on the files from your  file browser and drag 'em there. Now in some cases the ISO you choose can't be identified by Xboot. You'll need to tell it what kind of image it is. Is it a Linux image, like Ubuntu, Fedora, or OpenSuse? Or is it one of those self-booting rescue tools like DBAN or Ultimate Boot CD:

It's good though that there are a lot of presets and Xboot will try to configure the install for the particular bootable tool or OS using the option you choose. Be cautious though, since if you make the wrong choice the whole USB will not boot at all. Here's a preview of those options:

Now, once you've had your starting line up figured out, have Xboot create the Multiboot USB for you. Just click on the Create USB button:

After that you'll be asked to pick which drive you'd want to install everything in. You can also select you choice of bootloader from the same dialog, but I'd go with Syslinux:

So after you're done with all the options, let Xboot do it's thang...

Now it will take some time for Xboot to set everything up, so this would be the perfect for you to get a Coke from the Vendo or a cup of coffee from the pot. If you've known me for some time, you would know. I'm a coffee kind of guy. So I'd get a cup if you were me. But, you know. To each his own. It may take around 15-20 minutes to get everything setup, so take your sweet time and don't worry about it. Okay, okay. I know... I'm stalling. Next step is to test the thing's working. 

To test if the installed OS and tools are booting, you can go back to Xboot. Click on the QEMU tab, pick the drive you installed to and click boot :

I never did get that to work for some reason. So YMMV (your mileage may vary) ... I did however, reboot my machine and and let it boot from the USB and tadaaa: 

I tested all of the stuff I installed and when was sure everything was working I got back to my cup of joe. I thought to myself, it's nice to have a multi-tool like this in your pack of geek gear. You can have this too. Have fun experimenting with Xboot while you're at it :-)

Install Linux Onto a USB Stick

Okay, so I wrote about using the Universal USB Installer to create a bootable virtual CD-ROM on your USB thumb drives. That was a few weeks back, but I've been busy with a lot of other things so pardon the delay. If you want to go back, I wrote about it here: Install Ubuntu 11.04 From a USB Stick. So you might ask, "Why would I use this?" I covered some of the reasons in my earlier post. Another reason I do this is I usually get asked to help out friends and relatives with their computers. I used to bring along this small zip up sling bag that was a CD wallet inside. I have all my rescue CD's in there. I also have a precision screw driver set in there. That's all I need to be a one-man geek rescue squad. Well now that USB sticks have increased in capacity and tools have been made available online, it's now possible to chuck those CD rescue disks and use USB thumb drives instead.

Well after posting that, I felt it was a bit unfair if I didn't post about how to do this over on the Linux end with UNetBootin. And yes, it is as easy as downloading the application, choosing settings and rebooting your computer. Let's get to it.

1. If you're comfy with using commands on the terminal, just open one up and type in sudo apt-get install unetbootin. You'll be asked for your password, as always:

2. You can also launch the Synaptic Package Manager (available in many Linux distributions) and download it from there. Just fire up Synaptic, click Reload and once everything's updated use Search to find UNetBootin. Tick the check box and click Apply:

3. After installing it whichever way you want, launch UNetBootin :

4. You can have UNetBootin download the ISO image of the Linux distribution you want by choosing the Distribution and use the drop-down menus to choose your flavor of Linux and version of choice:

5. If you already downloaded the ISO of your Linux of choice, just click on the Diskimage option and tell UNetBootin where it is on your computer.  :

By the way, I would recommend connecting one USB thumbdrive so it doesn't get confusing when you choose the device to install everything on. If you're all good with that, click on the OK button.

6. This here is my favorite part. I let the app do it's thing automagically and I get to get up and grab a cup of coffee:

7. Once the install is complete, just click on the Reboot button:

When the computer reboots, go into BIOS and change the settings to make the USB stick the first thing it will boot to. On certain computers, you have function keys (F1 to F12) that you can use it brings up your booting options. This is different from computer to computer, even from motherboard to motherboard. So consult your handy user manual.

So now that I have a bootable Linux rescue CD installed on my USB thumb drive, I can ditch the real CD's. And I can ditch the sling bag too. I still need to bring along my screwdrivers though. But what if I have several rescue CD's I need? Well, I'll cover installing multiple live CD's onto a single USB stick on another post. Yes! Multi-boot is possible on USB sticks too with the right tools. Stay tuned in for that one.

Install Ubuntu 11.04 From a USB Stick

Installing the CD image of Ubuntu onto a USB stcik is quite handy in certain situations. Say you need to install the latest and greatest version of Ubuntu in a Netbook. Or maybe you need to do emergency recovery and your optical drive chose the most inopportune moment to conk out on you. Or you may be like me, with shelves of burnt media and running out of storage. Whatever the case, you can try Ubuntu before you commit. It's just handy (and dandy, Joe) that you can do it from a USB stick. 

1. Download Ubuntu from http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download. Remember the location where you downloaded the .ISO file. Using the default location under My Documents works best, the installer will automatically scan those folders. 

2. Download PendriveLinux's Universal USB Installer from http://www.pendrivelinux.com/downloads/Universal-USB-Installer/Universal-USB-Installer.exe 

3. Launch the Universal USB Installer and agree with the terms:

4. Start configuring the Options:

5. Select the flavor of Linux you want to install using the drop-down menu on Step 1. For our case it's Ubuntu 11.04:

6. If the Universal USB Installer can't find the ISO automatically, specify the location by clicking the Browse button on Step 2. In the sample below, I downloaded it to Drive D:\ :

7. Choose the drive letter of your USB drive in Step 3. You can tick the option to format the drive before you install Ubuntu on it:

8. Click on the Create button to start installing:

9. Confirm your options by clicking on Yes on the next notification:

10. Grab a cup of joe while you let the installer do it's work:

11. You'll see another window where the status is tracked. Caution should be exercised, as this can be hypnotic for geeks like me:

12. And we are done!

Now, reboot your computer, go into BIOS and choose the options to boot into USB devices before the hard drive or optical drive. You can use the 'Live CD' in the USB stick to try out Ubuntu or choose to install it to your hard drive from there. Enjoy with a second cup of coffee!

Terminal in Geek

Linux Command Line & Shell Scripting Bible

No, no one is sick or ill. It isn't where buses wait for passengers either. Terminal or the Terminal Window is where geeks type in commands to make the computer do something. Back in the day, when Unix and Linux didn't have graphical user interfaces or GUI (pronounced gooey), geeks typed in commands using a command line interface in a terminal environment. The screen was all text. No fancy graphics where you just click on stuff. Just a blinking cursor on screen waiting for the user to enter a command. Type in a sequence of words or acronyms and the computer does what you ask it to do. Commands follow a syntax, kind of like grammar in English. The syntax follows patterns and you'd have to know what your typing was 'grammatically correct' so the computer does what you ask it to do.

Nowadays, Linux has graphical user interfaces. The thing is most old school linux users still love using terminal commands. It is still the most efficient way to do things in Linux. So inside the graphical interface is a terminal window, a miniaturized terminal environment contained inside a window. It functions in a similar fashion to the CMD or MS-DOS Prompt window in Windows systems.

In the Beginning...Was the Command Line

Most operations like say installing software are still performed within a terminal window. Graphical interfaces were just added to make it easier for users to click and choose. Say you're an Ubuntu user and you want to install a piece of software. You open up the Synaptic package manager and tick on a checkbox or two. After Synaptic downloads the needed files, it will launch it's own terminal window and if you choose to view the details, you'll see the commands run on their own in a terminal window.

So the next time you talk to a geek and they mention the 'terminal', you know they're not talking about Rupert Holmes or his song :-)

Grumbling Geyser

In a spiteful, vengeful act of spring clearing my desk drawer, guess what I found? I had to stop scorching the earth to admire a relic from the good past. I found an old copy of Hoary Hedgehog! I've actually been around since Warty Warthog, but I don't have any CD's anymore. I must've given them away. I was always on a frenzy back then, ordering like mad, wanting to give away the CD's to leery friends who started avoiding me. Well, anyway, I'm glad I kept a copy around just for old times sake.

Ah, those were the days! Way before they started scheming to go by the alphabet for the order of the version nick names. Back when downloading anything close to the size of a full CD meant days on end on a dial-up connection. Frustrating was it to find your download interrupted by something as trivial as a call coming in. Back in dial-up age that meant starting over. So when a friend told me that there was this distro that was shipping CD's free-as-in-beer to anyone anywhere in the world, I was esctatic! Back in those days, I'd order a pair of discs the day they announce the release and eagerly await the three weeks it would take to get them in my sweaty palms.

It's wonderful to romanticize about the old days. Sad to say as the years pass I begin to be less enthused and more bemused. Everything goes by so fast these days. Probably because i have so much to do and only 24 hours every day. Along with that dilemna comes less time in front of the computer. Well, not really. I meant I spend more time on the computer now than 5 years ago, except these days it tipped over to work related things instead of tinker time.


With Natty Narwhal barely a few weeks old and Oneiric Ocelot peeking over the horizon, I tend to wonder if the whole scheme of releasing a new version every six months is still relevant. Probably because by the time I had  afforded myself enough use-time to get comfy with one release, here comes another. And there something to be said about really customizing a linux install to the tweaks that you want. I mean when you hit the sweet spot, it's just in time for the next release. Reminds me of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and how a lot of long-time linux users will find a version that is stable and feature-sufficient enough for them and stick with it until they really have to upgrade. I mean really need to.  Like probably when the repositories for that version already go offline kind of have-to.


So gleaming from that wisdom and after weighing the history I've had with Ubuntu, I've decided to just go with what works for me. I installed Natty, but then I couldn't get used to Unity. I will go back to Maverick and will probably stick with that until I really need to (have to) move on. Maverick was the last thing I got excited about and it worked great with the tweaks that I added. I'm starting to feel old already just admitting that I prefer the older stuff. I mean I'm starting to love older things all of a sudden. Someone send me an Ubuntu shirt with the old logo!!!