usb linux question(s)

[67GTA]

I have never tried this before. That is an excellent question. Would you care to test it? Install both drivers and see if xorg will load the appropriate one on different hardware. If it doesn't, I can help you revert everything. I am very curious about the capabilities of the new auto xorg config in this scenario.

[67GTA]

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2008/12/26 ... ll-via-cd/

[67GTA]

The method in that link is supposed to give you a persistent install. Did you insert the custom syslinux.cfg file?

[67GTA]

I think I'll try it, but I only have Nvidia cards in my three PC's, and they all use the same drivers I will test the persistent data part out.

[67GTA]

I got it! The custom syslinux file you put in has the boot menu hidden by default, and it automatically boots in to the non-persistent mode. Edit the syslinux.cfg file, and comment out any line that has the word "hidden" in it. Then the next time you boot the USB Mint stick, choose the persistent boot. As far as both drivers, they will coexist as long as they are both not in use at the same time. I tried booting on my desktop and laptop. I made customizations while booted on my desktop. They were still there when I booted on my desktop. The USB install is actually a "Live CD" that retains any changes made including packages installed. So I assume once you boot in to the persistent mode and install the drivers for your two cards, xorg should detect which one it is being booted with, and select the correct module to load. Let me know how it goes.

[67GTA]

Little more info. It is a no go with the nvidia driver just floating. The xorg.conf file has to be configured to use it, and then wouldn't work when booted with ATI card. Xorg will fall back to vesa. I may have found a solution to this with switchconf. You can install it from the repos(package manager). You can create two or more profiles to choose from at the grub screen. That way you can set up one for nvidia, and one for ati, and select one according to which hardware is being used. More info here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=753680

[67GTA]

I contacted Lance at pendrivelinux about the syslinux.cfg file. He has fixed it now to select the persistent boot by default.

[Nevart]

I contacted Lance at pendrivelinux about the syslinux.cfg file. He has fixed it now to select the persistent boot by default.

Do you feel at all inclined to provide some more details? Perhaps you could show the lines that were changed?

[67GTA]

The original file had the non persistent boot option set as default as noted by the "menu default" line. The fixed version has the persistent boot option set by default. Mint hides the grub screen by default, so most people using this tutorial were not getting the advertised persistence, and didn't know how to select it or that there was even a choice. You can hit any key at the grub screen to show all boot options to select manually or comment out the "hiddenmenu" line in /boot/grub/menu.lst.

ORIGINAL:

Code: Select all

default vesamenu.c32
timeout 100

menu background splash.jpg
menu title Welcome to Linux Mint 6 Felicia Main Edition
menu color border 0 #00eeeeee #00000000
menu color sel 7 #ffffffff #33eeeeee
menu color title 0 #ffeeeeee #00000000
menu color tabmsg 0 #ffeeeeee #00000000
menu color unsel 0 #ffeeeeee #00000000
menu color hotsel 0 #ff000000 #ffffffff
menu color hotkey 7 #ffffffff #ff000000
menu color timeout_msg 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color timeout 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color cmdline 0 #ffffffff #00000000
label live
  menu label Run Linux Mint Persistently
  kernel /casper/vmlinuz
  append  noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true persistent file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz quiet splash --
menu default
label nonpersist
  menu label Run Linux Mint without saving
  kernel /casper/vmlinuz
  append  noprompt file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz quiet splash --  
label xforcevesa
  menu label Start Linux Mint in compatibility mode
  kernel /casper/vmlinuz
  append  file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper xforcevesa initrd=/casper/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw noapic noapci nosplash irqpoll --
label memtest
  menu label Memory Test
  kernel memtest
label local
  menu label Boot from local drive
  localboot 0x80 

FIXED:

Code: Select all

default vesamenu.c32
timeout 100

menu background splash.jpg
menu title Welcome to Linux Mint 6 Felicia Main Edition
menu color border 0 #00eeeeee #00000000
menu color sel 7 #ffffffff #33eeeeee
menu color title 0 #ffeeeeee #00000000
menu color tabmsg 0 #ffeeeeee #00000000
menu color unsel 0 #ffeeeeee #00000000
menu color hotsel 0 #ff000000 #ffffffff
menu color hotkey 7 #ffffffff #ff000000
menu color timeout_msg 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color timeout 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu color cmdline 0 #ffffffff #00000000
menu default
label live
  menu label Run Linux Mint Persistently
  kernel /casper/vmlinuz
  append  noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true persistent file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz quiet splash --
label nonpersist
  menu label Run Linux Mint without saving
  kernel /casper/vmlinuz
  append  noprompt file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz quiet splash --  
label xforcevesa
  menu label Start Linux Mint in compatibility mode
  kernel /casper/vmlinuz
  append  file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper xforcevesa initrd=/casper/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw noapic noapci nosplash irqpoll --
label memtest
  menu label Memory Test
  kernel memtest
label local
  menu label Boot from local drive
  localboot 0x80

[Nevart]

Thanks GTA... that should clear away the last cobwebs of confusion.