Hello forum. Does anyone know how to boot Linux on an external USB drive when there are 2 x USB drives plugged in?
This is probably related to GRUB and/or the BIOS. I am writing this text from a system housed on a bootable USB drive, and the other USB-3 port has another USB drive plugged in. It is the Data drive and it is not flagged to boot, (no OS anyway). The quirky problem I have now is that when I reboot this system, if I do not unplug that second Data USB drive, the boot process stops somewhere before the GRUB menu appears - black screen with flashing cursor in top left corner and that's it.
I wonder is there is a way to install GRUB on the second Data drive so that both USB drives are bootable, with GRUB on the Data drive pointing to the UUID of the boot partition on the System drive. Perhaps someone else has a better way? It is not an urgent matter, but I worry that over time, the need to keep removing the second USB plug with each and every reboot will increase the wear on the USB sockets of the laptop.
It is a 2yo Toshiba i7 laptop and I am using the old-fashioned MBR/BIOS format rather than the newer GPT system which is still unfamiliar terminology to me, so excuse me please if I am not conversant with the latest developments.
[SOLVED] Booting from USB HDD when 2 x USB HDDs are plugged in.
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Seano2
[SOLVED] Booting from USB HDD when 2 x USB HDDs are plugged in.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
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catweazel
- Level 19
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Re: Booting from USB HDD when 2 x USB HDDs are plugged in.
It's related only to your BIOS. You need to consult the BIOS section of your machine's user manual to determine if and how (what Fkey to press) to get the BIOS to show boot devices. You then select the device you want to boot.
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
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Seano2
Re: Booting from USB HDD when 2 x USB HDDs are plugged in.
My goodness! Thank You!
I thought it might take a week to find someone who knew how to do it, Mr Catweazel. I believe that my Toshiba uses F1 for that boot selection (which I have never really tried because in the past I was always using just one USB HDD at a time). I will try that try that right away and edit this post with the result if I can remember where I put the underscores in my password in ten minutes. I hope to be back before the hour has passed. Thank you for your surprisingly quick expertise and understanding of my problem.
++++++++++++
It worked like a c-c-c-charm! First time!
All I had to do was wait until the laptop password dialogue box appeared and gently touch the F1 key, and then enter the password and after a slightly longer delay than expected, (by approx. 10s), along came GRUB!
If my head was not so soft, my respect for you might have knocked a hole in the floor of the apartment upstairs.
Bless you, mate!
I thought it might take a week to find someone who knew how to do it, Mr Catweazel. I believe that my Toshiba uses F1 for that boot selection (which I have never really tried because in the past I was always using just one USB HDD at a time). I will try that try that right away and edit this post with the result if I can remember where I put the underscores in my password in ten minutes. I hope to be back before the hour has passed. Thank you for your surprisingly quick expertise and understanding of my problem.
++++++++++++
It worked like a c-c-c-charm! First time!
All I had to do was wait until the laptop password dialogue box appeared and gently touch the F1 key, and then enter the password and after a slightly longer delay than expected, (by approx. 10s), along came GRUB!
If my head was not so soft, my respect for you might have knocked a hole in the floor of the apartment upstairs.
Bless you, mate!