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<?xml version='1.0' encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd">
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<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/liveusb.xml,v 1.13 2007/05/10 15:51:09 neysx Exp $ -->
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<guide link="/doc/en/liveusb.xml">
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<title>Gentoo Linux LiveUSB HOWTO</title>
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<author title="Author">
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<mail link="henrik@brixandersen.dk">Henrik Brix Andersen</mail>
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</author>
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<author title="Editor">
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<mail link="neysx@gentoo.org">Xavier Neys</mail>
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</author>
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<abstract>
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This HOWTO explains how to create a Gentoo Linux LiveUSB or, in other words,
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how to emulate an x86 or AMD64 Gentoo Linux LiveCD using a USB flash drive.
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</abstract>
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<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license -->
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<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 -->
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<license/>
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<version>3</version>
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<date>2008-07-28</date>
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<chapter>
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<title>Introduction</title>
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<section>
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<title>The LiveUSB</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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This HOWTO explains how to create a <e>Gentoo Linux LiveUSB</e> or, in other
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words, how to emulate an x86 or AMD64 Gentoo Linux LiveCD using a USB flash
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drive. This is particularly useful for installing Gentoo Linux on a modern
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laptop with no CD-ROM drive.
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</p>
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<p>
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Although the instructions found in this document aim at emulating a Gentoo
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Linux LiveCD using a USB flash drive, they should work for any arbitrary block
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device as long as you adjust the device names accordingly.
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</p>
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</body>
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>Prerequisites</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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In order to use a Gentoo Linux LiveUSB you need the following:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>Bootable USB flash drive with at least 1GB</li>
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<li>i686 or x86_64 computer with support for booting from USB</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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You will also need access to the following for creating the LiveUSB:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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A computer running Gentoo Linux (or alternatively another Linux
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distribution)
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</li>
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</ul>
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<note>
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If you want to use the minimal CD on a smaller key or boot a <i686 system,
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you need to follow the procedure described in this document with a
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<b>2006.0</b> minimal CD image because of a <uri
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link="http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=173117">bug</uri> in more recent
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releases.
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</note>
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</body>
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</section>
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</chapter>
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<chapter>
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<title>Preparing the USB flash drive</title>
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<section>
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<title>Partitioning the drive</title>
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<body>
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<warn>
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These instructions will erase all data from the USB flash drive. Make sure to
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backup your data first.
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</warn>
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<impo>
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This HOWTO assumes that the <path>/dev/sdc</path> device node corresponds to
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your USB flash drive. If you have other SCSI-like devices make sure to use the
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correct device node.
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</impo>
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<p>
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Create a FAT16 partition on your USB flash drive and mark it bootable using
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<c>fdisk</c>. An example partitioning scheme can be seen below:
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</p>
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<note>
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If your key is 4GB or larger, use partition type <c>b</c> (W95 FAT32).
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</note>
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<pre caption="Example partitioning scheme">
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# <i>fdisk -l /dev/sdc</i>
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Disk /dev/sdc: 2063 MB, 2063597056 bytes
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255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 250 cylinders
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Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
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Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
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/dev/sdc1 * 1 250 2008124+ 6 FAT16
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</pre>
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</body>
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>Creating the filesystem</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Create a FAT16 filesystem on the USB flash drive using <c>mkdosfs</c>:
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</p>
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<note>
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If your key is 4GB or larger, use <c>-F 32</c> to create a FAT32 filesystem.
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</note>
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<pre caption="Running mkdosfs">
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<comment>(Make sure you have sys-fs/dosfstools installed)</comment>
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# <i>emerge -av sys-fs/dosfstools</i>
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# <i>mkdosfs -F 16 /dev/sdc1</i>
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mkdosfs 2.11 (12 Mar 2005)
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</pre>
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</body>
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>Installing a Master Boot Record</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Install the precompiled Master Boot Record (MBR) from <c>syslinux</c> on the
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USB flash drive:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Installing a master boot record">
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<comment>(Make sure you have sys-boot/syslinux-3.00 or later installed)</comment>
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# <i>emerge -av '>sys-boot/syslinux-3'</i>
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# <i>dd if=/usr/share/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sdc</i>
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0+1 records in
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0+1 records out
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304 bytes (304 B) copied, 0.0162317 s, 18.7 kB/s
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</pre>
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</body>
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</section>
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</chapter>
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<chapter>
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<title>Copying the files to your key</title>
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<section>
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<title>Mounting the Gentoo Linux Installation CD</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Download either <path>livecd-i686-installer-2007.0.iso</path> or
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<path>livecd-amd64-installer-2007.0.iso</path> from your local Gentoo Linux
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<uri link="/main/en/where.xml">mirror</uri> site and mount the ISO image on
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<path>/mnt/cdrom</path> as shown below:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Mounting the Gentoo Linux Installation CD ISO image">
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<comment>(Create the /mnt/cdrom mount point if needed)</comment>
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# <i>mkdir -p /mnt/cdrom</i>
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# <i>mount -o loop,ro -t iso9660 livecd-i686-installer-2007.0.iso /mnt/cdrom</i>
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</pre>
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<note>
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If you receive a <e>Could not find any loop device</e> error message when
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mounting the iso, you need to enable the <c>Loopback device support</c> option
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in your kernel configuration.
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</note>
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</body>
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>Mounting the LiveUSB</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Mount the newly formatted USB flash drive on <path>/mnt/usb</path> as shown
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below:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Mounting the USB flash drive">
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<comment>(Create the /mnt/usb mount point if needed)</comment>
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# <i>mkdir -p /mnt/usb</i>
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# <i>mount -t vfat /dev/sdc1 /mnt/usb</i>
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</pre>
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</body>
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>Copying the files</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Copy the files from the Gentoo Linux Installation CD to the LiveUSB. The files
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need to be reordered a bit as we will be using the <c>syslinux</c> bootloader
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instead of <c>isolinux</c>:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Copying the files">
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# <i>cp -r /mnt/cdrom/* /mnt/usb</i>
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# <i>mv /mnt/usb/isolinux/* /mnt/usb</i>
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# <i>mv /mnt/usb/isolinux.cfg /mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg</i>
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# <i>rm -rf /mnt/usb/isolinux*</i>
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<comment>(The memtest86 kernel needs to be renamed for loading it via syslinux)</comment>
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# <i>mv /mnt/usb/memtest86 /mnt/usb/memtest</i>
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</pre>
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<p>
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You can now unmount the ISO image:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Unmounting the ISO image">
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# <i>umount /mnt/cdrom</i>
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</pre>
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</body>
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>Adjusting the bootloader configuration</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Adjust the syslinux configuration file using <c>sed</c> as shown below. The
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<c>slowusb</c> parameter will introduce some extra delays before attempting to
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mount the filesystem. This is needed to allow the USB flash drive to settle
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upon detection.
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</p>
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<pre caption="Adjusting the boot parameters">
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# <i>sed -i \
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-e "s:cdroot:cdroot slowusb:" \
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-e "s:kernel memtest86:kernel memtest:" \
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/mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg</i>
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</pre>
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</body>
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</section>
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</chapter>
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<chapter>
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<title>Installing a bootloader</title>
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<section>
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<title>Unmounting the drive</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Make sure you unmount the USB flash drive before installing the bootloader:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Unmounting the USB flash drive">
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# <i>umount /mnt/usb</i>
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</pre>
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</body>
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>Installing syslinux</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Finally install the <c>syslinux</c> bootloader on the USB flash drive:
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</p>
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<pre caption="Running syslinux">
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# <i>syslinux /dev/sdc1</i>
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</pre>
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<impo>
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You will need to rerun <c>syslinux /dev/sdc1</c> each time you modify the
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<path>syslinux.cfg</path> file for the configuration changes to take affect.
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</impo>
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</body>
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</section>
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</chapter>
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<chapter>
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<title>Using the LiveUSB</title>
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<section>
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<title>Booting</title>
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<body>
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<p>
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Insert the USB flash drive and turn on the computer, making sure the BIOS is
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set to boot from USB. If all goes well you should be presented with a standard
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syslinux prompt.
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</p>
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<p>
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You should be able to follow the generic installation instructions found in the
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<uri link="/doc/en/handbook/">Gentoo Handbook</uri> from here on.
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</p>
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</body>
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</section>
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</chapter>
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</guide>
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