GParted Live On USB

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GParted Live on USB

The bootableGParted Liveimage can also be installed on a USB flash drive.


Following are instructions on how to setup GParted Live on your USB flash drive using eitherMS
WindowsorGNU/Linux.
NOTE: These installation methods only work when the USB flash drive is formatted with a FAT file
system. Some users have reported that only the FAT16 file system worked for them. For other file
systems you might try to use grub or some other boot loader.

USB setup with Windows


Choose one of the following methods to setup GParted Live on your USB flash drive using MS
Windows:
Windows
Windows
Windows
Windows

Method
Method
Method
Method

A: Tuxboot
B: Manual
C: Unetbootin
D: LinuxLive USB Creator

Windows Method A: Tuxboot


1. DownloadTuxbooton your MS Windows computer.
2. Follow theUSB setup with MS Windowsinstructions to install GParted Live on your USB
flash drive.

Windows Method B: Manual


WARNING! DO NOT RUN makeboot.bat from your local hard drive!
Doing so could cause your MS windows not to boot!!!
1. Downloadthe GParted Livezipfile.
2. If you already have a partition of at least 300 MB in size on your USB flash drive formatted with a FAT file system
then skip to the next step (3).
Otherwise create at least a 300 MB partition on your USB flash drive and format it with a FAT16 or FAT32 file
system.
The partition must be large enough to hold the extracted contents of the GParted Live zip file.
3. Extract all the contents of the zip file to FAT16/FAT32 partition on your USB flash drive. Keep the directory
architecture, for example, file "GPL" should be in the USB flash drive's top directory (e.g. G:\GPL).
4. Browse to your USB flash drive and as an administrator, click the makeboot.bat in the dir
utils\win32\.WARNING!Makeboot.bat must be run from your USB flash drive.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions.
(PS: The above description is modified from: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2007/01/02/all-in-one-usb-dsl. Thanks
to PDLA from http://pendrivelinux.com)

Windows Method C: Unetbootin


CAUTION: Unetbootin creates a different boot menu.
Therefore it is recommended to use method A or B.
1. If you already have Unetbootin installed on your computer then skip to the next step (2).
Otherwise download and installUnetbootinon your MS Windows computer.
2. Downloadthe GParted Liveisofile.
3. From Windows, run the Unetbootin program and follow the instructions in the GUI to install GParted Live on your
USB flash drive.

Windows Method D: LinuxLive USB Creator


1. If you already have LinuxLive USB Creator installed on your computer then skip to the next step (2).
Otherwise download and installLinuxLive USB Creatoron your MS Windows computer.
2. Downloadthe GParted Liveisofile.

3. From Windows, install then run the LinuxLive USB Creator program and follow the instructions in the GUI to
install GParted Live on your USB flash drive.

USB setup with GNU/Linux


Choose one of the following methods to setup GParted Live on your USB flash drive using GNU/Linux:
GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux

Method
Method
Method
Method

A: Tuxboot
B: Manual
C: Unetbootin
D: Manual - Overwrite

GNU/Linux Method A: Tuxboot


1. DownloadTuxbooton your GNU/Linux computer.
2. Follow theUSB setup with GNU/Linuxinstructions to install GParted Live on your USB flash drive.

GNU/Linux Method B: Manual


WARNING! Confirm you have the correct path name before executing commands!
Failure to do so could cause loss of data or your GNU/Linux not to boot!!!
/dev/sdeis a device path name
/dev/sde1is a partition path name
1. Downloadthe GParted Livezipfile.
2. If you already have a FAT16 or FAT32 partition on your USB flash drive then skip to the next step (3).
Otherwise prepare at least a 300 MB partition formatted with either a FAT16 or FAT32 file system.
The partition must be large enough to hold the extracted contents of the GParted Live zip file.
If the USB flash drive or USB hard drive does not have any partition, you can use a partitioning tool (e.g. gparted,
parted, fdisk, cfdisk or sfdisk) to create a partition with a size of 300 MB or more.
Here we assume your USB flash drive or USB hard drive is /dev/sdd (You have to comfirm your device name,
since it's _NOT_ always /dev/sdd) on your GNU/Linux, so the partition table is like:
# fdisk -l /dev/sdd
Disk /dev/sdd: 12.8 GB, 12884901888 bytes
15 heads, 63 sectors/track, 26630 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 945 * 512 = 483840 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000c2aa7
Device Boot
/dev/sdd1 *

Start

End
26630

Blocks Id System
12582643+ b W95 FAT32

Then format the partition as FAT with a command such as "mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/sdd1"
WARNING!Executing the mkfs.vfat command on the wrong partition or device could cause your GNU/Linux not
to boot. Be sure to confirm the command before you run it.
# mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/sdd1
mkfs.vfat 2.11 (12 Mar 2005)

3. Insert your USB flash drive or USB hard drive into the USB port on your Linux machine and wait a few seconds.
Next, run the command "dmesg" to query the device name of the USB flash drive or USB hard drive. Let's say,
for example, that you find it is /dev/sdd1. In this example, we assume /dev/sdd1 has FAT filesystem, and it is
automatically mounted in dir /media/usb/. If it's not automatically mounted, manually mount it with commands
such as "mkdir -p /media/usb; mount /dev/sdd1 /media/usb/".
4. Unzip all the files and copy them into your USB flash drive or USB hard drive. You can do this with a command
such as: "unzip gparted-live-0.4.5-2.zip -d /media/usb/"). Keep the directory architecture, for example, file "GPL"
should be in the USB flash drive or USB hard drive's top directory (e.g. /media/usb/GPL).
5. To make your USB flash drive bootable, first change the working dir, e.g. "cd /media/usb/utils/linux", then run
"bash makeboot.sh /dev/sdd1" (replace /dev/sdd1 with your USB flash drive device name), and follow the
prompts.
WARNING!Executing makeboot.sh with the wrong device name could cause your GNU/Linux not to boot. Be
sure to confirm the command before you run it.
NOTE: There is a known problem if you run makeboot.sh on Debian Etch, since the program utils/linux/syslinux
does not work properly. Make sure you run it on newer GNU/Linux, such as Debian Lenny, Ubuntu 8.04, or
Fedora 9.
TIP: If your USB flash drive or USB hard drive is not able to boot, check the following:

Ensure that your USB flash drive contains at least one FAT partition.
Ensure that the partition is marked as "bootable" in the partition table.
Ensure that the partition starts on a cylinder boundary.
For the first partition this is usually sector 63.

GNU/Linux Method C: Unetbootin


CAUTION: Unetbootin creates a different boot menu.
Therefore it is recommended to use method A or B.
1. If you already have Unetbootin installed on your computer then skip to step 2.
Otherwise installUnetbootinon your GNU/Linux computer.
2. Downloadthe GParted Liveisofile.
3. From GNU/Linux, run the Unetbootin program and follow the instructions in the GUI to install GParted Live on
your USB flash drive.

GNU/Linux Method D: Manual - Overwite


WARNING: Confirm you have the correct device path name before executing commands!
This method will overwrite the destination device. Hence it is critical to select the proper USB flash
device.
Since GParted Live is based on Debian Live and this image is a isohybrid, the GPartedLive CD image can be written
directly to a USB flash drive.
1. Downloadthe GParted Liveisofile.
2. Insert the USB flash drive your Linux computer and wait a few seconds. Next, from a terminal window run the
command:
dmesg

This command queries the device name of the USB flash drive. For example, you might find the device name
is/dev/sde.
3. From a terminal window, enter the following command using the gparted .iso file name and USB device path you
discoved in the previous steps.
For example:
sudo dd if=/path-to-gparted-live.x.y.z-w.isoof=/dev/sdebs=4M; sync

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