Formatting USB as POSIX from Windows

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Krahazik
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Joined: 14 Nov 2015, 17:29
Distribution: Porteus 3.1
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Formatting USB as POSIX from Windows

Post#1 by Krahazik » 14 Nov 2015, 17:51

My main desktop machine is running Windows 10.
I want to install/use Porteus on an old HP Mini netbook I have.
So far every time I have reformatted the USB stick I'm using my options are NTSF, FAT or FAT32.

When I boot the netbook from the USB running Porteus I get a message stating that its on a non POSIX formatted medium and can only operate in always fresh mode.

Problem. Nothing Works.
I can not do anything with the file system on the netbook's hard drive. Can not delete directories or files. Can not create new directories. Can not move files. Nothing.
When I try to load the installer..... nothing. Nothing happens at all.
end Result. I have a pretty desktop with zero functionality.
I have even tried having Porteus load into ram first then boot with the same results.
The hard drive on the laptop is currently formatted with a Linux file structure, but the old Linux OS is not bootable.

Question: How can I format the USB stick with a POSTIX format that Porteus can use so that I can have functionality and can install Porteus to my netbook's hard drive. since Windows own formatting tools only support the basic windows formats, I assume I have to use a 3rd party program to format the USB stick.

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brokenman
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Distribution: Porteus v4 all desktops
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Re: Formatting USB as POSIX from Windows

Post#2 by brokenman » 14 Nov 2015, 19:30

I get a message stating that its on a non POSIX formatted medium and can only operate in always fresh mode.
Correct. Linux can't really operate on a non POSIX (windows) file system.
I can not do anything with the file system on the netbook's hard drive.
That you booted from a non POSIX file system has nothing to do with the problem of having a read only hard drive.
but the old Linux OS is not bootable.
This may say something about the hard drive.

Your best bet to confirm is to boot into porteus. Then reformat the hard drive from Porteus with an ext4 file system (you can use gparted).
Now follow the exact same install procedure that you did for the USB device only copy the files onto the hard drive.

Here is how it would go. Be aware that this will remove EVERYTHING from the netbooks HD.
1) Boot Porteus from USB
2) open a console and elevate to root by typing: su <--- password is toor
3) Format the hard disk using gparted by typing: gparted
4) Copy the files from the USB onto the hard disk. I will assume your USB is /dev/sdb1. You can find out with: blkid

## Mount you hard drive
mkdir /mnt/sda1 <-- ignore any errors if folders already exist
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1 <-- ignore any errors if it is already mounted

## Mount your USB device
mkdir /mnt/sdb1
mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/sdb1

## Copy files from USB to HD
cp -a /mnt/sdb1/* /mnt/sda1/

## Change to HD and run install script
cd /mnt/sda1/boot
./Porteus-installer-for-Linux.com <-- type 'ok' when prompted.

## Now reboot without the USB drive. If it doesn't reboot then you most probably have something wrong with the HD.
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Wear your underpants on the outside and put on a cape.

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