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blank3
Asked: 2009-06-10 02:28:14 +0800 CST

Boot Linux from big (1.5TB) USB external hard drive

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I would like to make a backup solution to be a computer with a single external USB hard drive from which the (1) system boots and (2) stores backups. So in case of any problems with the box, we just move the external hard drive to another box and we have full access to data and backup works again.

The problem I am running to, is that the box is capable of booting from USB, I've verified this on a small 80G USB hard drive. But when I plug in the 1,5TB hard drive it ignores it, and does not see. Sometimes it even freezes on BIOS screen (where RAM and CPU info are displayed)

More info:

  1. If I boot from internal HD (I don't want it in final configuration), the USB disk works ok.

  2. I have installed Linux on the first partition (which is 3GB big) of the USB HD, so there shouldn't be problems with to big partitions for BIOS or?

  3. Newer BIOS updates (dated 2005) don't seem to remove any USB related issues, so I haven't yet performed any BIOS updates. Motherboard is Intel D865PCD.

Where else could I dig into?

Thanks.

linux usb boot

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    A possible solution would be to keep the OS on a USB memory stick, which mounts the USB drive during boot up.

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  2. Are you sure that you aren't using a GUID Partition table on the USB drive?

    I noticed when I had a large volume (>3TB where only GUID partitions are possible) that most BIOS implementations aren't able to boot that.

    Double check that you do have a "normal" partition table.

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  3. We are experiencing the same problem right now. And in our case the volume is only 160GB. Computer freezes at the welcome screen of the BIOS where logo is displayed and options are listed. Keyboard input is allowed and boot sequence do not progress. I have tested on some other PC, it worked fine, I can boot from the USB drive as long as boot device priority is set to it at the BIOS screen. That's not a big deal. However, on the desktop PC we are expecting to run Linux, USB device is recognized but the system does not boot when it is connected.

    As soon as we unplug the device the system boots properly on internal drive and recognizes the USB drive, of course not seen at "My Computer" of Windows, but present and labeled as healty at the Computer Management's Disk Management page.

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