Is it possible to boot PC from linux ISO files stored on n900? - maemo.org

pistachio | # 1 | 2014-08-11, 10:59 | Report

Hi, i recently found an app for android which allows us to boot any pc by connecting the phone to pc, the OS image is already stored on the phone's memory. Is it possible to do the same with our N900 or N9 to utilize the big memory?

The app is here, DriveDroid

The Following User Says Thank You to pistachio For This Useful Post:
hrbani

pichlo | # 2 | 2014-08-11, 11:15 | Report

Eh? Any PC that can boot from a USB memory stick can boot from any other USB-memory-stick-like device, be it a necklace, watch, digital camera or a phone. Including the N900. You just need to act fast when the phone asks you whether to select a Memory or PC Suite mode.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to pichlo For This Useful Post:
Estel, hrbani

pistachio | # 3 | 2014-08-11, 11:31 | Report

Originally Posted by pichlo View Post

Eh? Any PC that can boot from a USB memory stick can boot from any other USB-memory-stick-like device, be it a necklace, watch, digital camera or a phone. Including the N900. You just need to act fast when the phone asks you whether to select a Memory or PC Suite mode.

Oh but when i make bootable pendrive of linux by some another app of windows i think the ISO file is being decompressed differently, coz when i tried to decompress ISO to a directory directly and putting all the files into pendrive's root, that pendrive was not bootable.

And when we make any flash stick bootable by some app in windows, first it will be wiped completely, so with the n900 , it will be wiped off too. Do we need to create partition here?

So is there anyway we can make n900 bootable without wiping it completely?

I hope i'm clear, what i want to say.

The Following User Says Thank You to pistachio For This Useful Post:
hrbani

elros34 | # 4 | 2014-08-11, 11:45 | Report

You can use unetbootin. It's simple, works in linux and windows and you don't need to format fat partition to use it.

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to elros34 For This Useful Post:
Estel, hrbani, pistachio

pichlo | # 5 | 2014-08-11, 11:48 | Report

Only MyDocs will be wiped. Make a backup, create your bootable image, then copy the backed up files back.

IIRC, UNetbootin does not need to reformat the flash drive and does not destroy the existing contents, although it's been over a year since I last used it so may remember it wrong.

(Edit: I see elros34 was typing faster.)

Last edited by pichlo; 2014-08-11 at 11:51.

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to pichlo For This Useful Post:
Estel, hrbani, pistachio

pistachio | # 6 | 2014-08-11, 11:53 | Report

Oh thank you both of you. I will try unetbootin after backup.

The Following User Says Thank You to pistachio For This Useful Post:
hrbani

zerox | # 7 | 2014-08-11, 16:30 | Report

@pistachio

A safe approach would be to create a bootable mcroSD card containing the OS you wish to load. See for example syslinux.org for advice.

Test by using a microSD-to-SD or microSD-to-USB adaptor to boot your PC from your microSD card.

If all goes well, transfer the microSD card to the N900 and test again.

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to zerox For This Useful Post:
hrbani, pichlo, pistachio

jellyroll | # 8 | 2014-08-11, 18:35 | Report

I use Micro Knoppix on a highspeed microsd.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to jellyroll For This Useful Post:
hrbani, pistachio

biketool | # 9 | 2014-08-11, 19:07 | Report

I had Ubuntu on my SD for a while, it was pretty nerdly party trick to boot someone’s laptop to Linux with my uber geek phone.

The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to biketool For This Useful Post:
hrbani, mr_pingu, pistachio

nieldk | # 10 | 2014-08-11, 19:26 | Report

just set up an sftp server and boot from network

The Following User Says Thank You to For This Useful Post:
hrbani