Tiny USB Flash drive

[viking60]

I bought myself a dongle that is small enough to actually be in the pocket attached to the keys. It is called Store 'n' Go® Micro USB Drive Plus I thought i'd install puppy slacko on it. I like that it is small but still can take a beating.

[viking60]

I did finally manage to put puppy slacko on it. First I tried to dd an iso to it but that did not boot right. After that I could not use unetbootin or anything. Even gparted had a hard time re-formating it.
After a lot of patience I ended up with a FAT32 formated USB and after that i could write the puppy iso to this Flash with unetbootin (which is in the Manjaro repos).
Puppy slacko is a fully fledged OS and comes with a lot of tools - there is nothing minimalistic about it - it is just small.
I am writing this from the USB puppy right now and it is blistering fast. Flash and java and sound work great and I can save my settings and download additional software with the package manager. It all works "out of the box":

It even comes with its own server -hiawatha

Just type hiawatha in the console and open the browser and type localhost - that's all
Woff!

Now I have a pet that fits in my pocket

[dedanna1029]

Was dd if= not an option with the .iso? I normally format these things right away anyway to a linux file system; reiserfs, ext3 or ext4, etc., then use the dd if= command to make it bootable with an install dvd or cd.

At any rate, I do think this cool, except for one thing, that being that I lose USB flash sticks all the time (as do a lot I know). If they're even smaller than that now, won't more be lost, making people have to spend more and more money to get new ones, feeding the corps more? I've known people even to forget to take them out of their pockets come laundry time, and wash them, rendering them useless, so out they go to get a new one.

[viking60]

Well this is so small that you can keep it in your wallet. Most people do not loose money all the time.
And it is a good key-ring too if you do not loose keys; that is.

[dedanna1029]

True dat.

[dedanna1029]

Y'know, I got looking again at these things, and the colors are striking. Am debating one (or five). Just need to get them costed out here in the states.
That puppy distro as well... wondering how it would do on netbooks... or is it not made for devices like that? Will do some hunting of my own on it.

[viking60]

It should work great on a netbook. If it has memory; slacko will run blistering fast right from the USB.
This guy tested it on Acer an Aspire One D255.

So far I am quite happy with it - I have it attached to my keys which I usually have in my pocket - so when a discussion about Linux arises; the demo is never far away.

If the box can boot from USB it will work.
Uefi "secure boot" might be a problem since it reduces the capabilities of the HW to "only for Windows 8"; Knopix seems to have fixed that.
It is possible to boot puppy too -but it is made so difficult that it makes Microsoft smile.....

Anyway most people do not have a Windows 8 box - and my advise would be to stay away from them since it locks you down - even if you should like Windows 8.
There must be a way for Windows 8 to boot securely without excluding (or making it ridiculously difficult) other OS's - since MS says "my way or the highway" - take the highway

Because I do not even attempt to demonstrate Puppy Linux on those boxes - so those poor souls are deprived of that information/education.

That dongle is solid and I particularly like that the connection is covered with rubber when it is not used. That means that it does not "adopt" the crumbles in my pocket.

[dedanna1029]

- Thanks!