[GTALUG] Booting Jessie from USB

[Alex Volkov]

Hi Giles,

Debian Jessie is running 3.16 which doesn't support c720 hardware. If
you want to try out Debian, you either need to install wheezy ( but that
kernel doesn't support touchpad), or install any kernel that is version
3.17 or above.
I suggest you download one from experimental and install it manually --
https://packages.debian.org/experimental/kernel/linux-image-3.19.0-trunk-amd64

I've been running it for a few months on my c720 without any issues.

Alex.

[alex at alex-c720[09:50:47]:~]
$ uname -a
Linux alex-c720 3.19.0-trunk-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.19-1~exp1
(2015-02-12) x86_64 GNU/Linux
[alex at alex-c720[09:52:25]:~]
$ dpkg --list | grep 3.19.0
ii  linux-image-3.19.0-trunk-amd64       
3.19-1~exp1                         amd64        Linux 3.19 for 64-bit PCs

On 01/04/15 09:08 AM, Giles Orr wrote:
> I have an Acer C720 Chromebook with Bodhi Linux installed.  I wanted
> to test Debian Jessie on the machine, so I physically removed the SSD
> and plugged in a 32GB USB stick (SanDisk Cruzer Ultra Fit, USB3).  I
> installed Jessie on it (on an ext4 partition), and added a 5GB or so
> vfat partition on the end.  When I attempt to boot from the USB stick,
> GRUB comes up and works fine, but things go sideways after that.  Here
> are some of the errors that I've copied ("..." indicates dropped
> lines, mostly duplications):
>
>      -----
>
> usb 1-4: string descriptor 0 malformed (err = -61), defaulting to 0x0409
> ...
> usb 2-1: device not accepting address 3, error -62 [repeated several
> times with different numbers]
> ...
> xhci_hcd 0000:00:14.0: Command completion event does not match command
> ...
> Gave up waiting for root device.  Common problems:
>  - Boot args (cat /proc/cmdline)
>    - Check rootdelay= (did the system wait long enough?)
>    - Check root= (did the system wait for the right device?)
>  - Missing modules (cat /proc/modules; ls /dev)
> ALERT!  /dev/disk/by-uuid/44621e45-2a15-4637-d0b8-282b63c8194b does not exist.
> Dropping to a shell!
> modprobe: module ehci-orion not found in modules.dep
> ...
> (initramfs)
>
>      -----
>
> I've got another laptop that runs permanently off a USB stick.  Yes, I
> know it's a bad idea: the point is, it can be done - and in this
> instance it's meant as a temporary measure, a test of Jessie on this
> machine.  I've checked the UUID of the partition in another machine,
> and it's set correctly.  I tinkered with the GRUB kernel command line
> arguments: Debian had inserted a number of "hints" (sorry, haven't
> copied this part out) referring to which partition to boot from.  I
> think they said "hd1,msdos1" and I changed them all (three?) to
> "hd0,msdos1" which caused the boot process to last longer and look
> more promising, but it again eventually failed out not being able to
> find itself.  The Chromebook has two USB ports, one USB2 and one USB3:
> the failure is the same (or very similar) booting from both.
>
> My first reaction has been that something about the USB stick itself
> is too new - but Linux mounts it fine and installed to it okay.  The
> "ehci-orion" doesn't make much sense: "Orion" seems to be an ARM
> chipset, and the Chromebook has an Intel Celeron 2955U in it.
>
> Any help appreciated.
>