Need to install Ubuntu via USB

[NoOp]

On 11/14/2008 07:16 AM, Scott wrote:
> The CD drive in my wife's laptop is broken, so I only have the option to 
> install through USB and I have had nothing but severe problems.  I tried 
> with both a 8.04.1 disk and a iso with "create a usb startup disk" and 
> got the same outcome, a busybox shell prompt when trying to boot on the 
> USB drive.
> 
> I tried using unetbootin and it never even got to the first menu on the 
> USB drive and gave me an error saying it could not find a kernel.
> 
> I lastly tried the isotostick.sh script and I got the same busybox shell 
> when trying to boot into Ubuntu on the USB drive.
> 
> Help!!  If I can't do this my wife's laptop will become nothing but a 
> very expensive paper weight.
> 

Questions:

- What size & type of USB stick (I assume it's a USB stick)
- Can you boot any other system using that USB stick?
- Does the laptop still have Windows installed & if so does it boot?

This might help:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LiveUsbPendrivePersistent
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/casper/+bug/219192/comments/3
[[hardy] livecd: keyword "persistent" results in busybox and (initramfs)]
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/casper/+bug/219192/
[full bug]
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation
[Installation without a CD]
http://www.debuntu.org/how-to-install-ubuntu-linux-on-usb-bar

Interesting that all seem to emphasis using the liveCD iso, which
typically has problems of it's own with installs. I suppose that the
idea is that you can use USB to boot, run Ubuntu/linux in the same
fashion as a liveCD.
  However, in this case you are only interested in _installing_, so I
wonder if perhaps you can do the same with the Ubuntu Alternate CD
(which almost always works on most any system) rather than the liveCD.
If that's the case, then that would be the route that I'd try.
Unfortunately, the only USB stick that I own is a 512MB freebie
giveaway, so I can't help by trying to create one myself. But I wonder
if someone else on the list has done this; create bootable USB stick
w/Alternate CD.