<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:38:33 -0600 From: Karl Larsen <<a href="mailto:k5di@zianet.com">k5di@zianet.com</a>> Subject: Re: Ubuntu 8.04 To: "Ubuntu user technical support, not for general discussions" <<a href="mailto:ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com">ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com</a>> Message-ID: <<a href="mailto:48AAB0B9.2090000@zianet.com">48AAB0B9.2090000@zianet.com</a>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Rob wrote: > Greetings all, > > Perhaps someone knows the answer to this... > > Several days ago, I installed Ubuntu 8.04 to an external drive here (a > Hitachi 300 gig which has an option of a SATA connection or USB -- I'm > using USB). Following the installation and reboot (it did NOT ask me > where -- or even if -- I wanted to install Grub) I am confronted with a > Grub error nbr 21. Unfortunately, the boot process gets no further. I > do not know how to fix this unless it's editing Grub but I have no idea > where the installation tried to put Grub. I'm guessing on my internal > hard drive and not very successfully. > > I have been booting with a Super Grub CD we burned a couple of days ago > but so far, that only lets me boot to Windows..not Ubuntu on my external > drive. I'm wondering if anyone knows how I can fix this. I fear if I > format my external drive via Windows and reinstall Ubuntu again, I'll > get the same result. I have a Lenovo System Model 9120CTO with > Processor x86 Family 15 Model 107 Stepping 2 AuthenticAMD ~2700 Mhz with > BIOS Version/Date LENOVO 2UKT46AUS, 12/26/2007 and one internal 300 Gig > Hitachi hard drive and one external 300 Gig Hitachi hard drive connected > via USB as indicated above. > > Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to fix this booting > problem short of formatting my external drive again and making another > attempt to install Ubuntu (I'd guess with the same results). > > Many thanks in advance. > > RobF > Rockville, MD > > I think you should just forget trying to put Ubuntu on a USB connected hard drive. I say this because I KNOW that the USB drive is not active until AFTER Grub loads the kernel, and it can't get to the kernel until the USB drive is active. It is a catch 22 problem and you will never be able to fix it. So if you want Ubuntu please install it on your internal hard drive. This works fine. Karl -- Karl F. Larsen, AKA K5DI Linux User #450462 <a href="http://counter.li.org" target="_blank">http://counter.li.org</a>. PGP 4208 4D6E 595F 22B9 FF1C ECB6 4A3C 2C54 FE23 53A7 </blockquote></div>Hi, You can install Ubuntu in an external USB. I've did it and i'm running ubuntu this way... I had a company provided laptop which SHOULD only run windows (because some of the applications are window based). I wanted to run ubuntu and i ended up failing the installation 3 to 6 times, but finally succeeded with the following simple changes to normal installation procedure. and they are... 1. Enable booting from USB disks in your BIOS setup 2. Remove the internal hard disk while installing, so that the grub get installed into your external usb only and not your internal hard disk. Follow the normal installation procedure now and complete the installation. When you are done with the installation you can interrupt the boot options(using F8 or F12 during the booting... it depends on your desktop/laptop... for my laptop it is the THINKVANTAGE button and then F12) to boot from the different disks (normally your internal hard disk should be the primary one). Try this out and it is worked for me... Cheers, KK Happy Ubuntu-ing... </div>