Computer-On-A-Stick
By Erik van Kempen | September 18, 2007
I recently received an email from a guy about his search for an old article about a cheap version of the Computer-On-A-Stick. Unfortunately, it was lost when the old GeekBlog was replaced by this new GeekBlog. It has been more than two years ago, since I wrote the article. Nowadays, there are more enhanced ways to make such a computer-on-a-stick, so I decided to write about this subject again. Here it is: how to build a computer-on-a-stick for under $25.
The product
In 2005, Fingergear released their newest product called the Computer-On-A-Stick. It was a small USB pendrive that was preinstalled with a Linux distribution and some accompanying software. The advantage of this product was that you would be able to carry your very own desktop environment, with your very own settings, preferences and files, everywhere you want. You would only need a computer that is capable of booting from an USB drive.
That's all. So why don't we build one ourselves?
Damn Small Linux
We will be building a computer-on-a-stick based on Damn Small Linux, but you can use almost any popular distribution you want. Look for more information at: PendriveLinux.
Damn Small Linux is a nice and small Linux distribution with a great set of applications. It includes a few browsers (Dillo, Netrik and Mozilla Firefox), en email client, text editors etcetera. One of the main advantages is the use of a lightweight graphical environment, so it even runs on your old P1 350MHz systems. The following links provide more information about DSL:
The building process
There are several things you need:
- A 128MB or larger USB flash drive
- 7-Zip (or another extracting utility)
- syslinux
- dsl-embedded.zip
First, you need to figure out if the USB drive is formatted correctly. If the USB flash drive isn't formatted to FAT, you need to format it first. You can use the HP-USB Format tool, use the built-in tool from Windows or find another way of reformatting the drive.
Then you need to download dsl-embedded.zip and extract the contents (using some extracting utility, like 7-Zip) to the USB drive.
Third, you need to download syslinux and extract the contents to your hard drive, for example 'C:\syslinux'
Fourth, start the command prompt via Start -> Run -> cmd -> ENTER. And type C:\syslinux\win32. Then type syslinux.exe -ma F: (replace F to the corresponding drive letter of your USB drive)
After these steps you're ready to reboot into your freshly build DIY Computer-On-A-Stick.
Using your pendrive
Now you only need to find a computer capable of booting from an USB drive. You can find out about this if you go to the BIOS menu, right after you hit the power button to boot up your computer. From this menu you should be able to edit the priorities of bootable devices, like hard drives, cd-rom drives etcetera. Read the manual of your mainboard if you can't find it.
After finding the target computer, you need get your USB drive to be booted before the hard drives (via the BIOS menu again). Reboot the system and your computer will boot into your new environment.
Tips
Good luck with your new portable desktop environment. Keep in mind that USB flash drives were not designed to have an unlimited lifespan, so the drives might fail on you in the future, depending on the number of I/O activity.
If you want to know more about installing a Linux distribution on your USB drive, visit PendriveLinux.
Update
There were some problems reported with USB drives, which were formatted FAT32. Please reformat it to FAT16 or FAT. This should solve the problem.