mounting external hard drive from rescue mode shell?

[Heriberto Avelino]

Dear all:
Is it possible to mount an external hard drive while running Debian in
rescue mode?
Furthermore, the ultimate question is how could I copy folders from the
computer's hard drive to the external one while in rescue mode?
Many thanks!!
Heriberto

[e***@gmx.us]

Post by Heriberto Avelino
Furthermore, the ultimate question is how could I copy folders from the
computer's hard drive to the external one while in rescue mode?

Is your computer's hard drive is already mounted? Are you comfortable in a
shell?

--
For is it not written, wheresoever two or three are gathered
together, yea they will perform the Parrot Sketch.

-- Rob on ASR

[David Christensen]

Post by Heriberto Avelino
Is it possible to mount an external hard drive while running Debian in
rescue mode?

Yes.

Post by Heriberto Avelino
Furthermore, the ultimate question is how could I copy folders from the
computer's hard drive to the external one while in rescue mode?
Many thanks!!
Heriberto

This is how I start a rescue shell using debian-11.9.0-amd64-netboot media:

Debian GNU/Linux installer menu (BIOS mode) -> Advanced options
Advanced options -> Rescue mode
Language -> C
Continent or region -> North America
Country, territory or area -> United States
Keymap -> American English
Hostname -> debianrescue
Domain name -> tracy.holgerdanske.com
Select your time zone -> Pacific
Passphrase for /dev/sda3 -> <empty> -> Continue
Device to use as a root file system -> Do not use a root file system
Rescue operations -> Execute a shell in the installer environment
Executing a shell -> Continue


Once busybox(1) is running, you can issue mount(8) and cp(1) commands
similar to using a shell.


David

[Heriberto Avelino]

Thanks Eben and David!
I am now on a shell (BusyBox v.35.0 Debian 1:1.35.0-4+b3)
I don't see the mounting points to execute cp.
There is nothing under media nor root; under usr I can see only: bin lib
local sbin share.
Where are the internal h-drive and the external?
I would very much appreciate your further help.
Who could have envisioned a community like this back in the 80's? This is
great!
Heriberto


On Wed, Jun 19, 2024 at 9:04 AM Heriberto Avelino <

Post by Heriberto Avelino
Is it possible to mount an external hard drive while running Debian in
rescue mode?
Furthermore, the ultimate question is how could I copy folders from the
computer's hard drive to the external one while in rescue mode?
Many thanks!!
Heriberto

[e***@gmx.us]

Post by Heriberto Avelino
I am now on a shell (BusyBox v.35.0 Debian 1:1.35.0-4+b3)
There is nothing under media nor root

Things mounted by the system would probably show up under /media or /mnt .

Post by Heriberto Avelino
Where are the internal h-drive and the external?

To mount those you need the device names. Perhaps you'd be better off with
a graphical file manager.

--
And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on th dark side of the moon -- PF, "Brain Damage", _DSotM_

[t***@tuxteam.de]

Post by Heriberto Avelino
Thanks Eben and David!
I am now on a shell (BusyBox v.35.0 Debian 1:1.35.0-4+b3)
I don't see the mounting points to execute cp.

As far as I know, you have dmesg in the rescue shell. So the way to
go would be:

- insert your external disc
- wait a second or two for things to settle
- issue "dmesg | tail"
- you'll see your kernel recognising external media and trying
to make sense of it. Here's an example:

======================================================
***@caliban:~$ sudo dmesg | tail
[ 1124.990155] scsi host2: usb-storage 2-6:1.0
[ 1126.811573] scsi 2:0:0:0: Direct-Access USB DISK PMAP PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[ 1126.812188] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0
[ 1126.814169] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] 30310400 512-byte logical blocks: (15.5 GB/14.5 GiB)
[ 1126.814602] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[ 1126.814613] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00
[ 1126.814788] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] No Caching mode page found
[ 1126.814796] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 1126.820398] sdb: sdb1
[ 1126.820515] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
======================================================

This was me inserting a DOS partitioned stick with one primary partition
(sdb1). Therefore, the block device will appear as /dev/sdb1.

Your mileage will almost certainly vary.

Now you can, e.g. say

mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt

The kernel will try to auto-detect which file system is on your partition.
You can, of course, choose another mount point than /mnt -- it has just
to be some directory. Its contents, if any, will be shadowed by your new
file system and won't be accessible as long as the mount is in effect.

From here on you can use mv, cp, whatever. Whenever copying lots of stuff
recursively, the option "-a" to cp comes in handy.

Post by Heriberto Avelino
There is nothing under media nor root; under usr I can see only: bin lib
local sbin share.

Your rescue system is very bare-bones: it won't do automounting for you,
etc. I think that makes sense.

Post by Heriberto Avelino
Where are the internal h-drive and the external?
I would very much appreciate your further help.

I hope the above description gets you started. In case of doubt, just
ask :)

Post by Heriberto Avelino
Who could have envisioned a community like this back in the 80's? This is
great!

It is, yes. I'm very thankful for that.

Cheers

[David Christensen]

Post by Heriberto Avelino

Post by Heriberto Avelino
Is it possible to mount an external hard drive while running Debian in
rescue mode?
Furthermore, the ultimate question is how could I copy folders from the
computer's hard drive to the external one while in rescue mode?

Thanks Eben and David!
I am now on a shell (BusyBox v.35.0 Debian 1:1.35.0-4+b3)
I don't see the mounting points to execute cp.
There is nothing under media nor root; under usr I can see only: bin
lib local sbin share.
Where are the internal h-drive and the external?
I would very much appreciate your further help.
Who could have envisioned a community like this back in the 80's? This
is great!
Heriberto

We are glad to help. :-)


On Debian GNU/Linux, SATA drives (internal and external) should have
special files (device nodes) under /dev. You can use the ls(1) command
and a glob pattern to find them:

~ # ls /dev/sd?

/dev/sda


You can use the fdisk(8) command to list the partitions on a drive. For
example, here is the drive containing Debian in the computer I am using now:

~ # fdisk -l /dev/sda
Disk /dev/sda: 55.9 GiB, 60022480896 bytes, 117231408 sectors
Disk model: INTEL SSDSC2CW06
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x544032f5

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 * 2048 1953791 1951744 953M 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 1953792 3907583 1953792 954M 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 3907584 29298687 25391104 12.1G 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 29298688 117229567 87930880 41.9G 83 Linux


Partitions can contain one of several things. One possibility is a file
system. I keep detailed records on all of my OS's and drives, so I know
what is what. Figuring out the contents of an unknown drive using the
Debian rescue shell is possible, but requires more knowledge and effort.
Using a live Linux distribution instead of the Debian rescue shell can
make such tasks easier. I install Debian onto a SATA SSD via a USB-SATA
adapter cable for this purpose.


Once you have identified the device node of a partition that contains
the file system that you want to read and/or write, you must mount the
file system. The first step is to create a mount point with mkdir(1):

~ # mkdir /scratch


The second step is to mount the file system with mount(8):

~ # mount /dev/sda4 /scratch


Repeat the above process to mount any additional file systems that you
want to read and/or write.


One the file system(s) are mounted, you can read and/or write files
and/or directories. For example, you can use cp(1) to copy files from
an internal drive to an external drive.


"Learning the Unix Operating System" is a good book for learning how to
use Unix/ Linux from the command line:

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/learning-the-unix/0596002610/


"UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook" is a good book for
learning how to administer Unix/ Linux from the command line:

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/unix-and-linux/9780134278308/


"Design of the UNIX Operating System" is a good book for understanding
how Unix worked around the time Linux Torvalds wrote Linux:

https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/design-of-the-unix-operating-system/P200000009243/9780132017992

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linus_Torvalds


David

[Max Nikulin]

Post by David Christensen
You can use the fdisk(8) command to list the partitions on a drive.

lsblk --fs

perhaps with "-o +SIZE" may be more convenient to get overview of drives.

[David Christensen]

Post by Max Nikulin

Post by David Christensen
You can use the fdisk(8) command to list the partitions on a drive.

lsblk --fs
perhaps with "-o +SIZE" may be more convenient to get overview of drives.

The debian-11.9.0-amd64-netinst rescue shell does not include lsblk(8):

~ # lsblk
/bin/sh: lsblk: not found


David

[Max Nikulin]

Post by Max Nikulin

Post by David Christensen
You can use the fdisk(8) command to list the partitions on a drive.

lsblk --fs
perhaps with "-o +SIZE" may be more convenient to get overview of drives.

My bad, I missed that the topic is specific to installer rescue mode. I
usually boot a live image for rescue. It is more convenient: more tools
are available or can be temporary installed, a browser may be used to
search for failure details. A possible downside is enabling of found
swap partitions and automounting of removable drives.

[Richard Owlett]

Post by Max Nikulin

Post by Max Nikulin

Post by David Christensen
You can use the fdisk(8) command to list the partitions on a drive.

lsblk --fs
perhaps with "-o +SIZE" may be more convenient to get overview of drives.

My bad, I missed that the topic is specific to installer rescue mode. I
usually boot a live image for rescue. It is more convenient: more tools
are available or can be temporary installed, a browser may be used to
search for failure details. A possible downside is enabling of found
swap partitions and automounting of removable drives.

Thank you for reminding me of live images just now. Perfect timing.
I have an i386 machine with some atypical constraints.
https://www.debian.org/CD/live/ states only amd64 images are currently
available.

Questions:
1. What is latest i386 live image available in some archive?
2. I have a working machine that will take a current full install
of an i386 system. Can an average user create his own i386 live
install image?

[Thomas Schmitt]

Hi,

Post by Richard Owlett
1. What is latest i386 live image available in some archive?

I guess:
https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/archive/11.9.0-live/i386/iso-hybrid/
At least the pages for archived Live ISOs for Debian 12 list no i386
any more:
https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/archive/12.1.0-live/

Post by Richard Owlett
2. I have a working machine that will take a current full install
of an i386 system. Can an average user create his own i386 live
install image?

Well, there is the manual
https://live-team.pages.debian.net/live-manual/html/live-manual/index.en.html
The section "4.2 First steps: building an ISO hybrid image" looks like
you could get a quick ride.
https://live-team.pages.debian.net/live-manual/html/live-manual/the-basics.en.html#170
"execute the following sequence of live-build commands to create a basic
ISO hybrid image containing a default live system without X.org."

If it doesn't work, then debian-***@lists.debian.org would be the list
to ask for help.


Have a nice day :)

Thomas

[Richard Owlett]

Post by Thomas Schmitt
Hi,

Post by Richard Owlett
1. What is latest i386 live image available in some archive?

https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/archive/11.9.0-live/i386/iso-hybrid/

That solves a plethora of problems! Thank you.

Post by Thomas Schmitt
At least the pages for archived Live ISOs for Debian 12 list no i386
https://cdimage.debian.org/mirror/cdimage/archive/12.1.0-live/

Post by Richard Owlett
2. I have a working machine that will take a current full install
of an i386 system. Can an average user create his own i386 live
install image?

Well, there is the manual
https://live-team.pages.debian.net/live-manual/html/live-manual/index.en.html

Reviewing table of contents indicate that sections 8, 9, and 10 have
answers to questions I didn't know _how_ to ask ;}

Post by Thomas Schmitt
The section "4.2 First steps: building an ISO hybrid image" looks like
you could get a quick ride.
https://live-team.pages.debian.net/live-manual/html/live-manual/the-basics.en.html#170

Looks doable.
At least I'll learn enough to ask answerable questions.

Post by Thomas Schmitt
"execute the following sequence of live-build commands to create a basic
ISO hybrid image containing a default live system without X.org."
to ask for help.
Have a nice day :)

With your reading list it should be educational. Thanks again.

Post by Thomas Schmitt
Thomas

[Andy Smith]

Hi,

Post by Richard Owlett
1. What is latest i386 live image available in some archive?
2. I have a working machine that will take a current full install
of an i386 system. Can an average user create his own i386 live
install image?

Before you spend too much time on this, do be aware that Debian is
dropping i686 as an install architecture. There won't be installers
for i686 in future releases of Debian. You will only be able to run
i686 packages as a foreign arch on a machine booted with an amd64
kernel (or via virtualisation methods).

Building your own live images for amd64 and other supported
architectures is still pretty easy though.

Thanks,
Andy

[Richard Owlett]

Post by Andy Smith
Hi,

Post by Richard Owlett
1. What is latest i386 live image available in some archive?
2. I have a working machine that will take a current full install
of an i386 system. Can an average user create his own i386 live
install image?

Before you spend too much time on this, do be aware that Debian is
dropping i686 as an install architecture. There won't be installers
for i686 in future releases of Debian. You will only be able to run
i686 packages as a foreign arch on a machine booted with an amd64
kernel (or via virtualisation methods).
Building your own live images for amd64 and other supported
architectures is still pretty easy though.
Thanks,
Andy

*ROFL*
When I was an E.E. undergrad CPUs had 12AX7s and I/O devices included
026 and KSR35. Analog hardware was more interesting than new-fangled
digital stuff [have one of my father's CK722's around somewhere].

I ask about i386 Debian Live because I have a fine operational Sony
laptop that currently runs Debian 9.0 and has a $20 price tag on its bottom.

This machine has option to boot Debian 11 with an AMD64 kernel.
I routinely run Debian 9.13 because its configuration is comfortable
(i.e. useful).

I have 2 other laptops which will have something >= Debian 12 before I
abandon this machine.

Will I outlive Debian 11/12?
[My parents married day before Pearl Harbor ;]

[David Christensen]

Post by Richard Owlett
I ask about i386 Debian Live because I have a fine operational Sony
laptop that currently runs Debian 9.0 and has a $20 price tag on its bottom.
This machine has option to boot Debian 11 with an AMD64 kernel.
I routinely run Debian 9.13 because its configuration is comfortable
(i.e. useful).
I have 2 other laptops which will have something >= Debian 12 before I
abandon this machine.

Post by Stefan Monnier

Post by David Christensen
Rather than creating a customized Debian Live image, I install
Debian onto a USB flash drive or onto a 2.5" SATA SSD connected via

+1
It's pretty easy to make a simple Debian install on some old USB key
you have lying around and it comes really handy.

Relevant laptop is so old I don't know if it can boot from a physical
USB device. I was suspecting that simplest thing would be copying
suitable image to hard drive and let GRUB earn its keep ;}

So, the Sony laptop has Debian 9.13 i386 installed on the HDD/SSD?


Debian 9 LTS support ended on 01 Jul 2022:

https://endoflife.date/debian


If the Sony laptop can boot Debian 11 amd64 via CD, it should be able to
boot an amd64 OS via USB. I suggest copying
debian-12.5.0-amd64-netinst.iso to a USB flash drive and trying to boot
it. If it works, you can decide if you want to use d-i, if you want to
burn a live distribution to a USB device, and/or if you want to install
Debian onto a USB device.


David

[Andy Smith]

Hi,

Post by Richard Owlett
Will I outlive Debian 11/12?

Well we're only talking a small single digit number of years here,
so I hope you have reason to be optimistic.

Thanks,
Andy

[Andrew M.A. Cater]

Post by Andy Smith
Hi,

Post by Richard Owlett
Will I outlive Debian 11/12?

Well we're only talking a small single digit number of years here,
so I hope you have reason to be optimistic.

A colleague who is 14 years older than me was discussing this.
Apparently your odds of surviving another year are > 50% until the
age of 94 or so whereupon they start to go down fairly drastically :)

All best

Andy

Post by Andy Smith
Thanks,
Andy
--
https://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting

[David Christensen]

Post by Richard Owlett
Thank you for reminding me of live images just now. Perfect timing.
I have an i386 machine with some atypical constraints.
https://www.debian.org/CD/live/ states only amd64 images are currently
available.
  1. What is latest i386 live image available in some archive?
  2. I have a working machine that will take a current full install
     of an i386 system. Can an average user create his own i386 live
     install image?

Rather than creating a customized Debian Live image, I install Debian
onto a USB flash drive or onto a 2.5" SATA SSD connected via a USB-SATA
adapter cable:

https://www.startech.com/en-us/hdd/usb3s2sat3cb


Installing Debian onto a USB device allows me to choose the tasks I want
at install time and then to add, remove, update, upgrade, etc., the
packages I want later. I load the USB Debian instances with all of my
favorite Unix/ Linux/ Debian trouble-shooting tools, plus my own scripts.


My Debian 11 amd64 BIOS/MBR USB instance works on all of my amd64
BIOS/MBR computers and works on most of my EUFI/GPT computers when set
to BIOS/MBR mode.


My Debian 11 am64 UEFI/GPT USB instance was created on a Windows 10 era
machine with UEFI/GPT and only works on similar machines with similar
settings.


David

[Stefan Monnier]

Rather than creating a customized Debian Live image, I install Debian onto
a USB flash drive or onto a 2.5" SATA SSD connected via a USB-SATA adapter

+1

It's pretty easy to make a simple Debian install on some old USB key you
have lying around and it comes really handy.


Stefan

[Richard Owlett]

Post by Stefan Monnier

Rather than creating a customized Debian Live image, I install Debian onto
a USB flash drive or onto a 2.5" SATA SSD connected via a USB-SATA adapter

+1
It's pretty easy to make a simple Debian install on some old USB key you
have lying around and it comes really handy.
Stefan

Snicker
Relevant laptop is so old I don't know if it can boot from a physical
USB device. I was suspecting that simplest thing would be copying
suitable image to hard drive and let GRUB earn its keep ;}

[Stefan Monnier]

Relevant laptop is so old I don't know if it can boot from a physical USB
device. I was suspecting that simplest thing would be copying suitable image
to hard drive and let GRUB earn its keep ;}

Indeed my trusty old Thinkpad X30 doesn't boot from USB keys (tho in
theory it can boot from a USB floppy reader), so I use one of two
alternative options:

- Boot using the Grub on the X30's own HDD, and then ask Grub to boot
the kernel+initrd found on the USB key (this is my favorite solution).

- Copy the USB key's kernel+initrd to the /boot partition on the X30's
HDD and boot from that.

- Take the HDD out of the X30 and connect it to my desktop via some
HDD<->USB adapter. Then do what I need to do to it from the comfort
of my desktop computer, typically using `chroot` along the way (this
is the second best).


Stefan

[t***@tuxteam.de]

Indeed my trusty old Thinkpad X30 [...]
- Take the HDD out of the X30 [...]

Ah, the old Thinkpads. Swapping out the HD always just one screw away.

I'll miss my old X230 (one of the last capable of this trick) which is
in process of being replaced with a sleek and snobby X260. OTOH, the old
one is promised to a nice person who's in need of one.

Cheers

[Felix Miata]

Stefan Monnier composed on 2024-06-23 12:35 (UTC-0400):
...
FWIW, this reply goes to list because I expect high probability Stefan would not
see it otherwise. Most mailing list posts flow through to me unimpeded. Not so
with Stefan's. AFAICT, every one of his is captured by Earthlink.net's "known
spam" folder. The only ways I can see them are via the web archive, and by opening
webmail, so that I can extract them from "known spam".

Stefan's isn't the only, but few others from any source become repeats, one of
which is every notification of new post added to subscribed thread on
forums.opensuse.org.

Trying to get EL to stop putting subscribed email into "known spam" is futile. The
mechanism EL provides to avoid such diversions doesn't work with debian mailing
list posts.

:~(

[Stefan Monnier]

Post by Felix Miata
FWIW, this reply goes to list because I expect high probability Stefan would not
see it otherwise. Most mailing list posts flow through to me unimpeded. Not so
with Stefan's. AFAICT, every one of his is captured by Earthlink.net's "known
spam" folder. The only ways I can see them are via the web archive, and by opening
webmail, so that I can extract them from "known spam".

My crystal ball suggests it's because I [read and] send them via Gmane,
and of course Gmane can't DKIM-sign my messages (and neither can my NNTP
client).


Stefan

[CHRIS M]

Post by Felix Miata
Stefan's isn't the only, but few others from any source become repeats, one
of which is every notification of new post added to subscribed thread on
forums.opensuse.org.
Trying to get EL to stop putting subscribed email into "known spam" is
futile. The mechanism EL provides to avoid such diversions doesn't work
with debian mailing list posts.
:~(

Sounds like its time to turn off Earthlink's Spam filtering and teach
SeaMonkey Mail, what *IS* spam and what is *NOT* and is HAM / good mail.

I've got the time / and somewhat patience to sit down at each mail check with
TDE KMAIL and teach TDE KMAIL what is GOOD / HAM emails, and what is NOT and
is SPAM. #YMMV.
--
============================================================
THANKS IN ADVANCE!

CHRIS

***@CWM030.COM

~* Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q*~~*
*~~1 TB SSD*~~
~*15.5 GiB of ram*~
~~* Q4OS Trinity Edition* ~~

~FYI, TDE is a continuation of KDE 3.x ~
~ Q4OS is based off of the latest Debian Version~

[John Hasler]

Post by Felix Miata
Trying to get EL to stop putting subscribed email into "known spam" is
futile. The mechanism EL provides to avoid such diversions doesn't work
with debian mailing list posts.

Quit using EL email. Use Pobox. Yes, it costs money. It's worth it.

[Felix Miata]

Post by CHRIS M

Post by Felix Miata
Stefan's isn't the only, but few others from any source become repeats, one
of which is every notification of new post added to subscribed thread on
forums.opensuse.org.
Trying to get EL to stop putting subscribed email into "known spam" is
futile. The mechanism EL provides to avoid such diversions doesn't work
with debian mailing list posts.
:~(

Sounds like its time to turn off Earthlink's Spam filtering

I would LOVE to, but cannot find a way to do so. The only option offered is to
make it more intrusive. It used to not be a problem, before DMARC, before the
Earthlink/Yahoo war to see who could blackhole more non-spam from each other.

Post by CHRIS M
Quit using EL email. Use Pobox. Yes, it costs money. It's worth it.

I've been with EL 18 years, SeaMonkey longer (originally as Mozilla Suite, before
Firefox existed). EL is not free, but it doesn't shove IMAP at me. I like my email
addresses. My people have known them long, understand the word, and don't ask how
to spell it.

[Richard Owlett]

Post by Stefan Monnier

Relevant laptop is so old I don't know if it can boot from a physical USB
device. I was suspecting that simplest thing would be copying suitable image
to hard drive and let GRUB earn its keep ;}

Indeed my trusty old Thinkpad X30 doesn't boot from USB keys (tho in
theory it can boot from a USB floppy reader), so I use one of two
- Boot using the Grub on the X30's own HDD, and then ask Grub to boot
the kernel+initrd found on the USB key (this is my favorite solution).

I think this is the path I should follow. It explicitly handles my
immediate problem and most likely satisfactorily handles issue(s) on
other machine(s).

Where would I find relevant GRUB documentation?

Post by Stefan Monnier
- Copy the USB key's kernel+initrd to the /boot partition on the X30's
HDD and boot from that.

Can I copy the USB key's kernel+initrd to a currently empty partition
and then treat it in manner similar to USB key above? [goal being not to
mess with a currently functioning system ;]

Post by Stefan Monnier
- Take the HDD out of the X30 and connect it to my desktop via some
HDD<->USB adapter. Then do what I need to do to it from the comfort
of my desktop computer, typically using `chroot` along the way (this
is the second best).
Stefan

Thank you.

[Stefan Monnier]

Post by Stefan Monnier
- Boot using the Grub on the X30's own HDD, and then ask Grub to boot
the kernel+initrd found on the USB key (this is my favorite solution).

I think this is the path I should follow. It explicitly handles my immediate
problem and most likely satisfactorily handles issue(s) on other machine(s).
Where would I find relevant GRUB documentation?

IIRC the main question is whether your Grub comes with support for USB storage.
If it doesn't you're out of luck.
If it does, it should be a small matter of typing

set root=<THEDISK>,<THEPARTITION>
linux /<THEKERNEL>
initrd /<THEINITRD>

where those things can be completed with the help of TAB completion.

But it may depend on what exactly you're booting from that disk, which
may require specific arguments to be passed to the kernel.

Post by Stefan Monnier
- Copy the USB key's kernel+initrd to the /boot partition on the X30's
HDD and boot from that.

Can I copy the USB key's kernel+initrd to a currently empty partition and
then treat it in manner similar to USB key above? [goal being not to mess
with a currently functioning system ;]

Yes.


Stefan

[Jeffrey Walton]

Post by Richard Owlett
[...]
Thank you for reminding me of live images just now. Perfect timing.
I have an i386 machine with some atypical constraints.
https://www.debian.org/CD/live/ states only amd64 images are currently
available.
1. What is latest i386 live image available in some archive?
2. I have a working machine that will take a current full install
of an i386 system. Can an average user create his own i386 live
install image?

According to <https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/i386/iso-cd/>:

We don't store/serve the full set of ISO images for all
architectures, to reduce the amount of space taken up on the mirrors.
You can use the jigdo tool to recreate the missing ISO images instead.

The link provided for the jigdo tool is
<https://www.debian.org/CD/faq/#why-jigdo>.

Jeff

[Andrew M.A. Cater]

Post by Jeffrey Walton

Post by Richard Owlett
[...]
Thank you for reminding me of live images just now. Perfect timing.
I have an i386 machine with some atypical constraints.
https://www.debian.org/CD/live/ states only amd64 images are currently
available.
1. What is latest i386 live image available in some archive?
2. I have a working machine that will take a current full install
of an i386 system. Can an average user create his own i386 live
install image?

We don't store/serve the full set of ISO images for all
architectures, to reduce the amount of space taken up on the mirrors.
You can use the jigdo tool to recreate the missing ISO images instead.
The link provided for the jigdo tool is
<https://www.debian.org/CD/faq/#why-jigdo>.

Note: debian-cd and debian-live build scripts are different.

Debian-live are not provided via jigdo but just as single bootable images.
Debian-live for i386 is almost unusable given the amount of memory it takes
to boot up a live CD image well and to load all running components into
memory.

As far as possible, the image testing team no longer spend huge amounts
of time on 32 bit Debian live images.

Andy

Post by Jeffrey Walton
Jeff