[Neumie]

Well I decided not to mess around with my partitions for the time being but i found a version of linux called feather linux. It can boot from a USB key which is ideal for me. However everytime i want to boot it i get a BOOT FAILED message. I.m using the latest version of feather (0.6.1 i think) and i use syslinux 2.31 to make the usb bootable as recommended by the website.
i have an Advent 7039 Laptop with:
AMD64 3000+
ati mobility radeon 9600 64MB
512 MB PC2700 ram
A Phoenix Bios (Version A1j i think)
AC97 Audio
Motherboard based on the k8t800 chipset.

Any advice would be helpful
Thank you

[Whiteskin]

have you tried using the bootfloppy? Or you don't have one?

[tsunam]

simple question. Though it seems that it does already. Does your bios allow you to boot from a usb drive? if not, umm....

[Neumie]

Thanks for the replys guys.
Unfortunately i dont have a floppy drive on my laptop. I think my bios allows me to boot from USB devices. When i go into bios set up it allows me to select the USB key as the first thing to boot off.
Any more suggestions would be very helpful.
thank you.

[Whiteskin]

so you installed feather linux to the key, as per the instructions? Is there any error on boot? or does it just skip to windows? If it does, try removing your hardrive from the boot order all together.

Originally Posted by Dsl Site

On some broken boards (like my Epia-M...) you need to plug the memory stick in without any power (remove your power plug), otherwise the BIOS might not recognize the memory stick.

[Neumie]

Oh i get the most detailed error imaginable. It makes diagnostics so simple . It says *GASP* "Boot Failed". Thats it. You can't get more descriptive than that. Sorry for not posting it earlier. It doesn't go straight into windows though.
Thanks for the reply and if you have any more ideas give me a shout .

[Whiteskin]

Do you at any point get a prompt, or does it say anything besides boot failed. Have you tried recreating the bootable key?

[Neumie]

Tried repeating the process a few times. Still the same error. I'm a complete newbie to linux though so there is probably some long winded command line that will make it magically work. Oh i don't know if this is relevant but it's a Disgo flash key 128MB USB 1.1. Do you need 2.0 to get it to work? If you do then ill just go hit the wall.

[Whiteskin]

I highly doubt it. I've never done a bootable key though, so I may not be much of a help. Do you have any acess to standard hardware (IE cdrom drive, floppy?).

[Neumie]

Oh i have a live CD (Knoppix) if thats what your thinking. Anyway we can leave at that. I bit the bullit and installed Mandrake Linux on my PC. Thanks for all your help and i hope i can return the favour sometime

[Whiteskin]

Well that's diffrent. Have fun with MDK!