Webconverger on an HP

.img downloadable files are USB images to be copied onto a USB stick/key.

How to copy .img to USB stick (under Windows):

0.6beta2

As described earlier on the forum:

  1. Insert a USB stick that you are willing to replace with Webconverger and note it's drive letter
    • Download the latest Webconverger USB IMG image to your Windows desktop
    • Download the experimental dd 0.6 beta 2 to the desktop
    • Start menu -> Run -> cmd (this launches the scary black console)
    • cd Desktop
    • dd if=mini.img od=x: (x representing your USB drive you are going to replace with Webconverger!)

There is a now an alternative to use a program called Flashnul described in : * Debian EEEPC guide on Flashnul * Archlinux on Flashnul

How to copy .img to USB stick (under Linux):

  1. fdisk -l will list your USB drive - usually /dev/sdx ("x" representing letter like sda, sdb etc.), double check with dmesg
    • dd if=webconverger-image.img of=/dev/sdx

Detailed description on Debian wiki.

Kingston DataTravelers are recommended, though almost any generic USB stick should be fine. Feel free to use the usb image also with embedded boards and Compact Flash cards (they behave like /dev/hda usually).

Booting your USB stick

Different machines have different ways of Entering the boot menu. However it's usually the [F8] key or at least configurable in the BIOS menu.

Appending arguments to boot loader

French support added to USB boot

When the bootloader (syslinux) initially loads, you'll have a few seconds to type in something at the toboot: prompt. For example to get boot with i18n French support simply add:

live locale=fr

Hacking the USB boot

Plug your Webconverger USB stick in and mount the USB stick, for e.g.:

x61:~% sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb

Edit the menu.cfg. Alter elements like the homepage.

x61:/mnt/usb% sudo vim syslinux/menu.cfg

Unmount and boot up your system:

x61:/mnt/usb% cd
x61:~% sudo umount /mnt/usb

Developer notes

In config/binary:

LH_BINARY_IMAGES="usb-hdd"

And grub doesn't work, so you must use the syslinux bootloader.

Tests on various hardware