# booting up freebsd from pendrive using bootloader



## Magnesik (Mar 28, 2010)

Is it possible to boot up FreeBSD from pendrive using bootloader? I'm asking for this because unfortunately my motherboard doesn't have bios' function to do this directly.


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## Zare (Mar 29, 2010)

Should be. You could install FreeBSD on pendrive, and when prompted (in sysinstall) don't install any boot manager. BSD slice on the pendrive should have stage 1 bootloader, so you can boot FreeBSD with any chainloader that can reside on your hard drive.


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## gcooper@ (Mar 29, 2010)

Yes, it is very possible. There are a few methods available, depending on which route you choose -- either mfsroot or non-mfsroot.

mfsroot (memory filesystem root) is arguably smaller, and thus starts up quicker, but it requires a few more manual steps, or just one step if you use makefs(8).


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## Magnesik (Mar 29, 2010)

Can somebody write step by step how to do it properly?


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## fbsd1 (Mar 30, 2010)

I asked this same question on the Freebsd questions list. The result was it can not be done. I have a complete 8.0 install on a pen drive or as I call it a USB stick, or USB flash drive. The USB stick will boot on a PC that has bios USB boot option, no problem. But my desktop manufactured in 2002 does not have bios option to boot from USB drive. I think this is same problem the original poster is asking about. I donâ€™t think the 2 previous repliers understood the question.  Do â€œman bootâ€ for details. You will see that the boot process is getting the drive to boot from, from the bios, and since your bios do not have USB boot option itâ€™s not USB aware at boot time. Like me your only option is to replace the motherboard with one that has bios that have USB boot options.


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## Magnesik (Mar 30, 2010)

I thought that FreeBSD's bootloader should be able to support other devices, not only disks.

I have read somewhere that Grub (linux bootloader) can do this but I'm not sure.


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## g_willikers (Apr 6, 2010)

I have been working on (around) this *exact* same situation for about 2 mos.
My initial incentive was that I bought a nice laptop for cheap. But it lacked the
CD/DVD/Floppy adapter, or a Docking station. I was determined to get FBSD on it
immediately. So I used PXE. But to the point; it had a USB port that _should_
provide the ability to boot from (CD/DVD/Floppy/USB stick) because the option shows
up in the BIOS config - but no joy.
So after long research, I decided on GRUB (3 versions). The version you choose will
be best decided by which OS you currently have on the harddrive. Although you could
create a (20Mb) partition at the beginning of your first HD for GRUB and simply make
it the boot (active) partition. The trick then is to use FBSD's MD(4) (Memory Disk)
after you create one, and boot from it. You'll be able to "see" the USB drive and
choose it (chainload). I have little background (none) on your particular system, and
ultimate goal. But if you do any research on GRUB, you should easily discover which
version works best for your situation, and recipes as well. Hint; if you make a 20Mb
partition at the beginning of your hard drive, put GRUB4DOS in it, and make it the
*active* partition. You will have little trouble adding your startup MD(4)
files to it and adding your chosen startup partitions to the GRUB menu. Very easy - really!

HTH

--Chris


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## Magnesik (Apr 12, 2010)

The general idea of booting FreeBSD from USB stick is to save power. Presently on my router is working small 10 GB disk which still unnecessary spins. I'd like to turn it off after boot. 

Does anyone have any idea how to boot system from disk but later spin it down? I guess that system's partition should be in read-only mode but what next? 

Maybe grub is good solution but I don't have time to testing. Besides my router even doesnt have graphic card. What is more I think it is quite unstable.


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