[RESOLVED] USB stick - making it bootable

[wossname]

I am having problems with a particular USB stick it's an 8GB Integral (manufacturer) USB2 model (http://www.integralmemory.com/produc...g.aspx?prid=39), it's one of those waterproof shockproof rubberised ones. It has no other distinguishing feat

I'm trying to make it bootable so that I can use it to store the CD ISO image of Ubuntu in order to install ubuntu on my Acer Aspire One netbook.

In the past I've been able to use a smaller 512MG USB stick to boot the acer into a low-footprint linux like DSL. But this 8GB stick just seems unbootable.

Does anyone know any special method for making a USB stick bootable? I think this may be more complicated than merely overwriting the partition table on the stick as I've done that many times with many different OS ISOs and none have had the desired effect.

lsusb reveals this info about it, if it means anything to anyone...

Bus 001 Device 005: ID 13fe:1e00 Kingston Technology Company Inc. 
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x13fe Kingston Technology Company Inc.
  idProduct          0x1e00 
  bcdDevice            1.10
  iManufacturer           1         
  iProduct                2 USB DISK 2.0
  iSerial                 3 078606A40264
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           32
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower              200mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass         8 Mass Storage
      bInterfaceSubClass      6 SCSI
      bInterfaceProtocol     80 Bulk (Zip)
      iInterface              0 
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x02  EP 2 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0200  1x 512 bytes
        bInterval               0
Device Qualifier (for other device speed):
  bLength                10
  bDescriptorType         6
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  bNumConfigurations      1
Device Status:     0x0000
  (Bus Powered)

[JuggaloBrotha]

If it's a bootable ISO and you're running Win7 check this out: http://kmwoley.com/blog/?p=345

[Siddharth Rout]

Wossy, Check these out...

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...n/FromUSBStick
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootFromUSB
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-ins...usb-stick.html

Hope these help.

[Lord Orwell]

there's a tool that lets you do that.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...X-UNITY-I23839
it works with all usb keys i've tried on, not just the hp ones.

[wossname]

I've sorted it out now guys, thanks for the help. I used a combination of hdparm and mkdiskimage commands in Linux to prepare the drive properly. Apparently windows XP had done something weird to the partition table causing the usb-creator tool not to recognise it properly.