Creating a Portable Qemu Ubuntu Orca for the blind

The following tutorial covers the process of installing Qemu Ubuntu to a USB flash drive and then running Orca. This should allow a visually impaired (Blind) user to have access to Linux using any Windows computer. Accomplished by running Orca on Ubuntu Linux emulated via Qemu directly from the portable USB memory stick.

This idea is a work in progress and was originally inspired by Jim
Vaglia who is blind.

Qemu – Ubuntu – Orca basic essentials:

• Portable drive with 1GB+ free space (2+GB recommended)
• A Windows computer (Host)
  
• Ubuntu 7.04-7.10 ISO
• QKUB.zip Custom batch files, img, Qemu emulation software + Kqemu accelerator

Installing Qemu and Ubuntu to the USB flash drive:

1. Create a folder named QUbuntu on your portable device. This directory will be used to house Qemu, Kqemu, the Ubuntu ISO and related files
2. Download QKUB.exe and run, extracting it's contents to the Qubuntu folder
3. Download the Ubuntu.iso and move it to the QUbuntu folder
4. Click the Launchubuntu.bat file to start Ubuntu
5. At the boot menu, press F6 to enter a custom boot option. Type persistent at the end of the boot string:
6. Ubuntu should continue to boot… saving your settings as you go. To restore these saved settings on the next boot, simply press F6 and add persistent again.

Launching Orca from Qemu Ubuntu:

Once Ubuntu is up and running emulated using Qemu, you can proceed to launch Orca

1. Press Alt+F2 and type Orca, then click Run
   
2. Since this is the first time Orca has been launched, you'll be prompted to to adjust your preferences
3. Once finished, you'll be prompted to logout to apply the new setting, select no
4. Navigate to System-> Preferences-> Sessions and from the Startup Programs tab click Add
5. In both the Name and Command boxes enter Orca and then click Ok
6. Type Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to logout and back in

Orca should now be launched automatically on each boot!

*Ubuntu is a product of Canonical Ltd

Posted under: Virtual Machine Emulation