Install USB KNOPPIX to Flash Drive Manually

Last updated: January 5, 2021

USB Knoppix creation; The following tutorial will show you how to Install Knoppix to a USB Flash Drive using the Live CD. It is also possible to use the persistent feature after completing this tutorial allowing you to save changes back to the stick. Knoppix is a fully featured Linux distribution based on Debian. It was created by Klaus Knopper. It has always been feature packed, including hundreds of useful tools and applications not included by default with most other Live Linux distributions.

USB Knoppix running from a Bootable Flash Drive

Knoppix running from USB

Essentials:

  • Knoppix Linux ISO
  • CD Burner/Recorder
  • 1GB or larger USB stick

How to make a Bootable Knoppix Live USB

  1. Download the Knoppix ISO and burn it to CD.
  2. Insert a 1GB or larger USB flash drive.
  3. Restart your Computer and boot from the CD.
  4. Open up a terminal and type sudo su
  5. Type fdisk -l note which drive is your USB stick (I.E: sda) Throughout this tutorial we use x as our flash drive letter. Replace x with your actual flash drive letter. For example, if your flash drive is sdb, replace x with b.
  6. Type umount /dev/sdx1
  7. Type fdisk /dev/sdx
    1. type p to show the existing partition and d to delete it.
    2. type p again to show any remaining partitions (if partitions exist, repeat the previous step).
    3. type n to make a new partition.
    4. type p for primary partition.
    5. type 1 to make this partition one.
    6. hit enter to use the default first cylinder.
    7. type +750M to make the partition 750 MB.
    8. type a to make this partition active.
    9. type 1 to select partition one.
    10. type t to change it’s file system.
    11. type 6 to select the fat16 file system.
    12. type n to make another new partition.
    13. type p for primary partition.
    14. type 2 to make this the second partition.
    15. hit enter to use the default first cylinder.
    16. hit enter again to use the default last cylinder.
    17. type w to write the new partition table.
  8. Type umount /dev/sdx1 to ensure the partition is unmounted.
  9. Type mkfs.vfat -F 16 -n usb /dev/sdx1 to format the first partition.
  10. Type umount /dev/sdx2 to ensure the partition is unmounted.
  11. Type mkfs.ext2 -b 4096 -L casper-rw /dev/sdx2 to format the second partition.
  12. Remove and reinsert your USB flash drive.
  13. Type mkdir /tmp/usb
  14. Type mount /dev/sdx1 /tmp/usb
  15. Type cd /cdrom
  16. Type cp -rf KNOPPIX boot/isolinux/* /tmp/usb
  17. Type cd /tmp/usb
  18. Type mv isolinux.cfg syslinux.cfg
  19. Type cd
  20. Type umount /tmp/usb
  21. Type syslinux -sf /dev/sdx1
  22. Reboot your computer and set your system BIOS or Boot Menu to boot from the USB device. Save your changes and restart your PC, booting from the Knoppix Live USB device.

You should now be able to boot from your USB Knoppix flash drive. You can proceed to use the Knoppix Persistent feature. Persistence allows you to save some of  your changes back to the memory stick, and then restore those changes on the next boot. ;)