Use a Floppy Image to USB Boot

Use a Floppy Image to USB Boot; If you have a system that does not support booting from a USB device, but do have a floppy drive, you can try to boot Linux from a USB flash drive using a Grub Boot floppy disk. When using a boot floppy with a Grub boot loader, Grub locates the USB partition and then attempts to boot loading vmlinuz and initrd.gz from the USB device.

Floppy Image to USB Boot
Using a floppy Image to USB Boot

NOTE: The following segment no longer serves its original purpose as the version of Bootable Pendrive Linux it referred to is obsolete!

USB Boot Floppy Requirements

  • Linux CD/USB or installed OS
  • Floppy drive/Floppy disk
  • Your Pendrive Linux USB flash drive

How to Use a Floppy Image to USB Boot

To get your USB drive booting from a floppy disk image:

  1. Insert a blank floppy disk into your floppy drive.
  2. Open a terminal and type the following to become root user:
    sudo su
  3. Then to get the zipped PDL floppy boot image:
    wget https://pendrivelinux.com/downloads/pdlfloppy.img.gz
  4. Next, to unzip the file and direct copy it to your floppy disk:
    gzip -dc pdlfloppy.img.gz | dd of=/dev/fd0
  5. Now, reboot your PC:
    (1.) During system post, use a hotkey to enter your system BIOS.
    (2.) Set your Boot Menu to boot from floppy and save your changes (F10).
    (3.) Proceed to boot your computer from the floppy disk.
  6. From the floppy booted Grub Menu select one of the following boot options:
    Pendrivelinux (hd0,0) if the PC has no other ATA/USB/SCSI drives
    Pendrivelinux (hd1,0) if the PC has other ATA/USB/SCSI drives

Troubleshooting Notes: If you still can't boot, try the following:

  1. press C at the Grub Menu
  2. Type find /casper/vmlinuz and make a note of which drive is displayed
  3. Press Esc and then Press e
  4. Press e again to edit the root (hd0,0) line
  5. Change the line to reflect the drive displayed in step 2
  6. Press Enter, then Enter again to boot

You should now be using your Floppy Image to USB Boot!