Possible to install Grub2 to USB drive?

By TW.4T
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TW.4T

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Hi, I'm about to install openSUSE onto an already packed HDD. All is good but I want a bit of advise before I go any further. Ive partitioned etc but am wanting to install Grub2 onto a small (<1gig) USB drive. There are a few reasons for this but the main one being I do not want anybody to boot into Linux without the USB (+ I dont want my Multi Windows boot getting messed). Is it as simple as selecting the USB drive as the target for Grub2 (ie, SDA1 etc..) is it more complicated than this or is it not possible at all? Many thanks in advance; hopefully this will be my weekend project if I get the right advise.

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Karl L.

Posted
Posted

I don't know if this is still an issue for you, but I'll hazard an answer anyway. While you certainly could write the MBR to your flash drive (and even use it as the boot partition), its not really a good idea. There are a few better ways of accomplishing your goal (suggested in ascending order of difficulty).

1. The first method would be to tell the openSUSE installer to not write an MBR at all, and use Super GRUB2 Disk from a CD or your flash drive to boot the installation every time.

2. Although its fairly simple in theory, since the first method is a rather inconvenient way to achieve security, you may want to consider letting openSUSE configure GRUB as it normally would, then setting Windows as the default boot entry in the GRUB menu after installation. Restricting access to your openSUSE installation is probably best done the same way you would in Windows: setting a password on your user account.

3. If you are willing to perform more advanced configuration, maybe this third method will work for you. You could install openSUSE the same way you would in method 1: telling the installer not write an MBR. Then follow this tutorial to add openSUSE to the Windows bootloader using EasyBCD.

If you are using either the second or third methods, you could add a password to your GRUB installation using the instructions found here. I wouldn't recommend it, however. The best way to protect your openSUSE installation is probably by setting a password on your user account.

My Recommendation: Use method 2 or just install Ubuntu using Wubi.

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