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Only1KW · (This post was last modified: 2013-06-19, 02:28 by Only1KW.)

I am attempting to install XBMCbuntu from removable media onto a USB hard drive attached to my PC. I am selecting Install from the initial menu. When I get to the step to select my disk and view the partition configuration, no options are listed in the window. If I try and hit any button on the GUI from that point on, the installer will crash. It tells me it will give me an option of retrieving debug info eventually, but it never does. In the initial menu, I've also tried selecting Expert Install and Expert Command Line Install, but those options don't seem to do anything.

Please don't recommend installing to the hard drive like one would install to a USB flash drive. I've already tried installing to a USB flash drive and using persistence mode, but have found it to be far too unreliable and slow to be of any value.

**teeedubb** · 2013-06-18, 02:50

(2013-06-18, 02:18)Only1KW Wrote: Please don't recommend installing to the hard drive like one would install to a USB flash drive. I've already tried installing to a USB flash drive and using persistence mode, but have found it to be far too unreliable and slow to be of any value.

If you found using a livecd with persistence slow, installing and running a os from a USB drive is going to be even slower. Livecd's use squashfs to compress the data so they load faster from USB drives/CDs, but a downside of this is that the filed are not easy to modify, hence why it isn't used for a full install.

Have you tried using openelec? It uses a squashfs file system and is designed to be run off a USB drive.

nickr · 2013-06-18, 03:41

It can take some time for the installer to scan the available drives - how long did you wait?

I assume you have a hard drive in the system? If it didn't show up in the partitioner, then you probably didn't wait long enough.

Only1KW · (This post was last modified: 2013-06-18, 03:53 by Only1KW.)

(2013-06-18, 02:50)teeedubb Wrote: If you found using a livecd with persistence slow, installing and running a os from a USB drive is going to be even slower. Livecd's use squashfs to compress the data so they load faster from USB drives/CDs, but a downside of this is that the filed are not easy to modify, hence why it isn't used for a full install.

Have you tried using openelec? It uses a squashfs file system and is designed to be run off a USB drive.

The main function of squashfs is not to create faster load times but to minimize the amount of persistent storage they take up, allowing a multi-gig installation to fit on a single CD or small USB stick. While it's technically true that there is now less data to be read from the drive than before, squashfs produces the additional overhead of having to decompress that data, which, depending on the configuration, more than takes up the time needed

I should add though that I did not find live mode unreasonably slow at all. For some reason persistent mode is really slow though. And I'd like to make some customizations so I want to use persistent mode.

I had not seen openelec before. However, since it isn't based on a distribution, it probably isn't very customizable as I'd have to install everything I want to install on top from source. Maybe I'd just be best off installing a minimal install of Ubuntu manually and then installing Xmbc on top of it.

(2013-06-18, 03:41)nickr Wrote: It can take some time for the installer to scan the available drives - how long did you wait?

I assume you have a hard drive in the system? If it didn't show up in the partitioner, then you probably didn't wait long enough.

I didn't wait at all. I've never seen an OS installer that hadn't found all hard drives by the time the partition screen came up. How long should I reasonably wait?

Only1KW · 2013-06-18, 04:33

(2013-06-18, 03:51)Only1KW Wrote:
(2013-06-18, 03:41)nickr Wrote: It can take some time for the installer to scan the available drives - how long did you wait?

I assume you have a hard drive in the system? If it didn't show up in the partitioner, then you probably didn't wait long enough.

I didn't wait at all. I've never seen an OS installer that hadn't found all hard drives by the time the partition screen came up. How long should I reasonably wait?

I waited at least 30 minutes now. No drive has shown up.

nickr · 2013-06-18, 04:42

Well that's TOO long. It should definitely have showed by then. Try booting from the removable media all the way into the xmcbuntu desktop [1] and starting the installer from there.

[1] it will go into XBMC, exit from there and then log into the xbmcbuntu session, not the xbmc session. The password is blank (ie there is no password, not literally "blank".)

Only1KW · 2013-06-19, 02:27

Same problem from there. I couldn't even view the drive from xmbc either. I disconnected the drive and plugged it into a different USB port and everything magically started working. No idea why the first port wasn't working, but whatever.

nickr · 2013-06-19, 04:09

Ahh the mysteries of hardware, glad you got it sorted.