The new
distribution gOS 3 Gadgets BETA is based on Ubuntu 8.04.1 and is able to interact with Google Documents, Calendar
and Mail. The newest release of WINE 1.0 is included to now support thousands
of Windows software. The new operation system will also be loaded with Lightweight X Desktop Environment (LXDE) and
other Google software for Linux to improve the user experience.
This
workshop describes how to install and run
the new software from an USB stick.
Step
1: Running the Live CD and getting Internet connection
To install
gOS 3 Beta on your USB stick you need to download the iso image from here and
to burn it to a CD-ROM using your favourite tool.
After that,
allow your computer to start from your CD device and perform the necessary steps to change your network settings. (see
pictures below). You will need an Internet connection to download additional
software and configuration files.
Step 2:
Preparing the USB stick
As
mentioned above, we need to download additional files. Make sure to have your
Internet connection running. Open a new console and use the following commands
to download syslinux and mtools:
sudo su
apt-get
update
apt get
install syslinux mtools
Connect
your USB stick to the computer now. The most important part is to figure out
the device name of your USB stick. Please use the following command to do so:
fdisk –l
We are
using /dev/sdb in our example and will later create two partitions /dev/sdb1
and /dev/sdb2. You should use you device name accordingly.
Delete
existing partitions (if necessary) and follow the steps below:
fdisk /dev/sdb, p, d
continue
like this:
n, p, 1, <ENTER>, +750M, <ENTER>,
a, 1, t, b,
n, p, 2 <ENTER>, <ENTER>, w.
In some
cases the USB stick is already mounted. So unmount it with the following
command:
umount
/dev/sdb1
It is now
time to format the partitions. Please use the commands below:
mkfs.vfat
–F 16 –n gOS /dev/sdb1
mkfs.ext2
–b 4096 –L gOS–rw /dev/sdb2
Disconnect
the USB stick from your computer and connect it again. The device is now ready
to install the operating system. Create
a new directory on the stick and mount the partition like this:
mkdir /media/gOS
mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /media/gOS
The
following command will install the boot loader
syslinux
–sf /dev/sdb1
Step 3:
Copying the necessary files from CD-ROM to the USB stick
It is time
to copy all necessary data from the CD ROM to the USB stick using the following
commands:
cd /cdrom
cp –rfv
casper dists install pics pool preseed .disk isolinux/* md5sum.txt README casper/vmlinuz /media/gOS
Finally
download the configuration file from pendrivelinux.com like this:
cd /media/gOS
wget pendrivelinux.com/downloads/gOS/syslinux.cfg
Reboot your computer and change the BIOS settings to allow to boot from your USB device. Configure languages and network again and your are able to use your Google Documents, Calendar and Mail.
Have fun!