Is it possible to boot PC from linux ISO files stored on n900?
 

Hi, i recently found an app for android which allows us to boot any pc by connecting the phone to pc, the OS image is already stored on the phone's memory. Is it possible to do the same with our N900 or N9 to utilize the big memory?

The app is here, DriveDroid

Re: Is it possible to boot PC from linux ISO files stored on n900?
 

Eh? Any PC that can boot from a USB memory stick can boot from any other USB-memory-stick-like device, be it a necklace, watch, digital camera or a phone. Including the N900. You just need to act fast when the phone asks you whether to select a Memory or PC Suite mode.

Re: Is it possible to boot PC from linux ISO files stored on n900?
 

Oh but when i make bootable pendrive of linux by some another app of windows i think the ISO file is being decompressed differently, coz when i tried to decompress ISO to a directory directly and putting all the files into pendrive's root, that pendrive was not bootable.

And when we make any flash stick bootable by some app in windows, first it will be wiped completely, so with the n900 , it will be wiped off too. Do we need to create partition here?

So is there anyway we can make n900 bootable without wiping it completely?

I hope i'm clear, what i want to say.

Re: Is it possible to boot PC from linux ISO files stored on n900?
 

You can use unetbootin. It's simple, works in linux and windows and you don't need to format fat partition to use it.

Re: Is it possible to boot PC from linux ISO files stored on n900?
 

Only MyDocs will be wiped. Make a backup, create your bootable image, then copy the backed up files back.

IIRC, UNetbootin does not need to reformat the flash drive and does not destroy the existing contents, although it's been over a year since I last used it so may remember it wrong.

(Edit: I see elros34 was typing faster.)

Re: Is it possible to boot PC from linux ISO files stored on n900?
 

Oh thank you both of you. I will try unetbootin after backup.

Re: Is it possible to boot PC from linux ISO files stored on n900?
 

@pistachio

A safe approach would be to create a bootable mcroSD card containing the OS you wish to load. See for example syslinux.org for advice.

Test by using a microSD-to-SD or microSD-to-USB adaptor to boot your PC from your microSD card.

If all goes well, transfer the microSD card to the N900 and test again.

Re: Is it possible to boot PC from linux ISO files stored on n900?
 

I use Micro Knoppix on a highspeed microsd.

Re: Is it possible to boot PC from linux ISO files stored on n900?
 

I had Ubuntu on my SD for a while, it was pretty nerdly party trick to boot someone’s laptop to Linux with my uber geek phone.

Re: Is it possible to boot PC from linux ISO files stored on n900?
 

just set up an sftp server and boot from network ;)