Installation of Mirabelle onto a Flash Drive using a Linux PC

As per the previous incarnation called "sugar" Mirabelle on a stick enables a child to use the software without being restricted to any computer. This page shows installation instructions using a computer with Zenwalk Linux,but the process will be applicable pretty much to any Linux system.

To get Mirabelle on a usb flash drive using Linux (Simply Mepis) you just need three things:

i)Preferably a virgin USB flash drive like kingston ,lexar or some other brand , but with at least 2Gig of memory
ii)The file which in simple terms will be used to install sugar onto a stick technically called Fedora-13-i686-Live-SoaS.iso but given the name "Mirabelle"
get Mirabelle here
iii)A utility programme which will be used to install Mirabelle onto a stick called unetbootin-linux-471
get unetbootin utility here Just click save file; the file will be saved probably to your home, download page. For convenience this can be moved to the desktop which is what I have done.

Screen shot 1a and commentary

So you now have "mirabelle" (more accurately named Fedora-13-i686-Live-SoaS.iso) and unetbootin-linux-471 on your desktop.

The first thing to do is to right click on the unetbootin-linux-471 file, this will bring up a mini menu, which should include the option "properties. "

Left click on the option properties and this will bring up another menu , which will include a permissions tab. left click on permissions, you will then get another gui comming up as in the screen shot.

Left click the box where it says is "executable" as in the screen shot below

Screenshot 1b) and commentary

now we need to run the unetbootin-linux-471 file.

There are usually two options. Some distros allow you to right click on the file, and there may be an option that says "run as root " if this is the case choose this option; when you do this a pop up box should come up into which you will enter your root password.

If you don't have this option then you will have to get the file running using a command line.

Somewhere in your menu you should have a word entry saying "terminal " or an icon looking like a small black screen. Either click on the word "terminal " or the terminal icon.

All being well you will get a pop up screen, with a blinking curzor to the right of a line which includes your normal user name and a $ sign. The dollar sign indicates that you can type in commands with normal user permissions.

By default the terminal comes up with the computer primed to do things with files in your home folder.

The computer being brain dead needs to be told that we want to do things , with files on the desktop. We do this by entering the command "cd Desktop " to confirm the computer has correctly done what you just told it to do, you can enter the command "ls " in the terminal window it should display the names of all files on your desktop. If it comes up with something that doesn't make sense type "cd /home/your user name/Desktop "

On my system on activating a terminal I get:" cyber1[~]$ " cyber1 being my user name , [~] is another way a terminal can display its in my home folder. So i now enter "cd /home/cyber1/Desktop " the terminal then displays: " cyber1[Desktop]$ "

So we are now on the desktop as far as the terminal is concerned, to run unetbootin-linux-471 , we need to log in as root. Just enter "su " the terminal will then display the word "password:" enter your root pasword using your keyboard and then hit the return key.I got " root[Desktop]# " this shows I am now logged in a root. you should get something similar. With Ubuntu instead of using the command "su " use "sudo" and then enter your password.

ok , we are nearly there. Now we enter "./unetbootin-linux-471" (then your hit your return key) this will run the unetbootin file and bring up the graphic user interface, as shown in screen shot 2

modem scripts

Screen shot 2) and commentary

The screen shot shows the install utility has been activated; you can see there are three "round radio buttons" that can be clicked, and beneath them a click-able box saying show all drives.

Since you have downloaded the iso image and have it on your desktop, you need to click the " Disk image" button. At the other end there is a square browse button.Left click it and from the choices in the menu that come up, find the iso file, from the menu and select.

Now is the tine to insert a USB flash stick into a free USB port.Zenwalk will automatically "mount the drive "the flash stick will be shown as an icon on your desktop and showing a relevant label like "Kingston "

In the installtion GUI the label for the pen drive will be something like /dev/sdb

Left clicking the Ok button will install Mirabelle onto your pen drive

Screen shot 4)and commentary

After the utility has finished installing Mirabelle onto the flash stick its now just a case of rebooting the computer.

To get the computer to reboot from a flash drive you may have to hit the F11 or tab key, or your computers equivalent

Another way is go into the BIOS set up menu and choose "boot from usb" as the first entry choice in the boot menu.

Here I have chosen boot from USB and after hitting the return button , you will see screen shot 5

5)

The machine has re-booted and the unetbootin menu gives the choices as per screen shot adjacent ,I have chosen to boot straight from Fedora-13-i686-Live-SoaS.iso (also known as Mirablle).After hitting the return button again ,the cursor will flash for a good minute minute or two(be patient).

Screen shot 6) and commentary

After a good minute and a half the Mirabelle user interface should load , and you will see first a text box ,asking for your name.

Just enter any name you like, then it will take to to another GUI asking if you wish to change the colour, after that you should see the screen shot adjacent.

One useful icon to the left of the turtle is the command line icon, potentially giving much greater power to the user through commands such as " man help"