Boot USB from parallels VM (trick with ISO/floppy)
A couple of years ago it was not possible to boot from USB on every computer (where the BIOS doesn't support this). There was a tiny ISO image which allows for booting from a USB stick.
Now we have the same situation with software for virtual machines such as VMWare, Parallels Desktop and this ISO is useful again. I use Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac OS X which doesn't have an option to boot from USB or USB stick.
I have following real world situation: I have HDD with Linux installed. It is not like Live CD, it is already configured by me. I use it on my computer at work to boot environment I like and I use it at home to have same environment. Sometimes I work with Mac OS X and want to download something for my Linux (such as updates and new software) and configure something if I need.
I can't boot from it using Parallels Desktop or VMWare because BIOS in this VMs doesn't recognize my USB or it can't be attached before I run my VM.
Where can I find an ISO that would allow me to boot from a USB stick?
Solution 1:
Add a new Hard Disk to your VM and then select the option to use a physical disk. Afterwards just choose the disk that corresponds to the USB disk, you can even use the option to select individual partitions to deduce what is the actual # for your USB drive.
Solution 2:
Use the Plop boot manager:
- From the download page, download 5.0.13.zip
- Unzip the file
- Make your VM's virtual DVD/CD drive use plpbt.iso as the image
- Connect your USB drive to the VM's virtual hardware
- Boot your VM from the ISO
- In the boot screen select you want to boot from USB
- Continue the boot from USB
Solution 3:
I've found what I want! Google search string was "boot from iso old bios"