Installing from USB drive

[Dan Langille]

Manolis Kiagias wrote:
> knowtree at aloha.com wrote:
>> In general, is it possible to install FreeBSD from CD-ROM using a USB
>> plug-in drive?
>>
>> More specifically, I am thinking about picking up a Fujitsu LifeBook 
>> P1620
>> convertable tablet PC. It does not have a built-in optical drive, but
>> Fujitsu does list two external USB drives, one a Dual-Layer DVD 
>> Writer, the
>> other a DVD/CD-RW combo drive. I submitted my question to their tech
>> support and am awaiting an answer, but in the meantime I thought I should
>> ask here, too.
>>
>> Besides the obvious question of whether or not the P1620 will boot from a
>> USB optical drive, I wonder if the FreeBSD boot loader knows how to load
>> the installation kernal from a USB drive. Then there is the issue of 
>> making
>> this a dual boot system.
>>
>> By the way, the T1010 has a built-in optical drive, and the T2010 has 
>> it in
>> the docking station. This makes the T1010 the best choice in terms of
>> compatibility, but I like the smaller size of the P1620 and rarely use an
>> optical drive. Too bad the P1620 is not like the Apple Air, which can use
>> an optical drive in another computer on the network to install OS X and
>> applications.
>>
>> Gary Dunn
>> Honolulu
>> Open Slate Project http://openslate.net/
>> mailto:osp at aloha.com
>>   
> 
> If your BIOS can boot from a USB CD-ROM, you will be able to install 
> FreeBSD with no problems.

Should.

I've been able to boot from the USB CD-ROM but failed to install:

http://www.freebsddiary.org/thinkpad-x61s.php

FreeBSD 6.x and 7.x both failed.  Eventually I succeeded with a docking 
station that contained a CD-ROM drive.