compiling kernel / booting from usb

[walt]

Haidut wrote:
> I've had no trouble installing Dfly directly on a 512MB USB memory
> stick just as I would on a normal HDD and it booted fine.

Excellent work.  I think a feat like that should be explained in
the DragonFly wiki.  I know I would like to try it :o)

I'm curious about things like:  did you use the DFly Installer, or
just copy an existing installation to a mounted USB stick?  Did you
need to change any BIOS settings for changing boot devices or listing
alternative boot devices?  Did you re-format or make a new filesystem
on the USB stick before installing?  (If yes, how did you do it?)
How did you partition that tiny little 512MB, and did you make a swap
partition?  Did you put a generic kernel on the USB stick, or a custom
kernel?

These are the little things that can use up hours of trial-and-error
even for people who have experience installing to normal hard disks,
and I would be grateful if you would create a wiki entry explaining
how you did it.

Thanks!