Thanks Sprogget and StaceyF.
I'm attempting the installation on my experimental box (main distro being Ubuntu) where I just fit a hard drive and swap connections as the mood takes me
.
Consequently, I can't fall back on any of the dark arts you've kindly mentioned. I think I'll have to try a SATA drive and/or try to do the installation in the main box aka the 'None of the above Patented Difference Engine'.
I definitely don't want to run the risk of the edifice crumbling so that will have to be a separate HDD job as well.
Who knows? It might work and, like everything else in computing, worth a try.
N o t a