Linux Mint live-usb!

[udayukp]

I want to use a linux distro as my secondary os in a live-usb..(i dont want virtual machine)
I tried ubuntu but it keeps crashing and keyboard, trackpad doesnt work!

So i want to try linux mint now. How to create a bootable usb of linux mint with persistence?
(Unetbootin shows only for ubuntu persistence)

Please Help!

[gm10]

You should try the regular live USB first. If Ubuntu doesn't work then chances are neither will Mint since it basically is Ubuntu.

[udayukp]

Then how can I add persistence memory? I need to have atleast a 2 GB space for storing few files..

[udayukp]

You should try the regular live USB first. If Ubuntu doesn't work then chances are neither will Mint since it basically is Ubuntu.

Can I allocate memory after loading live usb?

[gm10]

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=275536 but understand what I wrote above

[udayukp]

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=275536 but understand what I wrote above

When I try ubuntu 18.04. 1.. All devices get struck.. Only ext mouse cursor moves.. Unable to select anything...
I suspect the drivers are to be installed.. But where should I install.. Wjen nothing gets selected?
On the grub screen?

[gm10]

In Linux most drivers are part of the kernel, there is nothing to install, certainly not for your keyboard.

[vansloneker]

What is your hardware?
Can you perform

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

in a terminal and copy and paste the output in the forum?

[JerryF]

...
So i want to try linux mint now. How to create a bootable usb of linux mint with persistence?
(Unetbootin shows only for ubuntu persistence)
...

Unetbootin can be used for Mint with persistence. I have made them before. The largest persistence you can use is 4096 MB (4 GB) because Unetbootin uses a persistence file, which means that on a FAT32 USB drive, the largest file is can hold is a 4 GB file.

[BG405]

You didn't say which OS you are using when creating the Live USB. If it's Windows I would try Rufus, first with a standard Live USB (non-persistent) just to make sure the system works OK with that, before trying the persistence route. IIRC Rufus can create persistent USBs as well .. it's been a while.

If all you need is to store a few files, rather than install programs and/or customize things, you could create a partition in the remaining space on the USB for this.

[udayukp]

You didn't say which OS you are using when creating the Live USB. If it's Windows I would try Rufus, first with a standard Live USB (non-persistent) just to make sure the system works OK with that, before trying the persistence route. IIRC Rufus can create persistent USBs as well .. it's been a while.

If all you need is to store a few files, rather than install programs and/or customize things, you could create a partition in the remaining space on the USB for this.

I need to save programs written in editor.. Nothing much than That.... What is this iirc rufus? I heard rufus just makes non persistent drives? Can you please elaborate.. That part too about creating a partition on drive? How can I save docs made?

[JerryF]

I need to save programs written in editor.. Nothing much than That.... What is this iirc rufus? I heard rufus just makes non persistent drives? Can you please elaborate.. That part too about creating a partition on drive? How can I save docs made?

IIRC means If I Remember Correctly. It's used when texting. Personally, I can't stand it because it takes longer to find out what the acronym means. Plus, in world-wide forums such as this, it's confusing.

As of now, Rufus doesn't make persistent USB drives. Unetbootin does, and can be run in Windows to create a Mint live USB.

[Hoser Rob]

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=275536 but understand what I wrote above

When I try ubuntu 18.04. 1.. All devices get struck.. Only ext mouse cursor moves.. Unable to select anything...
I suspect the drivers are to be installed.. But where should I install.. Wjen nothing gets selected?
On the grub screen?

I don't think you got what he wrote before. Mint is Ubuntu based except for LMDE. If Ubuntu 18 fails then Mint 19 isn't likely to work any better because it's based on Ubuntu 18.

You were also asked to provide the text output of inxi -Fxz in terminal. Without hardware details no one's going to be able to do much for you.

If it's a really old machine you may want to try Mint 18.3 or Ubuntu 16.04. Linux has been dropping support for old hardware quite a lot recently. This is happening at the kernel level, it's not a Mint/Ubuntu thing. Those who think the purpose of Linux is being able to use old hardware don't like this, but Linux devs do not think that's what Linux is for at all. Real Linux devs can afford new hardware.

[JerryF]

...
You were also asked to provide the text output of inxi -Fxz in terminal. Without hardware details no one's going to be able to do much for you.
...

Maybe the OP can't just yet because he/she doesn't have a running Linux yet.

[JerryF]

udayukp,

I just created a Live USB drive using Rufus (with the NTFS option instead of FAT32). I was hoping that Rufus would use a larger casper file (persistence) without the restriction of 4 GB of FAT32. Unfortunately, the size of Home was still 4 GB. Plus, there was no option for setting persistence.

What I tried was this. I resized the USB (it's a 32 GB USB) to 3 GB and created the rest as a new NTFS partition (I labeled that partition DataStorage). When I went to try to boot the USB, it didn't. So...

I booted Windows and from a command prompt, ran chkdsk X: /f on the USB drive. (X is the letter of the resized, 3 GB partition.) Then I rebooted the USB drive and it booted.

So with this setup, you can run a live USB drive that was created by Rufus, and have a separate partition to store your documents (onto DataStorage), BUT any settings you change using the live USB drive will not persist. It still is a live USB.

In my opinion, if you want a USB drive of Mint that you can use "on the go" and have persistence for everything, I would create a full install onto a USB drive. I have a 64 GB USB drive that has a full install. It works just like a hard drive, but can be booted and used on different computers.

To create one, you'll need two USBs. One that's a live USB (just to use it to install Mint onto another USB), and a blank USB that will have the full install.

When the live USB is booted, you choose Install Mint from the desktop, and then install it onto the other USB as a normal install. I used the Something else option, then create a / partition and a /home partition (if you need to access documents in Home from a Windows computer, create the /home partition as NTFS, not EXT4 because Windows doesn't recognize EXT4 file systems. I didn't create a swap partition because I know I wouldn't need hibernate and most of the computers I use, have enough memory so swap wasn't needed.

[BG405]

takes longer to find out what the acronym means. Plus, in world-wide forums such as this, it's confusing.

Good point; I only use ones I believe are commonplace on Forums but tend to forget not everyone has been using forums for as long as some of us have. Never use it for texting though; that's always done longhand as not had any limits on texts since shortly after I started out with cell phones.

As of now, Rufus doesn't make persistent USB drives.

Thanks for that clarification. As I said, it's been a while. (More than a couple of years).

My intent with my previous posts is for the OP to try a standard (i.e. non persistent) USB & see if it works.

If that has already been proven, sorry if I missed it. Just thought there may be some issue with trying to boot a live-with-persistence USB on that machine.

[I2k4]

I'm writing this from a test 64bit M19 made on Windows 7 with a 16GB thumb drive and 7GB of perstence, using this software which I've preferred for nearly a decade, with good system performance while it lasts, (Note that Windows 8-10 causes some issues with UEFI that I'm not personally familiar with - others likely are):

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal- ... -as-1-2-3/

The trick to get more than 4GB of persistence is to format the thumb drive as NTFS, not FAT32 - it's doable as part of the procedure in the installer. A slider permits setting the amount of persistence. My experience has been that these live drives will run for some months with care and maintenance but suddenly something or other unpredictably borks and it needs to be replaced. Therefore not recommended for mission-critical work. For a serious production OS, I'd suggest dual booting, but only after a seriously thorough pre-test of the Linux distro and desktop environment with the PC and any peripherals.

My routine preservation of persistent live USB consists of disabling the update manager and rejecting all major system updates, limiting updates to software actually used, and rebooting after any update session. I also install Bleachbit, set it to launch on reboots, and clean everything except browser cookies and passwords and the free disk and memory cleaners. (Lots of hair on fire warnings about Bleachbit, but years of personal experience has been great, it keeps the thumb drive caches down and prevents clogging with useless remnants of installs and updates.)