Bootable Usb questions

[oneoffaccount]

I'm new to setting up linux and have a couple of questions for anyone that can help.

I made a mint linux bootable usb following these directions:
https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... tributions

It boots up great, but I'm confused by a couple of things that aren't working out for me.

1. It seems like it automatically made a lot of mount points, and it made /cdrom very small. But it looks like that is were it is putting installed items. I quickly filled it up with items I installed such as node, angular cli, vscode, etc. It looks like it put most of the space under /var/log for some reason, which isn't very helpful. I've attached a pic of what I'm seeing.


I would be fine with all the space in just one mount point (such as everything being under /) that I use for everything. Is there a way that I can do this?

2. When I rebooted the machine I wasn't able to use any of my apps I installed. npm, ng, code, etc just say "Command not found". It also didn't save my wifi connection. Did everything get wiped out? Or do I need to do something so the commands work again?

Thanks for any help you can give!

[spamegg]

You would need to make a Persistent Live Storage USB which is different than the usual USB installer procedure (burn ISO onto USB). I'm not sure how to do that but there are some guides on the web.

[I2k4]

I've never used the USB Image Writer tool so can't comment. For over a decade I've used various other tools, and they all create different boot sequences and screens, some quicker or slower than others.

These days I'm using MkUSB, as described in the link below. More importantly, that link also describes "persistent" storage which you don't seem to have created with your bootable drive. Without persistance, any software installs or system changes (e.g. via Settings manager) will be lost whenever you shut down and reboot. Generally I use a 16GB thumb drive and create about 6GB of persistence via the MkUSB installer settings - note that this will take a lot longer than simply creating a bootable Mint drive without persistence, creating a big storage container on the drive:

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/14912/c ... ash-drive/

Another installer, Unetbootin, also works on Mint and creates persistence - there may be more. In my experience these bootable drive installations can last several months of regular use, but eventually bork for one reason or another. To keep them going, disable the software updater and avoid any large system updates. Update software like browsers selectively and reboot immediately after the installation. (I also use Bleachbit cleaner to purge junk install files from the limited persistent storage - it will normally remove up to a GB of temp, etc files right after first system install or third-party software updates.) Hope this is helpful.

[Rocky Bennett]

Yes, start fresh and create a persistent USB stick, which you will have to Google. It is different than just a live USB stick.