Needed fully functional [NOT 'Live'(sic)] Linux on USB stick - was [Re: Ubuntu on pendrive]

[Liam Proven]

On 1 February 2012 03:56, Default User <hunguponcontent at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 21:22, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> On 1 February 2012 01:39, Sam Sebastian <sebastiansam55 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > the problem with this is that the one time i did it, when i was really
>> > new
>> > to ubuntu/linux in general it install GRUB on the USB and the computer
>> > would
>> > not boot at all without having the USB stick plugged in
>>
>> Please /bottom/ post on the list.
>>
>> You have the problem the wrong way around here.
>>
>> GRUB on the hard disk is the problem; GRUB on the USB  stick is what you
>> want.
>>
>> If GRUB is on the hard disk *and it points to a Linux installation on
>> the hard disk*, no problem.
>>
>> If GRUB is on the hard disk *and it points to a Linux installation on
>> the Flash drive*, then the machine will not boot if the Flash drive is
>> not connected.
>>
>> If GRUB is on the Flash drive and it points to a Linux installation on
>> the Flash drive as well, no problem. The hard disk is not affected.
>
> 1) I only suggested FAT 32 since it works, but in the past I have had
> difficulties writing iso's to USB thumb drives unless they were first
> formatted FAT 32.  Also, in the past I recall reading instructions that
> would often say to format using FAT 32.  Of course, the Ubuntu installation
> program will allow the user to select whatever filesystem the want, and I do
> not disagree with your recommendations.

But if you are /installing/ onto the USB key, and you're going to
pre-format it, then you might as well pre-format it with the
filesystem you're going to use on it. There is no point in formatting
it twice; you will just wear it out a little bit more for no reason at
all. Format with the FS you will /use/ then tell the installer /not/
to reformat it. Saves time & effort.

If you're going to make a LiveUSB with an ISO, then sure, use FAT32,
but that's a different kind of install. Takes less space, but it's
slower & you can't update it. & an OS without updates is a serious
liability.

> 2) I recently did an install of Ubuntu 11.10 on an 8gb flash drive.  IIRC, I
> did:
>
> apt-get clean
> apt-get autoclean
>
> but I did NOT do:
>
> apt-get autoremove
> apt-get purge
>
> I ended up with only about 399mb free, not enough for my purposes.
>
> That's why I said I didn't think 8gb would be enough.

Out of 8GB?! In one partition? You are doing something seriously
wrong, or adding one hell of a lot of extra apps. A full install of
Ubuntu, with all updates & all the optional restricted extras, should
take about 3 to 3½ gig.

> 3)  I just can't resist:
> "I have a dream; that one day all of God's children will be judged by the
> content of their character, not by whether they top-post or bottom post."
>
> :-)

Feh. Destroy the top-posting heretics! Burn them! Burn them all! If
they send email in HTML, torture 'em a bit first, /pour encourager les
autres/!

-- 
Liam Proven • Profile: http://lproven.livejournal.com/profile
Email: lproven at cix.co.uk • GMail/G+/Twitter/Flickr/Facebook: lproven
MSN: lproven at hotmail.com • Skype/AIM/Yahoo/LinkedIn: liamproven
Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 • Cell: +44 7939-087884