How to install ubuntu on USB drive and carry entire computing system in pocket?

[nuddernuby]

Thanks to Pumalite and Herman.
Interestingly, I eventually tried to do the installation from a live disc instead of the alternative. It went off without a hitch and is running perfectly. Don't know what the problem was with the alternative version.
I appreciate your input.
nn

[bondo101]

Thankyou very precise info was using a 2 gig thumb drive almost worked but forgot ya need more room for ubuntu. gonna try again i never give up having more fun with linux and learning more and more. who says ya kan't teach an old dog new tricks, bondo101

[shrinathk87]

Hey everyone...just wanted to let u know something..i heard installing an OS on a pendrive decreses its lifetime..because, a normal pendrive has some one million write cycles...(not sure on the number) but it does have LIMITED write cycles..so if u install an OS, frequent read-writes (eg swap etc. ) occur and the lifetime decreases...

and with reference to some guy name redrazor23,in the starting of the post, he asked if it was possible to use the OS on the pen drive without affecting the computers it has been plugged into...
well YES..booting off a USB stick does not AUTOMATICALLY alter any information on the HDD..but i guess you can MANUALLY read/write data on the HDD..

Thnx..

[Herman]

Hello shrinathk87,
Thank you very much for your thoughtful warning.
I agree with you that for everyday use it's better to install Ubuntu in a hard disk drive inside a computer.

There are some special occasions though, such as when we need to go traveling and we want to travel without a lot of heavy baggage, when it is useful to be able to have an operating system in something like a flash memory stick which is small enough to carry in one's pocket.
Laptops can be easily stolen especially when people have to stop at places where they will be surrounded by strangers. In that case one would not care if the hard drive might last longer.

Laptops (or a USB external hard drive) can be accidentally dropped and broken, compared with a USB flash memory which can take quite a bit of physical punishment and remain unaffected. I have read that military equipment uses flash memory in preference to hard disk drives in many instances due to it's superior ability to withstand shocks.

Also, when we need something we can install many programs in for helping freinds fix their computers, Ubuntu installed in a flash memory is much better than a LiveCD. We can install the programs we want in the USB flash stick and they will always be there ready to use again. When we use a LiveCD, we need to install some programs every time we boot the CD if the program is not already included in the CD.

Flash memory technology is advancing, and getting more reliable and at the same time, getting more affordable.
Good quality modern flash memory is quite a lot different now than the flash memory we used to buy just one or two years ago. If we bother to take the time to do a little reading and research before we spend our money on a new flash memory stick we can probably buy one which will last as long or longer than a hard disk drive, without spending very much more money.

There are new computers which use flash memory instead of a hard disk drive,
ASUS | Eee PC


I have spent quite some time googling on this subject and I still can't find any convincing looking tests which indicate that flash memory is really that bad. I have found a test which seems to indicate it will probably last as long as a hard disk drive. I don't have the link for that right now but I will find it and add it to this post later.

EDIT: I think these were the links I was thinking of, Squeak! - How Solid is Hard Disk's Future?, and SSD Myths and Legends - "write endurance"

EDIT: And this one too, War of the Disks: Hard Disk Drives vs. Flash Solid State Disks

Quoted from the above link:

Reliability

In terms of reliability, conventional HDDs pale when compared to SSDs. The absence of mechanical arms and spinning platters is the reason behind its reliability. In demanding environments, SSDs provide the type of ruggedness required for mobile applications. Unlike the HDD, SSD's can withstand extreme shock and vibration with data integrity and without any danger of data loss. This feature is very important in industrial applications where exposure to highly combustible materials and electromagnetic radiation are typical. Their ability to deliver unnerving performance in extreme conditions also makes SSD play a vital role in military operations, be it in defense, aerospace or aviation applications. Military applications require, in most cases, an operating temperature range of -60°C to +95°C. Shock, vibration, and temperature ratings of HDDs cannot comply with military standards, only SSDs can.

Regards, Herman

[drfox]

I've been using the Hardy on a USB using Ryan's instructions for about 2 weeks now.

I installed Hardy using Ryan's instructions and Ubuntu automatically logs in as "Live Session User." Is it possible to go directly to a log in screen with the security of a user and password?

Larry

[webplus]

A couple of USB flash memory drives I would recommend for full installations are the OCZ Rally 2 (they have a lifetime warranty and use dual channel memory so they are very fast) and the Corsair Flash Voyager comes with a 10 year warranty.

The normal write cycle with flash memory is around 100,000 writes, but the better quality memory uses advanced technology to prolong the life even further. The Corsair website has some useful details about this for anyone interested (corsair.com).

[esteckis]

Yes it does decrease life cycle of the USB, but from what I understand on the pendrive linux site, installing it with the casper, decreases the read/write cycles by using the casper method. I believe it holds more things in memory and then writes a final update when you shut the system down.

[zaarch]

a little help..guys.i have installed hardy on a 2GB usb flash drive..
and its booting up as well..

my issue is..that it boots into a built in shell (ash)..i dont know how to proceed from..there

should the drive not boot into a GUI...??

i thought maybe i made a mistake in the making the bootable usb hardy drive..but i have repeated the procedure over 3 times...result always the same..

boots into ash ...and its has a basic of 20 commands...reboot..cd..grep...that sort of stuff not very useful if ur trying for a portable os...

[Herman]

At least one cause of that kind of behavior is booting a kernel but not finding the matching initrd.img. That could be from having the wrong hard disk or partition number for GRUB in your booting stanza in your /boot/grub/menu.lst file.

It might be a good idea to try using GRUB's Command Line Interface to boot up with and doing a Direct (kernel) Boot.

Or if you don't like the command line, try booting with Super Grub Disk and use that for a direct kernel boot.

Take a look in this link and see if it's any help, busybox or tty error.

Probably you should take a look in your /boot/grub/menu.lst file in the USB disk and edit it with the correct information.

Regards, Herman

[moycano]

Finally I found the topic that was looking for. Sorry to say, but the documentation and the Community Docs have the baddest finder ever!

My situation is as follow:
-Successfully installed Xubuntu Hardy Heron in a 2GB pendrive.
-The drive contains only one big ext3 partition / and the little extended /swap

But I want to remove the swap (in order to preserve the life cycle of the flashdrive) and place a FAT32 partition instead, that can be accessed from a Windows system to access some small files anywhere. So, ¿what steps do I need to follow?

My guess would be: 1) Swapoff from GParted and 2) format to FAT32 ...but since the setup is considerable slow, I would like to ask before try the second one.

SALUDOS/REGARDS!