Installing Ububtu 9.10 on an external hard drive

[WingATC]

I looked around on these forums and google and came to no solution so, I decided to make this thread. I'm using Windows XP and after I downloaded and tested out Ubuntu 9.10, I decided I'd like it as a second OS, so I have a few questions:


can I install Ubuntu on my external hard drive (1TB)?
would installing on an external hard drive take away the risks of losing data etc?
If I installed Ubuntu on my external hard drive would it delete any files already on my hard drive?

Any help would be appreciated :)

[MooPi]

Hello WingATC, and welcome to the forum. Glad you want to make Ubuntu part of your life. Yes you can install Ubuntu to an external drive. Some precautions will need to be taken to ensure your Windows drive stays intact and bootable. First and foremost you must determine if your computer will boot from an external drive. To check this you will need to enter the BIOS of your computer to check. Depending on the brand and type of computer entering your BIOS requires you to reboot and hit a key or combination of keys access.

Second you will need to physically disconnect your internal hard drive from the computer motherboard. either disconnect the data cable or power source to do this. Important to disconnect the power and deplete the charge in the system before you do this. So unplug your computer then depress the power button that starts the computer to relaese any charge in the systems capacitors. The reason I suggest removing your hard drive connections from the system is to keep the Linux boot loader from adding the drive to it's list of bootable drives. If this would happen it may corrupt the master boot record on the drive and cause it not to boot.
After you've completed the install on the External drive you can reconnect the internal drive and set your BIOS to boot from the appropriate drive.
You will need to manually partition the external drive to ensure that you data is safe. I would do this prior to installation. Then when you install direct Ubuntu to install on the empty space.
So if this doesn't scare you away I'll await your happy response that you've just installed Linux to the external drive:D

[presence1960]

It is not really necessary to disconnect your internal disk. Just install Ubuntu to the external disk and at the ready to install window (see pic below) click advanced and choose to put GRUB on MBR of the external disk. Assuming you have only 1 internal disk then select /dev/sdb to put GRUB on MBR of the external.

You really don't want GRUB on the internal. Putting GRUB on MBR of the external disk will :

1. Allow you to boot right to windows when you boot without the external plugged in. If GRUB is on MBR of the internal disk then you must have the external plugged in at each boot or you will get a GRUB error because the files needed to boot which GRUB points to are on the external disk at /boot/grub.

2. When you boot with the external plugged in GRUB will take over and allow you to boot ubuntu.

Then boot into Ubuntu and open a terminal and run
sudo dpkg-reconfigure grub-pcAt the last window choose your external device (should be /dev/sdb). This will insure whenever you download grub-pc (GRUB2) updates they will go to sdb not sda.

[WingATC]

I think presence1960 has the safer option, so I'll try that :)

Assuming you have only 1 internal disk then select /dev/sdb to put GRUB on MBR of the external.I actually have 2 internal drives, but I set my external to always use a certain letter, in this case, my external always takes the J drive. So I select /dev/sdb if I have 1 internal drive, what about if I have 2?
Also, would you're method effect any files already on my external hard drive?

[presence1960]

I think presence1960 has the safer option, so I'll try that :)
I actually have 2 internal drives, but I set my external to always use a certain letter, in this case, my external always takes the J drive. So I select /dev/sdb if I have 1 internal drive, what about if I have 2?
Also, would you're method effect any files already on my external hard drive?

Boot from the LIve CD & choose "try ubuntu without any changes", when the desktop loads open a terminal and run
sudo fdisk -lthat is a lowercase L in -l

Look and see which disk is the external and use that designation. Here is my output from that command:


raz@raz-desktop:~$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for raz:

Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7408b4a2

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 21263 170795016 5 Extended
/dev/sda2 * 21264 30401 73400985 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda5 1 3916 31455207 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 3917 7832 31455238+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 7833 8354 4192933+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda8 8355 12270 31455238+ 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x05f07bc0

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 60801 488384001 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdc: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00009028

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 1 65271 524289276 83 Linux
/dev/sdc2 65272 78325 104856255 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdh: 82.0 GB, 81964302336 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9964 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00052075

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdh1 * 1 131 1052226 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdh2 132 1045 7341705 83 Linux
/dev/sdh3 1046 4961 31455270 5 Extended
/dev/sdh4 4962 9964 40186597+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdh5 1046 1959 7341673+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdh6 1960 4961 24113533+ 83 Linux
raz@raz-desktop:~$
my external is designated /dev/sdh. Note the designation of your external disk from the output of sudo fdisk -l and use that.

[WingATC]

Alright I'll try that, but would installing Ububtu on my external damage/delete any files already on my external?

[darkod]

Alright I'll try that, but would installing Ububtu on my external damage/delete any files already on my external?

It's the same as with internal hdd. You need to have unallocated space into which you can create the ubuntu partitions, either manually or with the guided options.
If you don't have unallocated space you can create it by deleting existing partition, or shrinking existing partition. Which way you choose is entirely up to you and how you want to organize the layout.

Of course, deleting a partition destroys the data on it. Shrinking keeps the data, but you need to have unused space on the partition. And it's always wise to have a backup during any partitioning operation. Just in case the shrinking goes messy.

[presence1960]

It's the same as with internal hdd. You need to have unallocated space into which you can create the ubuntu partitions, either manually or with the guided options.
If you don't have unallocated space you can create it by deleting existing partition, or shrinking existing partition. Which way you choose is entirely up to you and how you want to organize the layout.

Of course, deleting a partition destroys the data on it. Shrinking keeps the data, but you need to have unused space on the partition. And it's always wise to have a backup during any partitioning operation. Just in case the shrinking goes messy.

+1

Thanks darko.

[WingATC]

Everything is working fine now, Thanks everyone :)

[presence1960]

Everything is working fine now, Thanks everyone :)

Glad you got it working. Enjoy your dual-boot!