Howto make USB boot drives

[sudodus]

Some minor details for discussion, otherwise looks ready to post.

1. My intention was to have details like download links in the sub-page (in order to keep to main page as small and clean as possible). But you prefer to have that information in the main page. Do you think that many users will not enter into the sub-pages, so that it is important to have all really important data in the main page?

2. The rendering of spaces between lines of bullet lists may differ between browsers. The software for the Ubuntu help pages privides this style (and I think it looks better than what happens when I try to add extra space).

[sudodus]

The help page help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick is revamped now

After getting help with some details by @C.S.Cameron, the revamped help page is ready for pubiishing.

Please browse to help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick and its sub-pages (those links are in the green blocks of text).

If you find anything that needs improvements or if something should be added or removed, do not hesitate. Let me know now.

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You can find the old page at help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick-old

[sudodus]

mkusb-plug can be started like any graphical program now

With version 2.4.1, now upgraded to version 2.4.4, there is a desktop file 'mkusb-plug.desktop', so you can start mkusb-plug

- like any other graphical program

- but also from a terminal window according to the help text

 $ mkusb-plug -h
 Tool to create boot drive, typically a live USB drive
 Usage:    mkusb-plug [source file]
 Examples:
           mkusb-plug linux.iso           # make live drive
           mkusb-plug linux.img           # clone image file
           mkusb-plug ubuntu-19.10+.iso   # make persistent live
           mkusb-plug debian-10+.iso      # make persistent live
           mkusb-plug -v                  # version
           mkusb-plug -h                  # help

The terminal window will serve as console for the program.

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Edit:

'Like any other graphical program' means

- via the menu or other way to access programs graphical desktop programs (depending on the desktop environment)

- via right-clicking on an iso file
. select 'Open with ...'
. expand 'System Tools' and select mkusb-plug

The next time you can expect the desktop environment to remember your choice, so that it will be easier to select mkusb-plug.

[sudodus]

mkusb version 12.4.0, 12.4.1, 12.4.2, 12.4.3

mkusb 12.4.0 - dus: p_lisdz: quoting array variables, kudos to Jonathan Starnes, in Launichpad bug report #1731359. mkusb 12.4.1 - dus-persistent & dus-restore: parted set partition type FAT32 (fixes a minor (cosmetic) bug) - new package mkusb-plug added to the PPA mkusb 12.4.2 - dus: p_menudz: wider menus for zenity and dialog - dus: p_target: red warning about size also for dialog and text - dus: p_list: line 1294: redirected error output to /dev/null - mkusb-select: added menu entry for mkusb-plug - mkusb package: debian/control: moved mkusb-plug to recommends because in Xenial mkusb-plug cannot edit the partition table after cloning mkusb 12.4.3 Newest new: In the developing Focal Fossa, to be released as 20.04 LTS, the default label of the partition for persistence is changed from casper-rw to writable. This is implemented in mkusb-plug version 2.5.5, (which is bundled with mkusb version 12.4.3 in the PPA).

Please notice that

+: mkusb-plug works and can be installed via PPA in Ubuntu 18.04.x LTS and newer versions.

+: mkusb-plug can create persistent live drives for Ubuntu 19.10 and newer versions.

0: mkusb-plug works in Ubuntu 16.04.x LTS, but cannot be installed via PPA because the available version of the partitioning tool fdisk is packaged in a deprecated way. But you can install mkusb in 16.04.x from a tarball.

-: mkusb-plug does not work in Ubuntu 15.10 and older versions. Use mkusb-dus (or mkusb-bas if it is a very old version).

$ mkusb -v                   # alias mkusb-select -v
mkusb-dus:  dus 12.4.2
mkusb-plug: mkusb-plug 2.5.0
mkusb-nox:  mkusb-nox 11.1.9
mkusb-bas:  mkusb version 7.4.3
mkusb-11:   mkusb 11.2.2

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Unstable 1: You get/update this new version of mkusb from the unstable PPA via the following commands

sudo add-apt-repository universe     # this line only for standard Ubuntu

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mkusb/unstable
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mkusb           # to install
# sudo apt full-upgrade          # upgrade to current version (with all other upgrades), only for installed systems

sudo apt install mkusb guidus dus mkusb-common  # to upgrade all mkusb basic components including dus

sudo apt install usb-pack-efi    # for persistent live drives that work in UEFI and BIOS mode with 32-bit iso files

You get only the version dus (alone or with guidus) via one of the following commands (if you don't care about mkusb-11, mkusb-nox, mkusb-bas)

sudo apt install dus
sudo apt install guidus

You get only the version mkusb-plug via [the update command and] the following command,

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mkusb-plug

Unstable 2: This new version of mkusb might also be available via this link: mkusb/gui#from_phillw.net.
Unstable 3: There are tarballs with only dus and guidus (mkusb version 12) as a last alternative.

---

Stable: mkusb version 12.4.2 is in the stable PPA. The policy is to test mkusb for a long time and in several environments before it is uploaded to the stable PPA (unless there are minor tweaks or bug-fixes).

You get/update this version via the following commands

sudo add-apt-repository universe      # this line only for standard Ubuntu

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mkusb/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mkusb            # to install
# sudo apt full-upgrade           # upgrade to current version (with all other upgrades), only for installed systems

sudo apt-get install usb-pack-efi     # for persistent live drives that work in UEFI and BIOS mode with 32-bit iso files

You get only the version dus (alone or with guidus) via one of the following commands (if you don't care about mkusb-11, mkusb-nox, mkusb-bas)

sudo apt install dus
sudo apt install guidus

You get only the version mkusb-plug via [the update command and] the following command,

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mkusb-plug

Please notice that if you have already installed mkusb-plug or dus/guidus from a tarball, you had better remove that version when you install via PPA. The advantage with the PPA version is that it gets updated/upgraded automatically along with other program packages that are installed from the Ubuntu repositories.

[sudodus]

Testing mkusb in Focal Fossa

I have been testing various versions of mkusb in the developing Ubuntu version Focal Fossa, and can summarize the current status.

- mkusb works in Focal Fossa - can create working boot drives.

- mkusb can create working boot drives from Focal Fossa iso files.

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Issues, that I think is related to the new version of grub, 2.04.

- It has been noticed earlier, that there are problems with 'grub-n-iso' alias iso-boot, to boot via grub 2.04 into an iso file.

- mkusb-dus has a problem with persistent live drives in UEFI mode. They boot, but directly into a persistent live system. I have not found a way for it to stay at the menu to let the user select according to the menuentries. This happens in one of my computers, a Toshiba laptop bought 2013. But the same persistent live drives work correctly in UEFI mode with two other (and newer) laptop computers, a Dell and a Lenovo.

There is a workaround for these problems: select usb-pack-efi in the settings menu. Then old grub files are used (version 2.02) and things work as they should.

This does not affect [persistent live drives made by] mkusb-plug. It means that we should be able to find what makes the difference and fix the problem.

[sudodus]

Rufus 3.9 can make good persistent live drives of Ubuntu 19.10 and newer versions

Rufus is a well-known tool that can use this new feature in Ubuntu 19.10. Be sure to use Rufus 3.9 or a newer version:

- works well to create live-only drives with all current Ubuntu versions,

- can create persistent live drives of Ubuntu 19.10 and future versions. Please upgrade to version 3.9 (or newer), which creates a good ext3 file system and can make good persistent live drives. (Rufus 3.8 had an experimental feature for persistence and created a buggy ext3 file system.)

- Please read the changelog at the web site, and the warnings (pop-up windows), they can help you avoid serious mistakes.

Edit: Rufus 3.9 has arrived

[sudodus]

mkusb-plug version 2.5.5

In the developing Focal Fossa, to be released as 20.04 LTS, the default label of the partition for persistence is changed from casper-rw to writable. This is implemented in mkusb-plug version 2.5.5, (which is bundled with mkusb version 12.4.3 in the PPA).

[C.S.Cameron]

I think that I had problems using "writable" and "home-rw" partitions on the same mkusb Focal drive, "casper-rw" still worked with "home-rw" partitions.

Edit
I made another 20.04 Persistent drive using mkusb 12.4.3 and defaults. I relabeled the "casper-rw" folder to "writable". I reformatted the usbdata partition as ext4 an labeled it home-rw. Everything seems to work same as with casper-rw + home-rw partitions.

I like how you have mkusb-plug working, much better than running scripts.

[sudodus]

I think that I had problems using "writable" and "home-rw" partitions on the same mkusb Focal drive, "casper-rw" still worked with "home-rw" partitions.

Edit
I made another 20.04 Persistent drive using mkusb 12.4.3 and defaults. I relabeled the "casper-rw" folder to "writable". I reformatted the usbdata partition as ext4 an labeled it home-rw. Everything seems to work same as with casper-rw + home-rw partitions.

Thanks for testing and verifying that "writable" works with "home-rw"

As you notice I have not yet implemented checking for 20.04 in mkusb-dus.

I implemented checking for 20.04 to use the label 'writable' in mkusb-plug in order to be prepared to offer an early working solution, if the casper bug #1863672 won't be fixed. We suspect that there is a race condition in some computers, and such bugs are difficult to fix. See comment #25 and the following comments of that bug report.

If necessary (in April), I intend to implement checking for 20.04 in mkusb-dus and make it create the label 'writable' too.

I like how you have mkusb-plug working, much better than running scripts.

Please describe how you use mkusb-plug (how it is working better for you than mkusb-dus, if that is what you mean).

[C.S.Cameron]

I just meant that picking the mkusb-plug item off the mkusb menu is easier than running the mkusb-plug scripts.
Nothing is better for making a Persistent flashdrive than mkusb-dus.