Install Linux mint Xfce 'onto' a USB to run alongside Windows 10

[MikeWalsh]

@Paul_Surrey_UK :-

I've had a ton of 'Blade's over the years. They're a very neat-looking drive, but they were SanDisk's first experiment with all-plastic construction. The thin plastic used to create the actual 'plug' end has a habit of cracking along the edges; once that's happened, they're still usable, but ya gotta be careful when plugging them in after that.

The follow-up (their first 'nano' design), the USB 2.0 Cruzer 'Fit', reverted to metal plug/plastic case. I have one of these nearly a decade old, and it just keeps chugging away forever. The follow-up to that, the first USB 3.0 Ultra 'Fit' was also a metal plug/plastic case, but they'd engineered it so the metal plug acted as the heatsink for the NAND flash inside.....my God, they ran hot. On odd occasions, I've had the plastic case end literally soften with the heat and just pull away from the plug itself! NOT good.

They received no end of complaints about this aspect, combined however with praise for the tiny design and the halfway decent read/write speeds. The current Ultra 'Fit' USB 3.2 gen 1 was their answer; it's reverted to all-plastic construction, but that plastic is now far tougher & harder-wearing.....and because the present design is now using NAND built on a far smaller process, it doesn't generate the heat any longer.

I have a pair of these in 256GB size, plugged into the 2 side USB ports on my 16-yr old Dell Latitude lappie. No doubt I could upgrade the 128GB internal SSD for a far larger one, but I'm getting lazy in my old age and honestly can't be bothered with all that guff any longer. This gives me a half-terabyte of extra, permanent storage for the odd occasion she goes outside with me on a nice summer's day. I'll watch NetFlix or summat from my extensive movie collection, browse the 'net, frequently indulge my passion for graphic design.....etc, etc. If I need to transfer files, I'll use the simplePythonHTTPServer thru the browser to the big HP desktop rig indoors.

And of course, because they're so small - and on the Latitude sit in a bit of a recess, too - you've got to work VERY hard to knock 'em or dislodge 'em.....unlike the Blades!


Mike.

 

[Paul_Surrey_UK]

@Paul_Surrey_UK :-...... The current Ultra 'Fit' USB 3.2 gen 1 was their answer; it's reverted to all-plastic construction, but that plastic is now far tougher & harder-wearing.....and because the present design is now using NAND built on a far smaller process, it doesn't generate the heat any longer.....

Then that's the model I will get, thanks Mike.

What do you advise when I am prompted with partition size? I did try redoing mine last night and experimenting with the partition size, but ended up messing up both USB sticks, all very disheartening. I will have another go at repairing both tonight.

 

[Brickwizard]

if you are only putting one distribution on it, then let the installer do it for you.

 

[MikeWalsh]

What do you advise when I am prompted with partition size? I did try redoing mine last night and experimenting with the partition size, but ended up messing up both USB sticks, all very disheartening. I will have another go at repairing both tonight.

Heh.

TBH, I'm not the best person to ask about this aspect of installing. I haven't run "mainstream" distros for several years; we run Puppies in a rather different way.....you can run multiple Puppies from the same partition, each from its own dedicated sub-directory. Not at all how mainstream distros work!

M'colleague @Brickwizard is by far the better-experienced of the two of us to help with advice on this stuff......and that's a fact! I'm a hardware guy, along with software packaging/re-packaging & a certain amount of scripting/building small utilities, etc.

Just being honest with you, that's all.....but that's the idea of a community, of course. There's enough of us here to be able to advise with pretty much ALL aspects of Linux.

Don't worry about "messing things up"; it's all part & parcel of the Linux experience. We've ALL been there at some point; you wouldn't believe the sheer number of re-installs I went through during my year or so with Ubuntu due to bricking things.....but it's a sure-fire way of flattening that 'learning-curve'!


Mike.

 

[Paul_Surrey_UK]

...Don't worry about "messing things up"...

I'm very good at that MikeWalsh .

I'm enjoying learning Linux and I am well aware that I will mess things up and hopefully learn from those mistakes. This forum has been really good helping me as a new user, especially as is often the case with me something doesn't seem that logical and I struggle to work out what to do next.

I mentioned in another thread that I'm a member of a few that are cycling focused where I'm more 'you' and 'Brickwizard' than I am 'me' in here; it's great they exist, you often learn things that you were not expecting. I have a SanDisk Ultra 'Fit' with my music on that I have fitted in my car and it does get hot, I now know that the '3.2 gen 1' may possibly help with that

 

[Paul_Surrey_UK]

@Paul_Surrey_UK :-

..... The current Ultra 'Fit' USB 3.2 gen 1 was their answer; it's reverted to all-plastic construction, but that plastic is now far tougher & harder-wearing.....and because the present design is now using NAND built on a far smaller process, it doesn't generate the heat any longer.....

I'm using the usb to install Linux Mint Cinnamon and one programme, it looks like I can access all my files from the C drive ok. Amazon seem to list the Ultra fit 3.2 gen 1 in higher storage only, lower gb seem to be gen 3.1, is that just because it's smaller storage or is it worth investing in the higher storage just to get the gen 3.2 version as it actually has a superior specification?

 

[MikeWalsh]

@Paul_Surrey_UK :-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Ultra-Flash-Drive-Read/dp/B077VYCV37?th=1

Huh. Well, it looks like you're right. 16 and 32 GB variants ARE 3.1.......64 GB and upwards are 3.2. Never noticed that, but it's hardly surprising; I don't tend to buy owt smaller than 64 GB these days, so I didn't look at the smaller drives. I'm aiming for one of the 512 GB models in the next couple of months.....so's I can combine the pair of 256 GB drives onto a single drive AND free-up an extra USB port.

As to the reason for the difference in specs, I honestly have no idea. Sorry!


Mike.

 

[Paul_Surrey_UK]

Thanks MikeWalsh.

The price difference was not that huge anyway, I was just looking after the pennies!

As I don't know if the 3.1 will have the same specification that make them run hot like 3.0 I actually decided to go with the 3.2 with 128gb. In addition to knowing that it will not get hot it has a '400 MB/s Read' as apposed to the '130 MB/s Read' of the 64gb version. Not sure is that makes any difference in the way I intend to use it but assumed at worst I have just spent a bit more than I needed to.

 

[Paul_Surrey_UK]

... Don't worry about "messing things up"; it's all part & parcel of the Linux experience. We've ALL been there at some point; you wouldn't believe the sheer number of re-installs I went through during my year or so with Ubuntu due to bricking things.....but it's a sure-fire way of flattening that 'learning-curve'! ...

Just when I thought I was on course to get it sorted; I haven't!

After experimenting with Linux Zorine Lite, Mint Xcfe and Cinnamon I installed the latter on a 'SanDisk Cruzer Blade USB 2.0 Flash Drive - 32GB' where everything worked well for my intended use I then bought a what I thought would be an upgrade in terms of specification, a 'SanDisk 128GB Ultra Fit USB 3.2 Flash Drive Up to 400 MB/s Read'.

Downloading onto the USB seemed go smoothly, just as it had done on Cruzer Blade, with the exception it was taking far longer, put into context so slow I gave up waiting, went to bed and came back in the morning to find it had finally installed. In use start up also takes far longer, then when I try and select anything it times out and I have to go through the 'Force quit- Wait' pop box up; it's currently not viable to use. Everything visually looks normal, apart from the timing out pop up box I don't get any error codes. I was with patience and care able to check the 'CPU' and 'Memory' usage via the System Monitor, hoping to see what was slowing things down, I was surprised to see that both seem low-linux normal, similar to what they were when using the Cruzer Blade. Before when I have had any issues it was more black and white, something either worked or it didn't, where as in this instance it nearly works. I have restarted several times and used all three USB slots in the laptop; all give the same results. Note there were quite a few updates listed but I have not had time to do those yet as again they were also slow to both view and install.

I only bought the one 'Ultra Fit USB' so not sure if it's just not quite as compatible interms of specification, I've done something wrong, or it's faulty. Ideally I would like to find out what has caused my issues with so I know what to do next; either return it as faulty, correct my error or just obtain something with a more relevant specification.

I can revert to using the Cruzer Blade USB as I know it works, although my goal would still be to use the Ultra Fit style that for me feels less vulnerable, as I'd like to leave it plugged in and simply select which OS I want to use on start up.

 

[etcetera]

Question, what about the security aspect of it?

Say you got a USB-based install. How do you prevent someone from just taking it from you and booting it? Does VeraCrypt run on it to create a boot password?

Any other ideas?

 

[Paul_Surrey_UK]

When I boot from the USB I can choose to use a password to login

 

[etcetera]

I am assuming that a 2TB external SSD can also be made a live boot? It's a Samsung 2TB with the type-C port.

 

[Brickwizard]

I am assuming that a 2TB external SSD can also be made a live boot? It's a Samsung 2TB with the type-C port.

Yes you can install to an external drive [I have around 8 I use for distribution testing] just make sure when you install you pick the correct drive at partitioning stage

 

[Paul_Surrey_UK]

I am assuming that a 2TB external SSD can also be made a live boot? It's a Samsung 2TB with the type-C port.

I have also considered using an external SSD, what was a pleasant surprise is that when I boot from the USB to Linux Mint Cinnamon I can access the files on my C Drive. I had assumed I would need to use something with large enough storage to duplicate the files and folders, the only thing I need to add to the USB is the Linux Distro and the odd programme