Ubuntu – Persistent Ubuntu USB drive

bootlive-usbmacosxpersistenceusb

Persistent Ubuntu on a USB drive

I have followed the instructions on How to create a bootable USB stick on OS X on the Ubuntu site, and the boot image runs well on my Lenovo laptop.

The problem is that the image is not persistent: when I reboot the laptop, all the installed apt-get package and file in /home/Desktop disappear.

How do I create a persistent Ubuntu installation on a USB drive, which keeps its state between reboots?

Previous questions:

This has been asked before (Persistent Ubuntu on a USB drive, Can I install Ubuntu to my 32 GB USB pen drive?, but they are either old, or don't cover my case – creating the USB drive from OSX.

Best Answer

I see you are able to boot into Ubuntu. In that case you could then create a 'persistent ubuntu drive' from the live Ubuntu using instructions here or here.

So you basically have:

Flash drive 1: Made bootable from OSX. This you are able to boot on your Lenovo (but no persistence)
Flash drive 2: You want this as your persistent Ubuntu drive.

What you do is:

Live boot into Flash Drive 1 on your Lenovo.
Install mkusb on it.
Use mkusb to turn Flash Drive 2 persistent.
Done.

Refer to the links above for a 'how-to' on steps 2,3.

1: Download Ubuntu

2: Convert the ISO file

Convert the .iso file to .img using the convert option of hdiutil

hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o ~/path/to/target.img ~/path/to/ubuntu.iso

Note: OS X tends to put the .img ending on the output file automatically.

3: Determine the media to install

Run diskutil list to get the current devices. Insert your USB and the run again diskutil list. The new device its your USB.

4: Install into the USB

Unmount your device (not physically) with diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN where N is your USB number and execute

sudo dd if=/path/to/downloaded.img of=/dev/rdiskN bs=1m

Notes:

Using /dev/rdisk instead of /dev/disk may be faster
If you see the error dd: Invalid number '1m', you are using GNU dd. Use the same command but replace bs=1m with bs=1M
If you see the error dd: /dev/diskN: Resource busy, make sure the disk is not in use.Start the 'Disk Utility.app' and unmount (don't eject) the drive

5: Eject

Run diskutil eject /dev/diskN and remove your flash media when the command completes.

6: Boot

Restart your Mac and press alt/option key while the Mac is restarting to choose the USB stick.

Ubuntu – Using 12.04 installation as a persistent pen drive

As far as I know, what you want can't be done with a persistent Live USB.

A full install in an 16GB USB drive (8GB may work, but I have not tested it.) will solve most of the four issues you mention.

I have a 16GB USB with full install and am yet to face any memory management issues. Most computers these days have 4GB or more RAM. So, swap file/partition is not as important. You can do a full install and set swappiness to 0, and limit updates to "Important Security Updates only" to avoid unnecessary writing to the USB.

No "Try Ubuntu" in a full install. Bonus, password protection.
Unplugging the pen drive when Ubuntu is running from it, either in persistent, or in full mode will be a bad idea. I have no solution for this.
A full install will not have the "Install Ubuntu" on the desktop.
If you use a 16GB pen drive, you can create a 1 or 2 GB FAT32 partition in the beginning for "normal" use. The rest can be ext4 partition with / mount point. The first partition will be accessible both when booted from the pen drive as well as when just plugged in.

It may even be possible to put some folders like "Music" in the FAT32 partition and sym link it to your home folder. I have not tested it. If it works, you have a bigger FAT32 partition and a smaller ext4 / partition.

Minimal install

One option for full install may be to use the server iso or the minimal iso and add the desktop and whatever else you need on top of it. I don't know if it will reduce the size of install to less than 1GB, but it is worth a try. See how to install Unity on top of a server install.

Warning:

There are some WiFi chips that only work with proprietary drivers. A full install USB stick with only opensource drivers will not have WiFi connections when plugged into and booted from such a computer. There may be similar issues with some graphics cards as well. Installing various proprietary drivers into a full USB installation for all possible combinations of hardware may have unexpected results. A full USB install will not be as portable as a Live USB stick.

Hope this helps