Linux on USB

evercloserunion

Hi, just a quick and simple question; if I install a small Linux operating system, like Puppy Linux, to a USB but only allocate part of the USB's space to the OS (say 1 GB out of 4 for example) will the remaining space (ie teh remaining 3 GB) still be available for storage as with a normal USB?

Stuxnet

you dont need to allocate any space for anything :P

just install the puppyLinux iso to the usb key via something like Unetbootin it takes up 130 mb and the rest of your key can be used as normal

and when you shut down puppy, it'll ask do you want to save any changes made or keep any files downloaded and they will save to the key also,

evercloserunion

Hmmm interesting! I didn't know about Unetbootin. What are the advantages/disadvantages of using a program like that vs the usual process of burning to CD/DVD, booting from said disc and installing to USB? Obviously convenience of install and not needing a CD/DVD are factors. Is there any difference in how you can use your USB for storage afterwards? And does installing via Unetbootin or similar inhibit your use of Puppy after install (since it's only ever a live boot, right?)

The_Thing

+1 For UNetbootin !!!

Not only will UNetbootin let you "burn" ISO's of Live-CD's to USB, you can also use SD cards, compact flash, etc.

Redisle

I have loads of bootable apps/os's on my flash drive and what I do is just set all the files and folders related to them as hidden. They won't show up in windows explorer then and you can use the flash drive as normal otherwise.

Unetbootin is a pretty good app, greatly simplifies the process. It will install the live distro which runs from memory afaik. It's better not to have an os running directly from the drive as it wears the drive out, especially if there is a swap area setup.

Another option is to partition your usb drive using a linux distro. (Gparted is your best bet). You can then keep say a 3gb partition as your first partiton and use it for files, and boot linux from the seperate 1gb partiton. This is more complicated but it is tidier because windows will only mount the first partition on a flash drive so for all intents and purposes it will look like a normal drive unless you boot from it.

Have a look at pendrivelinux.com.
Lots of excellent tutorials there.

Johnboy1951

evercloserunion wrote: »

Hi, just a quick and simple question; if I install a small Linux operating system, like Puppy Linux, to a USB but only allocate part of the USB's space to the OS (say 1 GB out of 4 for example) will the remaining space (ie teh remaining 3 GB) still be available for storage as with a normal USB?

First of all you need to be clear about the type of "installation" you mean.
There are two basic options ...... a 'full' install similar to what is done on any HDD.
The second is a "live" install, which is essentially similar to a live CD of the OS, on a USB device, and maybe with the options to retain any changes you make to the install to be available on next boot.

From what I have read and tried, the majority of the utilities available are designed to do a 'live' install on a USB. To do a 'full' install to USB device the distros own installer should work fine.

The vast majority of those 'live' install utilities do not allow you to do the installation on any partition you choose, but severely limit your options in that regard.

Currently there is one exception that I am aware of, and that is PCLinuxOS, which has a utility to be run from within PCLinuxOS (live CD or installed) which will give you the option of installing on any suitable partition of the USB device and make the device bootable. You can then use the other partitions of the device as you wish.
For instance, you might have the first partition as a FAT format, to suit Windows, and maybe have other partitions for data storage exclusively for Linux and so forth.
That utility also allows you to put more than one version of PCLinuxOS on the same partition and you can choose to boot whichever you wish at startup. So you might have an LXDE version for lower spec machines and maybe a KDE version for more capable machines.
In that case the USB can also be used as an install medium as well as a 'live' medium.
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,74878.0.html
This is a PCLinuxOS specific utility and does not work for other unrelated operating systems.

After all that, the quick answer to your question is yes ..... unsed space that is partitioned will be available for use both when running the live or installed OS, but *could* be limited by the utility used for a 'live' install.

regards.

evercloserunion

Very thorough answer, thanks a mil!