So..What exactly is
a Linux Mint persistent live USB?
A Linux Mint
Protestant Live USB drive is a USB memory stick with the Linux Mint
Operating system installed, and is BOOTABLE. Which means, you can
plug the memory stick into an open USB port, power up the PC or
Laptop, and boot into Linux Mint off of the stick. You can use the
copy of Libra Offices on the stick to edit documents, or FireFox to
surf the web (provided you have an Internet connection of course).
There is also a few gigs of free space on the USB to save your work.
You can also install
Linux Mint onto the PCs hard drive from the USB if you wish.
When you are done
using the computer, you simply halt the system, remove your USB, and
restart. The PC will then boot off the hard drive again and go back
to being a Linux, or Windows, or Mac machine.
There are a few very
good reasons why someone would want to do this:
1. You can create
such a USB for someone new to Linux, to try it without having to
install it on their hard drive. If they find that they like it, they
can use the USB to install Linux Mint on their hard drive.
2. You can carry
your 'system' and any project files you are working on in your
pocket. You simply need to find an available PC, boot off the USB,
and all your 'stuff' is ready to go.
3. You can use this
USB to boot a system that has crashed and won't boot on it's own.
Then, copy (Recover) the files off of the failed systems hard drive.
If you have the right packages installed on your USB, you can also
(in most cases) repair the software on the failed PC and get it
working again. Note: One of the future blog entries I'm working on is
how to create a “Disaster Recovery USB” with all kinds of tools
and tricks for recovering deleted files, 'fixing' and sick computer.
Stay tuned to my blog list for updates soon.
4. Its just kind of
geeky cool to have a few of these around to show your friends and
co-workers. They will think your some kind of IT ninja; the person to
call for help for their computer issues.
What is needed to
create a Linux Mint persistent live USB?
1. You will need a
PC or Laptop running Linux with an Internet connection. After the USB
has been created, you will be able to use it without that Internet
connection.
2. You will need a
good quality USB memory stick, at least 16 gigs in size. You should
buy a high quality one; the faster the better. Also, the larger the
better; you will want extra space to save any documents or other
files you might want to keep on your USB.
3. A pen and paper
to take notes.
4. You will need
about an hour of time to do this.
WARNING...WARNING...WARNING...WARNING...
This process will
erase ALL the data on the USB stick.
Be sure to back it
up, or better, use a brand new USB stick for this process.
Step 1 – Download
the ISO image.
To start, you will
need to download an ISO image of Linux Mint.
I suggest the Mate 32
bit version since it runs easily on almost every computer.
Don't select the
version that says “No Codex”.
You will then be
asked from which of the 'Primary download mirrors' you want to
download from. Try to select a site nearest to your physical location
as it will be the fastest.
Depending on the
speed of your connection, it should take about 20 minutes to
download.
It will most likely
save the file to your 'Downloads' folder. The file name will be
something like “linuxmint-17.1-mate-32bit.iso” depending what
what the current version of the package is.
Step 2 – Install a
few additional packages needed to create the USB.
Open a terminal
window by holding down the [Alt] and [Ctrl] keys on your keyboard,
and tapping the letter 't'.
Enter or cut/past
the following commands, one at a time. You will be prompted for your
password.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install
unetbootin -y
sudo apt-get install
gparted -y
Note: At this point,
all the prep work is done. You can now follow Step 3 and down, to
create as many of these USB devices you wish.
Step 3 – Create
the partitions
Now plug your USB
stick into any open USB port, wait a few minutes for it to mount, and
enter this command into your terminal window. This should open the
Gparted window.
sudo gparted
VERY IMPORTANT: In
the upper right corner of the Gparted window, change the device from
your hard drive (/dev/sda) to your USB stick (probably /dev/sdb). If
you don't do this, changes you make here will affect your hard drive
instead of your USB. You will know you have the right device if it
shows that the size is just less than 16 gigs, or whatever size your
USB stick is.
Now, right click on
the existing FAT32 partition, and select Unmount.
Then, right click
again on the existing FAT32 partition, and select Delete.
Now, to create the
static FAT32 partition where we will be installing Linux Mint.
Right click on the
“unallocated” partition, and select New.
Change the size
of the new partition to 1500 Megs,
Change the File
system to FAT32,
Leave all the
other fields at their default values,
and click
the Add button at the bottom of the window.
Now to create the
persistent partition where we will be able to save stuff.
Right click again on
the “unallocated” partition, and select New.
This time change
the file system type to ext2
and set the Label
to casper-rw (all lower case letters)
Leave all the
other fields at their default values,
and click
the Add button at the bottom of the window.
Now hold down the
[Ctrl] key on your keyboard and tap the [Enter] key. This is the
keyboard shortcut to apply the changes.
Click on the “Apply”
button to apply the changes.
This will take a few
minutes to complete.
When it's completed,
just click on the “close” bottom to get back to the gparted
window.
Now to tell it that
the FAT32 partition is bootable.
Right click on that
first FAT32 partition, and select “Manage Flags”.
Click on the box
next to “boot” so that it's has an “x” in it,
then click on the
“close” button.
Your screen should
now look something like this. The size of the ext2 partition may be
different depending on the size of your USB stick. In this example,
I'm using a 16 gig USB. Remember, you want a high quality and fast
USB, with lots of space to store stuff.
Now, exit from
gparted. We are done with it for now.
Remove the USB from
the USB port. Wait abut 15 seconds.
Put the USB back
into the USB port. Wait another 15 seconds.
This will open two
new File Manager windows. Don't close them as we will be using them
very soon. Just minimize them to get them out of the way for now.
Step 4 –
Installing the Linux Mint ISO
In your terminal
window, enter the following command. This will bring up the
Unetbootin window.
sudo unetbootin
Click on the radio
button next to “Diskimage”.
Click on the “...”
button to the right, select your “Downloads” folder, and then the
linuxmint-17.1-mate-32bit.iso file that you download in step 1.
In the field for
“Space used to preserve files”, change this to 100.
Leave all the other
fields at their default values.
Your window should
now look like this.
Click on the “OK”
button.
When you are asked
if you want to “Reboot Now” or “Exit”, select “Exit”. We
still have a steps before we are ready for the reboot.
Now, go back to that
File Manager window that opened when we plugged the USB stick back
it. That's the one showing the 1.6 gig partition.
Right click on the
'casper-rw' file and Delete it. This will force Linux to use the
casper-rw partition instead of this file to save stuff.
Now, close all your
windows, and shut down your PC.
You will want to
shut your PC all the way down and powered off.
It's time to boot
from the USB for the first time.
Step 5 – Booting
from the USB for the first time.
Please read all the
instructions for Step 5 BEFORE you begin.
Now is the time to
boot from the USB for the first time.
Make sure that your
bootable Live USB is in one of the USB ports.
Restart your PC by
pressing the power button.
As it's booting up,
you should see a quick message flash at the bottom of your screen
saying something like “Press F2 for Setup, F12 for boot menu”.
You want to get to that “Boot Menu”. On most PCs, it's going to
be the F12 key, but on some models, it could be the [Del] or [Esc]
key.
On a Mac, you need
to press and hold down the “option” key while it's powering up.
On some very old
PCs, there is no boot menu. You will need to go into Setup and change
the “Boot Order” so that the PC will try to boot from anything in
the USB port before trying to boot from the hard drive. You should
see the instructions on how to do this at the bottom of your Setup
screen.
If the F12 key is
not working for you, and you don't see that message saying what key
to press, then you might want to check out this web site. It has a
table listing the most common computer models and what key will get
you to the boot menu.
When you get to the
Boot Menu, use your up and down arrow keys to select the option to
boot from the USB device, and then press Enter.
Next comes the
UNetbootin menu.
Use your up and down
arrow keys to select the
“Start Linux Mint
17.1 MATE 32-bit (compatibility mode)”
option, and press
Enter.
On some computers,
when the USB boots for the first time, it gives an error saying
something like
“Could not find
the ISO”. A screen shot of such an error is bellow.
If you get this
error, just enter the world
exit
in lower case
letters, and press Enter. The boot process should then continue.
The first boot up is
very slow as there is a lot of house keeping that has to be done. It
may take several minutes.
After the first
boot, you will find that it will boot much faster.
Step 6 – Final
odds and ends.
When you finally get
it booted from of the USB, there are just a few last tasks to take
care of.
1. Connecting to the
Network; Just click on the network icon on the bottom of the screen
and select the WiFi or Ethernet connection you use. You should be
prompted for any passwords needed. Once this is done, the info will
be saved onto the USB so you should not have to do this again. Be
sure to open FireFox and test that you are able to get to a website
like www.cnn.com
2. Set the time
zone; You will see that the clock at the bottom of the screen has the
wrong time. This is because the time zone is not set yet. To set your
time zone, open a Terminal window by holding down the [Ctrl] and
[Alt] keys, and tap the letter 't'. Then enter this command, and
answer the questions as they come up. Once the time zone is set, the
info will be saved onto the USB so you should not have to do this
again.
sudo
dpkg-reconfigure tzdata
3. Label your USB: Also, don't
forget to stick a label on your USB so you know what it is (see
example photo at the top of my blog entry).
CONGRADULATIONS!
You now have a Linux Mint persistent live USB.
That's all for this
time. Bye ya'll.
