Note on direct install

[ToddAndMargo]

Hi All,

I went the route of doing a direct install to a flash drive
of Fedora Core 25, x64.  I mainly use it for rescuing
Windows machines.  Also use it for networking and such
(Linux has all the "cool tools".)

Pluses:

1) no worries about losing space when you delete
2) you can mount he drive from a running Linux system
    and transfer files back and forth
3) you can have fun cherrying it out for  your needs,

Minuses:
    It is pretty much a one shot deal when using it on a
    customer site.  After that the disk corrupts.

So, I made a gold copy with "dd" and restored it after
every use at a customer site.

Workaround, in fstab, add "sync" after "defaults" on
all your drive entries:

     UUID=xxx /     ext4 defaults,sync 1 1
     UUID=yyy /boot ext4 defaults,sync 1 2
     UUID=zzz swap  swap defaults,sync 0 0

So far, this stick has been in and out about six times
and hasn't corrupted, which is about five more times
than I ever got before.

-T

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am Windows
I am the Blue Screen of Death
No one hears your screams
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Lars Bjørndal]

Hello

[ToddAndMargo]

>  I went the route of doing a direct install to a flash drive
>  of Fedora Core 25, x64. 
Thank you for sharing.

How did you make the direct install, did you install a live usb onto a
different usb stick?

Another question I'd like to ask, is about booting the device on
different machines. Does it boot both on UEFI and on old BIOS systems?

Thanks and regards, Lars

[ToddAndMargo]

On 03/03/2017 11:05 PM, Lars Bjørndal wrote:
>  Hello
>
>  [ToddAndMargo]
>
> > I went the route of doing a direct install to a flash drive
> > of Fedora Core 25, x64.
>
>  Thank you for sharing.
>
>  How did you make the direct install, did you install a live usb onto a
>  different usb stick? 
I booted off of

https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/25/Spins/x86...

which I dd'ed to a flash drive.

Then I used the install to drive utility and picked my target Flash 
drive instead of the local hard drive

>  Another question I'd like to ask, is about booting the device on
>  different machines. Does it boot both on UEFI and on old BIOS systems? 
Oh my goodness gracious what a pain in the neck.  Each machine
boots different.  On some, "legacy USB" has to be active in BIOS.
Others you have to turn off UEFI (even though the stick supports
both).  Some Legacy has to be off.   Yada, yada, yada.

A lot of the time to get into BIOS, I press all the "f" keys as
fast as I can.  Some BIOS'es have a "boot override"

One laptop I came across, you have to press a little button
with a pin to get into bios.

My favorite BIOS'es are the ones where "f12" goes straight
to boot override.

Same issues you have with the Live USB.

If you do this, make a "dd" backup of the stick.

Oh ya, and "How dare you boot into anything other
than Windows !!!!"   :'(


>  Thanks and regards, Lars
>  _______________________________________________
>  livecd mailing list -- livecd(a)lists.fedoraproject.org
>  To unsubscribe send an email to livecd-leave(a)lists.fedoraproject.org
>  

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Computers are like air conditioners.
They malfunction when you open windows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Lars Bjørndal]

[ToddAndMargo]
>  On 03/03/2017 11:05 PM, Lars Bjørndal wrote:
>  > Hello
>  > 
>  > [ToddAndMargo]
>  > 
>  > > I went the route of doing a direct install to a flash drive
>  > > of Fedora Core 25, x64.
>  > 
>  > Thank you for sharing.
>  > 
>  > How did you make the direct install, did you install a live usb onto a
>  > different usb stick?
>  
>  I booted off of
>  
>
> https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/25/Spins/x86...
>  
>  which I dd'ed to a flash drive.
>  
>  Then I used the install to drive utility and picked my target Flash drive
>  instead of the local hard drive 
And it's grub2 that boots the system? You don't need to fiddle with
grub in order to boot?

>  > Another question I'd like to ask, is about booting the
> device on
>  > different machines. Does it boot both on UEFI and on old BIOS systems?
>  
>  Oh my goodness gracious what a pain in the neck.  Each machine
>  boots different.  On some, "legacy USB" has to be active in BIOS.
>  Others you have to turn off UEFI (even though the stick supports
>  both).  Some Legacy has to be off.   Yada, yada, yada.
>  
>  A lot of the time to get into BIOS, I press all the "f" keys as
>  fast as I can.  Some BIOS'es have a "boot override"
>   
[...]

>  My favorite BIOS'es are the ones where "f12" goes
> straight
>  to boot override.
>  
>  Same issues you have with the Live USB. 
So from the boot perspective, you don't think there's a difference if
you use a live USB stick compared to your soulution with a
real/installed USB drive?

One challenge I have, is that I'm blind. Before I can read anything, a
screen reader like BRLTTY has to be started. And so, I need help from
a sighted person to be able to adjust BIOS settings or choose boot
media. So, as you can see, to me it's really important that the boot
process is automated as much as possible.

Again, thank you.
Lars

[ToddAndMargo]

On 03/05/2017 05:14 AM, Lars Bjørndal wrote:
>  [ToddAndMargo]
> > On 03/03/2017 11:05 PM, Lars Bjørndal wrote:
> >> Hello
> >>
> >> [ToddAndMargo]
> >>
> >>> I went the route of doing a direct install to a flash drive
> >>> of Fedora Core 25, x64.
> >>
> >> Thank you for sharing.
> >>
> >> How did you make the direct install, did you install a live usb onto a
> >> different usb stick?
> >
> > I booted off of
> >
> >
> https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/25/Spins/x86...
> >
> > which I dd'ed to a flash drive.
> >
> > Then I used the install to drive utility and picked my target Flash drive
> > instead of the local hard drive
>
>  And it's grub2 that boots the system? You don't need to fiddle with
>  grub in order to boot? 
It is whatever would be used for an install to internal hard drive.

> >> Another question I'd like to ask, is about booting the
> device on
> >> different machines. Does it boot both on UEFI and on old BIOS systems?
> >
> > Oh my goodness gracious what a pain in the neck.  Each machine
> > boots different.  On some, "legacy USB" has to be active in BIOS.
> > Others you have to turn off UEFI (even though the stick supports
> > both).  Some Legacy has to be off.   Yada, yada, yada.
> >
> > A lot of the time to get into BIOS, I press all the "f" keys as
> > fast as I can.  Some BIOS'es have a "boot override"
> >
>  [...]
>
> > My favorite BIOS'es are the ones where "f12" goes straight
> > to boot override.
> >
> > Same issues you have with the Live USB.
>
>  So from the boot perspective, you don't think there's a difference if
>  you use a live USB stick compared to your soulution with a
>  real/installed USB drive?
>  
No difference I can tell.

Make a "dd".  They are fragile.

>  One challenge I have, is that I'm blind. Before I can read
> anything, a
>  screen reader like BRLTTY has to be started. And so, I need help from
>  a sighted person to be able to adjust BIOS settings or choose boot
>  media. So, as you can see, to me it's really important that the boot
>  process is automated as much as possible.
>
>  Again, thank you.
>  Lars
>  _______________________________________________
>  livecd mailing list -- livecd(a)lists.fedoraproject.org
>  To unsubscribe send an email to livecd-leave(a)lists.fedoraproject.org
>  

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Computers are like air conditioners.
They malfunction when you open windows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~