Trying to boot from USB with persistence | Having Issues
 

So, this is a long story so here I go. (I'd also like to point out, I'm a Linux noob)

I've been in the process of trying to teach myself Linux for a long while now, as I would like to eventually fully switch over from Microsoft.

My only major hang-up, is that I play a few games that won't work (as far as I know) with Wine. I'll get into that in another thread though.

****** Here is my Issue ******

I have an older laptop that is in really bad shape. The stock internal HDD went bad a while back, and the monitor is cracked so badly, you can't see anything on the screen. I plan on using this laptop on my TV to watch videos, and surf (I guess like a Media Center).

I have a little 2 GB SanDisk Cruzer USB 2.0 flash drive that I want to install Linux on. I want to set up the remaining space for persistence.

I have tried SEVERAL times to make this work using unetbootin and LiLi. Both times, it will install just fine, and work on the laptop, but not on ANY other computer I try to use it in afterwards. Also, if I try another computer, and then go back to the laptop, it wont work there either. That was with Ubuntu.

I tried Cinnamon (Linux Mint) and as far as I can tell, will boot up but I can't change it to the TV as the main monitor, it does extended desktop, so I can't see anything or make changes. Can't right click either.

Am I doing something wrong, or is there a much more viable way of doing what I'm attempting? Maybe a better distro you all recommend?

All I need it for is to watch Netflix, surf the web, watch videos from another flash drive etc.

Thanks in advance!

You won't be able to 'install' Ubuntu or Mint to a 2GB flash drive. They both need about 5GB for a minimum install. You can put either on the flash drive as a 'Live CD' and have about 1GB which can be used for persistence. A Live CD is read only and no settings will be saved on reboot. How did you 'install'? Did you use something like unetbootin or pendrivelinux?

You could take a look at the site below for a smaller Linux designed strictly for multimedia:

http://www.geexbox.org/

I used Linux Live USB Creator (LiLi) and unetbootin.

Both Ubuntu, and Mint were around 800Mb

How new are the other computers? Do they use EFI? From what I can tell most of these Linux Live USB stick creators do not install the necessary files for EFI. UNetBootin is one that did not, last time I used it. PenDrive Linux does not either, again, last I used it.

OK. So you have a Live CD on a flash drive. Have you seen the link below. I haven't tried it and there is no date so...?

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/diskimg/readme.txt

Ubuntu wiki below if you haven't seen it?

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LiveUsbPendrivePersistent

Get a distro that's actually intended to run from a USB stick: Puppy would be a good choice. If the laptop is fairly old, get Wary Puppy.

I have a few other flash drives.

I have a 4GB, and a 16GB that I could format for this purpose.

Is it far superior to do a full install instead of a Live CD with persistence?


Also, the computers I'd like it to work on are as follows (in order of importance):
Toshiba Satellite Laptop - Windows Vista era x86
Self Built i5 running Win7 x64
Self Built i3 running Win7 x64
HP Netbook (Brand New) running Win7 (I think it has an Atom processor x86)

"Is it far superior to do a full install instead of a Live CD with persistence?"

Only in the sense that you would be able to do updates to the OS. A persistence can't replace all features of a real install.

A live type install tends to save a lot of space on smaller flash drives. A cheap 16G ought to be fine for most people's use on a real install. An 8G flash would be better for live installs.
A small distro might work on the 4G with persistence. Well, I have some 256 M flash drives that have a small OS on them. Even a 128m had one on it.

I suspect the systems should work. You have to understand that no distro can support all hardware (yet). One or more may have some issues that may be difficult to fix.