[SOLVED] creating a live usb from a live Linux Mint disk

julianvb · 04-02-2015, 05:20 PM

2015-04-02

I would like to know how to create a live usb from a live Linux Mint 17.1 disk. Any help will be appreciated.

Julianvb

T3RM1NVT0R · 04-02-2015, 05:59 PM

You can use unetbootin. Have a look: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

beachboy2 · 04-02-2015, 07:54 PM

julianvb,

Netbootin is fine, as suggested above.

An alternative to produce a bootable USB flash drive is the 'dd' command, a.k.a. the “disk destroyer”.

Let's assume that you have already downloaded linuxmint-17.1-mate-64bit.iso to your Downloads directory (/home/julian/Downloads).

Plug in your USB drive (4GB or more, with unwanted data on it or blank). All existing data will be wiped.

Identify the drive using these separate commands in Terminal:

Code:

sudo su
 
fdisk -l

Let's say the USB drive is identified as sdc

(NB this is an example only.........on your own head if you select the wrong drive!!)

In Terminal again, copy & paste the following, or similar:

Code:

sudo dd if=/home/julian/Downloads/linuxmint-17.1-mate-64bit.iso of=/dev/sdc oflag=direct bs=1048576

Leave to run for a few minutes and you will get something like this:

Code:

928+0 records in 
928+0 records out 
973078528 bytes (973 MB) copied, 131.114 s, 7.4 MB/s

The USB drive is now loaded and ready to boot.

julianvb · 04-03-2015, 08:33 AM

Hi, Everyone,

Thank you very much for your very helpful suggestions. I was able to use beachboy2's dd-command instructions to create a live Linux Mint 17.1 USB stick, with which I successfully installed Linux Mint 17.1.

Julianvb

littlejoe5 · 04-07-2015, 12:03 AM

What I'd really like to end up with is a complete install on a much larger USB. One in which I could then install other programs, update, and save files. I don't want an install disk, or USB substitute for one. I know that programs can be installed to the ram-disk, but they disappear when you reboot. Is there a way to convert the results (of what you have described with dd) to a more normal sort of install but still on the USB? Perhaps by turning the ramdisk into a symlink referencing a /home partition on the USB, and whatever other partitions might be needed?