Tip for everyone. To avoid limitations of space, just configure the '/' directory and 'swap area'. If you assign limited space for the 'boot' area, this will generate errors in long term because there will be software and updates installed in '/boot' and files in '/home' that are immovable and not expandable. To have enough space I needed to reinstall linux at least 2 times. Careful with that.
I just right clicked the hardrive and unmounted it from the desktop and no problems. Thank you so much for this. Previoulsy wiped my macbook pro because I didn't know how to set up the files this way home / boot etc. Thanks very much appreciate it, currently installing on external hardrive.
Thank you for your video! Using your video and changing a few things from some other information I got regarding installing Mint onto a external hard drive, I was finally able to get the external drive to boot and run Mint.
Echoing Anthony's sentiments, I was struggling to get this accomplished successfully. I had managed to get it done once by accident, but the partition sizes weren't acceptable, and when I attempted to re-size them I couldn't recreate my success because I wasn't sure what I had done right the first time. Glad I found your tutorial. Excellent work. This goes well with a story I wrote last night about portable Linux distros for booting and running from USB drives. I've learned a lot about this subject this week thanks to helpful people like yourself. Thanks again and keep up the good work! I will follow you on Twitter; hope you'll do the same.
Tiberius Jonez Thanks for the kind words. If you think your article would benefit people watching my video, then send another comment with a link to your article. I will follow on twitter.
Here it is. I know it was useful info for me. Hopefully it benefits others as well. Thanks and good luck! gamejonez.net/2015/02/linux-running-from-8-gb-usb-stick-4-versions-reviewed/
Thank you, but I have connected the external hdd via usb to my mac os and want to install a linux distro to run on my old mac power ppc g5, how can I do this type of installation as I have the iso file on my mac os. Any advice please?
@ twimc ……. Fyi, it can be a problem installing Linux Mint 17.3 on “newer”(post-2009) HDD that r 250GB or above in capacity bc of newer HDD technology = partitions not properly aligned with the disk. Something to do with 512 bytes data blocks in older HDD(= came in 120GB or less) n 4096 bytes data blocks in newer HDD. Eg the error message during installation = “… offset of 3584 bytes from minimum alignment …” For anyone who gets the error message during install of Linux Mint 17.3 on a modern external/USB HDD, u need to first use GParted to realign the hard disk, ie delete the whole old partition n create the 1st new partition, meant for the root partition(eg 20GB in size), with 1 MiB(= the default value) at the “beginning of this space” n 0 MiB at the “end of this space”, ensure “MiB” alignment box is checked(= do not select “cylinder”), set as Primary partition n format to fat32. ……. When creating the new 2nd partition meant for the home partition(eg 30GB in size), set 0 MiB for both the beginning n end of this space, Primary partition n format to fat32. ……. If u hv less than 4GB of RAM, u can also create a new 3rd partition for swap area(eg set as 2GB in size) or virtual memory/RAM on the hard disk, like for the home partition above. Only then, can u proceed with the Install via the Live DVD or USB-stick. After clicking “Something else”, click the 1st partition that u had created earlier with GParted, click “Change”, click “ext 4 file system”, click “/”(= root) for Mount point, n so on. ……. Ensure that the device for the bootloader is set to the external HDD, eg /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc. The cptr’s internal HDD/SSD is always identified as /dev/sda. I hv just successfully installed LM 17.3 on a “modern” 250GB external/USB HDD which initially had the above error message about the 1st / root partition not properly aligned with the HDD during install = could not proceed with the install.
Thank you so much! this was very helpful, at least to figure out what was going on with my external hdd sdd. In my case I used disk utility that comes with the macOS to create the partitions and then proceed with the install and change the attributes of each of them
I have one problem, when I install anything, applications, drivers and so on it downloads them into the /boot partition instead of the /home partition. Is there any way to change where the software manager installs the applications to /home instead of /boot?
I'm having an annoying problem. "Do you want to return to the partitioning menu?" The partition /dev/sda1 assigned to /boot starts at an offset of 3584 bytes from the minimum alignment for this disk, which may lead to very poor performance. I've got two options, "go back" or "continue", no matter what I press. It will still not let me install the distro!
+MrFireZanimations Hi, it's hard to know exactly what's causing the problem. instead of listing all the things it could be, i think we should try a fix. Make sure you save anything you need first. 1: Remove all partitions from HDD. 2: Run a Disk Clean. 3: Make sure your HDD has the correct amount of space. (example) 4GB HDD = 4000MB 4: Allow Linux to partition the HDD, don't partition in Windows. 5: Start the installation process again. Hopefully this fixes your issue. Sorry about the late reply, time difference and work. Good Luck!
David Thank You!!! for your instruction on this Linux installation ! I learned SO much about how the hard drive works! Erin Go Bragh! From Craig Stone: a Connel relative!!
Great video. Just trying to figure out why Mint is the only distro that works doing this on an external drive. Tried six others on my Asus laptop, none work.
can we access the data on HDD after installing Linux on it through another system without booting through HDD? or we have to create an extra partition for storing and accessing data?
Also at the end of the updates i had to choose between at least 5 options. i remember that i choose "keep current local *something*". Does having a portable linux mint on ext usb hdd means to never make any updates?
Thank you for this guide... I've tried to follow your instructions but when i reboot the pc, selecting the external hard disk, I obtain the following message on black screen: "Operating System not found"! Any idea how to solve this problem?
catubrium I'm really sorry it's taken so long to get back to you. The only reason that would show is because of a faulty Hard Drive or no Operating system installed. Did you create a bootable USB with Rufus first? You could try deleting everything and then checking the hard drive for errors. Click on the Start Menu, Right Click on Computer Click Manage, Click Disk Management, Right Click on Your External Hard Drive, Click Properties, Click the Tools Tab, Click on the Check Now button in the error-checking box. I hope this helps.
I have a question (if you know): If you install Linux in an external HDD and later you want to boot from that HDD in a foreign PC/laptop, will you be able to?
Thanks! Followed your video and all went fine. I'm now running Mint 17 on an old 2.5" laptop HDD in an external USB enclosure. Question --- Can I upgrade this to later/current versions of Mint without trashing anything?
actually i have installed linux on my hard drive ....but its not running on my Laoptop HP compaq 6530b ....want your persona help to boot it whenever i want easily....many cases i saw that we need to enable legacy from bios....I also enabled it ....but plzz help me out what to do next ??
Thank you for that. I have a slightly simpler but different situation. Can I intsall Mint 19.3 to an external USB-SSD and then put the SSD into the machine or will a Linux build installed to a USB -SSD not funtion as a regular internal drive? If you need to ask why I do not just do a regular USB-to-internal-SDD install, please read below. The external USB-SSD is completely empty (formatted) and has no partitions. ........................... 2007 macbook 2,1 ran Mac OS/X and then Cloudyready's Chrome on internal SSD (not dual boot - Chrome wiped out OS X). No uninstall option with Chrome - had to format drive by booting from another OS/X HDD in a USB-SATA case. Now no O/S on internal SSD and machine will not boot from UEFI/USB although it used to boot from Chrome bootable-USB. Will boot from USB-HDD with OS/X 10.6 that was originally another mac's internal drive but I don't know the OS X login password for it. Will not allow booting from original OS/X DVD in such a way that I can acess the disc untility function, as the install fails due to an apparent inability to read the DVD which the error message suggests cleaning (it is clean and scratch free). ** I know I can boot from the Linux Mint installer USB as I have done on another machine...so can i use the other machine to intsall Linux to external SSD then put that SSD in the 2007 macbook? ........................... Thank you anyone with advice.
Hi, can't foresee any issues with the install on the SSD and then putting it in the machine, where you might have a problem is with the running of the OS. It might be very slow. I'd say go for it sure you have nothing on it anyway, best of luck.
@@1stepatatimedc Why might it be slow? It is an Intel SSD, and surely much quicker than a spinning HDD. Once in the machine, it would be the system drive and accessed just as it would be if Windows or OS/X were accessing it. Having booted my other computer (2011 macbook pro) into Mint from bootable-usb (using it to write this) it now seems to me that the content of this video may not apply to my situation, but knowing so little I am unable to say so with any certainty. I have initiated the Linux Mint install, but looking at what I imagined (after formatting it) would be a drive with no partitions and 100% free space, it shows up as a drive with 134 megabytes of free space and about 120gigabytes of something I cannot identify. Hold on... on a hunch (not the way to install an O/S, I know), I saw a 'delete' button and selected the 120 gigabyte part whose status I could not identify and just took a chance on that delete button. Now I have only one reference to that drive - as far as I know - in the 'installation type' dialogue box, and I am going to take a few steps back in this video and just take a chance and follow the instructions, making a swap thing (whatever that is) the same size as the 3Gb RAM in the 2007 mac..... Wow this is almost like a live install...except it's on your channel and not mine (I do not have one)... O.K., I am now at the bit you said I would not see given that my external drive is empty and with no other partitions, but in fact I did see that warning that anything on the drive would be gone after install. I chose to continue and it went to the country screen. Now I am at the 'Who are you?' screen and I will not comment further until I have finished the install or been saddened by an error message indicating that I cannot. Then, all being well, once the drive is in my 2007 macbook, that will boot and I will sing (your praises).
Update. There is good news! And there is bad. The install completed. The available updates were offered, accepted and completed. The machine restarted and booted from the Mint USB-SSD (2011 macbook pro). Sadly the 2007 macbook will not boot from the SSD even installed straight into the SATA connector in the machine. It seems that Mint 19.3 XFCE is not compatible with a 2007 Intel Core 2 Duo macbook. Or I have some hardware issues I am unable to recognize or diagnose. Right... about that Linux Mint 19 compatibility list I was going to search for...
@@1stepatatimedc Thank you, but it seems extremely unlikely to me that RAM or SSD upgrades will make a difference to the 3Gig Ram and Intel 120 Gig SSD that the 2007 MacBook has now. Fact: 2011 Macbook Pro boots fine from both USB-SSD and USB stick containing bootable Linux Mint 19.3, but 2007 Macbook Core 2 Duo will boot from neither. Theory: 2007 Macbook 2,1 is not compatible with Linux Mint 19. I read yesterday that the “boot loader” (I assume that is another word for UEFI boot menu) is 32-bit on a 2007 Macbook, but I am sure I ran the 64-bit version of Chrome O/S on it. The 2007 mac boots from USB-HDD with OS/X 10.6, but no longer from the Chrome USB stick. I think I need to learn the fundamentals for the macbook UEFI system, where it is located, how it usually breaks and how to diagnose and fix it, etc. Thank you.
Thank you for this tutorial! Everything worked fine, but now I don't know how to get it to boot from my external hard drive. I have an UEFI - BIOS, with win 8.1 installed on it. I get to the Advanced settings of UEFI, and click: Use a device, as an option (not sure if this is only for USB or also for external hard drive). But than i get stuck. It showes me 8 different options and non of them look correct. I really don't want to go ''trial and error'' and try all of them. Any ideas?
If I want to run both windows 10 pro for general entertainment, browsing and maximum software compatibility for an Asus N550JK notebook, and also regularly run a Linux distro for financial/work browsing and sensitive information data storage which you want to keep as secure as possible, what option would you recommend for a new user? Get a Linux distro working from a bootable external ssd drive?, Swap between windows ssd and Linux ssd by regularly removing the backing case and screws (potentially damaging the screws with regular use?), dual booting?, or running the Linux distro on a virtual machine on windows? My concern with dual booting and the vm options is no one can guarantee the data on the Linux os will be as secure from malware that may be contracted via use of windows as swapping ssd’s or booting the Linux from an external ssd? I use windows defender and Malwarebytes as security in windows as I have read W defender is sufficient when used with a good malware like Mbytes, considering paying for Norton to use with Malwarebytes? Intend to use comodo for Linux as AV in Linux distro plus GUFW firewall? Also I’ve seen people converting the dvd drive in my model laptop into a secondary hard drive if that’s worthwhile? But then I wouldn’t have a dvd drive and all installing would have to be via usb Any help/suggestions would be really appreciated
+ImpermanentHuman Hi, sorry just saw your comment. If you want to be 100% secure, run Linux on a Laptop that never connects to the internet. Window's 10 won't allow dual booting so I used to do it with Windows 7. I agree with defender and Malwarebytes as long as your not clicking on random links and downloading shite, you should be fine.
it was all going so well. Installing on a virgin 1tb Toshiba external hard drive, then at the final stage it hangs at "detecting file systems". What do I do now? Please help!
Hi Paul, it's hard to know what the problem may be, but you could check a few things. 1 check the ISO file has no errors. 2 when you burn the ISO file, check the box that allows a confirmation that the job has been done correctly. 3 when you install Linux don't check the box to apply updates, you can do this later. 4 Also check your HDD for bad sectors. I just thought of something, are you installing it along side Windows? If you're not let me know.
David, I have PC with a broken OS. I have an external hard drive and an ISO image of Windows 7 on the ext HD. Is there a way I can repair the broken OS on the PC using what I have? I'd like to be able to plug in the ext HD to the computer, and have it boot from that. TIA.
Mick Mack Hi Mick, Have you tried a System Restore? Have you got a Recovery Partition on your internal HDD? or has it failed. Sorry about all the questions, but if you can't access anything you will have to create a Bootable USB or Disc from your ISO image. Once you have created your Bootable drive, log in to your BIOS and choose which drive you want to boot from, just follow the installation wizard. You will have a few options, 1 is to restore your computer to its out of the box settings, 2 is to restore it to a previous time and 3 is a complete install, if you choose this you will need the Win 7 product Key you can also choose which HDD to install it too. Sorry if this does not help but not sure of your exact problem. Good Luck!
1stepatatime Thanks for the response. I was able to figure out a fix. I opened the BIOS with the Delete key upon startup. I hit F8 which reset all the BIOS settings to default. Worked excellent. I'm back online! :) Anyway, thanks again for the detailed response. Best.
Thanks mate..... Needed a little pep video before installing the Linux mint I'm using, would be useful if you had a quick list (somewhere on your post here) of the partitions you need to install, like boot, home, root, swap I needed to know these, what format and type partition they're supposed to be and kinda size I needed to set at. Got all that info in your video so once again cheers. MYLES
+1stepatatime hey yes I managed to partition into all sections I needed but now when I'm trying to alt boot on my macbook there is not drive showing just my Mac HD and Recovery Disk hmmm .... i shall persist and maybe I need to bless the external HD ....
+Myles Johnson Hi Myles, I don't know anything about Mac's. I did look up dual boot for Mac and found this article: www.howtogeek.com/187410/how-to-install-and-dual-boot-linux-on-a-mac/ hope this helps, good luck.
+T W E R K B O N E R Hi, no is the short answer but you will have to use something like UNetbootin, so either way you'll have to use something. Hope this helps.
+T W E R K B O N E R Yes. It's a little different in that UNetbootin will download the distro and install it on the HDD and is an exe file. Rufus is a little application that takes up little space, only runs when you need it and I love it.
This tutorial of great help turned into a 6 hr nightmare of searching for a solution. The installation went fine and i was happy. Then i installed updates wich had a new kernel. At the end of the update process the nightmare began, at least 3 warning of grub about unrecognized swap, updates aborted at 90%. Leaving me with a 2 min of waiting to access grub menu on reboot. MBR got broken/corrupt! Help please and why grub listed windows 7??? i want them to be totally independent because i want to use my ext hdd as portable like a live cd who doesnt leave any trace. Thank you. Help please!
You could if it were a large enough USB, but it does not function well because it's a flash drive. If you want it to work at its best install it on a mechanical HDD or SSD. Hope this helps, good luck.
G'day mate, First timer here. Just 2 question if you don't mind. What's the "/home" partition for and how can I reduce the size? Thanks for the tutorial, helped a lot dual booting Windows 7 and Zorin. Great work mate! JD from downunder
+Jose Darryl Alano Hi, the home partition is for storing all your picture's, videos, music and more. It also makes it easier to upgrade Linux without loosing all your data. If you want to reduce the size of the /home partition you can, just keep in mind that if you're using it a lot allow 50 to 100GB for the /home. Here's a link to the pros and cons. askubuntu.com/questions/142695/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-having-a-separate-home-partition
I keep getting this error about it running poorly and how it needs an extra megabyte to fucking work. I have a 1tb HDD. I used like 3 other computers and 5 virtual machines to fucking try and get it to install. It'll install to a flash drive easily. Is the HDD fucked up?
Hey just thought that I'd add, if you want to install to an external drive without risking your real MBR you could actually run the .iso in virtualbox, and mount the external hard drive within the guest machine. Although I must note, I couldn't get that to work until I installed the Oracle proprietary extension pack located here (because by default the open source usb drive only supports usb 1.0): download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/5.2.0/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-5.2.0-118431.vbox-extpack Once I had that installed, I plugged in the drive and let the host grab it, then unplugged it, set the filter of the external drive to be automounted within the config of the guest machine in virtualbox, and made sure I selected the usb 2.0 or 3.0 host controller also. Only then was I able boot the guest machine, mount, and install linux correctly within virtualbox to the external drive (which ultimately is meant for an old x86 machine im building for fun that cant usb boot from a thumbdrive).
1stepatatime .. what the hell is this .. you couldn't even start your installation successfully .. instead you started it with a mistake .. so how could others finish it successfully .. you should have never published a job unfinished successfully .. unless you mean troubles and harm for others' pcs .. if your intentions are sound and good you better cancel/delete this unfinished one and post at least a new one without mistakes !!!
![How to Install Linux Mint 22 "Wilma" from Start to Finish + Basic Configurations [2024]](/img/1.gif)
Thank you for this!! I followed along and Installed Mint KDE on my External Drive, everything is bootable and working fine. Great tutorial :)
Anthony Migs Thanks! Glad it helped.
Tip for everyone.
To avoid limitations of space, just configure the '/' directory and 'swap area'.
If you assign limited space for the 'boot' area, this will generate errors in long term because there will be software and updates installed in '/boot' and files in '/home' that are immovable and not expandable.
To have enough space I needed to reinstall linux at least 2 times.
Careful with that.
I just right clicked the hardrive and unmounted it from the desktop and no problems. Thank you so much for this. Previoulsy wiped my macbook pro because I didn't know how to set up the files this way home / boot etc. Thanks very much appreciate it, currently installing on external hardrive.
Thank you for your video! Using your video and changing a few things from some other information I got regarding installing Mint onto a external hard drive, I was finally able to get the external drive to boot and run Mint.
msfullroller cera ..
msfullroller cera ,,can you elaborate ..I can't get it to boot of the hard drive at all ..
Thank-you. Your guide will prolong the life of my HP Elitebook with a deceased harddrive.
Echoing Anthony's sentiments, I was struggling to get this accomplished successfully. I had managed to get it done once by accident, but the partition sizes weren't acceptable, and when I attempted to re-size them I couldn't recreate my success because I wasn't sure what I had done right the first time. Glad I found your tutorial. Excellent work. This goes well with a story I wrote last night about portable Linux distros for booting and running from USB drives. I've learned a lot about this subject this week thanks to helpful people like yourself. Thanks again and keep up the good work! I will follow you on Twitter; hope you'll do the same.
Tiberius Jonez Thanks for the kind words. If you think your article would benefit people watching my video, then send another comment with a link to your article. I will follow on twitter.
Here it is. I know it was useful info for me. Hopefully it benefits others as well. Thanks and good luck!
gamejonez.net/2015/02/linux-running-from-8-gb-usb-stick-4-versions-reviewed/
alright but, could you show a clean way of doing this for multiple distros for one?
Thank you, but I have connected the external hdd via usb to my mac os and want to install a linux distro to run on my old mac power ppc g5, how can I do this type of installation as I have the iso file on my mac os. Any advice please?
does this format my external hard drive?
@ twimc ……. Fyi, it can be a problem installing Linux Mint 17.3 on “newer”(post-2009) HDD that r 250GB or above in capacity bc of newer HDD technology = partitions not properly aligned with the disk. Something to do with 512 bytes data blocks in older HDD(= came in 120GB or less) n 4096 bytes data blocks in newer HDD. Eg the error message during installation = “… offset of 3584 bytes from minimum alignment …”
For anyone who gets the error message during install of Linux Mint 17.3 on a modern external/USB HDD, u need to first use GParted to realign the hard disk, ie delete the whole old partition n create the 1st new partition, meant for the root partition(eg 20GB in size), with 1 MiB(= the default value) at the “beginning of this space” n 0 MiB at the “end of this space”, ensure “MiB” alignment box is checked(= do not select “cylinder”), set as Primary partition n format to fat32.
……. When creating the new 2nd partition meant for the home partition(eg 30GB in size), set 0 MiB for both the beginning n end of this space, Primary partition n format to fat32.
……. If u hv less than 4GB of RAM, u can also create a new 3rd partition for swap area(eg set as 2GB in size) or virtual memory/RAM on the hard disk, like for the home partition above.
Only then, can u proceed with the Install via the Live DVD or USB-stick. After clicking “Something else”, click the 1st partition that u had created earlier with GParted, click “Change”, click “ext 4 file system”, click “/”(= root) for Mount point, n so on.
……. Ensure that the device for the bootloader is set to the external HDD, eg /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc. The cptr’s internal HDD/SSD is always identified as /dev/sda.
I hv just successfully installed LM 17.3 on a “modern” 250GB external/USB HDD which initially had the above error message about the 1st / root partition not properly aligned with the HDD during install = could not proceed with the install.
Thank you so much! this was very helpful, at least to figure out what was going on with my external hdd sdd. In my case I used disk utility that comes with the macOS to create the partitions and then proceed with the install and change the attributes of each of them
Do you perhaps have a link to a tutorial? I have this problem but struggling with the alignment. Regards
I have one problem, when I install anything, applications, drivers and so on it downloads them into the /boot partition instead of the /home partition. Is there any way to change where the software manager installs the applications to /home instead of /boot?
I'm having an annoying problem.
"Do you want to return to the partitioning menu?" The partition /dev/sda1 assigned to /boot starts at an offset of 3584 bytes from the minimum alignment for this disk, which may lead to very poor performance.
I've got two options, "go back" or "continue", no matter what I press. It will still not let me install the distro!
+MrFireZanimations Hi, it's hard to know exactly what's causing the problem. instead of listing all the things it could be, i think we should try a fix. Make sure you save anything you need first.
1: Remove all partitions from HDD.
2: Run a Disk Clean.
3: Make sure your HDD has the correct amount of space. (example) 4GB HDD = 4000MB
4: Allow Linux to partition the HDD, don't partition in Windows.
5: Start the installation process again.
Hopefully this fixes your issue. Sorry about the late reply, time difference and work. Good Luck!
David Thank You!!! for your instruction on this Linux installation ! I learned SO much about how the hard drive works! Erin Go Bragh! From Craig Stone: a Connel relative!!
Great video. Just trying to figure out why Mint is the only distro that works doing this on an external drive. Tried six others on my Asus laptop, none work.
It is displaying "NTDLR is missing". Please Help.
can we access the data on HDD after installing Linux on it through another system without booting through HDD? or we have to create an extra partition for storing and accessing data?
Also at the end of the updates i had to choose between at least 5 options. i remember that i choose "keep current local *something*". Does having a portable linux mint on ext usb hdd means to never make any updates?
Thank you for this guide... I've tried to follow your instructions but when i reboot the pc, selecting the external hard disk, I obtain the following message on black screen: "Operating System not found"! Any idea how to solve this problem?
catubrium I'm really sorry it's taken so long to get back to you. The only reason that would show is because of a faulty Hard Drive or no Operating system installed. Did you create a bootable USB with Rufus first? You could try deleting everything and then checking the hard drive for errors.
Click on the Start Menu, Right Click on Computer
Click Manage,
Click Disk Management,
Right Click on Your External Hard Drive,
Click Properties,
Click the Tools Tab,
Click on the Check Now button in the error-checking box.
I hope this helps.
This video was extremely helpful, thank you so much!
i realize it's kinda off topic but does anyone know a good place to stream new series online?
@Thatcher Sage try FlixZone. You can find it by googling :)
I have a question (if you know): If you install Linux in an external HDD and later you want to boot from that HDD in a foreign PC/laptop, will you be able to?
If i understand your question properly - Yes, you can boot back to the OS thats in your real drive.
He meant can he use the external hard drive with Linux installed on it, on a different computer. 3 years later but yes you can.
Thanks! Followed your video and all went fine. I'm now running Mint 17 on an old 2.5" laptop HDD in an external USB enclosure. Question --- Can I upgrade this to later/current versions of Mint without trashing anything?
actually i have installed linux on my hard drive ....but its not running on my Laoptop HP compaq 6530b ....want your persona help to boot it whenever i want easily....many cases i saw that we need to enable legacy from bios....I also enabled it ....but plzz help me out what to do next ??
Thank you for that.
I have a slightly simpler but different situation.
Can I intsall Mint 19.3 to an external USB-SSD and then put the SSD into the machine or will a Linux build installed to a USB -SSD not funtion as a regular internal drive? If you need to ask why I do not just do a regular USB-to-internal-SDD install, please read below. The external USB-SSD is completely empty (formatted) and has no partitions.
...........................
2007 macbook 2,1 ran Mac OS/X and then Cloudyready's Chrome on internal SSD (not dual boot - Chrome wiped out OS X).
No uninstall option with Chrome - had to format drive by booting from another OS/X HDD in a USB-SATA case.
Now no O/S on internal SSD and machine will not boot from UEFI/USB although it used to boot from Chrome bootable-USB.
Will boot from USB-HDD with OS/X 10.6 that was originally another mac's internal drive but I don't know the OS X login password for it. Will not allow booting from original OS/X DVD in such a way that I can acess the disc untility function, as the install fails due to an apparent inability to read the DVD which the error message suggests cleaning (it is clean and scratch free).
** I know I can boot from the Linux Mint installer USB as I have done on another machine...so can i use the other machine to intsall Linux to external SSD then put that SSD in the 2007 macbook?
...........................
Thank you anyone with advice.
Hi, can't foresee any issues with the install on the SSD and then putting it in the machine, where you might have a problem is with the running of the OS. It might be very slow. I'd say go for it sure you have nothing on it anyway, best of luck.
@@1stepatatimedc Why might it be slow? It is an Intel SSD, and surely much quicker than a spinning HDD. Once in the machine, it would be the system drive and accessed just as it would be if Windows or OS/X were accessing it.
Having booted my other computer (2011 macbook pro) into Mint from bootable-usb (using it to write this) it now seems to me that the content of this video may not apply to my situation, but knowing so little I am unable to say so with any certainty.
I have initiated the Linux Mint install, but looking at what I imagined (after formatting it) would be a drive with no partitions and 100% free space, it shows up as a drive with 134 megabytes of free space and about 120gigabytes of something I cannot identify.
Hold on... on a hunch (not the way to install an O/S, I know), I saw a 'delete' button and selected the 120 gigabyte part whose status I could not identify and just took a chance on that delete button.
Now I have only one reference to that drive - as far as I know - in the 'installation type' dialogue box, and I am going to take a few steps back in this video and just take a chance and follow the instructions, making a swap thing (whatever that is) the same size as the 3Gb RAM in the 2007 mac.....
Wow this is almost like a live install...except it's on your channel and not mine (I do not have one)...
O.K., I am now at the bit you said I would not see given that my external drive is empty and with no other partitions, but in fact I did see that warning that anything on the drive would be gone after install. I chose to continue and it went to the country screen.
Now I am at the 'Who are you?' screen and I will not comment further until I have finished the install or been saddened by an error message indicating that I cannot.
Then, all being well, once the drive is in my 2007 macbook, that will boot and I will sing (your praises).
Update.
There is good news!
And there is bad.
The install completed.
The available updates were offered, accepted and completed.
The machine restarted and booted from the Mint USB-SSD (2011 macbook pro).
Sadly the 2007 macbook will not boot from the SSD even installed straight into the SATA connector in the machine.
It seems that Mint 19.3 XFCE is not compatible with a 2007 Intel Core 2 Duo macbook.
Or I have some hardware issues I am unable to recognize or diagnose.
Right... about that Linux Mint 19 compatibility list I was going to search for...
More the RAM and CPU. Check this article it might help: 9to5mac.com/2017/09/29/how-to-add-fast-ssd-to-old-mac-macbook/
@@1stepatatimedc Thank you, but it seems extremely unlikely to me that RAM or SSD upgrades will make a difference to the 3Gig Ram and Intel 120 Gig SSD that the 2007 MacBook has now.
Fact: 2011 Macbook Pro boots fine from both USB-SSD and USB stick containing bootable Linux Mint 19.3, but 2007 Macbook Core 2 Duo will boot from neither.
Theory: 2007 Macbook 2,1 is not compatible with Linux Mint 19. I read yesterday that the “boot loader” (I assume that is another word for UEFI boot menu) is 32-bit on a 2007 Macbook, but I am sure I ran the 64-bit version of Chrome O/S on it.
The 2007 mac boots from USB-HDD with OS/X 10.6, but no longer from the Chrome USB stick.
I think I need to learn the fundamentals for the macbook UEFI system, where it is located, how it usually breaks and how to diagnose and fix it, etc.
Thank you.
Im doing all the step but once it is install i dont know how to run in ... it just boot on to my C drive
i gess it because youre try to install form de hhd to the hdd ... maybe try intalling from a other linux key
You should unmount the external hard disk before installation process to ensure that the "failure in mounting" error doesn't come.
Thank you for this tutorial! Everything worked fine, but now I don't know how to get it to boot from my external hard drive. I have an UEFI - BIOS, with win 8.1 installed on it. I get to the Advanced settings of UEFI, and click: Use a device, as an option (not sure if this is only for USB or also for external hard drive). But than i get stuck. It showes me 8 different options and non of them look correct. I really don't want to go ''trial and error'' and try all of them. Any ideas?
Many thanks for your help . Appreciated .
If I want to run both windows 10 pro for general entertainment, browsing and maximum software compatibility for an Asus N550JK notebook, and also regularly run a Linux distro for financial/work browsing and sensitive information data storage which you want to keep as secure as possible, what option would you recommend for a new user? Get a Linux distro working from a bootable external ssd drive?, Swap between windows ssd and Linux ssd by regularly removing the backing case and screws (potentially damaging the screws with regular use?), dual booting?, or running the Linux distro on a virtual machine on windows?
My concern with dual booting and the vm options is no one can guarantee the data on the Linux os will be as secure from malware that may be contracted via use of windows as swapping ssd’s or booting the Linux from an external ssd?
I use windows defender and Malwarebytes as security in windows as I have read W defender is sufficient when used with a good malware like Mbytes, considering paying for Norton to use with Malwarebytes?
Intend to use comodo for Linux as AV in Linux distro plus GUFW firewall?
Also I’ve seen people converting the dvd drive in my model laptop into a secondary hard drive if that’s worthwhile? But then I wouldn’t have a dvd drive and all installing would have to be via usb
Any help/suggestions would be really appreciated
ImpermanentHuman t
IMFletch2079 anything more to add? :)
+ImpermanentHuman Hi, sorry just saw your comment.
If you want to be 100% secure, run Linux on a Laptop that never connects to the internet.
Window's 10 won't allow dual booting so I used to do it with Windows 7. I agree with defender and Malwarebytes as long as your not clicking on random links and downloading shite, you should be fine.
it was all going so well. Installing on a virgin 1tb Toshiba external hard drive, then at the final stage it hangs at "detecting file systems". What do I do now? Please help!
Hi Paul, it's hard to know what the problem may be, but you could check a few things.
1 check the ISO file has no errors.
2 when you burn the ISO file, check the box that allows a confirmation that the job has been done correctly.
3 when you install Linux don't check the box to apply updates, you can do this later.
4 Also check your HDD for bad sectors.
I just thought of something, are you installing it along side Windows? If you're not let me know.
I'm not installing alongside windows. Just installing mint alone on the external HD. I'll try again and get back to you. Thanks for the help David.
Hi Paul, one other option is to click the just trying Linux, when it boots in choose the install Linux from the Desktop. Good Luck!
thanks for this dude! very informative and easy to follow.
cheers
+turbo Hi, you're welcome.
+turbo you're welcome.
David, I have PC with a broken OS. I have an external hard drive and an ISO image of Windows 7 on the ext HD. Is there a way I can repair the broken OS on the PC using what I have? I'd like to be able to plug in the ext HD to the computer, and have it boot from that. TIA.
Mick Mack Hi Mick, Have you tried a System Restore? Have you got a Recovery Partition on your internal HDD? or has it failed. Sorry about all the questions, but if you can't access anything you will have to create a Bootable USB or Disc from your ISO image.
Once you have created your Bootable drive, log in to your BIOS and choose which drive you want to boot from, just follow the installation wizard. You will have a few options, 1 is to restore your computer to its out of the box settings, 2 is to restore it to a previous time and 3 is a complete install, if you choose this you will need the Win 7 product Key you can also choose which HDD to install it too.
Sorry if this does not help but not sure of your exact problem. Good Luck!
1stepatatime Thanks for the response. I was able to figure out a fix. I opened the BIOS with the Delete key upon startup. I hit F8 which reset all the BIOS settings to default. Worked excellent. I'm back online! :) Anyway, thanks again for the detailed response. Best.
Thanks mate..... Needed a little pep video before installing the Linux mint I'm using, would be useful if you had a quick list (somewhere on your post here) of the partitions you need to install, like boot, home, root, swap I needed to know these, what format and type partition they're supposed to be and kinda size I needed to set at. Got all that info in your video so once again cheers. MYLES
+Myles Johnson Hi, thanks for your kind words. Hope everything works fine, good luck.
+1stepatatime hey yes I managed to partition into all sections I needed but now when I'm trying to alt boot on my macbook there is not drive showing just my Mac HD and Recovery Disk hmmm .... i shall persist and maybe I need to bless the external HD ....
+Myles Johnson Hi Myles, I don't know anything about Mac's. I did look up dual boot for Mac and found this article: www.howtogeek.com/187410/how-to-install-and-dual-boot-linux-on-a-mac/ hope this helps, good luck.
how do I then run the Linux mint from my external hard drive?
+The Man Hi. You need to go to your BIOS and choose to boot from external HDD. Good luck.
Just a question, Do you need to make a Live USB to do this?
+T W E R K B O N E R Hi, no is the short answer but you will have to use something like UNetbootin, so either way you'll have to use something. Hope this helps.
1stepatatime But you can use stuff like Rufus too, right?
+T W E R K B O N E R Yes. It's a little different in that UNetbootin will download the distro and install it on the HDD and is an exe file. Rufus is a little application that takes up little space, only runs when you need it and I love it.
This tutorial of great help turned into a 6 hr nightmare of searching for a solution. The installation went fine and i was happy. Then i installed updates wich had a new kernel. At the end of the update process the nightmare began, at least 3 warning of grub about unrecognized swap, updates aborted at 90%. Leaving me with a 2 min of waiting to access grub menu on reboot. MBR got broken/corrupt! Help please and why grub listed windows 7??? i want them to be totally independent because i want to use my ext hdd as portable like a live cd who doesnt leave any trace. Thank you. Help please!
You probably installed "bootloader" in the internal drive an not in the /boot partition you created..
Guess this won't help after all these months
Worked for me.. thanks 🙏
Thank you for this. Very helpful!!
is it not possible to fully install linux on a USB drive?
You could if it were a large enough USB, but it does not function well because it's a flash drive. If you want it to work at its best install it on a mechanical HDD or SSD. Hope this helps, good luck.
G'day mate,
First timer here. Just 2 question if you don't mind. What's the "/home" partition for and how can I reduce the size?
Thanks for the tutorial, helped a lot dual booting Windows 7 and Zorin. Great work mate!
JD from downunder
+Jose Darryl Alano Hi, the home partition is for storing all your picture's, videos, music and more. It also makes it easier to upgrade Linux without loosing all your data. If you want to reduce the size of the /home partition you can, just keep in mind that if you're using it a lot allow 50 to 100GB for the /home.
Here's a link to the pros and cons.
askubuntu.com/questions/142695/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-having-a-separate-home-partition
+1stepatatime Thank you for the quick reply matey! Awesomeness! Keep it up, your educational vids are very very helpful.
Cheers bro,
JD
+Jose Darryl Alano Thank you. I must send that text to my old teacher's they need a good laugh.
do all external hard disk supports linux OS
Not a matter of 'supporting Linux.' You burn the ISO, simple.
This video is a godsend thank you so much!!
Xvideo
Dude you are awesome! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much, my error was not creating a boot partition (as dumb as it my sound).
I literally did the same thing..... I expected that to happen by itself since that was the case when I installed it on an internal SSD...
I did exactly the same. But my ego was too big to watch a RUclips video, now I feel like an idiot lol
I keep getting this error about it running poorly and how it needs an extra megabyte to fucking work. I have a 1tb HDD. I used like 3 other computers and 5 virtual machines to fucking try and get it to install. It'll install to a flash drive easily. Is the HDD fucked up?
you dont explain how to burn it to the ext hd in the first place
You choose the external drive in the installer. Should be sdba, sdbb or sdbc
why not let mint sort out the partitions out on its own
+jonathan painter Hi, if you let Linux install itself it will wipe your HDD.
Hi , make root partition primary too, maybe it works.
Hey just thought that I'd add, if you want to install to an external drive without risking your real MBR you could actually run the .iso in virtualbox, and mount the external hard drive within the guest machine. Although I must note, I couldn't get that to work until I installed the Oracle proprietary extension pack located here (because by default the open source usb drive only supports usb 1.0): download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/5.2.0/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-5.2.0-118431.vbox-extpack
Once I had that installed, I plugged in the drive and let the host grab it, then unplugged it, set the filter of the external drive to be automounted within the config of the guest machine in virtualbox, and made sure I selected the usb 2.0 or 3.0 host controller also. Only then was I able boot the guest machine, mount, and install linux correctly within virtualbox to the external drive (which ultimately is meant for an old x86 machine im building for fun that cant usb boot from a thumbdrive).
Great Video!
Thanks a lot for the effort .....
Thanks very much and I love the accent ;)
Mastermind, thx dude
Johnny Depp??
Thank you brother
maby use some spaces between words if you talk and let de words come out.
I'dlovetodothatbutilovetotalkandtakingsomespacesbetweenwordsjustcantbedone.
thank
I love you man.
mint and cinnamon bleh!
This is not a LiveCD, right? If it is, then, urghh!!
+xCopyrightPvP Hi, it's the full version, yeah!! My how to install Linux on a USB might be what you're referring too. Hope this helps, good luck.
Thanks man!
u made it so hard to follow .... -_-
Far too fast, unclear explanation, poorly filmed with extremely unclear images. Too bad, apparently only intended for very experienced users
If I went any slower I'd be going backwards. Maybe finish learning your ABC first
1stepatatime .. what the hell is this .. you couldn't even start your installation successfully .. instead you started it with a mistake .. so how could others finish it successfully .. you should have never published a job unfinished successfully .. unless you mean troubles and harm for others' pcs .. if your intentions are sound and good you better cancel/delete this unfinished one and post at least a new one without mistakes !!!
I don't know what you are talking about. You could not buy any stretch of your imagination harm your pc following my instructions.
No luck....says no EFI found.....what do I do?