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Due to various reason, I have been in need to install Ubuntu on a thumb drive. I have been trying for the last few days or so to install Ubuntu (Not the "LIVE CD" ) on a flashdrive. Everytime I try to boot, I get either a) an error from my computer's bios saying that it is not a bootable drive; b) a frozen purple or black screen; c) I get to the GRUB menu and when I try to get to login, it freezes midway; or d) I login and the entire thing freezes for what feels like an eternity only to eventually get up and come back after a minute and find the thing is back at the login screen.

I have reinstalled Ubuntu various ways; I have attempted repairing the installs; I have looked high and low. I don't know what is happening. Can someone please help me! I am very new to Linux, and I am completely lost as to what is going on. Here are some technical specs of what I use:

  • 64GB flashdrive (USB 2.0)
  • Dell Optiplex 990
    • i7 2600
    • 8GB RAM
    • AMD RADEON HD 6***(No idea what it is after that)

Please help. I'm begging.

K7AAY
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    Does this computer have old BIOS or newer UEFI? If the second, you will need to install Ubuntu using UEFI mode. Search in this site for problems related to your graphic card. – user68186 Jul 02 '19 at 22:09
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    It's UEFI per https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/shared-content/data-sheets/en/Documents/optiplex-990-spec-sheet.pdf – K7AAY Jul 02 '19 at 23:05
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    @K7AAY While the machine may be UEFI capable, Windows 7 or earlier implies a legacy install. Check the BIOS/UEFI settings for selecting boot mode -- you may have to select one (legacy to keep Windows compatiblity), or maybe you can state a preference which mode to try first (so on a separate device like a USB, the install mode may not make a difference). You still have to set the USB device up to boot in the selected mode with appropriate partitions (EFI partition, etc.). – ubfan1 Jul 03 '19 at 00:44
  • @ubfan1 Don't see a reference by the OP or anyone to Windows 7 here. TY for the reminder, though. – K7AAY Jul 03 '19 at 15:23
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    Easiest way to do a Full Ubuntu install to USB is to unplug your internal drive, plug in the target drive and boot the Live CD or USB, then launch the installer. You can add the internal drive to grub by running "sudo update grub" after it is plugged back in. https://askubuntu.com/questions/446682/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-portable-external-hard-drive/1122123#1122123 – C.S.Cameron Jul 03 '19 at 16:24
  • @K7AAY Click on the supplied dell link, and the OSes are listed, Win 7 as the newest. – ubfan1 Jul 03 '19 at 19:30

1 Answers1

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Ordinarily, USB drives are formatted with FAT32, but when Windows formats a USB FlashDrive for FAT32, it imposes a 32GB maximum volume size. If you download and install the Rufus app then download the Ubuntu image with it and remake the LiveUSB with Rufus, you can specify ExFAT (see below) which allows you full use of that 64GB flash drive, following the specs for FAT32, and boot from it as a FAT32 drive with no problem. Once that's done, then install full Ubuntu over the Ubuntu LiveUSB image.

Also, make sure Secure Boot is turned OFF and ?HCI/xHCI is ON in the Dell BIOS/Firmware setup. Here are explicit instructions for creating a full Ubuntu install to USB.

Note: As a comment on this answer, Akeo, author of the superb Rufus Open Source LiveUSB creator, noted choosing ExFAT in Rufus formats the flash drive as 'Large FAT32' following the original FAT32 specs which do not have the Microsoft-imposed 32 GB limit. See first comment, below.

K7AAY
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    No that is wrong. You will not "boot from exFAT with no problem". There is not a single distro in existence that can natively boot from exFAT. Rufus won't let you select exFAT as the file system with an Ubuntu ISO in the first place. However, what Rufus can do is work around the 32 GB limit imposed by Windows for FAT32 partitions and use "Large FAT32" to format larger partitions to FAT32, which is probably where your confusion comes from (Rufus was using "Large FAT32" not exFAT). Disclaimer: I am the developer of Rufus. – Akeo Jul 03 '19 at 11:17
  • TY for the clarification! – K7AAY Jul 03 '19 at 15:19
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    If you decide to go with Rufus rather than a Full install and want to add Persistence see: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1126145/can-i-convert-a-live-ubuntu-usb-to-one-with-persistent-memory/1126305#1126305 – C.S.Cameron Jul 03 '19 at 16:29