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I've installed a persistent installation of Lubuntu 19.04 on my USB a while back, which was running with no problems until the booting process started giving errors.

error

Only the lines after and including [ OK ] started appearing when it stopped booting. The lines before that have always appeared, but they didn't prevent the system from booting.

I've used this tutorial to install before.

The USB used to appear as one drive before in Windows 10, but now it appears like this:

USB drives

I have no clue what any of these errors mean, and because I'm not very fluent in Linux I think it might be easier to make a fresh install, so if anyone knows how I can fix this that would be great! But if fixing it is too difficult for someone that's not great with Linux, I'm also OK with making a backup of the persistent storage and reinstalling the system, which I would also need help for.

karel
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    Persistent USB have a limited life - the LiveUSB image is not designed for long-term use. Preserve any data that you can, then re-make the USB. If errors persist, then replace the USB hardware. – user535733 Nov 23 '19 at 18:42
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    If you are using the drive for day to day work a Full install might be best. Unplug your HDD and install to the USB as you would to internal drive. A full install does not work for installing Ubuntu. A persistent install lasted me 6 months before the NTFS data partition fragmented. I did a Full install and it is still working three years later. – C.S.Cameron Nov 24 '19 at 04:18
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    For a list of reasons that a Persistent USB might not boot see: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1190764/why-doesnt-a-bootable-usb-boot – C.S.Cameron Nov 24 '19 at 04:29
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    Inodes are 'blocks' of storage (also called 'clusters' in windows speak), where you have block(s) (ID is in error message) which have gone bad & data on it doesn't match the checksum. This is a hardware issue the checksum detected - why user535733 made reference to not-long-term use, as your media has failed. Your thumb-drive needs to be fsck (file system checked) & badblocks (look to see how much is still usable) - though in truth its easier to just throw it as it's dying already & problems will very likely continue with growing frequency with that device. You have a hardware error – guiverc Nov 24 '19 at 07:29

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I agree with the other answer and comments, that a persistent live system in a USB pendrive is not suitable for a long-time usage.

  • The flash hardware memory cells are sensitive to wear at write operations.
  • The electronics for spreading the wear in the pendrive are sensitive to corruption.
  • The overlay method of the persistent live system is sensitive to corruption (software error).

  • The original linux kernel and its hardware drivers will always be used. Updating and upgrading, that works in an installed system does not work here, because the kernel is started before the overlay system is started.

  • But a persistent live system is very portable between computers, which is an advantage, and if used carefully and with regular backups, it is can be a good alternative to an installed system for example

    • as a temporary operating system
    • during travelling without a computer; you can borrow computers and run your own operating system.

The following links and links from them may help to analyze the problems and maybe solve them.

sudodus
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Inodes are 'blocks' of storage (also called 'clusters' in windows speak), where you have block(s) (ID is in error message) which have gone bad & data on it doesn't match the checksum.

This is a hardware issue the checksum detected - why user535733 made reference to not-long-term use, as your media has failed. They are not a medium-long term replacement for a real hdd/ssd; they can be read with little damage but each write shortens life

Your thumb-drive needs a fsck (file system check) & badblocks (look to see how much is still usable) - though in truth its easier to just throw it as it's dying already & problems will very likely continue with growing frequency with that device.

You have a hardware error in the area of your media used by inode 394869 and you'll have troubles possibly every time that part of your device is used from now on. Other parts may still be okay (esp. for reading) but the device should no longer be treated as trustworthy with data you value.

A reformat may 'hide' it (like a mine at sea in war), but the issue will re-occur via lost data whenever that inode/block/cluster is re-used; so only use it with data you can replace! or afford to lose.

guiverc
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