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Can I install Ubuntu onto an sd card and move it between devices? (like can I install Ubuntu onto an sd card and move the sd card to another computer and boot from it?)

usb_bunny
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    It can be done - I have done it before. Installation is the same as for USB. However I had some cross-platform compatibility issues (like the OS didn't work on different computers, just the first one), issues with limited space on the SD, and issues with corruption - I suspect my SD card wasn't built to endure the many read/write cycles encountered by a root file system. – Owen Oct 13 '20 at 22:52
  • Only thing to add, I would not depend on SD to hold important data. Make sure you have backups. – crip659 Oct 13 '20 at 23:05
  • Most Raspberry Pi's use SD cards to run their OS;s. – C.S.Cameron Oct 14 '20 at 03:38
  • It works fine. Yes you can go between (linux)computers, except for when you have different drivers/configuration for things like graphics cards... But after some time, it doesn't seem to work fine anymore. It seemed like the file system repair was running on every other boot. And then when it started to seize during use, i would reboot and ALWAYS see the filesystem repair. I attributed it to being plugged into a ridged usb adapter that could easily be jolted loose, after I found a usb adapter that had a wire connection and performed significantly better.. but even that faltered after a while – WU-TANG Oct 14 '20 at 04:19

1 Answers1

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Creating a Full install Ubuntu SD card from a Pre-built Image File that Boots BIOS and UEFI

(Password is "changeme", change it),

The SD card should boot on almost any modern X86-64 computer.

Thanks to sudodus for the image file.

In Windows it may be necessary to install 7Zip before proceeding. Rufus will use it when working with the .xz image: https://www.7-zip.org/a/7z1900-x64.exe

*In Ubuntu you can use mkusb, Disks or Etcher to flash the SD card.

C.S.Cameron
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  • Is anything like this available for flavors like Xubuntu? – Archisman Panigrahi Jun 13 '22 at 05:38
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    @Archisman Panigrahi: I got that link from sudodus. he has made a few examples, https://phillw.net/isos/linux-tools/uefi-n-bios/. You can PM him at Ubuntu Forums. The installer for Ubuntu for ARM64 comes as an image file or you can make your own similar to: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1300540/how-to-duplicate-a-ubuntu-system-for-distribution. – C.S.Cameron Jun 13 '22 at 14:17
  • @Archisman Panigrahi: See also https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2474692&highlight=USB. – C.S.Cameron Jun 13 '22 at 14:36