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I am a newbie here. I first started using Linux with Lubuntu on my old Lenovo 11e Chromebook that has only 16GB internal memory. I was quickly running out of space, so I decided to load it onto a a 32GB SanDisk flash drive. That was good except it feels like with updates, etc. I'm running out of space again, so I decided to buy some cheap 512GB flash drives online. Unfortunately when I try and load Lubuntu onto those drives I get so far with the installation process and then this message comes up.

Installation failed
rsync failed with error code 11 (or sometimes 10)

Error code 11 (or sometimes 10) failed to unpack image "/cdrom/casper/filesystem.squash.fs"
Failed to unpack image "/cdrom/casper/filesystem.squashfs"

I have tried everything I can think of. I've downloaded the image onto one of the the 512GB flash drives and tried to install it from them (it will again install on a a SanDisk 32GB flash drive but not onto another 512GB flash drive. I've formatted the drives using the Disks utility and the KDE Partition Manager, but I had no luck. Trying a larger SanDisk flash drive is the next step, but I'd rather not have to buy one unless I really need to (especially because I'm not 100% sure that it would work), and I wonder if anyone might have any other ideas on how I might get Lubuntu to install on the ones I already have. They seem to work fine when storing other data (they didn't come with any label, but are identified within various partition management utilities as either general disk or vendor product).

I have searched in different forums for answers which led me up a couple of blind alleys such as persistent live flash drives.

karel
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Árainn
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  • Did you verify the ISO download as being correct as per manual (20.04's manual is no longer visible online, so use 22.04's manual - https://manual.lubuntu.me/lts/1/1.1/retrieving_the_image.html) and then write to media? I've seen the message you mention, but it was long ago, I suspect it's related to your installation media being invalid (usually bad write of ISO to media thus my ISO validation & write queries). You didn't specify which 20.04 media you used (ie. 20.04, 20.04.1, ... 20.04.5 as later calamares are better than earlier) – guiverc Jan 24 '23 at 22:05
  • Maybe worth a try, but sudo -E calamares -d to start the installer, it will enable a more verbose logging which can bypass some older timing issues with older calamares... (this is from https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/calamares/+bug/1894364 comment 2). You do realize 20.04 reaches the end of its 3 years of supported life in 2023-April; ie. a few months from now (beyond just later releases have better releases of the calamares installer) – guiverc Jan 24 '23 at 22:15
  • @guiverc so sorry -schoolboy error -It is the 22.04.1 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) I have (edited the question now) thank you. – Árainn Jan 24 '23 at 23:35
  • Your tag still says 20.04, but I'd still follow the suggestions I provided such as verification of ISO, checking write.. but also the running of calamares with debug flag as per prior comment. – guiverc Jan 24 '23 at 23:40
  • You could file a bug report (additional details can be seen in logs that get uploaded with bug report), or even try 22.10 (which has a later & better calamares), then if you wanted 22.04 (not 22.10) re-install without format 22.04 as the installer has fewer issues on a re-install.... 10 & 11 errors are usually strange partition layouts (from memory), so do the partitioning manually before you do install & have calamares just use prepared partitions; adding gparted & using it can also help (bypass a Qt5 issue that gets triggered with some partition layouts; that issue hasn't been found) – guiverc Jan 24 '23 at 23:49
  • identified as "general disk" in the second to last paragraph seems like a murky descriptive phrase to me. Are you sure that it didn't say "generic disk"? – karel Jan 25 '23 at 03:06
  • @guiverc Thank you so much...lots to look into:) will let you know how I get on. – Árainn Jan 25 '23 at 12:02

2 Answers2

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Rsync error code 11 indicates that the Disk Space is Full

or the system is unable to detect the external drive

"some cheap 512GB flash drives online" sounds like they may be fake 512GB flash drives. Fake flash drives and SSD's are quite common.

Back when 16GB flash drives were expensive, I bought a Kinston Traveler from a hawker outside a New Deli computer store. The packaging was perfect and the drive looked perfect. I took it back to the hotel room and discovered that it was hollow inside. I take it with me when I travel.

A few years later I got a great deal on a 128GB flash drive from Amazon, it checked out okay on Gnome Disks but it only lasted one day.

Saw an ad on Amazon last week for a 16TB SSD's for $100. That ended up just being a USB external enclosure with a 64GB Micro SD card inside.

f3 is recommended for checking for fake flash drives: https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/bionic/man1/f3read.1.html

If you get the flash drives working see also: https://askubuntu.com/a/1403793/43926

If you do not get it working, it might be good to carry on your keychain, like I do, as a reminder about deals that are too good to be true...

I like running Ubuntu from flash drives. Ubuntu will run in RAM if you have enough of it. RAM is much faster than SSD except when reading or writing to disk.

C.S.Cameron
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    Thank you @C.S.Cameron F3 told that they had 30GB so will be sending them back to whence they came:) – Árainn Jan 29 '23 at 18:56
  • Thanks @CS Cameron I was wondering how to do that.the company call themselves U-Data and according to the ebay return address are based in a town called Cheadle in Cheshire here in England. – Árainn Jan 30 '23 at 11:37
  • @Árainn: Try to contact them on their website. I have not been able to find that company on the internet. Fly by night I think. I have never had any luck returning a bad flash drive, That is why I carry a fake flash drive on my keychain. I doubt that we can get Scotland Yard or Interpol interested. A 32GB is enough to run a Full install of Ubuntu from, as long as you don't add too many programs or data. Problem is that they are probably the cheapest 32GB flash drives they could find. – C.S.Cameron Jan 30 '23 at 12:10
  • Thanks @C.S. Cameron I thought I would wait until I knew whether /i got the refund and thankfully ebay ruled in my favour (in part I think because I could show a screen shot of the f3 data) so I got a full refund - I did pay return postage so do have something to remember my folly by but got the £20 purchase price back that I probably wouldn't have without your advice so once again Ty :) – Árainn Feb 12 '23 at 13:12
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Running Ubuntu from a flash drive was a smart option at one time, but it's no longer the smartest option in some use cases. Portable SSDs that are a bit smaller than the palm of a hand have gotten cheap enough to compete with USB flash drives for some use cases as listed below, and they have the following advantages over flash drives.

  • better performance

  • longer lifespan, especially when there are frequent read/write operations on the drive

  • Running Ubuntu from an SSD is more fun. Ubuntu is a great operating system for servers and workstations, but I like it to be fun too.

If your portable SSD comes with built-in drive encryption software you need to reformat the drive before installing Ubuntu on it, because Ubuntu is not compatible with the encryption software that is bundled with some portable SSD models.

karel
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