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I am trying to create a bootable USB for Ubuntu 16.04.02 in a 128GB USB. I want:

  1. Partition for storage (formated as NTFS) of 64 GB accessible from both Windows and Linux
  2. Bootable partition (around 2GB)
  3. casper-rw partition for persistent storage

The first time I build the bootable USB I used Etcher tool by resin.io. After that I could boot in Ubuntu with the USB but when I tried to use Gparted to resize the partitions an error regarding the block size appeared. I followed a combination of this answer and this one to create a new GPT and the three partitions. However I was unable to boot with that USB.

When I plug the USB on the computer it freezes completely (the screen remains black without even light since I press the power button and the fan starts accelerating).

I tried to build the image in the second partition with 7z, UNetbootin and Startup disk creator but I always obtained the same result. I also tried to build the three partitions with mkusb without success.

Thinking that the problem was having the booting partition as the second partition I format again the USB into a single FAT32 partition and built the Live USB with UNetbootin and Startup Disk Creator in there. And I obtained the same problem. I used again the Etcher tool (with the incorrect blocksize) and it is also unable to boot.

I guess something got corrupted in the USB on that process. Do you have any idea on how to solve the problem?

PS. Sorry for the extension of the question, I am quite new in Linux and I didn't want to miss any relevant step.

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AnadonSec
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    Wouldn't it be better (and much easier) if you installed it normally? –  Mar 05 '17 at 18:56
  • @CelticWarrior : I guess by normally you mean in a single partition. As I explain at the end of the post I tried that now and it's not working. Maybe something is corrupted? Any idea on how to build GPT or reformat the USB in a different way? – AnadonSec Mar 05 '17 at 19:45
  • No, I actually meant install it normally as in doing what you normally do to install Ubuntu in an internal drive but choosing the external one, instead of trying to do a "live USB with persistence" which, BTW, cannot be done in a 128GB drive. –  Mar 05 '17 at 19:57
  • I really don't see how a permanent installation would be easy. Wouldn't I loose the possibility to boot in different machines and I will have to leave the USB installed alwats and deal with the grub every time I start up the PC ? If so, it is something I would like to avoid. Besides, I am not sure you cannot make a live USB with persistence in a 128GB drive. Have a look here for example. – AnadonSec Mar 05 '17 at 20:15
  • Are you trying to make a portable installation that you can use on multiple computers (Live CD/USB) or are you just trying to install it for use on a single computer and you want it be installed on that USB? – m_krsic Mar 05 '17 at 21:02
  • I am trying a Live USB since I will not use it very often but honestly I would not know if installing it in a USB for a single computer would give me any advantage. – AnadonSec Mar 05 '17 at 21:13
  • Building a 128GB USB3 persistent pen drive, as you spec, worked fine for me using the persistent option for mkusb. Note that persistent partitions have not worked for SDC or UNetbootin since 14.04. – C.S.Cameron Mar 06 '17 at 12:54
  • @C.S.Cameron: Do you have any idea on how to preformat the USB, build the GPT or flag the partitions in order to make it bootable? I suspect something is going on with the drive itself. – AnadonSec Mar 06 '17 at 14:27
  • @AnadonSec: I just follow the instructions from the mkusb manual for a Persistent Live install, the mkusb script formats all the partitions, makes the drive bootable and labels the casper-rw persistence partition. What extra space not used for persistence is used for a NTFS data partition that can be used by Linux or Windows. See https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb?action=AttachFile&do=view&target=mkUSB-quick-start-manual-12.pdf – C.S.Cameron Mar 07 '17 at 16:22
  • @C.S.Cameron: I did that exactly (multiple times actually) with no results. My question is whether there is something "below" the formatting that I should change to make it work. Thanks for the hint anyway :) – AnadonSec Mar 08 '17 at 18:26

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The problem was in the partition table. Using the default GPT was not working. I used mkusb to build the persistent drive chosing an MSDOS partition table and it worked just fine.

AnadonSec
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