I have 2 computers.
- MacBook Pro - MacOS X Sierra
- HP ProDesk - Windows X
I would like to have native ubuntu access on both of them. I cant dual boot it as both of them are Office Machines. I have access to BIOS.
Prepared a bootable Ubuntu 16.04.02 using rufus on windows. Let us call this usb-1.
I want to install Ubuntu 16.04.02 on a USB-3.0 32 GB, let us call this usb-2. A drive which I can plug in either of the computers and boot into linux, with persistence and installed software on it.
Installed Ubuntu on the usb-2, via HP-Desktop machine. Grub overwrites windows boot loader, but still ok, I was able to boot into either Windows-SSD or Ubuntu-usb with manual boot-menu-selection. Plugged the usb into the mac, and mac did not detect it.
The live-usb was detected easily on MAC (Options Key on reboot). On Mac, I tried to re-install ubuntu again on the usb-2, manual partitions (no-swap), EFI - 400 mb, and rest all /. Grub to install on usb-2 (and not a partition-number).
Restarted the MAC, it booted into ubuntu. Install updates and softwares. All well. I plugged the usb back into HP Desktop, and the usb is not detected. I even could not boot ubuntu via boot menu, but was able to boot into windows.
Although I have tried various combinations, after removing the SSD out of Desktop. On Desktop Ubuntu boots fine, Windows boot fine, but I cant boot ubuntu from MAC. When I install ubuntu on usb-2 from MAC, I cant boot from a HP-Desktop machine. Even the BIOS does not detect at boot menus, when the install is done via other machine.
Live-usb detects well on both the machines and boots into ubuntu fine. But nothing is persistent on that. I cannot even save a user.
I am not able to understand grub. What kind of boot loader is in a live-usb.
Can I not just install Ubuntu on a usb, and then replace it with live-usb's bootloader, os that it boots in both of my machines?
Any help/comments/answers/pointers/projects/blogs/forum would be very appreciated.
