How to do a full legacy-bios install onto USB stick from live desktop shortcut.

[Mouse1]

I have created booted a persistent linux lite live USB on a legacy bios computer by using Rufus and the live ISO, and very much like what I see.  . Many thanks to all involved!


I would now like to install Linux Lite fully but:
[list type=lower-alpha]
[*]on a 32Gb USB stick not a hard disk. (It is currently formatted in one partition as Ext4).
[*]to run on my legacy bios computer, not on a UEFI computer.
[/list]

I have followed your clear instructions regarding how to fully install on a legacy bios computer from the Linux Lite Live desktop installation link, but am somewhat confused regarding what to do after selecting an Install Type of 'Something Else'. I don't want to risk over-writing my Windows boot hard disk or related data disk (though all my data is backed up and I have disk clone), nor disconnect my hard disk as I might mess the hardware up!.


Assuming I know how to identify my target USB in partitioning table (I do!), will it work OK, and not over-write either of my hard disks, if I do the following in the sequence indicated:

1. Using the Device for Bootloader Installation drop-down, select my target USB as the destination for the boot loader
   
2. In the Installation Type, Device/Partitions list, select and choose to change my target USB, formatting it again (to make sure!) with a single Ext4 partition and mount point of '/'
   
3. In the Installation Type, Device/Partitions list, click on my target USB - the whole device not the partition - so it is highlit. (I note that if you don't do this it seems to revert to highlighting the main hard disk after changing the target USB).
   
4. Press Continue
   

I assume in the above that the target medium for the installation of all items (apart from the bootloader) is the disk that is highlit, is that true? Also that the installer knows that I am on a legacy bios machine and so will install the right boot sector.

I have checked the manual and forum for help on this exact topic and not found it. This approach to doing an install to USB looked promising and very safe, though it does not use the Lite Live desktop shortcut. But it seems to be about creating a persistent live usb install, not a full install, and does not mention the legacy bios issue. My apologies if I have missed something. I have also checked the posting guidelines and realize that the Lite Live desktop installation shortcut wizard may not have been programmed by Linux Lite, but as a newbie I am not sure how to tell.

Any help you can give will be much appreciated. It is my first post, so please forgive any infelicities.

Kind regards

Mouse1

[stevef]

What Linux Lite image are you proposing to use ?
What age is the proposed hardware and what version of Windows does it currently run ?

[Mouse1]

My apologies for not including this information in my post.

What Linux Lite image are you proposing to use ?

The current version, Version 6.2. Which is the version I am currently using in persistent live form. I was planning, subject to advice, on using the Lite Live Desktop installation shortcut to do this. So the exact image I guess is determined by that? The ISO I created the persistent live USB from was: linux-lite-6.2-64bit.iso.

What age is the proposed hardware and what version of Windows does it currently run ?

• Computer: Dell 8300 i7-2600 @3.4Ghz, x64, bought in c2010. USB 2.x, SATA (v2 I think) and PCIE 2.x
  
• OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64, SP1
  
• Graphics: Using built in graphics, for now, but for the future am interested in using a Nvidia GTX 1060 card which I have access to, and which the hardware database suggests people have used.
  

Though I understand USB 2.x is far from ideal, the installation is mainly a backup strategy and it runs at an acceptable rate as a persistent live USB. The original windows installation is beginning to cause problems, and I need a fall back in case failure becomes terminal. (I have a full data backup and boot disk clone, but the system was a bit unstable when the clone was made. I am trying to avoid the need to buy and configure a new computer in the middle of a project).

Many thanks and kind regards

Mouse

[stevef]

The only 64bit BIOS motherboard I have available doesn't have enough computing power to run LL6.2 effectively so I can't test your proposed install - sorry.

Would a live (or a USB persistent) not work as a fall back ?

Good luck with your project.

[Mouse1]

The only 64bit BIOS motherboard I have available doesn't have enough computing power to run LL6.2 effectively so I can't test your proposed install - sorry.

Thank you very much for looking into this. No worries, maybe someone else will know or be able to safely test.

I have found someone else attempting a very similar thing I think on Ubuntu here.

If it works on Ubuntu, will it work in Linux Lite?

Would a live (or a USB persistent) not work as a fall back ?

There is some Windows software I'd ideally like to run, which I guess would need Wine. Wine and associated software is probably most easily installed from a fully installed version of Lite?

Good luck with your project.

Thanks very much indeed.

Mouse

[Mouse1]

The approach I referred to in my last post was created for Ubuntu by the Fernhill Linux Project. I have found the associated video here:

I would be very grateful if someone would have a look at the video and written instructions and say whether they think it would work on Linux Lite.

Please not that this approach to creating a full USB installation probably only works if a live USB/DVD is booted on a legacy bios computer and installing for a legacy bios computer. (If used on a UEFI computer it may lead to installation on your boot hard disk because UEFI computers only allow one system partition (ESP) at a time on any given computer).

Kind regards

Mouse