Possible to install Linux Lite on a USB external hard drive?

[jray]

I've tried installing Linux Lite on my old XP machine but the graphics chip just won't allow the destop to appear fully, so I gave up on that machine. I have a Windows 7 laptop which will run it fine on the live DVD. My issue is, I'd love to run it alongside Windows 7, but my internal HDD is only 250 gb. I have a 500 gb external usb hard drive and I was wondering if it's possible to install Linux Lite on that drive, and if so, how should I go about it. Any info would be helpful. Thanks!

[Scott(0)]

Hi jray. Yes, it's possible to install LL on an external USB drive. The laptop I'm using now is running LL 108 64bit on an external drive.

Hardware concerns. Make sure the external drive has enough power. My USB cable has a separate usb plug for power (i.e. one usb for data, one for power). You could also just plug it into the wall. This isn't absolutely necessary but odd things will happen if the drive becomes underpowered while you're using it.

Since I don't know what parts you have questions on, here's an overview, read it and ask for help on areas that aren't clear.

Installation is pretty much like a normal installation only you pick the external usb drive instead of the internal laptop drive.

Boot the laptop to LL (usb or CD). After it's booted, plug the external drive in (not 100% necessary but this order does help sometimes). Click the install LL icon. If you get a warning about drives need to be mounted/unmounted click yes/ok.

The part you must pay attention to is drive destination. Your internal hard drive will probably be /dev/sda and the usb drive will probably be /dev/sdb. Make absolutely certain you're choosing the correct drive.

Additionaly, when installing the bootloader (grub) make certain you specify the correct drive (NOT the internal laptop hard drive).

When booting into LL after the installation depending how your laptop is configured you may need to specify usb as the boot device.

[jray]

Thanks for responding Scott. I tried the procedure you posted. When it got to the part about mounting/unmounting drives, it only showed dev/sdb. When I clicked yes, it gave me the option to install alongside Windows 7, erase Windows 7 and install LL, or "something" else. So I quit on the installation, since it obviously wasn't going to allow me to install on my usb hdd. That is, unless the "something else" is what I needed to do. Not sure what to think about it since it only showed one drive instead of 2.

[newtusmaximus]

JRay - For the record what is the make and model of your old XP machine that you had the graphics problem on, and how much RAM. and HDD  Tks

[N4RPS]

Hello!

Another option is to remove the 500GB hard drive from its external case, install it in the laptop, and move your Windows 7 system over to it. I did that recently with a 1TB drive because an external drive costs considerably less than a bare drive.

Yet another option is to run LL from a 32GB SD card. Even class 10, the fastest ones, can be had for $20 or less...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[gold_finger]

Thanks for responding Scott. I tried the procedure you posted. When it got to the part about mounting/unmounting drives, it only showed dev/sdb. When I clicked yes, it gave me the option to install alongside Windows 7, erase Windows 7 and install LL, or "something" else. So I quit on the installation, since it obviously wasn't going to allow me to install on my usb hdd. That is, unless the "something else" is what I needed to do. Not sure what to think about it since it only showed one drive instead of 2.

Hi jray,

Yes, the "Something else" option is what you need to use.  After you pick that you will be brought to a page that displays all drives and their partitions.  Then you can pick the USB drive.  (See note at end before continuing.)  If you don't already have it partitioned, then click the free space shown for the USB, then the "+" button to "add" a partition.  Easiest thing to do is just create 2 partitions -- one for root (/), the other for Swap.

*  For root:  "Use as" = Ext4 file system, "Mount Point" = /, Size = whole USB less size for Swap, click box to Format the partition.

*  For swap:  "Use as" = linux-swap, no "mount point" needed, Size = 1-2 times RAM size (you choose), check box to Format if available (can't remember).

*  If you want to create a separate Home partition, you can do that as well.  In that case, make Root 15GB, Swap = size 1-2 times RAM, Home = rest of disk space, Mount Point = /home, Use as = Ext4.

If you had partitions made ahead of time on the USB, you still pick "Something else".  Then you select each partition, hit the "Change" button, then fill-in appropriate categories shown above except won't be necessary to click Format box.

Once partitions have been created or designated for the installation, near the bottom of that partitioning window you will see "Device for boot loader installation".  There you must change what is currently selected and point it at the device name for the USB.  In Scott(0)'s example, that would be /dev/sdb -- with no partition number after the "sdb".

When you're done, use BIOS settings for booting to external drive when you want to use it.  When you boot the external drive it will give you grub boot menu showing choice of both Windows and LL.  When you boot computer to internal drive, Windows will boot as normal with no sign of LL being present.

NOTE:  If your USB external drive is currently formatted as one large FAT32 partition, or has some other partition scheme on it that is not for Linux, you will need to change that.  The easiest thing to do is make changes to it BEFORE running the installer.  (You can do it from within the installer, but it is more difficult.)

*  Boot LL live installation disk
*  Plug in & turn on external HDD
*  Go to Menu -> System -> Partition Drives to open GParted
*  Refer to this tutorial on how to operate GParted:  http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/gparted.html
*  Delete the current partitions
*  Create your new partitions, or leave empty space and create partitions during installation.
*  Don't forget to hit the "Apply" button -- arrow under word "Help" along top -- to apply your changes.
*  Close program when done and start installation.

[jray]

Thanks for everyone's responses. I've done some research today and I think I've figured out what I want to do. I'm going to clone my internal 250gb HDD to my external usb HDD. After that I'll remove the external drive from its case and install it in my laptop, then do a side by side install of LL on the larger 500gb drive and have a dual boot system, with approximately 250 gb alotted to each OS.

[N4RPS]

Hello!

Yes, in the long run, that will probably be the best overall solution for you. Just remember to boot into Windows off the cloned drive (to insure all is still well) before doing anything irrevocable to the data on the drive you have now.

Hope it all works out to your satisfaction!

73 DE N4RPS
Rob