How a Windows user makes quick Porteus test USB's.

[Karmi]

Less than a year wid Porteus 5 Cinnamon under my belt, and I usually use a Porteus test USB before installing anything 'Major' onto my main Porteus drive, e.g., a NVIDIA driver or Printer driver – OR – even software like Oracle VM VirtualBox, etc.

I also save copies of all the.xzm modules that I have downloaded or created, into a Data folder on another drive/s. NOTE: Starting today, I also save a copy of the Boot folder of my main Porteus drive's fat32 partition, in that same Data folder...more on that in a moment.

On the General chat forum's Canon imageCLASS MF3010 VP [SOLVED] post I was all over the place, trying to respond quickly to advice, tips, and possible solutions. I had made a mess of a couple test USB's 'n needed to create other test USB's quickly; however, re-editing that sda1/boot/syslinux.cfg file 'n probably the porteus.cfg (?)file also can take time. Heck, I have to go back 'n reread my notes on how to set it all back up again.

Remember now, I am a Windows user with less than a year of Porteus Linux experience, so there are probably better ways of doing what I am writing about here. However, this worked twice for me:

1) I use a 32GB SanDisk. Create a 350MB fat32 partition & the rest is created as ext4.

2) Open a Porteus v5.0-x86_64.iso file. Copy the EFI folder to the 350MB fat32 partition, and copy the Porteus folder to the ext4 partition on that 32GB USB that was just created.

3) As noted above, I now save a copy of the Boot folder of my main Porteus drive in a separate Data folder wid my saved .xzm module copies. I then copy that Boot folder to the 350MB fat32 partition on the 32GB USB we are using here. That Boot folder can be copied from either the main Porteus drive or from the copy that was saved in that Data folder.

Shutdown. Switch to new 32GB Porteus test USB 'n boot up. I then take whatever saved .xzm modules I want to use, and copy them to the Porteus Modules folder on the new Porteus test USB's. Ready to try 'n keep up wid Blaze 'n beny again!

NOTE: I also tried to copy the Porteus folder of my main Porteus drive to the Porteus test USB's ext4 partition, but it didn't work...possibly because of a size difference, but I dunno.

[Ed_P]

From the official Porteus USB_INSTALLATION.txt file in the Porteus ISOs:

FOR EFI SYSTEMS:
Ensure the first partition is of type FAT32.
a) Copy the EFI, boot and porteus folders onto the FAT32 partition.

The highlighting is by me.

So, if you are having booting or other technical problems it might be related to your install approaches.

and copy the Porteus folder to the ext4 partition on that 32GB USB that was just created.

[gnintilgyes]

If there is any POSIX compliant file system (not savefile) then "/porteus" should be copied in there. Only if the drive is entirely FAT32, as external USB disks usually are, then there is no trouble placing "/porteus" there.

The problem with having an "ext4" or such partition is that it's not as easy as with FAT32 or NTFS to transfer data files from and to Windows, if the user also intends to use that OS. But a Windows user who cares less about Linux should save documents into FAT32 or such partition whenever possible.

I say this because it's easy to mix and match using a distribution which allows the user to be "always root", gets fancy saving documents into a "foreign ext4" partition and then becoming angry trying to boot into another Linux as regular user and being denied write access to those documents. This happened to me using Puppy Linux and ALT Linux which made me keep distance from those two among other things. Lesson learned.

[Karmi]

From the official Porteus USB_INSTALLATION.txt file in the Porteus ISOs:

FOR EFI SYSTEMS:
Ensure the first partition is of type FAT32.
a) Copy the EFI, boot and porteus folders onto the FAT32 partition.

The highlighting is by me.

So, if you are having booting or other technical problems it might be related to your install approaches.

and copy the Porteus folder to the ext4 partition on that 32GB USB that was just created.

'Booting or other technical problems' wid my method?!? Absolutely not...

I stopped using an entire fat32 partition for the EFI, boot, & Porteus folders soon after trying Porteus. Just never worked like I wanted, and the issue of needing to create that save file 'Thingie. Porteus is extremely flexible tho, so there are many ways to use and/or install it...

[fulalas]

I also tried to copy the Porteus folder of my main Porteus drive to the Porteus test USB's ext4 partition, but it didn't work...possibly because of a size difference, but I dunno.

In my experience Gparted creates ext partition with root permission, which messes the whole thing. So what works for me is formatting in ext (well, if you don't care about EFI then just one partition is enough), then:

Code: Select all

chown -R guest:users /porteus
chown -R guest:users /boot

Then copy all your Porteus files to the USB flash drive and finally give the sane permissions:

Code: Select all

chmod -R 755

Finally, run Porteus bootable application for Linux inside /boot to make the unit bootable.

This should be enough

If you're coming from Windows, I guess formatting in FAT/NTFS is the only option, no? Which is not a big deal since there are many ways to enable persistence (savedata or rootcopy, for instance). The procedure is even simpler on Windows: just copy Porteus files to the USB flash drive and run Porteus bootable application for Windows inside /boot to make the unit bootable.

[Karmi]

I also tried to copy the Porteus folder of my main Porteus drive to the Porteus test USB's ext4 partition, but it didn't work...possibly because of a size difference, but I dunno.

In my experience Gparted creates ext partition with root permission, which messes the whole thing. So what works for me is formatting in ext (well, if you don't care about EFI then just one partition is enough), then:

Code: Select all

chown -R guest:users /porteus
chown -R guest:users /boot

Then copy all your Porteus files to the USB flash drive and finally give the sane permissions:

Code: Select all

chmod -R 755

Finally, run Porteus bootable application for Linux inside /boot to make the unit bootable.

This should be enough

If you're coming from Windows, I guess formatting in FAT/NTFS is the only option, no? Which is not a big deal since there are many ways to enable persistence (savedata or rootcopy, for instance). The procedure is even simpler on Windows: just copy Porteus files to the USB flash drive and run Porteus bootable application for Windows inside /boot to make the unit bootable.

Have been using Porteus for less than a year, but have used various Linuxes as a secondary OS to Windows since 1996. Certainly no expert on it tho...

The reason I like fat32/ext4 is that everything gets saved automatically. I even read about it here on the forum, which is why I tried it. I leave NTFS for Windows, so had no clue that Porteus works on it; however, not something I would want to try. NTFS is for Windows...so to speak whilst smiling.

The only reason I mentioned trying 'to copy the Porteus folder of my main Porteus drive to the Porteus test USB's ext4 partition' was to sorta explain why I just used the one from the .iso in the original post here. Probably should not have mentioned it, since it was a mere blip that I quickly moved on from.

The rest of what you mentioned is too technical for me; however, there are obviously even more way to use and/or install Porteus than I have read about this past year. Amazing OS!

Thanks for the info!

[Karmi]

If there is any POSIX compliant file system (not savefile) then "/porteus" should be copied in there. Only if the drive is entirely FAT32, as external USB disks usually are, then there is no trouble placing "/porteus" there.

Agreed. However, since Linuxes are a secondary OS for me, I install the ones I like on USBs. They get partitioned 'n formatted all kinds of Linux ways. When I'm just testing a Linux OS, I use test SSDs first, and then reformat that SSD after testing. If I like the Distro, I save the iso...have Porteus on three different USBs, Fedora Cinnamon SPIN on two USBs & a converted Chromebook, have Sparky on one USB, and Puppy on one USB. Porteus, Fedora & Sparky are also on 7-port switched hub, along wid a fat32 32GB USB Data drive that is used to feed them wid Data when needed. That fat32 32GB Data drive gets its data from my main Win11 Pro computer, which actually has all my Data (which gets backed up often to two remote drives).

The problem with having an "ext4" or such partition is that it's not as easy as with FAT32 or NTFS to transfer data files from and to Windows, if the user also intends to use that OS. But a Windows user who cares less about Linux should save documents into FAT32 or such partition whenever possible.

Never had any problems transferring files to or from ext4.

I say this because it's easy to mix and match using a distribution which allows the user to be "always root", gets fancy saving documents into a "foreign ext4" partition and then becoming angry trying to boot into another Linux as regular user and being denied write access to those documents. This happened to me using Puppy Linux and ALT Linux which made me keep distance from those two among other things. Lesson learned.

I won't use an OS that wants control over me, e.g., annoying Authenticate pop/s that constantly slow down my workflow. One password at a login windows is all I will put up wid, e.g., Chrome OS & Sparky OS.

[Rapha_]

Never had any problems transferring files to or from ext4.

your ext4 is visible from Windows ?

[Karmi]

Never had any problems transferring files to or from ext4.

your ext4 is visible from Windows ?

No. However, both the ext4 partition & my Windows OS can see the fat32 32GB Data USB that I share wid them. If a Linux OS needs my bookmarks, I copy them from my Win11 OS machine to that mentioned USB, and then plug that USB into the Linux machine...open the Linux OS & copy the bookmarks to it. Say I was testing this same Linux OS 'n had made some pics of some settings or such that I wanted to save. I would place those pics onto the same mentioned USB 'n move that USB to my main Win11 OS machine. Like I said, 'Never had any problems transferring files to or from ext4.'

[gnintilgyes]

I won't use an OS that wants control over me, e.g., annoying Authenticate pop/s that constantly slow down my workflow. One password at a login windows is all I will put up wid, e.g., Chrome OS & Sparky OS.

Avoid Mageia v9 alpha out now. Just wanting to go into Mageia Control Center is one prompt, wanting to update/install programs is another... I hope they fix that, and the installer which is a bit spotty.

In a few other distros, if the user wants to change the system time and the time zone, might expect two password prompts, one to "unlock". This peaked me off one day.

[Karmi]

I won't use an OS that wants control over me, e.g., annoying Authenticate pop/s that constantly slow down my workflow. One password at a login windows is all I will put up wid, e.g., Chrome OS & Sparky OS.

Avoid Mageia v9 alpha out now. Just wanting to go into Mageia Control Center is one prompt, wanting to update/install programs is another... I hope they fix that, and the installer which is a bit spotty.

Yeah, I have Mageia 8 Linux listed as a Distro that allows me to be Fulltime Root user. OK...good tip and I'll wait for their final version of 9 to come out before checking it again.

[Ed_P]

If a Linux OS needs my bookmarks, I copy them from my Win11 OS machine to that mentioned USB, and then plug that USB into the Linux machine...open the Linux OS & copy the bookmarks to it.

You complain about how difficult it is to use a save.dat file but have no problem with doing this! Most Windows users, to which I'm one, want things simple, easy to use and easy access to all files. Some of us don't install Linux systems, we boot the ISOs directly, which is what I do. No USB drive needed, all files accessible.

[Karmi]

^ I don't use Linux on my main computer.

I have 39 Linux iso's right now. Can you boot Fedora 37 Cinnamon SPIN or Arch Linux on your machine directly?

[Ed_P]

I have 39 Linux iso's right now.

I don't think I have 39 isos.

Code: Select all

guest@porteus:/mnt/nvme0n1p7/ISOs$ ls -oh *.iso
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 1.3G Dec 27  2016 2016-12-13-pixel-x86-jessie.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 331M Dec 24  2021 7pe_x64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 958M May 25  2019 APorteus-CINNAMON-v19.05.06-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 653M Nov 25  2019 APorteus-MULT_ja-v19.10.20-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 546M Nov  9  2021 APorteus-v21.11.08-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 468M May  7  2022 APorteus-v22.05.05-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 1.5G Feb 24  2016 GoboLinux-015-i686.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 1.2G Oct 31  2020 Ignis_Linux-Porteus-v5.0rc2-12092020-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 668M Dec  9  2021 KNOPPIX_V9.1CD-2021-01-25-EN.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 1.2G Feb 20  2017 MX-16_x64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 1.5G Mar 13  2020 MX-19.1_x64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 359M Oct  7 18:37 Nemesis-v22.08-CINNAMON-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 582M Mar 19  2022 OV.Porteus-CINNAMON-20220305-x86_64-k5.16.15.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 345M Jul 26  2019 OV.Porteus-OPENBOX-v5.0rc1-zstd-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 1.2G May 26  2017 Parrot-lite-3.6_amd64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 711M Sep  3  2019 Parted_Magic_2019_09_03.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 856M Jul 31  2018 PhoenixOSInstaller_v3.0.3.459_x86_x64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 271M Nov 18  2021 Porteus-CINNAMON-v3.2.1-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 273M Jan  1  2017 Porteus-CINNAMON-v3.2.2-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 305M Dec  3  2019 Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-i586.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 345M Mar 31  2022 Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64-4.19.236.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 359M Mar  2  2022 Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64-5.16.11.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 359M Mar 23  2022 Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64-5.16.15.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 348M Apr  2  2022 Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64-5.17.1.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 449M Mar 30  2022 Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64-5.17.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 307M Apr 29  2018 Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 359M Aug 19 17:23 Porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0-x86_64-220723.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 360M Aug  4 21:17 Porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0-x86_64-220727.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 358M Oct 11 21:28 Porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0-x86_64-220924.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 359M Aug 23 00:23 Porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 359M Aug 10 14:24 Porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0-x86_64x.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 315M Nov  9  2021 Porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0rc1-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 348M Aug 12  2021 Porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0rc3-i586.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 356M Jul  6  2021 Porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0rc3-x86_64-1.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest  53M May  3  2016 Porteus-Kiosk-3.7.0-i586.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 208M Feb 22  2016 Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64-nu-r.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 186M Feb  2  2015 Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64-nu.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 187M Dec 14  2014 Porteus-LXQT-v3.1-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 269M Apr 24  2018 Porteus-OPENBOX-v4.0-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 266M Feb 14  2018 Porteus-OPENBOX-v4.0rc4-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 182M Jan 31  2015 Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-i486-nu.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 215M Sep 15  2014 Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-i486.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 190M Jan 30  2015 Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-x86_64-nu.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 223M Oct  2  2016 Porteus-RazorQT-v3.0.1-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 258M Feb 27  2017 Porteus-XFCE-v4.0.0-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 270M Dec 14  2017 Porteus-XFCE-v4.0rc1-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 275M Feb 14  2018 Porteus-XFCE-v4.0rc4-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest  75M Jun 24  2017 R-DriveImage_6.1.6107_OEMKit.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 387M Dec 22  2016 REPAIR_DISC_WINDOWS_10_64_BIT.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 183M Jun  7  2012 REPAIR_DISC_WINDOWS_7_64_BIT.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 227M Feb 27  2013 REPAIR_DISC_WINDOWS_8_64_BIT.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest  34K Aug 29  2015 Recovery.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 2.0G Apr 24  2022 Solus-4.3-Plasma.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 3.4G Jul 10  2017 Windows.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 240M Feb 11  2016 abSlak_100216.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 678M Aug  7  2019 android-x86-8.1-r2.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 680M Feb 25  2017 antiX-16.1_x64-full.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest  18M Dec 26  2016 cd140201.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 2.7G Feb 10  2020 clear-32270-live-desktop.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 2.3G Oct 11  2018 debian-9.5.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 997M Sep  3  2018 devuan_ascii_2.0.0_amd64_desktop-live.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 293M Nov  6  2017 gparted-live-0.30.0-1-i686.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 376M May 28  2021 gparted-live-1.3.0-1-i686.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 344M Mar 19  2019 install64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 1.9G Jul 31  2019 linuxmint-19.2-cinnamon-64bit.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 489M Oct 11  2020 nemesis-xfce-20.10.11-k5.4.50-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 628M May  7  2022 nemisis-new-022022-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 631M Apr 22  2014 pebuilder.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 254M Apr 23  2019 porteus-4.0-i586-20180415.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 256M Apr 15  2018 porteus-4.0-x86_64-20180415.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 275M Dec  9  2018 porteus-5.0-x86_64-20181208.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 269M Dec 25  2018 porteus-5.0-x86_64-20181224.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 281M May 27  2019 porteus-5.0rc1-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 354M May 25  2021 porteus-CINNAMON-v5.0rc3-x86_64X.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 249M Jan  7  2016 porteus-nemesis-v3.5-lxde-x86_64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 595M Oct 27  2018 runtimelivecd.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 3.4G Aug 17  2021 slackware64-live-cinnamon-current.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 699M May 28  2017 slackware64-live-xfce-current.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest  35M Jun 19  2017 slitaz-4.0.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 1.9G Nov 15  2018 ubuntu-18.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 1.9G Jul 10  2019 ubuntu-18.04.2-desktop-amd64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 3.6G Sep  4 15:07 ubuntu-22.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso*
-rwxrwxrwx 1 guest 2.8G Jun 14  2021 ubuntu-mate-21.04-desktop-amd64.iso*
guest@porteus:/mnt/nvme0n1p7/ISOs$ 

[gnintilgyes]

I don't need 39 ISO's. And I don't think Ventoy is terrific for keeping a library of them. I'm willing to install, yes, including wasting 3-1/2 hours downloading and putting Rocky Linux on an external USB disk. :o

I rejected it because Wine cannot be installed on that distro and maybe anything else RHEL-related. GNOME v40, Linux v5.14 just LOL, what for?

I have Knoppix and used it for a while. It has a nice concept but it needs to get away from "ReiserFS" because it's being obsoleted. I hope they release a new version soon.

Solus with KDE Plasma was going to be my first experience ever with that D.E. Otherwise I chose MATE, installed it and used it for three months but eventually I had to put it off. Trying to install Bunsen Labs Lithium caused Solus to refuse to boot which forced me to reinstall it. Three days later it messed up again so out of there for good, replaced it with Fedora XFCE. Have you seen anything like Solus what it does with ESP? Seriously? :crazy:

...must... get... back... into... Porteus! Forget about those other fish in the ocean.