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UNetbootin Creates USB-Bootable Linux the Easy Way
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 7:30 AM on August 28, 2008
Windows and Linux only: Free bootable image creator UNetbootin automates the downloading, imaging, and installing of Linux distributions onto USB thumb drives, creating a persistent, boot-anywhere desktop. We've previously featured rather involved guides to putting Linux on a flash drive, but UNetbootin does it all for you, from downloading the right ISO to setting up a USB stick as a bootable Linux drive. It can also convert almost any bootable ISO, so if you've got an old, smaller thumb drive not seeing much use these days, you can use UNetbootin to install a partition editor, a file-recovering live CD, or the Windows password-cracking Ophcrack. UNetbootin is a free download for Windows XP and higher and Linux systems.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
omar
Posted August 29, 2008 2:53 PM
i just installed linux mint on my usb drive, but it does not keep my configurations, for example, the WEP passwords, or any file y created using it. Is there a way to make this persistent SO? at least for my config.
what is the difference between booting with the defalt option or the start linux mint option?
Thanks, Omar
RD
Posted October 13, 2008 10:03 AM
These links should give you a good starting point:
http://www.ryancloke.com/ubuntu-804-hardy-heron-live-usb-how-to/
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/2007/09/28/usb-ubuntu-710-gutsy-gibbon-install/
ryancloke has a initrd that can be substituted using Unetbootin
Greg.Rowler
Posted 7:36 AM 28/8/08
Awesome. Thanks LH! I've recently fallen in love with Linux on USB, but some of the mechanics of it are tricky. I started trying to get a persistent version of Ubuntu, but my MBR kept breaking.
I found a good solution at pendrivelinux.com, but the mandriva install of theirs doesn't play nicely with my atheros wifi card.
[www.pendrivelinux.com]
Greg.Rowler
Abby_Normal
Posted 8:18 AM 28/8/08
Gentoo documentation has a good tutorial, but you might need to do a little editing of the syslinux.cfg file to match up with your distro. (It's been a while since I've attempted this.)
[www.gentoo.org]
Feel free to correct me. =)
Abby_Normal
geekblake
Posted 11:11 AM 28/8/08
Oh one more thing:
First paragraph: Free bootable image creator UNetbootin automates the downloading, imaging...
Unetbootin does not create any of the bootable images, it simply downloads an image (or uses one you already have), puts it on your flash drive, and installs the appropriate bootloader info to your flash drive.
geekblake
geekblake
Posted 11:08 AM 28/8/08
I had found this one a while ago. Not only can it be used for a portable Linux OS on your flash drive, but it's also a good alternative to burning the install CD when you want to install Linux to your hard drive: [blog.geekblake.22web.net] . A lot faster and easier than burning the actual CD.
On a side note, the persistence of the boot-anywhere desktop depends on what distro you choose to install. I tried putting Ubuntu on my flash drive with UNetbootin, but it didn't keep my changes. Then, when I installed Slax using UNetbootin, that was persistent: [blog.geekblake.22web.net]
geekblake
joelena
Posted 12:27 PM 28/8/08
As far as I know, Slax and Puppy are the only distributions that can be installed in a persistent mode using UNetBootIn, allowing you to save your changes to the USB drive, since those two distros were originally developed for that purpose. It may be that another of the distros has a persistent option built-in to the live-CD, I'm not completely sure.
joelena
Abby_Normal
Posted 12:37 PM 28/8/08
@joelena: Zenwalk Live has an option for creating a "LiveUSB" with persistence. You just have to copy an .xfs file over once you use UNetbootin.
[www.zenwalk.org]
Abby_Normal
Redneck R8C3 C8R DR1V3R
Posted 1:00 PM 28/8/08
Wow so your telling me i bricked two flash drives and all i had to do was wait a few months, what a waste of $15 USD.
Redneck R8C3 C8R DR1V3R
rainbowsky
Posted 3:11 PM 28/8/08
It's a hoax. Anyone who claims there is any easy way to install and use Linux on a USB drive is very inexperienced with Linux and booting USB drives and the driver issues involved. We've been working on this type of thing for over two years. The best alternative: download portable VirtualBox (torrent file); download a favorite Linux distro; run the .iso on the VirtualBox and install and the virtual drive. And even this method has the disadvantage of leaving registry entries on the host which may mean one can't even get the distro to boot. One may ask the LH team if they thoroughly read the information and successfully installed and ran a Linux version with persistence. If so, which one. I can only think of four distros which offer persistence as a feature. Ubuntu has not been one of them since way back with version 6. But you can try with all your extra time. When VDI images for VirtualBox are already made at VeeDeeEyes, I can't see any reason to not use a portable VirtualBox--nice speed. Good luck.
rainbowsky
vrdabomb5717
Posted 5:23 PM 28/8/08
I just used this 2 days ago and it worked like a charm. All I had to do was run the stand-alone application and wait for a few hours. Then, I restarted my computer and booted up from my flashdrive. I'm not sure what this hoax is about, but I certainly managed to install the latest build of Intrepid Ibex onto my flashdrive and then onto my hard drive.
vrdabomb5717
falter
Posted 6:43 PM 28/8/08
This looks pretty similar to the Fedora9 on a stick article? [lifehacker.com] can anyone tell me if this method/distro has any advantages to the Fedora install? (linux noob)
falter
speeb
Posted 8:43 PM 28/8/08
@falter: Pretty much the same, but this offers you a choice of which distribution you want to install.
I can't wait to get home and give it a whirl!
speeb
Ken
Posted 10:18 PM 28/8/08
Can this install 6 distros onto one flash drive? say a 16gig flash drive?
Ken
Greg.Rowler
Posted 11:15 PM 28/8/08
@rainbowsky
I will admit that I'm fairly inexperienced when it comes to rocking the command line, but the link I provided in my earlier comment is, actually, very easy. If you can extract a file to your USB drive, you can have a Mandriva install that's persistent and boots natively, and can run on Qemu within windows--don't know about registry entries for the latter.
Greg.Rowler
geekblake
Posted 11:08 PM 28/8/08
@rainbowsky: It is in fact very easy to get portable Linux booting off a USB drive using UNetbootin, it's just that LH neglected to mention which distros it works with. I tried it with Ubuntu, which didn't work, but I know that it does work with Slax and Puppy Linux, I did it myself.
UNetbootin is a great program, but LH should note which distros actually work for persistence (like Slax and Puppy Linux) and which ones don't (like Ubuntu).
geekblake
MichaelTV
Posted 11:38 PM 28/8/08
Any way to share documents on the flash drive between Windows and the installed Linux? I have Ubuntu 8 on one through PenDriveLinux, but haven't been able to access docs from it that I placed on the drive while in Windows.
PenDriveLinux has a guide that might work (they say 50% chance), but that involves flipping the "removable media" bit, which I think would cause problems with delayed writes.
MichaelTV
itslittlejohn
Posted 10:37 AM 28/8/08
Aaah... yes. This is why I read LH. Always stumble upon a gem like this every once in a while.
itslittlejohn
afolex
Posted 2:36 AM 29/8/08
Can it be used to make a XP (install) bootable USB?
afolex
rainbowsky
Posted 4:25 AM 29/8/08
@geekblake: Installing Linux on a USB is actually quite easy; making sure the machine one is going to use will boot from a USB is the problem. Many won't either due to a lack in the machine BIOS or the Linux boot loader. A great way to save time is to go to pendrivelinux.com and check with their utility.
Slax and Puppy may boot USB, but getting Slax to connect with wireless is very involved, and Puppy may or may not be able to connect to the Internet depending on drivers.
As an aside, Slax and MCN Live (Mandriva) are the only two distros of which I know that have a CD boot which will then go to the USB in case the machine doesn't boot from the USB.
This USB portable Linux thing is a "iffy." Sometimes it works; most of the time it won't--the idea was to help others understand that whatever works at may or may not work on a library computer, etc.
Installing from a USB to a hard drive is simple--may as well use Wubi--why mess up the MBR? Qemu works fine--no registry entries--slow.
Yes, there is actually a wonderful portable MS Virtual Machine (XP) which only enters one item and removes it at shutdown. And it runs fast with all of the natural Windows programs--whatever the user installs. Most likely, this is what most folks really want. In fact, I've only come across one machine out of around 50 that I couldn't get a running OS.
Linux is fun, but expensive in time commitment. My entry was to try and forewarn folks to not get really excited and to be prepared for frustration and a sense of lost time.
Maybe give NimbleX a try . . . great support from site.
rainbowsky