Linux mint 22.1 will ignore what you specify as the bootloader location if there is an internal drive available, it seems. So even if you want your bootloader on the usb drive/stick it will be put on the internal drive if you boot the installation medium in uefi mode.
Even if you leave the internal drive in and remove the boot flag etc. this will happen - at least this is what kept happening with me.
The only way I could create a bootable usb installation from a computer with an internal hard drive was to create a legacy boot usb installation and that only worked if I booted the installation medium in legacy mode.
I left a fat32 512 mb partition for when I try to make this uefi bootable as well, but I don't know the best way to do this.
#What is the best way to make a PORTABLE legacy+uefi bootable usb linuxmint 22.1 installation
sacred island
fleet fiber
- method 1 in the 2nd vid by explainingcomputers is truly the best, soundest way though.
sacred island
This is exactly what is broken in 22.1. It ignores your setting if in uefi mode.
fleet fiber
can u pull the internal drive?
sacred island
This appears to be a known problem.
fleet fiber
idk i think some ppl dont put the partition number in the field
sacred island
It worked for previous versions.
fleet fiber
if u have a VALID-made EFI partition on the second drive, (say the second drive is called sdb) , and u tell bootloader location: sdb1 , then it should just follow that becuz it's been told precisely
cant just throw any blank space at head of drive n call it efi
it has to be SET AS EFI system partition in the installer
or via gparted using proper flags and format style
sacred island
It is properly set and the right size
fleet fiber
It is properly set and the right size
can u pull the internal drive?
sacred island
/fat32 /boot/efi ... boot,esp
No I can't remove the internal drive. I have made other USB legacy installs uefi Bootable after the fact before. And I have made uefi bootable installs legacy bootable after the fact too, I wanted to know what is the best way.
fleet fiber
pulling the drive is truly the best way
set it up on a desktop.
also dont use a common usb stick for the target
sacred island
Why not?
fleet fiber
u'll witness it go bye bye in a few weeks. cuz they're not meant to have that kind of I/O strain
use that and an m.2 drive or 2.5" sata drive
sacred island
I've run from USB for up to 5 years 24/7
But that was exceptional.
I usually use them for a few years with dd clones on standby.
fleet fiber
if it's an install that is used BARELY ever and just for quick little something, i guess it's fine. but if ur caching to a basic usb day in and day out watching so many youtube vids or porn or whatever.. that thing's toast in no time
but yeah set it up on a desktop pc. pull the main drive.. use a common usb as the installer medium, and a whatever (preferably thing in pic above) as the target to install onto
sacred island
I can't afford downtime. I use low profile usb sticks (so I can on no notice throw the computer into a briefcase) so if the computer dies I can instantly move the usb stick to a backup computer and continue with minimal interruption.
Since I can't remove the hard drive, given my circumstances, what is your advice?
sacred island
I said I can't pull the main drive.
sacred island
That is why there is a problem. And regardless I need it to be BOTH uefi and legacy bootable.
fleet fiber
then the external target ought to boot on any pc in the last 9 yrs
sacred island
That won't always be the case.
fleet fiber
or use rufus, in legacy, and set persistence. then u have a working persistent OS
or UUI
sacred island
This is for my work. I can't use a toy-like solution like persistance.
fleet fiber
both need windows to set up once, and once only
sacred island
I don't use windows
fleet fiber
sorry idk then. u can make two usb, one in pure uefi mode install, n one in pure legacy. n label them externally n keep on a keychain or little pocket case
sacred island
The point is I need to do uninterrupted work even if I need to switch to some other unpredictable computer.
I've done it before. I need to check on how. I just thought others might have had more experience, knowledge and expertise.
fleet shell
If you make ventoy in GPT mode it can boot in legacy mode too as far as I observed(same USB stick). Not sure though and I can't test it now.
sacred island
Hmmm. The reason for not using uefi boot is for portability because of the fact that 22.1 puts the bootloader on the internal drive. What happens with ventoy? I’ve never used it
I will never be doing any kind of dual boot.
fleet shell
It loads the ventoy thing in ram. Then it lets you select which ISO to boot into.
sacred island
is this as your main OS or for installation
I only need the one OS. Actually my ideal would be not to even rely on a bootloader but to simply make a selection after pressing f12 or whatever the computer uses.
Is the point you are makihng that with ventory all the bootloading stuff is on the ventory drive/stick so you avoid the problem with 22.1
I don't understand. I need a usb installed os that will boot from whatever computer I find myself in front of (including legacy only and uefi only)
That will be my main OS for everything important that I do with at least 200GB free space for my work files.
Since you are talking about isos it sounds like it is an installation usb not the installation target
fleet shell
Yes. Is an instalation usb.
fleet fiber
Installations are ideally geared for a certain type of computer in mind.
you can't expect a random pc that is horridly out of date to work on a modern distro.
anything made in the last 10-11 years should support UEFI booting.
Also there are settings in BIOS that have to be looked at first before turning on the machine and expecting it to "just work" . Settings like Boot mode: if it's set to look at legacy devices FIRST in the order (if it's a UEFI+CSM setup)
Conversely, if you just make a pure legacy portable install, some newer computers won't just boot it unless you tinker with CSM settings. Some will also give SGX errors on boot.
Mint 21 did it better ^
sacred island
Also there are settings in BIOS that have to be looked at first before turning o...
or legacy only. Actually if you set the computer to both, but legacy first when doing an installation on a machine with a legacy only option, a legacy installation will not work for 22.1, it seems that it has to be legacy only to work well.
That is why I need to make it boot with both depending on the machine's settings.
uefi for machines that can't do legacy and legacy for those that cant do uefi
I have a number of usbs of earlier versions of linux mint set up that way.
sacred island
I just did it the same way I used to. It was easy and works well.
If anyone is interested, I can let you know what I did.
Quick summary: install with legacy only boot settings (gpt), but create an efi partition as well. Temporarily mount the efi partition. Then grub-install with the efi directory set to the mountpoint, /boot as the boot directory, x86_64-efi as the target and the device marked as removable.
Very simple
It will then boot anywhere as either uefi or legacy depending on the settings on the computer you are booting on.