UNetBootin for Windows, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 32-bit ISO, 4GB USB drive, no persistance?

[VirtualLarry]

I'm a little confused. I downloaded the newest version of UNetBootin from SourceForge, the newest 32-bit ISO of Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, and when I ran Unetbootin, I manually specified the ISO, and set persistance at 2000 MB. Since it's a 4GB flash drive, and the ISO was of a CD size, that should have worked.

But when I tried to boot my Netbook off of the USB flash drive, it showed a "2.1GB filesystem" in the icon bar on the left-hand side, but when I clicked on it, it gave me some error about mounting "/cow", or something like that.

Does anyone know how to get this to work?

I have a Netbook, without a CD/DVD drive, that I would like to create a bootable Linux install (not a LiveCD version, a real installed version on a 32GB USB flash drive).

I was able to do that with my older laptop, and Ubuntu 11 or 10. It gave me the option of which disk to install onto.

The Installer on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS only prompts if you want to install alongside windows, instead of windows, or "Advanced", in which you have to manually specify the partitions and mount points. It is less capable than the prior version of the installer, which let you pick the USB flash drive to install to, and it automagically took care of the partitioning and mount points and swap size, etc.

 

[lxskllr]

Dunno about the persistence, I've never used that. The real install should be fairly easy though. Maybe not as easy as before, I don't remember, but the advanced is pretty straightforward. Pick your device, set your partitions/mount points, and go forward.

Edit:
you may not be able to access the "persistence" part of the drive. To see if it's working, install a program, create a document, then reboot, and see if they're still there when you get in.

 

[Skitzer]

If you have access to a linux machine this whole procedure can be done easily and quickly with USB Creator.
I built one this afternoon on a 16GB thumb drive using Peppermint 3 with a 2GB persistence and it works perfectly.
Problem with Windows is that it cannot create both partitions needed for this.

 

[VinDSL]

Does anyone know how to get this to work?

Sounds like you have a couple of issues at play...

First of all, when I "burn" an install image to a USB flash drive, I always format it (with no partitioning). FAT32 seems to work the best, for this purpose.

After formatting, I "eject" the USB stick -- remove it from the USB port -- put it back in the port -- open UNetbootin, and do my thing. This works 99% of the time. Doing otherwise is a crap shoot.

Secondly, I run Ubu dev releases, but I'm not particularly interested in .iso testing. I just update my system several times a day, so I'm not up to speed on the latest "Ubiquity", so called.

Having said that, you're right. They keep playing around with the installer.

The last time I did a fresh install, I *think* there was a "Do Something Else" option (or whatever they call it now). This was more-or-less like the old "Advanced".

When I do a "real" USB install (.iso image on USB key #1 --> installed to USB key #2) I use the "Do Something Else" option. That allows me to select which device to install it to -- including any mounted USB flash drives.