How to install and run MX 23 on external SSD

[Durhammer]

I am hoping to be able to use an external SSD to have an MX 23 environment to fiddle with. I thought I was doing the right things by using an MX 23 Live USB and directing the install to an old 256 GB SATA SSD via USB. It seemed to partition, format, and install MX but it won't boot.

I've tried changing the BIOS settings for enabling*/disabling Legacy USB support, enabling/disabling* UEFI boot mode, and moving the USB/SSD up the boot order to the top, and it still won't boot. In fact, the machine won't boot at all when the SSD is plugged in, OR it ignores it and goes to the internal drive. Don't know much about fiddling with BIOS or boot options.

(* == normal setting.)

Any ideas or suggestions?

QSI:

Code: Select all

Snapshot created on: 20240214_0932
System:    Kernel: 6.12.6-1-liquorix-amd64 [6.12-7~mx21ahs+1] x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
           parameters: audit=0 intel_pstate=disable amd_pstate=disable 
           BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.12.6-1-liquorix-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash 
           i915.i915_enable_fbc=1 i915.lvds_downclock=1 drm.vblankoffdelay=1 
           cpufreq.default_governor=powersave threadirqs zswap.enabled=1 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.18.1 tk: Gtk 3.24.24 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm 4.18.0 vt: 7 
           dm: LightDM 1.26.0 Distro: MX-21.3_x64 Wildflower October 20  2021 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: SAMSUNG product: RF511/RF411/RF711 v: 10HX serial: <filter> 
           Chassis: type: 9 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: SAMSUNG model: RF511/RF411/RF711 v: 10HX serial: <filter> 
           BIOS: American Megatrends v: 10HX.M034.20110426.SSH date: 04/26/2011 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT1 charge: 35.5 Wh (80.0%) condition: 44.4/48.8 Wh (90.9%) volts: 10.7 
           min: 11.1 model: SAMSUNG Electronics type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: Not charging 
           Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech ERGO M575 Trackball serial: <filter> 
           charge: 30% rechargeable: yes status: N/A 
CPU:       Info: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-2630QM bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Sandy Bridge 
           family: 6 model-id: 2A (42) stepping: 7 microcode: 2F cache: L2: 6 MiB 
           flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 31927 
           Speed: 1067 MHz min/max: 800/2001 MHz boost: disabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1995 
           2: 1995 3: 960 4: 1443 5: 900 6: 1995 7: 800 8: 900 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected 
           Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Split huge pages 
           Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable 
           Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable 
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
           Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations 
           Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected 
           Type: retbleed status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW; STIBP: 
           conditional; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected 
           Type: srbds status: Not affected 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics 
           vendor: Samsung Co driver: i915 v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0116 
           class-ID: 0300 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GF108M [GeForce GT 540M] driver: nvidia v: 390.157 bus-ID: 01:00.0 
           chip-ID: 10de:0df4 class-ID: 0302 
           Device-3: Silicon Motion WebCam SCB-1100N type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 2-1.1:3 
           chip-ID: 2232:1008 class-ID: 0e02 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.14 compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.18.0 driver: 
           loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1600x2820 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 423x746mm (16.7x29.4") 
           s-diag: 858mm (33.8") 
           Monitor-1: LVDS-1 res: 1600x900 hz: 60 dpi: 106 size: 382x215mm (15.0x8.5") 
           diag: 438mm (17.3") 
           Monitor-2: VGA-1 res: 1080x1920 hz: 60 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 3000 (SNB GT2) v: 3.3 Mesa 22.0.5 
           compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio vendor: Samsung Co 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1c20 class-ID: 0403 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GF108 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0bea class-ID: 0403 
           Device-3: Tenx USB AUDIO type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid 
           bus-ID: 1-1:2 chip-ID: 1130:1620 class-ID: 0300 
           Device-4: AKAI MPKmini2 type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid 
           bus-ID: 1-2.2:4 chip-ID: 2011:0715 class-ID: 0103 serial: <filter> 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k6.12.6-1-liquorix-amd64 running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.21 running: no 
           Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: no 
           Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.58 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: Broadcom BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Askey driver: wl 
           v: kernel modules: bcma port: e040 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4727 class-ID: 0280 
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Samsung Co 
           driver: r8169 v: kernel port: b000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200 
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 2.96 TiB used: 355.68 GiB (11.7%) 
           SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
           ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 1TB size: 931.51 GiB 
           block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> 
           rev: 2B6Q scheme: MBR 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: Seagate model: BUP Slim BK 
           size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> 
           rev: 0109 scheme: GPT 
           ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 type: USB vendor: Sabrent model: SABRENT size: 238.47 GiB 
           block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 0204 
           scheme: MBR 
Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 456.78 GiB size: 448.54 GiB (98.20%) used: 144.26 GiB (32.2%) 
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 maj-min: 8:5 
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 10 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) 
           ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 7.81 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 
           dev: /dev/sda6 maj-min: 8:6 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 60.0 C mobo: 60.0 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     Packages: 3240 note: see --pkg apt: 3204 lib: 1619 flatpak: 36 
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bluemail.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ bullseye main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/microsoft-edge.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/mxlinux/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free
           2: deb http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/mxlinux/mx/repo/ bullseye ahs
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/extrepo_librewolf.sources 
           1: deb [arch=amd64 arm64] https://repo.librewolf.net librewolf main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq-bullseye.sources 
           1: deb [arch=amd64 i386] https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/debian bullseye main
Info:      Processes: 343 Uptime: 18m wakeups: 127 Memory: 7.68 GiB used: 3.06 GiB (39.9%) 
           Init: SysVinit v: 2.96 runlevel: 5 default: 5 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 10.2.1 
           alt: 10 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.1.4-release inxi: 3.3.06 
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

[Geek3579]

You might consider running GParted in the live version to check the flags on the external drive. ( partition --> Manage flags)
And you can also check that the installed partitions look appropriate.
From the info above, it looks like your machine can only do a legacy boot. And a 2011 bios is quite old imho.
For a legacy boot <esp> should be unticked, and <boot> ticked, if I remember correctly.
If you can open the dialog box on bootup to select the drive to boot from you can tell if there is a legacy and/or efi boot option for that drive. An inappropriate boot setup will either not be displayed, or may not boot if selected.
Hopefully others have a better idea.

[Durhammer]

Thanks, @Geek3579 ! I got busy with other projects (such as installing MX 23.5 in a partition in my internal SSD) and haven't gotten back to this issue yet. I'll give your suggestion(s) a try. Yes, this is an old -- but reliable!! -- machine. The bios does have UEFI boot support, but it's not enabled. I think I tried enabling it but the external drive still didn't boot (and while it was plugged in, most other boot stuff caused the machine to turn off -- even during bios navigation, not sure what to make of that).

EDIT: okay, looked at the flags on the boot partition on the external SSD and only boot is set. Not sure what all this means!

[Geek3579]

Thanks, @Geek3579 ! I got busy with other projects (such as installing MX 23.5 in a partition in my internal SSD) and haven't gotten back to this issue yet. I'll give your suggestion(s) a try. Yes, this is an old -- but reliable!! -- machine. The bios does have UEFI boot support, but it's not enabled. I think I tried enabling it but the external drive still didn't boot (and while it was plugged in, most other boot stuff caused the machine to turn off -- even during bios navigation, not sure what to make of that).

EDIT: okay, looked at the flags on the boot partition on the external SSD and only boot is set. Not sure what all this means!

I would think that this boot flag is set for a legacy boot, not UEFI. You can change it using Gparted, and if necessary change it back again without affecting anything.

[Antediluvian]

On 24 Jul 2020, @fehlix wrote up a cool way of installing MX on an external USB drive so that it will boot no matter if running UEFI firmware or from BIOS.

[Durhammer]

On 24 Jul 2020, @fehlix wrote up a cool way of installing MX on an external USB drive so that it will boot no matter if running EFI firmware or from BIOS.

Ah, so it only matters how the USB drive is created/formatted? Ye olde Samsung RF711 here does have UEFI boot but not enabled. I think I already tried booting with it enabled, but only for the external SSD I was trying to boot. Still, I *think* it might have booted up my internal drive Linux just fine. Have to give that a try, but you or @fehlix seem to suggest it's what's on the drive that matters. True? If so, whey kewl! And thanks!

[beardedragon]

If you change the BIOS Boot to External Drive as first choice you may get what you want. It worked for me. I had a Samsung portable SSD T7 in my USB C drive port installed with MX 23.5 while I also had an internal NVME with Linux Mint 22.1 on it, sort of a dual boot by choosing which drive to boot from holding down F9 at bootup. Using a Bosgame mini PC.

[Durhammer]

Thanks @beardedragon -- for some reason, when I did that before, my computer simply shut down. Maybe formatting the installer USB stick UEFI and GPT will allow it to install on the external (USB) SSD, as the previous couple of posts and link suggest. Gonna have to give it a try....

[beardedragon]

Use EXT4 or EXFat format on "external drive" as well as UEFI.

[Antediluvian]

On 24 Jul 2020, @fehlix wrote up a cool way of installing MX on an external USB drive so that it will boot no matter if running EFI firmware or from BIOS.

Ah, so it only matters how the USB drive is created/formatted? Ye olde Samsung RF711 here does have UEFI boot but not enabled. I think I already tried booting with it enabled, but only for the external SSD I was trying to boot. Still, I *think* it might have booted up my internal drive Linux just fine. Have to give that a try, but you or @fehlix seem to suggest it's what's on the drive that matters. True? If so, whey kewl! And thanks!

From what you wrote I don't think you have it right. The firmware/BIOS settings of the computer determines the boot type (UEFI or BIOS). If a drive is to boot successfully then the boot type on the drive must be prepared in a way compatible with the firmware/BIOS settings. For example, if the firmware/BIOS settings of the computer are set to UEFI boot only and the drive is set for legacy/BIOS/MBR boot only then the drive won't boot.

The "trick" that fehlix wrote up prepares the external drive for booting either way, that is, no matter what the firmware/BIOS of the computer is set to the drive will boot (provides you select that drive from the boot order). This makes is easier to use your external drive on different computers, for example.