A writable Live USB-disk [Solved]

[Jakob77]

I would like to make a writable Live USB-disk from a snapshot .iso file.

"MX Live USB Maker" has this option:

"Full-featured mode - writable LiveUSB"

It is just not working the way I expect it to.
The created Live disk runs very well but after a reboot all the files I saved in the last session are gone.
Have I misunderstood something.?

MX Live USB Maker has a lot of options and maybe I need to change some more to make it work better.?
I normally make a separate data partition ext4 an save files there but it has it's limitations.

Do we perhaps have a code for making a Live USB writable after it has been made.?


I decided to use a bigger hammer and do a real install from a USB-Live to the USB-SSD-drive.
However when the install was almost done the installer broke (I have never seen that happen before) and wrote it could not update "initrfms" (only almost sure about the spelling). I wonder if that indicates a wrong way to install or maybe it is somehow a hardware matter.


Thank you in advance for any ideas about what to try next. :-)



I have made a fresh format of the 450 Gb USB SSD disk and created the QSI with it pluged in.
If needed I am open for suggestions about more commands to check if the USB drive and controller is healthy and up for the task.

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-34-amd64 [6.1.135-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-34-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.20.0 vt: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.6_x64 Libretto October 15  2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Latitude E7240 v: 01 serial: <superuser required> Chassis:
    type: 9 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 060GR9 v: A00 serial: <superuser required> BIOS: Dell v: A08 date: 02/18/2014
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 25.2 Wh (54.8%) condition: 46.0/46.0 Wh (100.0%) volts: 7.4 min: 7.4
    model: SMP DELL KWFFN33 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: not charging
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-4300U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Haswell gen: core 4 level: v3
    note: check built: 2013-15 process: Intel 22nm family: 6 model-id: 0x45 (69) stepping: 1
    microcode: 0x26
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache: L1: 128 KiB
    desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1748 high: 2900 min/max: 800/2900 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq
    governor: ondemand cores: 1: 2900 2: 800 3: 800 4: 2495 bogomips: 19954
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  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 mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-7.5
    process: Intel 22nm built: 2013 ports: active: DP-2 off: eDP-1 empty: DP-1, DP-3, DP-4,
    HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0a16 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Sunplus Innovation Laptop Integrated Webcam HD type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 2-4:3 chip-ID: 1bcf:2985 class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915 display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 509x286mm (20.04x11.26") s-diag: 584mm (22.99")
  Monitor-1: DP-2 mapped: DP-1-1 pos: primary model: Dell U2713HM serial: <filter> built: 2013
    res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 82 gamma: 1.2 size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23") diag: 685mm (27")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 2560x1440 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: eDP-1 note: disabled model: BOE Display 0x05da built: 2013 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 125
    gamma: 1.2 size: 277x156mm (10.91x6.14") diag: 318mm (12.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4400 (HSW GT2)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Haswell-ULT HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0
    chip-ID: 8086:0a0c class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Intel 8 Series HD Audio vendor: Dell 8 driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:9c20 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-34-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I218-LM vendor: Dell driver: e1000e v: kernel port: f080 bus-ID: 00:19.0
    chip-ID: 8086:155a class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Wireless 7260 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:08b1 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: wwan0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-1.3:3
    chip-ID: 8087:07dc class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 5 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.0
    sub-v: 500 hci-v: 4.0 rev: 500
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:5 sco-mtu: 96:5 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff
    link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, audio, telephony
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel 82801 Mobile SATA Controller [RAID mode] driver: ahci v: 3.0 port: f060
    bus-ID: 00:1f.2 chip-ID: 8086:282a rev: N/A class-ID: 0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 685.61 GiB used: 199.84 GiB (29.1%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD SM841 mSATA 256GB size: 238.47 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 3D0Q
    scheme: MBR
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB model: USB3.0 high speed size: 447.13 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 2210 scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 238.47 GiB size: 233.67 GiB (97.99%) used: 199.84 GiB (85.5%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 3 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swap/swap
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 55.0 C mobo: 43.0 C sodimm: SODIMM C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 3983
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2227 libs: 1109 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mirrors.dotsrc.org/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
  Processes: 208 Uptime: 6h 31m wakeups: 8 Memory: 7.66 GiB used: 1.25 GiB (16.3%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

[dolphin_oracle]

on first boot, enable the persistence features in the live boot menus.

[atomick]

Would believe to consider as to "Not Writable" is of such Security Integrity of said Operating Systems Image Is exactly as the final release relates.

it is possible something could be altered "Hacked" why allow such on a polished months hard work setting a New OS For that 100 Percent perfect .iso downloadable to repeat installation perfection.
Even of your own OS Start to the Now I need to use this wicked Cool Snapshot Program tool and create my own copy backup of my OS so that It can save me. Or allow me to Deploy my own Customized Image
to another System / Laptop / Virtual Box like environment and play with other things without tampering with my base OS.

I use VBox for such and test compiling things or writing code to memory resource than smacking the nvme ssd write quota. Sure technology is always advancing yet I managed over years to nuke 2 SSDs by beating keys all day. So
a feature MX-Linux has over all others "Snapshot and USB-Maker" tools are perfectly set in the correct positions for its feature rich offerings.

Hope that may satisfy such quest. So here's now something I have shared in past but here consider this. If you wish to add or provide your own - Tools / Scripts / Apts if small enough to your .iso build
create a directory ,
copy all your select scripts and small software tools to this directory

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 now Zip or 7zip,   then copy this zip/7z over to  /var/cache   
now Write your snapshot and flash it to your stick..  

when you run the Install and its complete does not matter online offline your special tools are right there in /var/cache
copy to ~/Downloads unzip and customize away. Its certainly a Beautiful thing.

[Jakob77]

on first boot, enable the persistence features in the live boot menus.

Thank you very much. That made a big difference.

I chose "Persist_all" during the first boot-up and there was some questions where I chose default answers and 1Gb swap.

It looks like I have to select "Persist_all" every time I boot up to keep it writable, and if I forget it will zap back to the original state from when the USB Live was made.
Does that sound right.?

Where do I find "persist-config".?
I guess I need it if I for instance want to change the size of the swap-file.

[dolphin_oracle]

there is a save boot code as well that will save boot options.

you can run pesist-config from a terminal, or from the MX RemasterCC application.

[Jakob77]

dolphin_oracle

Thank you very much again.

It is more different than I thought.
It is not so boot fast anymore because it copy 3 Gb to Ram
And it looks like the main disk is only 8 Gb

It is mostly for testing and games so I will just see how it goes.

I am sure the video below can't be something I need.

Maintenance for MX Live USB Systems
https://youtu.be/vLcuYiz91lg?feature=shared

[dolphin_oracle]

if you use the "static" options, it will not load the persistence file into ram.

**edit*** that video can't hurt!

[Jakob77]

That also works.


There is nothing wrong with the video but to begin with I may better go back and ask myself why my intuition failed and I understood so little of this:

antiX/MX 21 series - Live boot menu overview
https://youtu.be/2BKAWeXZ4uU?feature=shared&t=76

Maybe it is just me or maybe it could be an idea to consider a tool-tip about it in the MX Live USB Maker.
When the mouse goes to "Full-featured mode - writable LiveUSB"
Then a short tool-tip of some kind: "Persistence settings in boot-menu can determine important details"
Just an idea. :-)


Edit** This one is a lot better (and prettier):

MX Linux 17: Make a live-USB with Persistence.
https://youtu.be/2vF_dw6Kpo8?si=xIvg6BWpKiW0l1V_&t=457

[DukeComposed]

There is nothing wrong with the video but to begin with I may better go back and ask myself why my intuition failed and I understood so little of this

You probably misunderstood it because persistent storage on a USB is a complicated thing to build and configure. MX Linux is distributed as ISO files, and ISO files are an inherently static file format: they aren't meant to be edited. Getting around that is a hard problem to solve.

Many years ago I decided to carry around a portable Linux install on a USB drive. This meant installing Linux onto the USB: one USB with the ISO, inserted into a laptop and booted from same said USB, and then a second USB inserted and used as the target drive for the installer.

In short, I installed Linux Mint 16 or so to /dev/sdc and not /dev/sda.

I thought I was being clever, but performance was atrocious and the utility of a persistent Linux install on a keychain didn't solve as many problems as I'd hoped it would. Patching was a chore and I'm sure it wore out the USB device faster than the manufacturer would have recommended.

Nowadays we have Ventoy, which can support a persistent partition, and antiX/MX persistence options to obviate a lot of the issues that used to exist, but that doesn't make the core problem any simpler. It just means there are better tools for managing the physical constraints of running an operating system from a peripheral.

[figueroa]

Why is it so hard to find full and concise details about live-usb persistence without watching many videos? The videos are great, by the way. Most users new to the MX-Live-USB system would greatly benefit from a few not-so-easy to find or obvious antiX web resources as follow (and there are surely others):

https://antixlinux.com/the-most-extensi ... he-planet/

https://robin-antix.codeberg.page/antiX ... tence.html

ADDED: This last one keeps moving around most every time a new antiX version is released. It would surely be helpful for these to have a permanent home on-line.

If you have others, add links as replies.