install on usb VS (persistent) live system

saneks · 2012-05-23 19:19:31

My notebook crashed yesterday - on the ground. I had to remove my broken harddrive and luckily the computer (not the harddisc) still works. - to get my stuff done, I decided to install crunchbang to a very tiny 16gb USB key I have flying around here, to have a system and some space for my data ..

problem: it is dead slow. post-install update took about 2-3 hours. same with a mint install, it is not usable at all.. just wondering if it makes a difference if I do a real install on the usb key or use a persistent live system from the same key..?

Last edited by saneks (2012-05-24 12:25:28)

machinebacon · 2012-05-23 19:22:13

you can use two USB sticks, one to boot from and one to install to (be sure to pick the right destination for the GRUB), this should be a snappy system, comparable with an install to a solid state disk. So: yes.

saneks · 2012-05-23 19:31:03

I don't understand.. my last two tries have been installs from live cd to that 16gb key. both ended up really slow when booting the installed system from the key. right now I use a live system from an old 1gb mp3 player and use the 16gb for storing stuff. the live system is snappy as always, but ofcourse not persistent, which is annyoing because my wireless is not detected from live..

how should a live system from one key find installed stuff, drivers, bookmarks from the other key? - maybe I ust dont understand you correctly..

now scanning all the persistent-live threads for the best way to go..

but still: how come the installed version on USB is so dead slow compared to the live system from USB?

Last edited by saneks (2012-05-23 19:34:04)

machinebacon · 2012-05-23 19:36:44

I see, then I didn't understand the first post. I indeed meant "installing on a USB stick" like you did it - and which is slow.

Which file system have you chosen for the USB stick to install?
Is the USB port indeed >USB2.0?
You probably don't need a swap partition, too, so you can leave that part unconfigured in the installer.

I have not noticed a slow system with persistent USBs, so my guess is that the port is recognized as USB1.1

If you have usb-utils installed, can you check lsusb ?

pvsage · 2012-05-24 00:57:39

machinebacon wrote:

you can use two USB sticks, one to boot from and one to install to (be sure to pick the right destination for the GRUB), this should be a snappy system, comparable with an install to a solid state disk. So: yes.

Actually, thumbdrives tend to be glacial compared to either SSD or magnetic HD. I'd say it's comparable to running off a floppy drive. This is with USB ports that have been verified as 2.0 and with no swap; swap on a thumbdrive will bog the system down terribly.

TitanMech · 2012-05-24 09:29:16

Maybe its the format of your usb key?

I have installed crunchbang on a high speed SD card, and i formatted this to ext4, which is the same format i use for crunchbang on a real hard disk.
Its also imperative you disable swap as this performs many read/write operations, which are a bad thing for flash memory.

The community helped me to get persistence on my SD card, along with helping with those steps above, so you should read through the whole thread here:
http://crunchbanglinux.org/forums/topic … rsistence/

saneks · 2012-05-24 12:04:58

thanks. thought swap is only used when ram is fully used? I have 4gb on theat notebook, which more than enough. should try it again. formatted to ext4 btw..

machinebacon · 2012-05-24 12:17:07

^ I would disable journaling.

saneks · 2012-05-24 12:22:09

^ so not use ext filesystem at all? I thought they are all journaling.

machinebacon · 2012-05-24 12:25:37

AFAIK ext2 has no journalling, and in ext4 you can disable it afterwards with e4fsck

Edit: tyop

Last edited by machinebacon (2012-05-24 12:25:52)

saneks · 2012-05-24 12:30:20

thanks mr.bacon. will try again, but this time I will use the new waldorf image.

machinebacon · 2012-05-24 12:43:53

Check with

lsusb -v

if or which of you ports is EHCI (that's USB2.0)

lsusb gives you a basic output.

saneks · 2012-05-24 15:07:01

with ext2 it is a little better, but especially iceweasel hangs too much.. trying another usb key right now to find out if it is a hardware problem.. a benchmark showed the 16gb key reads with 20mb/s - maybe too slow? - now installing on my fastest key (only 2gb,but enough for #!)

Last edited by saneks (2012-05-24 15:07:21)

saneks · 2012-05-24 16:10:22

will try this way to make a live usb persistent: http://crunchbanglinux.org/forums/topic … e-usb-key/

installing on usb doesnt work for me.. works, but too slow on this stick--

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#1 2012-05-23 19:19:31

install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#2 2012-05-23 19:22:13

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#3 2012-05-23 19:31:03

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#4 2012-05-23 19:36:44

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#5 2012-05-24 00:57:39

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#6 2012-05-24 09:29:16

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#7 2012-05-24 12:04:58

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#8 2012-05-24 12:17:07

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#9 2012-05-24 12:22:09

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#10 2012-05-24 12:25:37

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#11 2012-05-24 12:30:20

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#12 2012-05-24 12:43:53

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#13 2012-05-24 15:07:01

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

#14 2012-05-24 16:10:22

Re: install on usb VS (persistent) live system

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