Run Solus From USB Stick

cdfbr

Im sorry if this has been asked before. but Im having trouble finding a solution. Its also been a while since ive used linux or done anything like this 6years +

I downloaded Solus, 'Solus-4.1-Budgie.iso'. I want to install this onto the USB flash drive, So when I restart my computer, Solus will boot up from the flash card. How can I accomplish this?

-hyphen

First you'll need some sort of program to flash 'Solus-4.1-Budgie.iso' onto the USB flash drive. Personally I've had the best experience with Etcher, but there are other examples such as Rufus. https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Upon restarting your computer after the flash is complete, you may need to tell your BIOS to set the first boot priority to the USB drive, as opposed to your normal OS drive.

Harvey

Installing to a usb drive is not supported. To be clear you can of course install Solus from a usb drive, just not to it. (Technically still possible and people have done it, but you will be unsupported).

brent

I'm not sure this question can be answered conclusively.
The answer is yes if Solus Live usb detects the target usb drive.
The answer is no if Solus Live usb does NOT detect the target usb drive.

I never found a way to make it guaranteed that Solus .iso detected formatted and ready USB target drive.
But most of the time it worked.
I used to run Solus this way a while, but no longer do. 2 cents.

cdfbr

Yeah I know how to Put the ISO file onto a USB stick so that I can install from that USB stick to a hard drive.

But I want to be able to plug in the Flash Drive and then Run Solus from that flash drive.

I looked through a list of several Linux distros, and I Liked what I read with Solus and I wanted to give it a try before I committed to it. But if its not possible to try before I install it. Then I may go look for a different Distro of linux.

Thank you guys for the Help.

Well while i'm here however. What Linux Distro Would Support running it from a USB stick?

Edit: now that i think Of it, I just extracted the ISO file to a folder on m hard drive. Is it possiable to now run it and install it on the flash drive?

Okay, well thats not working. Guess im not using Solus.... I really really wanted to use it too.... 🙁

Thanks again for the help....

WetGeek

cdfbr But if its not possible to try before I install it. Then I may go look for a different Distro of linux.

That's the whole idea behind the "live" version on the USB drive. You can do all kinds of testing, so long as you don't want it to affect your hard drive. And that's a feature of the "live" version, not a limitation.

Besides that, it only takes about 10 minutes to do a regular installation onto your hard drive. And hard drives are dirt cheap these days. If you can't stand the idea of losing your present OS, why not just get a cheap SSD or even cheaper HDD and install Solus on that?

If none of that works for you, then I wish you the best of luck trying to find another desirable Linux distro that you can try out without installing it.

EDIT: Remember that just because the Solus team doesn't provide support for the OS installed onto a USB drive, that doesn't mean that you can't install on one and try it. Many have made that work ... some for years at a time ... and it should certainly give you an idea whether you want to commit to a permanent installation.

cdfbr

Well im so glad that your doing financially well during this pandemic. Not all of us have jobs, Stimulus money, and Money for that matter. let alone 10 thousand dollars of debt. I dont have money for a hard drive. let alone anything else.

Now i definitely don't want to install Solus. Good bye

brent

cdfbr Every responder here told you either 1) that you could, and 2) how to, install Solus to a USB to achieve your goal. Most said it wasn't Solus' preferred or endorsed method, but tried to get you set up all the same.

Instead of saying "great, thank you, I can't wait to try it" there is anger and acrimony.
I'm lost. Edit: But I know it's been a rough year for everyone.
MODS: feel free to delete. I am off-topic.

DJSupertel

I have Solus Mate and Budgie with full installs to 2 separate Sandisk 3.0 ultra USB's. My installs were done in legacy mode and all I did was boot up the live Solus USB, point the installer at the blank USB, and install. Those two USB's still work 2 years later and will update and run as if they were a normal hard drive, however as they are not designed for this use they may well wear out very quickly compared to a standard SSD. I can boot them up and run on my HP Desktop and Asus desktop and they run perfectly. On my main computer I have Solus Plasma installed to the HDD.
Maybe the requester of this info could show a little more patience with the contributors on this forum and then would likely find a way to achieve his/her aims.

WetGeek

DJSupertel I have Solus Mate and Budgie with full installs to 2 separate Sandisk 3.0 ultra USB's.

Indeed. I have Budgie installed on a 32 GB 3.0 USB drive, as well. The worst part of making that happen was waiting at the end of the installation for the "flushing buffers to disk... please wait" step. A little patience is all that's needed, though. Although this was just a novelty for me ... a challenge to see if it could actually be done ... I can see that it might be very useful for someone who occasionally needs to borrow a computer for some reason or another.

For example, to use a computer in a public library, one could insert the USB drive and boot to one's own OS and data. The library computer could be some unfamiliar type, but with your USB drive inserted, it would seem very familiar indeed, only a bit slower in some respects.

Or one could make a very impressive demonstration of Solus to show a friend, without needing to schlep your own computer to their house. Unlike the "live" version, it could be fully updated and configured, thus much more versatile and impressive than the original ISO version. Especially when the ISO has 500+ packages out-of-date.

eyedear

I have manage to install Solis 4.2 budgie on a 64gb usb stick. This can only be in legacy mode. Tried to install via unfinished mode and it’s not possible. The boot up speed and execution speed is not comparable to the live system. The live system boots up extremely fast and even installing darktable and starting it is instantaneous. I wish there was a way to have a persistent live system that would be awesome, and also an ability to update and resquash the live system would be just about right. Something similiar to me Linux. Any way Solus is a breath of fresh air. If it’s as fast as the live system once install to usb then it would be even bettter

brent

eyedear I ran Solus off a stick for 1.5 years or so, legacy, and I agree it's just as functional and I loved it. I don't think you will get your persistent live wish as the Desktop experience is their focus here, nor do they officially support usb installs (devs will correct me if I'm wrong🙂 here). But I stlll ran it happily until the usb deteriorated. Twice.
My lesson was usb sticks are not built for running operating systems..at least not for a daily driver OS.