[How To] Build the Ultimate OS on the Go!

[Jack.EXE]

Today, we will be creating a bootable USB flash drive, and not a live CD, but a real, persistent OS install.

 

Things you'll need:

1. A blank DVD

2. A flash drive, the bigger the better, I'd recommend a minimum of 16 gigs.

3. Fedora 20 32 Bit ISO (any spin)

 

 

Preparation:

You'll need a suitable ISO, You'll want 32 bit for compatibility, Fedora works well for this purpose, as it supports the PAE Kernel.

Download Fedora 20 (32 Bit) Here

 

Once downloaded, burn it to your blank CD or DVD, by simply right clicking it and clicking burn to disk.

 

(Not my image, credit goes to creator) 
 

Make sure to check the [ ] Verify disk after burning box, and let it do its thing.

 

Once it's done, put the USB flash drive into a USB 2.0 port (some PCs cant boot from USB 3), and reboot the computer.

 

In the bios, make sure that the DVD drive is first in the boot order, followed by the flash drive.

 

Save and exit, and boot from the DVD.

 

Installation:

Select install fedora, and click on your language.

 

 

You're going to install Fedora on the drive, now make sure it's the flash drive, and not your hard drive. You can tell by the capacity.

 

Select custom partitioning, and set:

Boot: 500MB

Swap: 32MB

/: 6 GB (on a 16 GB drive)

 

And then click the little plus in the lower left corner. choose /Home, and set it to 8GB (on a 16 GB drive)

 

if you have a larger capacity, just give / 6 GB for every 8GB of /home.

 

Now, set your time zone, and other data on that page, and click done in the top left.

 

Enter the root password, and create your account, you may want to write these down.

 

Click Done.

 

and let it do its thing after that.

 

when finished, pop the DVD out, and reboot.

 

Set up:

Congratulations! you've installed fedora on the flash drive! but we're not done yet. We're going to install PAE, as well as Cinnamon and Docky, along with some basic, essential apps.

 

To install PAE, open the terminal, and type in:

su -

and enter your root password.

 

now:

yum install kernel-PAE

This will require a reboot when done, so do so.

 

Open terminal again, and again enter root mode, and then:

yum install cinnamon

Again, another reboot, fun right? when you get back in, open terminal and enter:

yum install docky

Thankfully, no reboot is required.

 

launch docky by searching for it in the menu, and clicking its icon. I prefer to set it to panel mode, and put it on the left.

 

Now, install whatever apps you like, but remember to watch your space.

 

You now have your OS on the go!

 

Notes:

32Bit PAE is the best to use for this purpose, so that it will run on computers with 32 bit processors, or ones with 64 bit processors and more than 4 gigs of ram.

If you have trouble booting, set fedora to low graphics mode, it is likely a driver issue.

 

 

Conclusion:

This is a neat little trick, useful for traveling when an entire laptop is difficult to bring, but a computer will be provided. I've used this before many times, and It's saved my bacon twice.

 

Thoughts? Suggestions? Tell me below!

[Jack.EXE]

also, Fedora does have an ARM version, which is activly updated, for those with ARM devices (ex Android tablets, or rasberri pi, or Nvidia Jetson)

[flibberdipper]

Neato.

[Jack.EXE]

Remember:

 

The only problem with linux, is that it assumes you know what you're doing.

[Speedbird]

Great!

[ErfanT]

Lovely!