Sparky on a thumbdrive as a fully working o.s....

[tenfoot]

Using SparkyLinux v5.0.

I want to install SparkyLinux on a USB thumb drive, not as  live image but as a fully operating system to which i can save files, install further programs etc.  In other words, if I take the thumbdrive to another computer, I can boot from it and have a working systems, with all my applications as if it was my desktop or laptop.

The ISO image was burnt to a DVD drive and I booted up my desktop as a live session and started the install process.  However, SparkyLinux only recognized the /sda partitions on my hard drive, completely ignoring that I had a USB thumbdrive inserted.

I loaded gParted and the thumbdrive was recognised as sdd1. While in gParted, I formatted the thumbdrive with / and /swap partitions. The installer still did not recognise the thumb drive.

Is there any way I can force the installer to recognise the thumbdrive and thus be able to complete the install, please? I have searched both the Sparky and Debian Wikis but they do not appear to offer the assistance I need.

[pavroo]

I haven't tried to install it on an USB drive using Calamares yet, but I installed Sparky on an USB using the Advanced installer.
It lets you choose the sdd1 drive as a root partition.
You should make sure to install swap on one of the sdd partitions and install Grub on the USB device as well (not on a hard drive if you want to take the USB away).

[tenfoot]

Thank you pavroo.  I will try the advanced installer and report back.

[tenfoot]

My apologies for the delay in reporting further on this matter.

I used the Advanced Installation facility, as advised by pavroo and successfully installed SparkyLinux on a 32GB thumb drive.  After installation finished, I changed computers and booted my Desktop into the thumbdrive Sparky Linux and it worked perfectly.

It is now up to date with yesterday's updates and I will run it from time to time to keep it current and also install additional programs, e.g. KMyMoney, Osmo, Variety, etc.

So, a very sincere thank you to pavroo for, once again, getting me out of trouble.  It is very much appreciated.

[blaze]

As I understand it you are running the testing branch on that usb install.I have experimented with similar stuff earlier, and my experience is that a stable install works better. Just remember to upgrade as often as possible, I always ended with problems after big upgrades. But I ran sid back then, not anymore.  ;)

[tenfoot]

Appreciate your concern and thank you for bringing it to my attention.

I used to run LinuxMint stable distribution and loved it.  Went to Sparky just to try it and chose testing because, at my age (86 and counting) I decided I wanted to live dangerously but not as dangerous as sid would be ;D  Found the testing branch stable enough for my purpose and, even better, my printer, a Brother MFCJ-5730DW works flawlessly on  Sparky but doesn't work at all on Linux Mint.

So, here I am and not likely to change, unless something really drastic happens to the distribution.

[blaze]

Funny you mention it, I have also found out that Sparky and printing has been working out quite well. Yes, sid can be a little bit unforeseeable, and needs a little bit of care, special attention and patience. Can be very fun to play with though.  ;D