Installing to Micro SD Card?

[ScottyK]

My vostro has a built in micro SD card, and I have a 128GB card (speed 10) sitting there. Are there any disadvantages to installing Kubuntu there for a dual boot computer? I think it would be easier than messing with the main SSD that windows 10 sits on. I know I would have to leave it in, but I never take the card out.

[claydoh]

Other than it being slow for this use case, and that sd cards don't seem to have great reliability for this, there is nothing terribly wrong using one.

I have done this in the past, mainly on Chromebooks, and found even fast sdcards to be quite slow when used for running an OS, even using faster U3 sdcards. I moved to using speed tested slim USB3 sticks, which provided a far better experience.
sdcards are not great for concurrent reads and writes, even if the speed ratings are high.

[oshunluvr]

Two words: Raspberry Pi.

I was using it just yesterday. It runs Rasbian from a cheap, old 8GB microsd card. It's obviously not as responsive as my other computers, but it's not torturous to use.

I did buy a new 64GB Sandisk "Extreme" card that's still in the plastic. I might boot it up later and check the speed.

However, I agree with Clay, USB 3.0 sticks will no doubt be faster and frankly, a VM or docker instance running on Windows would be too.

If you're seriously considering using the Vostro as a Linux machine, you're going to eventually make it dual boot, so maybe bite the bullet sooner rather than later.

I dual booted my new Lenovo laptop a couple years back. I had to leave Windows on it because of the warranty, which has since expired. I did boot to Windows last week just to update it and see if it even still ran - it did. Here's what I had to go through:

1. Re-configure the nvme drive to NOT use Intel "RST" and use normal ACHI instead.
2. Turn off secure boot.
3. Resize the Windows partition.
4. Install Linux.

Seriously the whole operation took about an hour. Step 1 is the tricky one. If you're not using RST on the laptop, you'll be done in 30 minutes or less.

[claydoh]

Arm devices seem to lend themselves better to running an OS off an sdcard. I need to get a Pi, never have used one, surprisingly. But I used to run Lubuntu off a single core Arm board I won at a raffle at UDS for *buntu 12.04. This was back when Plasma was arguably at its most bloated state, so Kubuntu was out if the question, even though I did try . It ran Xbmc fairly well.
.
Running KDE Neon on my Chromebooks via sdcard was ok, until the disk usage got heavy. I blame Chrome/Firefox as the likely culprits. I had a hard time using this setup for work, and switching to a USB3 stick solved things. I use a grownup laptop for now.

[Worzel]

Running KDE Neon on my Chromebooks via sdcard was ok, until the disk usage got heavy. I blame Chrome/Firefox as the likely culprits. I had a hard time using this setup for work, and switching to a USB3 stick solved things. I use a grownup laptop for now.

Claydoh - totally off-topic but do you have a how-to link for using Neon on Chromebook via USB3. Have a Lenovo C340 + KDE but the programs run as ok as apps but the desktop fails. Have seen suggestion re installing Debian (I assume Buster) and then adding such KDE as wanted. In my case that would Not include Kmail, Libreoffice, Akregator et al.

Again, apologies for off-topic but Chromebook + Linux/KDE forums have yet to appear.

Thanks
Jim

[claydoh]

Claydoh - totally off-topic but do you have a how-to link for using Neon on Chromebook via USB3. Have a Lenovo C340 + KDE but the programs run as ok as apps but the desktop fails. Have seen suggestion re installing Debian (I assume Buster) and then adding such KDE as wanted. In my case that would Not include Kmail, Libreoffice, Akregator et al.

Again, apologies for off-topic but Chromebook + Linux/KDE forums have yet to appear.

Thanks
Jim

I would install Gallium OS to the USB, using their Chrx utility with the appropriate command options, though using an ISO image works as well (it uses Xubuntu as a base, and the installer is the familiar *buntu one) , then add Neon repos, and install neon-desktop. So it is identical to installing to a USB drive using any *buntu once the device has been set up for dual boot.

https://www.reddit.com/r/GalliumOS/c...m_medium=web2x

This could be put of date, as It has been a while since I have done this. My current Chromebook, a 1st gen Lenovo 500e, as well as most all Chromebooks of the past year or two, does not have sound support, which is important to me. There were other issues as well, specific to the platform the 500e is based on. So I just use the built in Linux container via Crostini (which is Debian 10) and run individual programs as needed, alongside Android apps and the stock Chrome OS. The Linux container is not designed to run a full desktop at all.


Useful links:

https://wiki.galliumos.org/Hardware_Compatibility
and the firmware update/replacement required on most devices:
https://mrchromebox.tech/#devices

Chromebook + Linux/KDE forums have yet to appear.

Reddit is the place for this, /r/Galliumos is their official support channel, plus /r/Chrubuntu

While needing Gallium Os' kernel customization are becoming less necessary these days on older machines, newer ones are not seeing any help from Intel at all, hence the lack of sound support, for one thing.

[TWPonKubuntu]

No longer being a user of Windows, I have to ask why it would be "necessary" to keep Windows installed on such devices as a Chromebook.

Is it not possible to flush Windows and install straight Linux? Is it only a licensing/warrantee question?

[claydoh]

No longer being a user of Windows, I have to ask why it would be "necessary" to keep Windows installed on such devices as a Chromebook.

Is it not possible to flush Windows and install straight Linux? Is it only a licensing/warrantee question?

Chromebooks do not run Windows, but Chrome OS. Basically a very minimal, and secured Gentoo running....a Chrome browser. And little else, originally. A ;cloud' device. These devices use a System-on-Chip, which is kind of similar to a smart phone. The drive partitioning is somewhat similar as well.

You can wipe out ChromeOS, but it requires a full firmware replacement, and not all devices have this. Most have firmware modifications that allow dual booting Linux. It is not at all similar to a normal PC or laptop in terms of the boot process, hardware support, drivers, etc. And you have to 'break' the Chromebook's hardware and ChromeOS's security in order to do this.

Think of it like replacing the OS on a smartphone, and the work involved to get that task done. But easier. I believe that Windows can be installed on some of these, but it takes more work.


The built in Linux lxc container was originally designed for developers, but of course the the Kool Kids want to run Minecraft and Steam on their devices. They already can run Android apps on them.


so, it is a bit complicated.

[TWPonKubuntu]

I don't plan on ever owning a Chromebook, but was curious as to why Linux isn't usable as the primary/only OS. ChromeOS seems not very trustworthy, to me. I'll pass. I don't want a device which is so locked in to an OS.

Thanks for the reply and for the useful information.

[claydoh]

I don't plan on ever owning a Chromebook, but was curious as to why Linux isn't usable as the primary/only OS. ChromeOS seems not very trustworthy, to me. I'll pass. I don't want a device which is so locked in to an OS.

Thanks for the reply and for the useful information.

Again, the phone comparison is useful: why isn't the native Linux used on these fully usable?

[TWPonKubuntu]

If the OS is hardware dependent, then I can see why a native Linux isn't used. It would lead users to think they could upgrade the OS to a newer version, with likely breakage. Reason to avoid the hardware platform entirely, IMO. Kind of goes against the whole idea of Open Software.

[ScottyK]

THere's what I had to go through:

1. Re-configure the nvme drive to NOT use Intel "RST" and use normal ACHI instead.
2. Turn off secure boot.
3. Resize the Windows partition.
4. Install Linux.

Seriously the whole operation took about an hour. Step 1 is the tricky one. If you're not using RST on the laptop, you'll be done in 30 minutes or less.

I found that out yesterday when I booted with the live USB, and wondered why the installer would not see the SSD, but saw the SDcard. Some investigating through this forum lead me to the RAID vs AHCI problem. I switched over to AHCI, and the installer now sees the SSD. Windows 10 still boots correctly, so I know I did it correctly. This weekend I'll resize the partition and install.

Thanks for the info everyone about running an OS from an SD card. I was curious!