Can't install Kub. 22.04 on my large flash drive.

[RLynwood]

"brtrfs won't restore broken stuff" Right, but doesn't it keep record (the journaling feature) of the work done?

I expect to use my usb as a regular OS until I get my SSD booting. That could be a while, maybe weeks, even a month or two. I do pretty heavy computing: lots and lots of tabs, copying/pasting, downloading videos, saving files, etc. How long would that to wear out your recommended Samsung drive?

Thanks for that reference link. I'll use it if you

[RLynwood]

I hope you're still there, Claydoh, or someone else. If using a usb stick as an OS wears it out so fast, would using that way rather as a persistent Live Kub. last longer?

[jlittle]

When you use write an iso to a USB stick, and use it to boot to a "live" session, an in-memory filesystem is set up to run the OS and usually no writes are done back to the USB stick. It's writes that wear out flash memory.

(One can set up a USB with "persistent" storage but IME that's fiddly and fragile; or use ventoy and mount the USB to write to it. In either case there's much less writing than a running Linux with a DE.)

[claydoh]

That could be a while, maybe weeks, even a month or two.

Sorry, I was somehow under the impression that you would be doing this for a lot longer than this.
You should be OK for that short term, I think. But have a backup thumb drive OS set up the same way, or cloned, just to be safe. Use a separate disk, SD card, or The Cloud to store your important files, separate from the OS drive.
Just take extra care in terms of backups, and have good backups, plus backup your stuff extra-regularly. And keep more backups

[RLynwood]

jlittle, claydoh, I've read your posts and will respond asap. First, however, I have to attend to a sort of emergency. It could be as late as late today or tomorrow.

[RLynwood]

JLittle, I understand your explanation and agree with you. And, btw, I have known for a long time that all of the comuting with a Live USB is in the memory and doesn't write almost anything to the stick. That's why I've been concerned about the logevity, expected lifespan of a flash drive with an OS installed on it. And, I do plan to make a Live USB with persistent storeage as one of my back-up means. More after more explanation.

Hi, claydoh. I plan to do exactly what you suggested. I bought the 128 GB Samsung Fit that you recommended and plan to clone the OS I've installed on my previous 128 GB flash drive to it for any necessary use and store data on the previous 128 GB drive.

Catch-up: I completed my partition preparation of the now-previous drive late in the evening of Friday, 4-7, and decided to install it first thing the following morning. But, alas, that morning, I found the computer battery dead. Couldn't get it fixed (somewhat complex insides, w/ a huge heatsink/fan and a shroud covering the main board) until Monday but didn't get it back 'till Tuesday afternoon. Then further interruptiions prevented me from getting to it until Thursday morning. Fortunately, everything went fine (the first attempt crashed, but the second went like clockwork).

I've decided to get the SSD that you suggested and have it in my shopping cart. But I don't know how to select an enclosure for it. What do you suggest/recommend?

Beyond that, there are plenty more problems to resolve.

[RLynwood]

I started reading through this conversation but got tired of it and stopped. Anyway, I solved the problem. It was the initial partition. I don't remember now how it got that way, but it was not established correctly and I believe had a wrong flag. Both were solved; got them right. And, after getting my main board's battery installed, I was able to install Kub. 22.04 just fine on the 128 GB flash drive. That's what I'm using now. I also got an inexpensive 512 GB SSD, which I'll clone the flash drive's OS to after I've solved a few problems on it. On to those ....

[jlittle]

... I'll clone the flash drive's OS to ...

You may be aware of the common pitfall with cloning OS's; the clone's partitions have the same UUIDs as the original, and if both are present in the same boot, confusion of both computer and user are consequences.

[RLynwood]

I hadn't thought of that, but I also hadn't thought of any possibility of my having both plugged into the computer at the same time. Thanks for the warning. I definitely must be aware of that.