Booting OS from USB thumb drive

[Toolman55]

Hello,

I've been trying out different versions of Linux in a virtual machine on my Win 7 host. But I don't feel like I'm getting the full performance that I should.

I was considering making a new 32 gb flash drive a bootable device. So here are some of my questions:
1) should I enjoy the same functionality with a USB drive as I would with a hard drive mounted in the case?
2) I have checked my BIOS and the boot sequence has choice for USB. But I have multiple choices such as "USB Generic" and "USB SM" and others. Does it matter? And if so, how do I identify which
port is which? I've looked in device manager to no avail.

Thank you for your help with this. I know I've been talking about Linux, so if this needs to be moved I understand.

Any other suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks again,

[Midknyte]

I've been trying out different versions of Linux in a virtual machine on my Win 7 host. But I don't feel like I'm getting the full performance that I should.

What are your system specs (MB, cpu, ram, hard drive)? What are your VM specs?

What make/model of flash drive? I'm assuming you are going to use a USB 3.0 drive.

1) What do you mean by functionality? You'd get the full CPU/RAM vs a VM, but the bottleneck would be the flash drive.

2) We'd need to know the make/model of the motherboard. It's not a specific port.

[Toolman55]

Midknyte, thanks for responding.

What are your system specs (MB, cpu, ram, hard drive)? What are your VM specs? MB = MSI 785GTM-E45 (MS-7549), Ram =4gb DDr2, CPU = AMD Phenom X4 9750, HDD is Crucial 500 GB SSD

What make/model of flash drive? I'm assuming you are going to use a USB 3.0 drive. -----generic Lexar 32 gb "high Speed" jumpdrive

1) What do you mean by functionality? You'd get the full CPU/RAM vs a VM, but the bottleneck would be the flash drive. I want it to perform as close as possible as if it were my main hdd. The problem I'm having with Vm is cpu usage. The version is 4.3.26. It appears online that there is a known issue with high cpu usage. With Google chrome at idle cpu usage is 70-80%. Opening a new tab drives it to 100%. Firefox is only 15-20% at idle. A new tab drives it to 80-90%, sometimes higher. Other than going back to an earlier version, I have found no solution.

I'm very new to Linux and have been curious about trying it out. The newest Mint version is great. The only reason I don't just pull my hdd and install it on a new one is that I also work from home, and I need Windows! I considered a dual boot, but don't really want to do that. I was considering mounting a hot-swap device in my case when I thought it would be even easier to use a boot able USB. What do you think? Am I completely off track?

2) We'd need to know the make/model of the motherboard. It's not a specific port. see above

Thanks for your help.

[Midknyte]

The problem I'm having with Vm is cpu usage. The version is 4.3.26

I'm guessing you mean Virtualbox. The current version is 4.3.28. I use VMWare. How much resources did you allocate for the VM?

Other than going back to an earlier version, I have found no solution.

So why don't you go back to an earlier version?

generic Lexar 32 gb "high Speed" jumpdrive

High Speed usually means 2.0. Super Speed is 3.0.

HDD is Crucial 500 GB SSD

The SSD is way faster than even a USB3 flash drive.

Hmm. I don't see "USB Generic" or "USB SM" listed in the manual. Maybe another MSI owner can chime in about that. If all else fails, try one and if that doesnt work, try the other. It won't hurt your system or the flash drive.

[Toolman55]

yes,i'm using Virtualbox. Ram 1.5 gb, Hdd 20 gb.

I could go back to an earlier version, but I didn't want to undo all my work for a probable solution. But that may just be the easiest.

[Train]

Lexar USB 3.0 at 8MB are what I use.
I use Unetbootin to make the bootable
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
I make a folder that I place both Unetbootin and the ISO that I download.
You can follow the intruction in the link.

MSI motherboards only

Use the F 11 key to get the boot menu, arrow down to memory stick and hit enter.
If you see EUFI in front of the stick, you want the next listing,
You will boot to the stick and it will be much faster than in the VM.Sorry but it will be Tuesday evening before I can get to my MSI desktop.

inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: antiX1 Kernel: 3.19.1-antix.1-486-smp i686 (32 bit gcc: 4.9.2)
           Desktop: IceWM 1.3.8
           Distro: antiX-15-beta2-V_386-full Killah P 11 April 2015
Machine:   Mobo: MSI model: 990XA-GD55 (MS-7640) v: 4.0
           Bios: American Megatrends v: V22.4 date: 04/26/2012
CPU:       Octa core AMD FX-8150 Eight-Core (-MCP-) cache: 16384 KB
           flags: (lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm) bmips: 57599
           clock speeds: max: 3600 MHz 1: 1400 MHz 2: 2100 MHz 3: 1400 MHz
           4: 1400 MHz 5: 1400 MHz 6: 2100 MHz 7: 1400 MHz 8: 2100 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Cedar [Radeon HD 5000/6000/7350/8350 Series]
           bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.16.4 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on AMD CEDAR
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.3.2 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:14.2
           Card-2 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Cedar HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 5400/6300 Series]
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Sound: ALSA v: k3.19.1-antix.1-486-smp
Network:   Card: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: d000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 3008.6GB (26.7% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD10EZEX size: 1000.2GB
           ID-2: /dev/sdb model: WDC_WD2002FAEX size: 2000.4GB
           ID-3: USB /dev/sde model: JumpDrive size: 8.0GB
Partition: ID-1: /home size: 1.8G used: 100M (7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/loop1
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 32.0C mobo: N/A gpu: 46.5
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 164 Uptime: 1 min Memory: 137.8/3021.6MB
           Init: SysVinit runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 4.9.2
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.301) inxi: 2.2.19

Had the info posted else where so copied pasted it here.
ID 3 is the bootable drive.

[Train]

Distro: antiX-15-beta2-V_386-full Killah P 11 April 2015

Yes, I am doing a bit of Beta testing and the stick allows me to switch computers real easily and does not bother anything on the hdd.

Memory: 137.8/3021.6MB

This beta is 32 bit, so it i not seeing all the 8 GB installed.

[Toolman55]

Thank you Train, for the information. I appreciate it.

[Train]

You are most Welcome.