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I installed Ubuntu on my USB stick and everything works as expected on my main PC, but when I connect the USB stick to my laptop and try to boot it gets stuck in a boot-loop at the loading screen.

Is possible to make an Ubuntu thumb drive work properly on different computers?

Alxs
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Gyyy y
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  • In principle you should probably be able to boot from this USB stick. You'll need to provide much more information, though, to get any real assistance here. What happens when you boot? What do you expect to happen that doesn't? What error messages do you get? At what point does it loop, and back to where? – roaima Apr 20 '17 at 22:14

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You're getting a boot-loop because Linux boots expecting the original hardware that it configured your system with during the initial installation.

it is possible to work on different computers with the usb stick?

Yes, but not the way you your thumbdrive is currently set up.

If you want your thumb drive to boot (and run properly) on different hardware configurations you need to use a live USB type setup. You can do this with configuration persistence and additional storage for your files on the thumb drive. Have a look at Linux Live USB and UNetbootin to do that.

Edit re. 4GB filesystem limitation:

There's an excellent article on the Live Usb Pendrive Persistence here. It explains how to get past the 4GB filesystem limitation.

Excerpt from the link:

Note that the maximum space that can be allocated for persistence is limited to 4GB (maximum file size on a FAT32 filesystem is 4GB). This limit can be overcome and is explained later on.

Note also: Nothing prevents you creating a storage partition on your USB (assuming it has space available). The persistence filesystem is intended for system configuration: customisations such as keyboard layout, numlock, preferences, additional packages saved on the drive etc.

Community
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Alxs
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  • saveing files is really importent for me and with this method im limited to 4gb of space. there is any way to expand it ? – Gyyy y Apr 20 '17 at 20:03
  • That's a whole other question really, but where are you seeing that limitation, is it the capacity of your thumbdrive, or? – Alxs Apr 20 '17 at 20:07
  • Ah okay, it's a fat32 filesystem limit. Nothing stops you mounting additional storage for your files. That persistent space is to keep your system preferences, it's not really for file storage. – Alxs Apr 20 '17 at 20:15
  • thanks ! but it seems that this method does not fill my needs. there is no way to install full linux on usb drive and make it run on two different computers? – Gyyy y Apr 20 '17 at 20:39
  • @Gyyyy, I have updated the question with additional detail for you. – Alxs Apr 20 '17 at 20:53