Taking wattOS everywhere I go...

[Dan]

I've been looking at some of the distros that are popular for putting on USBs in order to have a portable Linux OS to use on any computer...so after looking at several, I decided to use...wattOS!

So today, I did a full install of the R9 32bit LXDE onto an 8 GB USB, ran the updates, saved a document to see if it would still be there the next time I used it, rebooted, and everything is there as though on an actual hard drive...and it's only taking up 2.5 GBs of the USB at this point.

I know this is nothing new, but it might be something of use to others. 

[cheiron]

Hi Dan


Good to hear that all went well for you. How did you find WattOS as a whole running as a portable against a standard install? (what spec machine was it ran on as a benchmark against your normal)

[Dan]

cheiron,

Here are the basic specs of the computer that I used to make the portable OS with...

Computer: HP dx5150 SFF
CPU: Single core AMD Athlon 64 3000+ @ 1.8GHz
GPU: Gallium 0.4 on ATI RS480
RAM: 935MiB

While using the portable version on the same computer, I noticed no difference in performance. Here are the basic things that I tested with the portable version...

1. Internet usage
2. Listening to an internet radio station with Audacious
3. Changed some of the settings
4. Installed Abiword and saved a document with it

After rebooting, everything was saved as I left it...including the internet radio station on Audacious. I did a few other things, but I can't imagine that I'd use it for much else as a portable OS. This computer is using ethernet, so I'm looking forward to trying this portable version later at work so that I can test it on a couple of other newer computers that use wireless and have newer hardware. I am interested to see how it might perform on computers other than the one that I used to make the USB with. I'll post the results.

[Dan]

Okay...here are the results from two more computers...IT RAN GREAT! 

The first computer is my personal laptop which I keep at work...it only has wattOS 64bit on it.

Computer: Toshiba Satellite L505D
CPU: AMD Turion II Dual-Core Mobile M520 @ 2.3GHz
GPU: AMD/ATI RS880M [Mobility Radeon HD 4225/4250]
RAM: 3701MiB

This second computer is one of our computers at work...

Computer: HP Compaq Presario CQ5320F (Desktop running Windows 7 Professional)
CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 240 Processor @ 2.8GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
RAM: 3000MiB

I'm not sure about the GPU...it's been a long time since I've looked up information like that on a Windows computer! 

Anyway, the portable wattOS performed brilliantly on all three computers. And now for your enjoyment...or boredom...I give you a short video showing it in action.  There's no video of me or my voice. The only sound will come from Audacious and Youtube...

https://youtu.be/ogr5oLFxW8Q

[cheiron]

@Dan


Cool! nice spread of pc's and abilities of each.


Thats some very useful feedback and help for others considering portable or not.


Well done that man! 

[leenie]

Hi Dan,
LOVED YOUR VIDEO! I subscribed, hoping for many more. I've been using wattOS a long time and never tried it portable. Hmm, I have a 16 GB stick around here somewhere...

[Dan]

Thanks cheiron and leenie. I think it's a good idea and opportunity for those who may need to do online banking (or any type of secure/important work) without having to do so on a Windows computer where security is such a risk.

While I was looking at the other distros, I was most drawn to one in particular...but I couldn't wrap my mind around it. I read a ton of their documentation, but was still left wondering about updates and exactly how to install it in order to use it from a USB instead of a full install on hardware.  Then it dawned on me...wattOS is light; why not try it?

Just another reason why wattOS is such a great OS!

Also, I must confess...I lied in the video. When I said that I had only added three additional applications, I forgot that I had also added a firewall to it.  So I actually added four items.

There is one other thing that perhaps someone could possibly help with or offer advice about...

When I installed it onto the USB, it ran OSprober and updated the grub (of the USB stick; not the host computer's grub) as a normal install does. Therefore, when I boot the USB, it first lists the USB's wattOS on the grub screen; then it lists the other OS from the host computer that I used to make the USB with...so there's "supposedly" two operating systems to choose from on the grub screen, and of course that same grub screen shows on any computer that I plug it into. That doesn't present a problem, because I know what I want to boot. I'm not sure what would happen if I inadvertently chose the other OS on a computer other than the host computer that I made the USB with.    However, it could be confusing to someone who wants to try this out. Not really sure what to do about it, because I don't see any way around it during installation. I even tried reinstalling it a second time just to see if there was a way around it...to no avail. Like I said, it's not a problem or confusing to me. I'd just hate to cause others any confusion on something that I suggested. 

Thanks for the kind words and for subscribing leenie! H...o...w...e...v...e...r, I'm not much of a videographer!    I don't make videos very often.  

[Dan]

Looking forward to the new release coming out soon! 

As a side note...as an experiment, I allowed my portable version to upgrade to 16.01. Took about an hour. Everything looked good after reboot...except...I couldn't log out, restart, or shut down anymore.    Had to turn the computer off manually. So...I plugged it into a different computer when I got home...and...it wouldn't even boot at all.

I don't know if the trouble was because it's portable or not, but I ended up having to reinstall it on the USB again...and I quickly turned off the notification for LTS upgrades after the installation. 

However, I will be putting the new version on a USB too. 

[biffster]

Very nice Dan - thanks for posting test results and info. Its always helpful. New release will be out soon so you can experiment with the latest

biff

[Dan]

Thanks biffster...I'm really looking forward to it! In fact, the geek in me went out and bought a new 32 GB USB just to use for a portable version of the new release. 

[blaze]

That was a very good investment Dan. Please let us know how it all went down later on.

[Dan]

That was a very good investment Dan. Please let us know how it all went down later on.

Will do.

[Dan]

The portable version of R10 is working great! I've tried it on the same three machines as mentioned in the earlier posts, and it has done well on all three.

If anyone may be interested in making your own, but you're not sure what to do...I'm intending to either make a video or give detailed instructions on how to do a portable version, because it is a little different than a regular install...but it's still very easy,   

[Dan]

Okay...here's the video for doing a full install of wattOS onto a USB...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-kfuw-9KA4

[teejay]

Pretty impressive, Dan.
I can understand setting "don't use" for the swap space, but thought the reason was to prevent porta-watt2 looking for sda5 on boot  ie to make it independent of the current box.
What happens when you boot the Debian 8.5 install ?  Swap space gone or untouched ?