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Creating several partitions on a USB drive to form distinct bootable drives

Creating several partitions on a USB drive to form distinct bootable drives

M
MacSolaris
Senior Member
457
02-01-2023, 05:09 PM
#1
You're looking for a method to create several Linux distributions on a single USB drive, ideally with separate partitions, each booting a different distro. Multiboot-USB can handle multiple distros on one partition, but you need a way to split that into individual partitions. It's possible—consider using tools like GParted or Rufus with partitioning features to achieve this setup.
M
MacSolaris
02-01-2023, 05:09 PM #1

You're looking for a method to create several Linux distributions on a single USB drive, ideally with separate partitions, each booting a different distro. Multiboot-USB can handle multiple distros on one partition, but you need a way to split that into individual partitions. It's possible—consider using tools like GParted or Rufus with partitioning features to achieve this setup.

S
seeker07
Senior Member
349
02-01-2023, 08:06 PM
#2
I can't confirm a definitive NO, though I attempted to do so and the drives I used didn't handle multiple partitions well. They mostly ended up with a FAT partition. The only solution was using a DOS partition wizard to create one. Loading DOS and wiping the drive restored it to RAW, allowing NTFS installation. Based on my experience, this seems unlikely. Have you thought about using an external HDD such as a WD Passport? If you apply GPT, you should be able to use any number of partitions and boot from there. The default partition will depend on your setup.
S
seeker07
02-01-2023, 08:06 PM #2

I can't confirm a definitive NO, though I attempted to do so and the drives I used didn't handle multiple partitions well. They mostly ended up with a FAT partition. The only solution was using a DOS partition wizard to create one. Loading DOS and wiping the drive restored it to RAW, allowing NTFS installation. Based on my experience, this seems unlikely. Have you thought about using an external HDD such as a WD Passport? If you apply GPT, you should be able to use any number of partitions and boot from there. The default partition will depend on your setup.

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_maqaroon
Junior Member
4
02-04-2023, 09:29 PM
#3
Likely was correct. Appreciate the clarification! I’d consider using GPT next time.
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_maqaroon
02-04-2023, 09:29 PM #3

Likely was correct. Appreciate the clarification! I’d consider using GPT next time.

P
73
02-06-2023, 05:06 AM
#4
You might be able to transfer the MBR to a GPT file without erasing your system data by using tools like `mbr2gpt` or `ddrescue` in a recovery mode, but ensure you back up important files first.
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PinkUniGamer15
02-06-2023, 05:06 AM #4

You might be able to transfer the MBR to a GPT file without erasing your system data by using tools like `mbr2gpt` or `ddrescue` in a recovery mode, but ensure you back up important files first.