Creating persisting live usb

Technical Issues
1

First of all, I would like to thank all of the developer and contributors for creating the perfect distro. It is lightweight, have reasonable defaults and best looking ui and customization option I have ever seen + its arch like.

Being so lightweight my main plan was to create a live usb where all data addition and modification are saved and then reloaded on reboot, like my data is stored and can be just be there even after reboot. So I would essentially be having portable usb which I can attach to any computer and have all my data (kinda like ubuntu based distro like mint).

It is not supported by manjaro (and its extension like mabox) so I can’t use ventoy to create a persisting media. So, is it possible to implement feature to have persisting data in usb like mint has?

2

Hi @just-a-normal-person and welcome to Mabox forum.

Take a look at this thread please, it seems related.

3

Thanks for your suggestion but that’s not exactly what I wanted. It only makes my issue more bearable. well i will be looking into it, it sounds pretty interesting (I killed by usb trying to directly install mabox on usb so I wont be able to try anything now, it take way too much time to even write an iso on my disk. but atleast I learned something :smiling_face_with_tear:)

4

Hi @just-a-normal-person,

Welcome to the forum!

Yes, you can install Mabox on a USB stick, but for good performance, you’ll need a fast USB 3.0 drive. Booting the full system into RAM is also possible, but requires manual GRUB/initramfs tweaks and isn’t officially supported.

:warning: Why Mabox (Arch-based) isn’t ideal for portable USB

Arch-based distros like Mabox don’t support persistence out of the box. Full installs work but:

  • Need careful setup
  • May break across hardware
  • Have no easy way to remaster or snapshot

:white_check_mark: Easier: Use MX Linux Fluxbox + Docker

MX Linux is designed for portable USB use. It offers:

  • :locked: Built-in persistence
  • :rocket: Boot to RAM
  • :toolbox: Snapshot/remaster tools

:light_bulb: Want Mabox too? Run it inside Docker on MX:

docker run -it --rm \
  -e DISPLAY=$DISPLAY \
  -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix \
  your-mabox-image

This way, you get the best of both worlds: Mabox environment with MX’s portability.

EDIT: Sorry i mean Qemu or Virtualbox. Docker is not meant to boot Iso…

:bird:

2 Likes
5

PS : The best way to create the live iso is the use of mxlinux iso maker.

dd makes the usb read only. Usb need write permission for persistence.

:bird: