Wednesday, January 16, 2013

In Linux/Unix, is it necessary to virtually disconnect a USB data storage device before you unplug it?

Q. You know how in Windows you right click on an icon beside the clock and click Safely Remove Hardware, and stop certain USB devices before you can safely unplug them. Is it necessary to do something similar in Linux or Unix, if so how is it done?

A. That depends, are you actually writing to the device?

If you have, you need to unmount (or umount) it before ejecting it.

How it is done? I just right click on the device's icon of my GNOME desktop. I simply choose the corresponding option then. Use KDE? Same thing applies.

Now why is this operation required?

In all operating systems (even in DOS, but it wasn't encouraged back then), whenever the system is told "write this to the disk" it actually puts it in a queue and returns to the calling application immediately. The actual write is done soon, but not necessarily done yet.

So, there is the possibility of a file being not written to the disk. Worse yet, there is the possibility of a file being partially written to the disk. Believe me, partially written files are a pain in the a....

Linux can set things up so that this is not such a problem. However, doing so will cause your pendrive to be Linux only, which is not such a hot idea to most people.

I have however divided an external hard disk into two partitions, format one as Linux only and the other as a tiny FAT disk, and copied into it the Windows driver for the Linux partition. It works with limitations in Windows, but it works.

Anyway, you do need to do it, and it is called unmounting or umounting the disk.

Can you use PHP and Mysql with a Linux Live CD?
Q. If you come back to Windows will all your PHP & Mysql settings gone? Do you have to reinstall everything again if you decide to use a second time the Linux Live CD?? I don't want to install Linux permanently o0n my sustem but I would like to work with the Lice CD without losing my work & setings. Is it possible?

A. Linux LiveCD's are run within the RAM of your PC so you cannot save you settings between LIVE sessions.

One possibility is having Ubuntu installed on a USB Pendrive


Ubuntu Live USB Pendrive Persistent
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LiveUsbPendrivePersistent

LUg.

Best linux distro to put on bootable usb?
Q. Hi, i have been using a usb loaded with ubuntu to browse the internet for some time now. I like how you can't get a virus with an operating system that isn't actually installed. But my question is what is the best bootable linux distro. Which has the most features that can be run from usb? I was just wondering if there was anything better than ubuntu that others would recommend.

A. you can run any number of distros off a usb thumb drive though the light weight distros are the best such as Puppy Linux, Slax, DSL, &c. One thing you can do is install a bunch of distros to a Thumb Drive http://www.pendrivelinux.com/boot-multiple-iso-from-usb-multiboot-usb/ thus you can boot to whatever you feel like. For instance you can put all six versions of Linux Mint (5 Desktop Environments & LMDE), with Fedora, Puppy, Slax, & Knoppix on a 32 GB Pendrive.



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