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Live Disk Creation (Other Operating Systems) |
Create and use bootable media on other operating systems.
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hardware-troubleshooting |
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Pop!_OS and Ubuntu are remarkably flexible. You can run a full version of Pop!_OS or Ubuntu from a USB drive (often known as a thumb drive, flash drive, or USB stick) in what's known as a live environment. Using a live environment (live disk) is useful for:
- Installing Pop!_OS
- Installing Ubuntu
- Recovering your existing operating system
- Backing up files when you can't boot
- Determining if an issue is caused by hardware or software
- Fixing the boot loader
A live disk is a handy tool to have around!
In order to install Pop!_OS or Ubuntu, you must first download the .iso image. This is a disk image with the operating system and installer on it. You can download Pop!_OS here or Ubuntu 20.04 here.
Verifying your download is an important step: we generate a "checksum" for Pop!_OS images and recommend that you verify that your download matches that checksum before trying to install. This ensures that you've received the full, complete download and that it is not corrupted.
Assuming you downloaded Pop!_OS to your ~/Downloads folder, open the Terminal ( + T on Pop!_OS or Ctrl + Alt + T on Ubuntu) and run the following command:
sha256sum Downloads/pop-os_21.04_amd64_intel_7.iso
sha256sum Downloads/pop-os_21.04_amd64_nvidia_7.iso
Note: The .iso filenames will change over time, so please make sure you are using the correct .iso filename.
If the checksum does not match the one on the download page, you may need to re-download your copy of Pop!_OS and ensure it completes downloading before re-verifying it.
Assuming you downloaded Pop!_OS to your Downloads folder, open the Command Prompt and run the following command:
CertUtil -hashfile Downloads\pop-os_21.04_amd64_intel_7.iso sha256
CertUtil -hashfile Downloads\pop-os_21.04_amd64_nvidia_7.iso sha256
Note: The .iso filenames will change over time, so please make sure you are using the correct .iso filename.
If the checksum does not match the one on the download page, you may need to re-download your copy of Pop!_OS and ensure it completes downloading before re-verifying it.
In order to make the bootable live disk, you must have a flash drive and software to write the Pop!_OS .iso image to the drive. There's a variety of applications you can use to write disk images to a flash drive, but for this tutorial, we'll use the Disks applicaton for Ubuntu and Etcher for Windows/macOS.
Press the / key then type 'disks' to launch the Disks application.
Next select the flash drive in the list on left and click on the three dots on the top right of the window. Now select Restore Disk Image... and select the Ubuntu or Pop_OS ISO file. Finally, click the Start Restoring... button and enter your user password.
Etcher is an open source app for Windows and macOS that allows you to "burn images to SD cards & USB drives safely and easily." You can download it at Etcher.io.
Once you have installed Etcher and downloaded the Pop!_OS.iso image, open up the Etcher application. You should see something like this:
Choose Select Image and navigate to where you downloaded Pop!_OS, click on it and hit the Open button:
Next, select the drive that you want to use. If there is only one, it should automatically recognize that you have a flash drive inserted and select it.
Now hit the Flash button and watch the magic happen!
Once the flash is complete (it should look like the screenshot above), it's time to boot it up on the machine that you want to install Pop!_OS on!
After creating the live disk, insert the USB drive into your computer, then reboot or power on your system. You'll need to tell the computer to boot from the live disk by holding a key right as you power on:
| Firmware | Laptops | Desktops |
|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Firmware | Hold F7/F1/F2 | Hold F12, F8, or F10 |
| Open Firmware | Hold Esc |
If done correctly, you should see a boot device selection menu, like one of the following images.
Use the arrow keys to select the USB drive, then press Enter to boot the selection.
Pop!_OS will boot into the familiar Pop!_OS desktop.
The list provided at the beginning of the article provides links to other articles on using the live environment for hardware testing, restoration/upgrades, and boot repair.
Since the live environment is a full Pop!_OS installation, it works just like the normal environment. There are tools and methods that allow to chroot (change root) into the normal installation and work in the existing operating system to repair a broken package or other problem that is preventing normal booting.
Perhaps you're reinstalling, or maybe you can't boot but you want to try and recover and back up your files? The live environment will automatically detect and mount most file systems including Linux and Windows. You can then copy files from the disk to another external disk using the familiar Files utility.