Ubuntu on a 4 GB SD Card, can this be done?

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WedgeBob(Posted 2006) [#1]
I have a notebook with an 80 GB HDD, which I feel is too small to partition, yet still have Windows run a lot of other programs/games. However, I also have an external HDD (Seagate 160 GB), that I tried installing Ubuntu Dapper Drake on, but Ubuntu gave me a pain in the butt, so I aborted that approach. However, Ubuntu does seem to catch onto SD Cards rather easily. Unfortunately, I only have a 1 GB SD Card, which would be too small for anything to install on it. However, I notice that there are such things as 4 GB SD Cards, from what I saw. Do you think that 4 GB would be enough for Ubuntu to install on an SD Card as a second OS off-site (because there's no way you can have two internal HDDs on a notebook).


JoeRetro(Posted 2006) [#2]
I think 4 GB is just not enough space. You may be able to get Ubuntu on it, but that's about it. Btw, I tried installing Ubuntu 6.10 and it gave me to much grief.

I just installed Suse 10.2 on my new external hard drive:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7955224&st=external+hard+drive&type=product&id=1152837300414

Works like a charm.


WedgeBob(Posted 2006) [#3]
Ehh, that's what I thought. Ubuntu is just a pain in the butt with external hard drives. Serves me right for getting my Seagate from Wal-Mart. :D


Alessandro(Posted 2006) [#4]
Try to use Mandriva. I installed on my notebook (compaq nc6320) and it works great!!

For partitioning, try to defragment hdd, then try to modify partition size using PartEd. It is even contained in a live distro.


WedgeBob(Posted 2006) [#5]
Why, sure, that would be a great move. I would have tried Fedora Core 4 or 5, but dunno what that would do for external HDDs... I hear that was one of your more popular distros, but it may not be the cheapest one, unfortunately.


Craig Watson(Posted 2006) [#6]
SD and other flash cards have limited write cycles, which could eventually become a problem with swap usage, etc. There are actually some Linux distros out there that support flash cards specifically by using file systems that write to them intelligently. I don't know if any are suitable for BlitzMax tho.

You might want to check on the Ubuntu forums if anyone has tried this before. I know for example you can install it to boot off a flash drive like you would with the Live CD, but I don't think it's intended for you to work off that drive.


Sub_Zero(Posted 2007) [#7]
Some keywords for you:

Mandriva Flash
Mandriva Mini
Mandriva Live


Oh, and ofcourse ubuntu can be run on 4gb. Just remove some of the packets you don't need.

Cheers


VP(Posted 2007) [#8]
There are also such things as 8GB and 16GB compact flash cards.... how helpful this is to you, I don't know ;)


FlameDuck(Posted 2007) [#9]
I think 4 GB is just not enough space. You may be able to get Ubuntu on it, but that's about it.
What wierd version of Ubuntu are you using?

Anyway, Damn Small Linux works well for me, on my 1GB stick.


D4NM4N(Posted 2007) [#10]
what about Xububtu? not tried it but know its a slim version of ubuntu