Problems with making a persistent Ubuntu live USB drive

I am having problems with making a persistent Ubuntu Live USB drive although I am having no problems at all making a non-persistent one with UNetbootin. I used Universal USB Installer to make a persistent Ubuntu 10.10 desktop live usb, but its not working. It boots into the thumb drive without any problems, I select "Run Ubuntu from this USB" and after a few seconds the loading screen for Ubuntu comes, and it hangs there, doesn't load up even after 10-20 minutes.

I am using a 2GB Transcend Jetflash pendrive for this task.

Help from anyone would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Edited by Alvas Rawuther, 23 January 2011 - 07:41 AM.

What size did you set for "persistence"?

I have used the same method, setting 1GB for "persistence" (on a 2GB flashdrive, just like you), and found it to work without any problem. I can only suggest that you try again, since something is obviously not right.

Thanks mate. It isn't working, even after trying again by setting the persistence to 1028MB. Tried it a few times even before, I really need to get this to work. Further help would also be appreciated a lot.

Please list for me what you see on the flashdrive, when the contents are viewed in Windows.

How do I do that?

Or is this okay -

COMMENT	Karen's Directory Printer v5.3.2
COMMENT	© 1997, 1999-2002, 2004-2005, 2007-2008 by Karen Kenworthy, All Rights Reserved
COMMENT	http://www.karenware.com/
COMMENT	
COMMENT	Lines beginning with "COMMENT" (like this one) contain comments or explanations.
COMMENT	They do not contain any information about particular files or folders.
COMMENT	
COMMENT	Lines beginning with "FILE" contain information about a Single File.
COMMENT	Here's the information found in those lines:
COMMENT	Attributes <TAB> File Size <TAB> File Name
COMMENT	
COMMENT	Computer: THE-46F9B72AC8C
COMMENT	User: Unrelenting Rain
COMMENT	Prepared: 19:54 1/23/2011
COMMENT	Folder: H:\
COMMENT	Include Sub-Folders? Yes
COMMENT	
FILE	---A---X	143	autorun.inf
FILE	---A----	1,077,936,128	casper-rw
FILE	RHSA---X	32,768	ldlinux.sys
FILE	---A----	4,880	md5sum.txt
FILE	---A----	227	README.diskdefines
FILE	---A----	0	ubuntu
FILE	---A----	48,945	Uni-USB-Installer-Copying.txt
FILE	---A----	5,737	Uni-USB-Installer-Readme.txt
FILE	---A---X	2,037,229	usb-creator.exe
FILE	---A---X	1,503,592	wubi.exe
FILE	---A----	0	base_installable
FILE	---A----	37	casper-uuid-generic
FILE	---A----	15	cd_type
FILE	---A----	57	info
FILE	---A----	78	release_notes_url
FILE	---A----	589	loopback.cfg
FILE	---A----	38,472	filesystem.manifest
FILE	---A----	36,500	filesystem.manifest-desktop
FILE	---A----	10	filesystem.size
FILE	---A----	692,674,560	filesystem.squashfs
FILE	---A----	11,409,807	initrd.lz
FILE	---A----	4,289,584	vmlinuz
FILE	---A----	0	stable
FILE	---A----	0	unstable
FILE	---A----	1,768	Release
FILE	---A----	198	Release.gpg
FILE	---A----	10,029	Packages.gz
FILE	---A----	97	Release
FILE	---A----	1,269	Packages.gz
FILE	---A----	103	Release
FILE	---A----	165,084	mt86plus
FILE	---A----	1,865	README.sbm
FILE	---A----	1,474,560	sbm.bin
FILE	---A----	294	blue-lowerleft.png
FILE	---A----	266	blue-lowerright.png
FILE	---A----	280	blue-upperleft.png
FILE	---A----	290	blue-upperright.png
FILE	---A----	8,442	debian.jpg
FILE	---A----	3,986	logo-50.jpg
FILE	---A----	353	red-lowerleft.png
FILE	---A----	299	red-lowerright.png
FILE	---A----	321	red-upperleft.png
FILE	---A----	344	red-upperright.png
FILE	---A----	16,310	b43-fwcutter_013-2_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	7,244	build-essential_11.5_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	71,146	dkms_2.1.1.2-3ubuntu1_all.deb
FILE	---A----	772,144	dpkg-dev_1.15.8.4ubuntu3_all.deb
FILE	---A----	504,134	libdpkg-perl_1.15.8.4ubuntu3_all.deb
FILE	---A----	117,500	fakeroot_1.14.4-1ubuntu1_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	5,198,836	g++-4.4_4.4.4-14ubuntu5_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	1,529,224	libstdc++6-4.4-dev_4.4.4-14ubuntu5_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	1,444	g++_4.4.4-1ubuntu2_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	110,276	linux-wlan-ng_0.2.9+dfsg-4_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	88,148	linux-wlan-ng-doc_0.2.9+dfsg-4_all.deb
FILE	---A----	10,312	lupin-support_0.32_all.deb
FILE	---A----	51,318	libalgorithm-diff-perl_1.19.02-1_all.deb
FILE	---A----	12,972	libalgorithm-merge-perl_0.08-1_all.deb
FILE	---A----	18,442	mouseemu_0.16-0ubuntu7_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	21,354	ndisgtk_0.8.5-1_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	21,598	ndiswrapper-common_1.56-3_all.deb
FILE	---A----	36,092	ndiswrapper-utils-1.9_1.56-3_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	122,946	patch_2.6-2ubuntu1_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	51,976	setserial_2.17-45.2ubuntu2_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	121,162	oem-config_2.4.8_all.deb
FILE	---A----	114,222	oem-config-gtk_2.4.8_all.deb
FILE	---A----	175,174	wvdial_1.60.4_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	180,650	libuniconf4.6_4.6.1-1ubuntu1_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	254,218	libwvstreams4.6-base_4.6.1-1ubuntu1_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	483,440	libwvstreams4.6-extras_4.6.1-1ubuntu1_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	895,786	bcmwl-kernel-source_5.60.48.36+bdcom-0ubuntu5_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	519,986	sl-modem-daemon_2.9.11~20100718-2_i386.deb
FILE	---A----	212	cli.seed
FILE	---A----	497	ltsp.seed
FILE	---A----	460	ubuntu.seed
FILE	---A----	62,699	16x16.fnt
FILE	---A----	3,404	access.pcx
FILE	---A----	0	adtxt.cfg
FILE	---A----	2,952	am.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,267	ast.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,953	ast.tr
FILE	---A----	7,500	back.jpg
FILE	---A---X	0	be.hlp
FILE	---A----	3,302	be.tr
FILE	---A---X	11,534	bg.hlp
FILE	---A----	3,756	bg.tr
FILE	---A----	11,457	blank.pcx
FILE	---A----	2,048	boot.cat
FILE	---A----	104,960	bootlogo
FILE	---A----	1,882	bs.tr
FILE	---A---X	8,058	ca.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,179	ca.tr
FILE	---A----	2,080	cs.tr
FILE	---A---X	0	da.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,927	da.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,752	de.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,141	de.tr
FILE	---A----	1,423	dtmenu.cfg
FILE	---A---X	12,730	el.hlp
FILE	---A----	3,905	el.tr
FILE	---A---X	6,509	en.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,708	en.tr
FILE	---A---X	6,813	eo.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,897	eo.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,588	es.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,972	es.tr
FILE	---A---X	6,750	et.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,902	et.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,181	eu.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,876	eu.tr
FILE	---A----	53	exithelp.cfg
FILE	---A----	866	f1.txt
FILE	---A----	723	f10.txt
FILE	---A----	739	f2.txt
FILE	---A----	782	f3.txt
FILE	---A----	417	f4.txt
FILE	---A----	806	f5.txt
FILE	---A----	1,220	f6.txt
FILE	---A----	916	f7.txt
FILE	---A----	1,029	f8.txt
FILE	---A----	765	f9.txt
FILE	---A---X	7,153	fi.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,953	fi.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,975	fr.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,093	fr.tr
FILE	---A----	1,905	ga.tr
FILE	---A----	22,716	gfxboot.c32
FILE	---A----	369	gfxboot.cfg
FILE	---A---X	7,486	gl.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,974	gl.tr
FILE	---A---X	0	he.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,784	he.tr
FILE	---A---X	0	hi.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,956	hr.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,813	hu.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,271	hu.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,094	id.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,709	id.tr
FILE	---A----	24,576	isolinux.bin
FILE	---A----	103	isolinux.cfg
FILE	---A---X	7,140	it.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,945	it.tr
FILE	---A---X	9,417	ja.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,857	ja.tr
FILE	---A----	4,899	ka.tr
FILE	---A---X	13,128	kk.hlp
FILE	---A----	3,637	kk.tr
FILE	---A---X	0	ko.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,215	ko.tr
FILE	---A----	1,932	ku.tr
FILE	---A----	211	langlist
FILE	---A----	2,089	lt.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,880	lv.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,114	lv.tr
FILE	---A----	437	menu.cfg
FILE	---A----	3,338	mk.tr
FILE	---A---X	6,970	nb.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,879	nb.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,168	nl.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,089	nl.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,222	nn.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,853	nn.tr
FILE	---A---X	0	pl.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,109	pl.tr
FILE	---A----	185	po4a.cfg
FILE	---A----	175	prompt.cfg
FILE	---A---X	7,477	pt.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,076	pt.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,459	pt_BR.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,092	pt_BR.tr
FILE	---A---X	8,514	ro.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,135	ro.tr
FILE	---A----	134	rqtxt.cfg
FILE	---A---X	12,031	ru.hlp
FILE	---A----	3,449	ru.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,573	sk.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,239	sk.tr
FILE	---A---X	0	sl.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,916	sl.tr
FILE	---A----	14,160	splash.pcx
FILE	---A----	17,333	splash.png
FILE	---A---X	8,037	sq.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,959	sq.tr
FILE	---A---X	11,391	sr.hlp
FILE	---A----	3,504	sr.tr
FILE	---A----	508	stdmenu.cfg
FILE	---A---X	7,286	sv.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,975	sv.tr
FILE	---A----	398	syslinux.cfg
FILE	---A----	1,755	tl.tr
FILE	---A---X	7,764	tr.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,865	tr.tr
FILE	---A----	571	txt.cfg
FILE	---A---X	0	uk.hlp
FILE	---A----	3,865	uk.tr
FILE	---A----	159,136	vesamenu.c32
FILE	---A---X	9,743	vi.hlp
FILE	---A----	2,572	vi.tr
FILE	---A---X	6,275	zh_CN.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,820	zh_CN.tr
FILE	---A---X	6,245	zh_TW.hlp
FILE	---A----	1,951	zh_TW.tr

Edited by Alvas Rawuther, 23 January 2011 - 09:24 AM.

I have compared that list with what's on my own flashdrive, and everything appears to be the same.

I can't make any further suggestions right now .... and I must away to get some shut-eye. Sorry.

Oh...thanks anyway. Anyone else who could help me out here?

Edited by Alvas Rawuther, 23 January 2011 - 09:38 AM.

Updates...

Here's a screenshot of the Ubuntu loading screen that I get when I run the ubuntu 10.10 from my 2GB pendrive -
http://imgur.com/pUy0b

And here are some screens which I get when I press ESC during the loading process since it doesn't load even after 10-20 minutes-
http://imgur.com/9u0Uo

Anyone who can help me out with this problem? Thanks..

Edited by Alvas Rawuther, 24 January 2011 - 08:54 AM.

It seems it is having a problem with the floppy drive (FD0) based on the second image. ldlinux/syslinux on flash drives can emulates a floppy using a floppy image and boot of that.

I have had similar problems with some flash drives and could sometimes fixed it by re-naming the boot file then copying in the boot file again or reformatting the flash drive.

syslinux.cfg has the config info to be able to see what file you are booting.

Edited by AlamedaPhil, 02 February 2011 - 11:23 AM.

I uploaded the syslinux.cfg file here - http://www.box.net/shared/val9o4ejrh

Edited by Alvas Rawuther, 03 February 2011 - 10:50 AM.

Update...

In addition, this is what I see when I open the syslinux.cfg file using wordpad. What should I do?

# D-I config version 2.0
include menu.cfg
default vesamenu.c32
prompt 0
timeout 50

# If you would like to use the new menu and be presented with the option to install or run from USB at startup, remove # from the following line. This line was commented out (by request of many) to allow the old menu to be presented and to enable booting straight into the Live Environment! 
# ui gfxboot bootlogo

Download syslinux.cfg file

Also, I only seem to be having problems when I try to boot from the usb drive with persistence. Since without persistence, it boots just right.
I replaced the code in syslinux.cfg with this code below to try to boot from the same usb drive without persistence and see if it works, and it did...

prompt 1
timeout 50
default 1
say -
say Enter the number of the desired option
say ————————————–
say -
label 1
say 1 Try Ubuntu without installing
kernel /casper/vmlinuz
append noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true persistent file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash –
label 2
say 2 Try Ubuntu without installing and fresh
kernel /casper/vmlinuz
append noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash –
label 3
say 3 Install Ubuntu
kernel /casper/vmlinuz
append noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true persistent file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper only-ubiquity initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash –
label 4
say 4 Check disc for defects
kernel /casper/vmlinuz
append noprompt boot=casper integrity-check initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash –
label 5
say 5 Test memory
kernel /install/mt86plus
label 6
say 6 Boot from first hard disk
localboot 0×80

Thanks for all the help provided by you guys at bleepingcomputer and it would be really great if this problem got solved.

Edited by Alvas Rawuther, 04 February 2011 - 03:21 AM.

I would try something like:
copy {usbdriveletter}:\casper\vmlinuz {usbdriveletter}:\casper\vmlinuz.new
move {usbdriveletter}:\casper\vmlinuz {usbdriveletter}:\casper\vmlinuz.old
move usbdriveletter}:\casper\vmlinuz.new {usbdriveletter}:\casper\vmlinuz

Better yet if you can copy the vmlinuz from the Live CD that would be better.

I also installed on a 2GB module and it works.

Doesn't work, still getting the same error.

Edited by Alvas Rawuther, 06 February 2011 - 03:29 AM.

UPDATE: It still won't boot with persistence. Even with a brand new SanDisk 8GB Pendrive.

Another UPDATE: I found one more thing, with persistency it doesn't boot at all when I select "Run from USB Drive" in the boot menu. But when I select "Install" and then quit, I get into the Ubuntu 10.10 environment but again with no persistency.