On 7/14/26 11:18, Pantelis Papadopoulos wrote:
Greetings.
I need your help with the following situation:
I want to install Debian 13 on an external SSD USB 3.0 and I want to boot from
that drive which is connected to an external USB 3.0 adapter that is not
recognized by the BIOS: the motherboard ASUS P5K (LGA775 Socket), which is old,
supports fine USB 2.0 boot.
I interpret the above to mean that you want to install Debian onto a USB
flash drive (?).
In the past, I installed and ran 32- and/or 64-bit Debian, IP Cop, Damn
Small Linux, FreeBSD, and possibly others on USB flash drives. I used
them as OS drives for headless appliances (firewall/router, NAS) and as
live drives for maintenance, trouble-shooting, portable desktops, etc..
It is best to install Debian when the USB flash drive is connected
directly to the "first" USB port of the computer, as determined by the
BIOS/UEFI. Using other USB ports on the computer and/or using external
hubs, docking stations, etc., may or may not work.
OS boot/run performance is primarily dependent upon the speed of the USB
flash drive. Because USB flash drives typically do not have a RAM
cache, graphical desktops tend to be choppy (e.g. synchronous writes
cause noticeable pauses).
A USB 3.0 or newer flash drive may work in a USB 2.0 port on an older
computer. I would try it and find out.
My favorite USB flash drive was the SanDisk Ultra Fit USB 3.0 16 GB. I
liked the tiny form factor that only projects out of the USB port by
~1/4 inch / ~6 mm, reducing the of chance accidental physical damage.
This is especially important for laptops. But, the SanDisk Ultra Fit
USB 3.0 flash drives tend to run hot. I have little experience with the
later USB 3.1 models.
Today, I use 2.5" 7mm SATA 6 Gbps SSD's, and install mobile racks in my
computer cases:
https://www.startech.com/en-us/hdd/hsb220sat25b
https://www.startech.com/en-us/hdd/s25slotr
For laptops and computers without 2.5" SATA drive bays, I use a USB A 5
Gbps to SATA cable:
https://www.startech.com/en-us/hdd/usb3s2sat3cb
I once ordered a USB C 10 Gbps to SATA cable for use with a Dell
Latitude 5400, but the connection was unreliable. I do not know if the
problem was the cable, the laptop, or both:
https://www.startech.com/en-us/hdd/usb31csat3cb
David
