基于MBR外接硬盘制作Ubuntu 16.04 Live CD技术求助

Hey there! Let's walk through turning that MBR partition on your external drive into a bootable Ubuntu Live partition—perfect for ditching the USB stick. Here's a step-by-step guide tailored to your Ubuntu 16.04 setup:

First, double-check the exact path of the partition you created with GParted. Run this command to list all drives and partitions:

sudo lsblk

Look for your external drive (/dev/sdb) and note the partition number (e.g., /dev/sdb3). This will be your target for the Live ISO.

Make sure you have a downloaded Ubuntu 16.04 Live ISO file (like ubuntu-16.04.7-desktop-amd64.iso) saved somewhere on your local system—say, ~/Downloads/. Ensure it's the correct version for your hardware (32-bit or 64-bit).

If the partition is currently mounted, unmount it first to avoid write errors during the ISO process:

sudo umount /dev/sdbX

Replace /dev/sdbX with your actual partition path (e.g., /dev/sdb3). If you get an error saying it's not mounted, you can skip this step.

Use the dd command to write the ISO directly to your target partition. Critical warning: This will erase all data on the partition, so make sure you've backed up anything important first!

sudo dd if=~/Downloads/ubuntu-16.04.7-desktop-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdbX bs=4M status=progress

• if: Points to your downloaded ISO file path
• of: Points to your target partition path
• bs=4M: Uses larger block sizes to speed up the write process
• status=progress: Shows real-time write progress (supported in Ubuntu 16.04's dd—if it throws an error, just remove this flag)

Let this command run to completion—don't interrupt it, or the partition will become corrupted.

Since your drive uses an MBR partition table, you need to flag the target partition as bootable so your BIOS recognizes it as a valid startup option. You can do this two ways:

Option A: Using GParted (Graphical) #

• Open GParted by running sudo gparted in the terminal
• Select your external drive (/dev/sdb) from the top-right dropdown
• Right-click your target partition and choose Manage Flags
• Check the boot box, then click the Apply button (green checkmark)

Option B: Using parted (Command-Line) #

sudo parted /dev/sdb

Once in the parted interactive shell, run these commands (replace X with your partition number):

set X boot on
quit

Restart your computer, enter your BIOS boot menu (usually by pressing F2, F10, or Del during startup—check your motherboard's splash screen for the correct key), and select your external drive (/dev/sdb) as the boot device. You should boot straight into the Ubuntu Live environment, just like with a USB stick!

Quick Troubleshooting Tips #

• If it won't boot: Ensure your BIOS is set to Legacy mode (MBR partitions require Legacy boot, not UEFI)
• Verify your ISO isn't corrupted: Run md5sum ~/Downloads/ubuntu-16.04.7-desktop-amd64.iso and compare the output to the official MD5 hash listed on the Ubuntu download page

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Loves Probability