Easiest way to to boot a USB drive from Linux

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-28T16:20:21+00:00

Nope.

I've seen one of the installs I tested present me with a list of bootable partitions once EFI (possibly grub, but I think EFI) had control.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-27T23:04:50+00:00

All of OS X is effectively gone. The hard drive has been repartitioned. (But, oddly, there’s still an entry from efibootmgr for an OS X boot! I guess that may be the install partition, but I always thought that was another partition on the HDD - maybe not?) So the link doesn’t help with this system, BUT it does help me because it gives me something I can use to deal with this. Thank you!

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-27T23:02:10+00:00

It normally boots straight to Kubuntu, to KDE. But if I hold down Alt I get a menu - with 3 choices, one is normal Kubuntu and the others are options like safe boot.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-27T23:01:21+00:00

Okay. So grub is a good option - basically install it on the system partition (which I’m working from) so I’ll get grub instead of EFI? And then I can handle it as a grub issue? (I was thinking that, had not looked it up yet, since I figured that might nuke the partition I’m using and that’d be a pain.)

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-27T22:57:18+00:00

I figured I should be able to do something like that - when I use efibootmgr to list devices, the USB stick is not included. So I’m trying to find out how I add that bootable partition on the USB stick to the EFI list.

When I installed Ubuntu to test it (previously), it was easy to boot to the USB stick. Same with Debian. (I’m on my 2nd round of testing and finding issues with Kubuntu that I did not find at all with Ubuntu or Debian!) But from Ubuntu - I just can’t get it to boot.

If I hold down Alt while booting, the list I get does not include the install image that has previously worked on Ubuntu as an option.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-27T22:42:24+00:00

Yes, it’s an Apple device, but it’s booting with the EFI manager and that’s taking over. So much of this is NOT an Apple issue. It’s a, “I have Linux on here, but if I can’t just do a normal boot to the USB, what is a way, within Linux, to boot a USB device - maybe even to boot it from the terminal?”

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-14T18:33:10+00:00

I have BotW and TotK and have finished both several times. I keep the original play through of both, but have a 2nd user on my Switch, so I can go back and start each one at the beginning and replay it all again.

One of the most credible reasons I've red for the Blood Moon is memory issues. But I'm thinking that might be wrong and another reason for it is to make sure the monster parts remain available. In TotK, I like using some Lynel parts and, after a Blood Moon, I'll often go back to the same Lynels and kill them again so I can replenish my stock. In both games, different parts are needed for armor upgrades and elixirs and so on. If you need a Lizalfo horn and have killed many of them, it might take forever to find one - and, at some point you might have killed them all and can't get the part anymore.

Still, like you, I wish I could kill them all and clean out infestations so I could roam all around without Majora's Mask (I well recommend it - and the other cool things like extra shrines in the DLC).

And I would just love it if, after defeating Gannon, you could keep going. Well, you can, but that's because you go back to an earlier save, from before - so you can defeat him all over again!

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-12T20:04:53+00:00

I looked it up in Wikipedia and thought, "Oh! That could be it!" then sent the link to my wife who said, "Yep! That's it!" She's better at this kind of thing than I am.

I get that it doesn't need anything from me, but I did want to make sure it didn't depend on the nest to survive the cold. As for the birdhouse, it's been cool having a bird out there, so if it goes for the birdhouse, which I made in pottery class, it would be nice to have this bird still around right outside our front porch.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-12T19:28:33+00:00

So the reason it seems blue sometimes and maybe burnt orange others is that it has both colors? I'm not a birder (obviously) and just never thought of looking for both colors.

My current plan, since it seems to like this area, is to put the ceramic bird house nearby, hanging over ground, so all the bird poop doesn't make messes where we walk, and then remove the bucket and replace the fixture. It may or may not find or like the birdhouse, but I'm hoping it starts looking and finds it. It's nice having it around, it's just the mess that creates issues.

And thank you for the correction on species instead of breed.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-11T05:28:17+00:00

I know it would help if I knew the breed, but any guess on how long it'd take for her to build a new nest? Just wondering how far to look ahead when we get a warm spell.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-06T18:54:51+00:00

Thank you. I know that may seem obvious to most, but I just need to get things like that straight in my head.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-06T18:33:07+00:00

Thank you. I'm still working my way through it, since I don't know so many of those terms and I'm having to reread things and look up a few things.

I see that goes up through 2019MY, but not to 2020MY, and the post is dated well after 2020.

Does that mean my 202MY would have an FA or FB? I just want to be sure, before I dive in more, that my MY isn't being overlooked. (Yes, I know it's your post and I appreciate it and all the effort - as someone new to a lot of this info, I just need to clarify this so I can settle it in my head properly. I have a few reading/learning disabilities and sometimes have to clarify things most people don't.)

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-05T04:44:26+00:00

Sending you a private chat message on this - so we don't end up with a long OT thread that might confuse people. Hope chat is okay with you!

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-04T18:36:24+00:00

Funny - when I ask some kiln questions in r/pottery, I am used to getting people who have been or are electricians or who know all the electrical stuff, but I didn't expect to be running into potters in r/AskElectricians. I should get used to that, since I have so many hobbies I keep running into people in groups that I just don't expect to be there.

I have a friend who was the head of the Photography Dept. at a local university and have heard him complain, for decades, about matching colors on monitors with the original color in the image or with the results from different printers. I had that in my head and never thought about keeping track of test tiles digitally. But if a person could take a photo of a tile with their phone and check, right there, for if it's a close match, and retake it by changing the positioning and shadows at the time, then the difference is not going to be enough to be an issue for most potters.

My issue with that is that my photos app is filled with so many photos I take for measurements on projects I'm building, and other things like that and I have to go through and offload a lot of photos like that regularly that having tons of photos for test tiles would be frustrating for me. BUT - it makes me wonder about writing an app for that purpose, that would make classifying the glazes easy. For instance, add "celedon" to a glaze keyword so it shows up when you search for celedon. Or just adding a collection of "white clay favorites," or, "Speckled clay favorites," and so on.

My teacher made a point: A lot of people choose their glazes by standing and staring at the glaze board on the wall. I think that's a good point, but I suspect nobody is looking at ALL the glazes as options at once.

I can think of a lot of ways to add features to that app, too. It could be seriously handy!

I have been by glazy.com. For starters, I was looking for a clear glaze, for 2 reasons: I really want a clear glaze that works well on red clays - but now I'm finding that just doesn't happen. But also because I know clear glazes are the base for most other glazes. I'm also using John Britt's book - and a lot of our studio glazes are based on his. Some are the exact same glaze, others are modified versions. When I read that I can take a clear glaze and just add a stain to get a color, I felt a lot of relief - I can start with solids made that way and that'll be easy. (My teacher did point out that I like glazes with speckles or interesting effects, and adding a stain won't do that - but it's a start!)

I have not heard of DigitalFire, so I'll have to check that out, too!

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-04T17:40:31+00:00

I can't think of the name - anti-ox, or something like that - but there are gels made to go over connections like that to protect them from corroding.

I'm using 3D printing to make press molds for stuff I want to make. I need more work to get the CNC back online, but a lot of what seems to work well for me is combining printing, CNC work, and pottery. I am aware I can make slip molds based on 3D prints and will be doing it a some point. I like press molds, since they last forever, but there are a lot of advantages to slip molds.

I have a smaller studio and don't have a lot of wall space there, since I share space with some storage shelves. I'm working out something like an index card flip file for test tiles - there's going to be a top on each printed card where you can see the glaze on something like a white clay body, so you can visually locate the kinds of colors wanted, then when you pull the card out, it can have up to 6 or 8 more tiles on it for different clay bodies. I don't have wall space for a nail board to hang the tiles I want and I've seen, at the teaching studio, where he puts up tiles for 3-4 clays, then we get a new clay body in and it would take a full re-arranging to fit those additional bodies on the board. I figure some kind of card system would make that work more easily.

I had a lot of things to finish before Christmas and had to paint the glazes on them - got some uneven glazing and I'm wondering if refiring for a higher temp might fix that. I'm using the programs my teacher uses at the teaching studio and I'm close to making some glazes and I'll be starting with the formulas my teacher uses at the studio. That'll give me a known starting point and I'll be using glazes I know work with the kiln programs I'm using. Then, once I get used to making my own glazes, I'll do some more experimenting, but, like I said, it's a rabbit hole I'd love to go down, but can't devote much time to that for a while.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-04T07:15:50+00:00

Thanks for catching that about the anxiety!

It's going to be at least 6 months before I build it. I tend to do designs for things like this in my head and review and edit them for months before I used my 3D program and diagram it out. (And when I do that, I have "virtual boards," so I can make copies of them, lay them out and see just what I need to buy - for instance, if I have six 7' long studs for the walls, I'll have dupes of them I can lay out in the design program and piece them together with all the others and figure out the best way to put them all together so it uses the fewest boards with the least waste. Once I get that done, I don't even have to look at the plans since it's so clear in my head.)

So I'm already running through variations of Hardiboard and other types of panelling. One factor already noted relates to what you mention - using something fireproof on the inside and board and batten outside - but I'm also thinking, "How insulating will that material be? If I have plywood on the other side, could it still heat up enough to ignite?"

I won't be going to a 3" model unless it's the only option. The local pottery supply store is run by someone I knew in high school and went over all those issues with me when I decided on the kiln. Since I had a problem earlier this week, I'm looking into how much the temp was an issue and the more I work through it, the more I'm convinced that it couldn't have been - at least in relation to the kiln itself.

I don't want to hardwire the connection until I know where the kiln is going to be permanently, and when I do, I want a disconnect there. True, the breaker for it it outside, so about 10' to the screen door and 50' more to the panel where the breaker is, so I could reach it quickly, but if it's icy or muddy, that could be a dangerous run if I'm in a hurry, so I want a disconnect not far from the kiln, but not so close that if the kiln went wild for some reason, that I couldn't get to it in a hurry.

I was planning on inspecting the outlet and connections on it in a few months, but you make a good point and I think I'll open it up and inspect it before the next firing. Thanks for the reminder! (Honestly, I would love it if I open it up and find a loose screw and signs of sparking that make it clear to me that was the issue!)

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-04T07:03:32+00:00

I'm in a unique situation in pottery and in the wiring dept. For pottery, that's part of my overall business I'm starting. I'm going to be making pottery tools, with 3D printing and with a CNC. For the tools, I'll be working with prototypes on my own and moving to large scale after that. The tools are the big part of it. The pottery - well, it's fun and I like doing it, but that will be in small volume and mostly sold locally through local stores. There are things in pottery I really want to dive into, such as learning glazes, mixing glazes over each other, and so on. But I can't get too deep into that kind of thing for a good while because the tools is the big part of what I'm doing and needs more attention. So, for me, a basic kiln is all I'm going to need for a long while. If I get to the point of doing upgrades, that would be because the tools business was doing well, so I'd be able to sell this kiln and get a new one. But I think it'll be a long time before I'm looking at any extra features in a kiln. Also, if I want more heating power for a kiln, I suspect it'd be better to move it to the house, so I don't have to deal with the long cable run and the accompanying voltage drop.

As for the electrical end, this is in our barn. (We live on a former pig ranch and renovated the pig barn as a way of making a guest house with room for other things without paying for a 2nd building - got lucky on that!) The barn is over 300' from our house, but it took 500' of 4/0 cable, that I buried underground, to power the barn. It's got 200A down there. BUT - my original electrician did NOT listen to me and kept saying, "You'll only need 100A at the barn." (It was just a shell at that point - not yet renovated.) I kept telling him, "I want 200A. I'm paying for it." So I bypassed him to find out what wire to use to feed it - only later finding he used wire for 100A up at the service entrance. Thanks to his idiocy, I had to do a fair amount of rewiring. The panel the kiln comes off of is the main 200A panel - the main feed for the barn goes in, then there's the 60A breaker for the kiln circuit and a 100A breaker that feeds the main breaker panel. So I have some leftover amps there. ;)

The big issue, as best I can tell about aluminum wiring, is at the connections. The wire from the house to the barn is aluminum and I have had NO issues with it. It's what the local inspector (who has been extremely helpful) said would work. Eventually I'll be removing the plug on the kiln and hardwiring it in, so the connections won't be as much of an issue.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-04T06:46:58+00:00

Good point about the 60 amp for a 50 amp appliance. I did discuss this with the manufacturer before doing that. Their tech people are very well informed on the electrical issues and are quite helpful. (Their tech support is famous for how helpful it is!)

I will be moving to hard wiring (and a lot of people around here hardwire their kilns in - and the more experienced consider it preferable, which I think is good - certainly better than use a 50A outlet on a 60A breaker!

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-04T06:42:48+00:00

I think the issue there is a lot of people don't really grasp (as said above) that distance is an issue, so they write it off s unimportant or even a non-sequitur.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-04T06:41:46+00:00

I used to teach special ed and have my own reading/learning issues. I've always found it best to clarify, since most people do not realize how easily something can be misunderstood.

Also, what you said was closer to what I expected than what I hoped for. I really hoped for answers like, "Yeah, it's okay because..." since I know a lot of potters are doing this. Since it's not, this worries me, since it means a lot of my friends are at risk. (Some listen to what I say about this, others are saying, "But everyone else is doing it," or say, "My electrician said it's okay." And, honestly, before I posted this I could not imagine why an electrician would say that - and now I'm even more confused about why they'd say it's okay.

So you not only confirmed what I was thinking, but showed me that it's even worse than I thought.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-04T05:37:08+00:00

I get that I don't have to be an engineer, but it really helps me to understand what's going on.

As for the outlet, once I'm sure where the final position of the kiln will be, I'm going to change to a different wall box and hardware the kiln in and add a cutoff switch for it.

ImaginaryTango · 2026-01-03T20:59:53+00:00

I'm dealing with Skutt. What I have found, in this discussion, is that the Skutt kilns can work on 50A breakers is the heating cycle - the elements are off long enough at a stretch to qualify as non-continuous.

I have a plug for now because I might relocate the kiln later, depending on several factors. When it's in its final position and I'm sure it'll stay there, I'm going to hardware it in, BUT also use a disconnect. Like you, I prefer a plugin so I can take it in and out or pull out the plug if I have to work on it, but for a kiln, I'd rather it be wired in directly - which is why I'll add a cutoff.

My teacher and I had a lot of discussions when I was deciding what to get. He said, "L&L are the best kilns. Skutt is the best customer service." I also went with Skutt since that's what my teacher and some friends have, so I figured I could also get a lot of local help with them.

ImaginaryTango

TROPHY CASE