[02:39] <lotuspsychje> good morning
[15:15] <tomreyn> fwiw, following Guest9130's request for an ubuntu live/installer usb storage with persistent encrypted storage, i just created such (in a VM) with (almost) only GUI tools.
[15:15] <tomreyn> it works and still boots fine (only tested uefi booting)
[15:23] <tomreyn> i used balena etcher to write the iso to usb (but dd should work just as well), then ran     sudo fdisk --wipe none     against the usb storage (/dev/sdb for me), which reported some issues. i did not make changes, just pressed w to have it write the partition table in the way it thinks it should be. then i started gnome disks and pointed it to the disk, which showed unpartitoned space at the end, behind the ~4 GB ubuntu uses. i created 
[15:23] <tomreyn> a new partition there and chose for it to be ext4, encrypted, and applied those changes. then i booted off the usb storage and chose the 'try before you install' option and, using gnome files, was able to mount the encrypted disk (and, using the admin:/// uri in gnome files, access the test data i had placed on there).
[15:25] <lotuspsychje> nice tomreyn 
[15:25] <tomreyn> so it's really just a matter of using fdisk to fix the partiton table, which will allow gui tools such as gnome disks (which would otherwise fail doing so) to create encrypted persistent storage.
[15:25] <tomreyn> :)
[15:25] <lotuspsychje> would be nice to have this in a wiki, a lot of users are asking persistent installs
[15:26] <tomreyn> i just hope it's still hybrid bootable after this
[15:28] <daftykins> can't think why anyone wants this, early users dipping their toes and afraid to touch their existing systems?
[15:31] <tomreyn> i don't know about the why, but occasionally there's someone who wants this (not neccessarily with encryption), yes. if it's not a classic usb flash but a proper usb ssd (such as a pcie nvme behind usb translation), i can see the use case
[15:31] <tomreyn> including with encryption then.
[15:33] <tomreyn> although i guess then, even more so, you really want your custom installation on there.
[15:34] <arraybolt3> This might be handy for users to have a portable, usable installation of Ubuntu. The last time I tried to install Ubuntu to a second flash drive with everything plugged into my main system, it scrambled my main system's bootloader.
[15:35] <daftykins> you have to tread carefully that's for sure
[15:35] <daftykins> that's something i haven't played with yet, i have spare M.2 SSDs but never owned a USB enclosure for one
[15:36] <tomreyn> those are actually quite affordable
[15:36] <arraybolt3> daftykins: Well don't do it on your main system! I was able to mostly fix it with "grub-install"... mostly. My system flashes lights at me in weird ways on bootup, but it does at least still boot.
[15:36] <arraybolt3> Don't remember it doing the flashy lights things before.
[15:36] <daftykins> the smart approach would be to pull an internal drive yeah
[15:37] <arraybolt3> Hopefully the Ubuntu installer will get fixed so it doesn't do stuff like that anymore.
[15:37] <arraybolt3> Maybe Canary will do the trick?
[15:38] <daftykins> i don't consider that a flaw, rather the task is headed for disaster if you let GRUB handle things auto
[15:38] <daftykins> hmm - https://www.amazon.co.uk/ORICO-USB-Gbps-NVMe-Enclosure/dp/B07QN2WFGB/
[15:41] <tomreyn> there are even usb 4 ones now, if ridiculously rpiced (start 170 EUR :) )
[15:42] <daftykins> well, as fun as buying something that isn't usable yet, nor for a long while is...
[15:44] <tomreyn> i guess those won't be fanless also
[15:47] <daftykins> i find it interesting that it's typically only the controller that needs to be cool, the NAND is fine with some warmth
[15:52] <tomreyn> unfortunately most of those enclosures have a 'female' connector only, you can't just plug them into a usb port, but must attach a cable.
[15:53] <daftykins> well they're too large to dangle off, and no doubt would be at the wrong height for a laptop on a desk :)
[15:53] <daftykins> it would be port murder!
[15:54] <tomreyn> https://gzhls.at/i/74/36/2237436-n0.jpg
[15:54] <tomreyn> does exist, but you're probably right about port murder
[15:55] <tomreyn> https://icybox.de/en/product.php?id=64
[15:56] <Jeremy31> I have a cheap one made by Mokin that has a cord
[15:57] <tomreyn> another directly pluggable http://www.akasa.co.uk/search.php?seed=AK-ENU3M2-04
[15:57] <daftykins> soldering irons are warming up everywhere at the sight ;)
[15:58] <tomreyn> :) and another https://www.delock.de/produkt/42635/merkmale.html?setLanguage=en
[15:59] <tomreyn> it's probably still an unbeatable tool for the sneaker admin
[16:05] <tomreyn> hmm bios booting seems to have gotten broken when i had fdisk rewrite the partition table
[16:06] <daftykins> sounds about right
[16:06] <tomreyn> i was thinking fdisk has hybrid support, though
[16:11] <tomreyn> maybe i should have used it with --proteect-boot and / or --compatibility=dos. and / or "--wipe never" rather than "--wipe-partitions never" (which i actually did where i said i had done "--wipe none" abive)
[16:13] <tomreyn> actually not --compatibility=dos since this is really about the stone age operating system, does not refer to MBR
[16:15] <daftykins> :)