I’d like to install/run Kicksecure from my “EAGET USB 3.2 Solid State Pen Drive” as described here. (Im not set on Kicksecure, just read about it on privacyguides; open for suggestions! I just want something … well secure and easy to use.

… However, my Windows PC does not recognize the USB with Debian as a bootable medium.

What I did:

  1. Download debian-live-12.5.0-amd64-xfce
  2. Flash it to USB with balenaEtcher
  3. Try to boot from it in all possible ways

I also tried other Linux distributions like Mint and Ubuntu … nothing gets recognized on that USB, expect Tails. After it recognizes it as UEFI OS and I select Harddisk Mode.

Tails is amazing, love it! But I just don’t really need Tor, and mostly I need to use an App that will simply not connect via the Tor network and cannot be configured to do so.

Thank you very much 😊

Edit: Not everything can boot on windows I guess. But in my case Ubuntu suddenly could after turning off the PC and remove it from its power source.

  • GolfNovemberUniform
    5·
    10 months ago

    I have a cheap USB drive that doesn’t work as a bootable medium too (except for Ubuntu and maybe some other specific distros). Though I suspect this issue apppeared after I dropped it from like 1.3 meters height. Anyways it can be a malfunction or your drive just doesn’t properly support it. What is your hardware though? Are you sure you need the UEFI mode and not the legacy BIOS mode?

      • Limonene@lemmy.world
        8·
        10 months ago

        You know that stuff that appears on the screen before the operating system? That is the computer’s firmware. Sometimes it shows a brief memory check, sometimes it has a silly error message like “No keyboard detected. Press F1 to continue.” Sometimes it’s just a big image of the motherboard’s manufacturer’s logo. That firmware exists independently of the operating system, and will run even if you don’t have any operating system installed.

        Most people refer to the firmware as the “BIOS”, but technically, BIOS refers to an API between the firmware and the operating system. About a decade ago, some people decided that “BIOS” was going to be replaced by “UEFI”, and operating systems would start having a new way to boot. What ended up happening is: the firmware on all recent computers supports both UEFI and BIOS interfaces (and everyone still calls it “BIOS”). Recent Windows versions seem to only boot in UEFI mode, but most Linux distros can boot in either UEFI or BIOS mode. The GRUB bootloader can also start itself up in either UEFI or BIOS mode.

        USB live operating systems are limited in size and may have less functionality than other operating systems, so maybe they are only able to boot in one method or another. Try looking around in the firmware (or “BIOS” if you prefer) to see if you can change the boot method to allow both UEFI and BIOS operating systems.

        It may help if you can take a picture of some of the firmware’s boot configuration menus.

          • GolfNovemberUniform
            4·
            10 months ago

            Don’t do that. Many malicious actors can put malware on Aliexpress tech products and sell it to get credit card information, create a botnet (similar to gaining remote access) or spy on you for the government

          • henfredemars@infosec.pubEnglish
            3·
            10 months ago

            Ali is known for shipping questionable products at times. I won’t tell you not to use them, but do understand that there’s some risk involved to get those lower prices.

        • GolfNovemberUniform
          2·
          10 months ago

          You don’t know how far people from poor countries can go to save money. Some of my relatives literally buy everything non-critical there

      • GolfNovemberUniform
        3·
        10 months ago
        1. How old is your computer’s motherboard?
        2. Aliexpress=questionable. You don’t need more facts. Getting something cheap always comes with a risk