Q4OS Forum

TravelerOS

Member

From: Boston, MA

Registered: 2025-08-25

Posts: 11

Website

TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

I'm pretty sure people have already know about TravelerOS but this is for the people who didn't. Also, this is just the description from the website:

TravelerOS is a lightweight and stable linux distribution based on Q4OS, which is Debian based. It is built for USB drives, and not hard drives. TravelerOS comes with KDE Plasma 5, not 6. TravelerOS is customized to be a portable linux distribution meant for USB drives, although you could boot it from a CD, or SD card, if possible. TravelerOS is also lightweight, only taking up 700 MB of RAM. TravelerOS is also very customizable, thanks to KDE Plasma, with that, you can customize the start menu, the panel, the window, the icons, anything! Since TravelerOS is portable, even if you boot the USB drive in a different computer, it still works the same! TravelerOS is meant for users who want to try/use linux, without installing it to the hard drive, meaning that you can store apps, games, documents, and other stuff without it erasing on reboot. TravelerOS is also meant for users who need help with their hard drive or their current operating system, like fixing the bootloader, partitioning the disk, removing a partition, or erasing the whole disk.

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/traveleros/home
Github Repository: https://github.com/traveler890/traveler

If you have any questions about TravelerOS, just tell me!

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Maybe the devs could create a link to your site on the main page. You might want to discuss that with them.

BonusBrain

Member

Registered: 2015-12-12

Posts: 72

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Had my first issue with TravelerOS. Not the fault of the distro but a power outage somehow wiped my Flatpak Thunderbird data so booting again after the power was restored and Thunderbird opened blank with a create account window?

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

That might be an issue with the drive itself as why would the power outage be so specific with only affecting Thunderbird? Wouldn't it have affected the whole drive or more than just one app?

BonusBrain

Member

Registered: 2015-12-12

Posts: 72

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

To be honest I switched back to the installed system and haven't had a chance to check in depth but running through stuff at the time it only appeared to be the Thunderbird profile affected. Traveler OS is on a brand new Patriot NVMe in an external case. I'll have a better look through it over the weekend. If it does turn out to be power outage susceptible it'll be a problem because where I live the power can go off several times a day during storms or windy weather and often it's not just a clean break off and on again either as it struggles to return.

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Go get a surge protector for you system and put your ethernet and power cord on it and prevent any issues. Better yet get a UPS and that will save your system when the power goes off.

BonusBrain

Member

Registered: 2015-12-12

Posts: 72

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Go get a surge protector for you system and put your ethernet and power cord on it and prevent any issues. Better yet get a UPS and that will save your system when the power goes off.

Thanks for the suggestion. I’m originally from the UK but have lived in Brazil for the past 21 years. Some things here you have to get used to and service faults are one of them. Because of the extortionate taxes here a decent UPS is twice the cost of replacing the PC which is why I’ve never bothered.

BonusBrain

Member

Registered: 2015-12-12

Posts: 72

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Update: This is not a unique occurrence apparently since there’s a Mozilla wiki dedicated to profile recovery. In Home/traveler/.var/app/org.mozilla.Thunderbird/.thunderbird the prefs.js file contains no reference for user_pref mail.account yet in the default/Mail directory my three account folders are as created. From this I can only assume the prefs.js file has been corrupted. I couldn’t see any .bak files floating around so ultimately decided to just recreate my accounts from scratch. Guess I’ll need to wait for the next power outage to find out if this will be a regular event.

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Surge protector though shouldn't be that expensive, is it?

BonusBrain

Member

Registered: 2015-12-12

Posts: 72

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Surge protector though shouldn't be that expensive, is it?

It's on a surge protector but anything above that like a decent UPS is too extortionate here.

Having read the Mozilla wiki it doesn't specifically mention power outages as being responsible for data loss, rather something that 'just happens' so maybe my occurrence was a coincidence and not related to the power issue.

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Could it be am issue with the NVME external case? Whats interesting is you wont see the speed a NVME can afford you running it thru a USB port.

TravelerOS

Member

From: Boston, MA

Registered: 2025-08-25

Posts: 11

Website

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Had my first issue with TravelerOS. Not the fault of the distro but a power outage somehow wiped my Flatpak Thunderbird data so booting again after the power was restored and Thunderbird opened blank with a create account window?

I'm not sure if this is a Linux Live kit issue, but power outages may cause to lose data, like your flatpak Thunderbird data.

TravelerOS

Member

From: Boston, MA

Registered: 2025-08-25

Posts: 11

Website

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

To be honest I switched back to the installed system and haven't had a chance to check in depth but running through stuff at the time it only appeared to be the Thunderbird profile affected. Traveler OS is on a brand new Patriot NVMe in an external case. I'll have a better look through it over the weekend. If it does turn out to be power outage susceptible it'll be a problem because where I live the power can go off several times a day during storms or windy weather and often it's not just a clean break off and on again either as it struggles to return.

Since your area has a chance of power outages, you might have to use a laptop if you have one, and charge it before the storm or wind speeds get higher. If you don't have a laptop... I don't know what to say.

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

To be so selective on just one app is really odd even with a power outage.

BonusBrain

Member

Registered: 2015-12-12

Posts: 72

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Could it be am issue with the NVME external case? Whats interesting is you wont see the speed a NVME can afford you running it thru a USB port.

This is true but since I had a spare M2 and it's neater than a cased SSD it seemed a logical choice.

BonusBrain

Member

Registered: 2015-12-12

Posts: 72

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Since your area has a chance of power outages, you might have to use a laptop if you have one, and charge it before the storm or wind speeds get higher. If you don't have a laptop... I don't know what to say.

Many thanks for your input which is appreciated. In fact I have a Lenovo Ideapad and an Acer Nitro 15 with i7 and 16G but the delights of older age vision (I'm 74) mean I need the screen to be between 17-18 inches away from my glasses. The Lenovo is borderline but I need then to sit crunched right up to my desk which isn't ideal so a desktop+monitor is the setup I need to use.

TravelerOS

Member

From: Boston, MA

Registered: 2025-08-25

Posts: 11

Website

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

Atleast you got a laptop.

crosscourt

Banned

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 2,706

Re: TravelerOS - A linux distro for USB drives

I use a high end gaming system but I always keep laptops around just for those kinds of situations when needed.

Last edited by crosscourt (2025-09-02 03:53)