Let’s get started! Part 1: Formatting your external SSD drive It is more appropriate for a full install of an operating system than a flash drive is. So it should be more reliable (and faster) than a generic USB Flash drive. Why this drive? According to the specs it is FAST, and it is a SSD, not a standard USB Flash drive. A blank SSD drive, like this SSD USB drive ($70-130 on Amazon for the 128 GB and 256 GB versions).A bootable USB flash drive for installing Ubuntu: instructions.An Intel powered Macbook (may have to be newer than 2013) with 2 USB ports.This requires permanent changes to your Mac Use a persistent Ubuntu live session… certain features do not work.You do NOT want to make any permanent changes to your Macbook.You do NOT want a virtual machine because they are slow.You want to have a portable full install of an Ubuntu system for prototyping.We will generally be following these instructions, with a few key modifications. This guide will show you, step by step, how to install a full version of bootable Ubuntu on a SSD (solid state drive, or any other external drive), using only your Macbook. I am not an expert, and likely cannot solve any issues you encounter. Warning: This is a complicated process, and you might screw things up.
