I highly doubt that it can not be done. However, just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should do it.
In this case, especially since
…nowadays that is very little RAM. I’ve heard that at least 8GB is recommended these days. And
…as far as I know, the Celerons were never the best processors, so that’s a second bottleneck, according to me.
So I’d suggest rather looking at, and considering one of the more lightweight community editions, especially since it seems you don’t have much, if anything to loose:
What DE are you trying to run? Xfce or Mate works fine with 4GB and integrated graphics; best install the minimal version and add what you need. Avoid transparencies and other eye candy and you should be good. In my experience Manjaro Xfce minimal is leaner than Mint’s Xfce.
With the weak integrated graphics of your processor I’d stay away from Gnome/KDE/Cinnamon.
System resources, or lack thereof, can certainly contribute. On the same system with additional RAM, and possibly an SSD, Gnome or KDE might install without issue; whether it would, or not, is not as obvious as you suggest.
However, the USB drive indeed could be a bottleneck of sorts; especially if it were only USB2; an even greater problem if it was borked somehow.
I would suggest the OP creates a VENTOY USB instead of writing an ISO to a USB; which can often not go as planned:
Boot with a Ventoy USB, and ISO files are automatically listed in the Ventoy menu, and can be booted directly. A 32GB (minimum) capacity USB should allow ample space to store several ISOs of your choice.
Ventoy is available from the official Manjaro extra repository:
sudo pacman -S ventoy
Type ventoy (without arguments) to see usage information:
Usage: Ventoy2Disk.sh CMD [ OPTION ] /dev/sdX
CMD:
-i install Ventoy to sdX (fails if disk already installed with Ventoy)
-I force install Ventoy to sdX (no matter if installed or not)
-u update Ventoy in sdX
-l list Ventoy information in sdX
OPTION: (optional)
-r SIZE_MB preserve some space at the bottom of the disk (only for install)
-s/-S enable/disable secure boot support (default is enabled)
-g use GPT partition style, default is MBR (only for install)
-L Label of the 1st exfat partition (default is Ventoy)
-n try non-destructive installation (only for install)
Write the Ventoy system to an empty USB drive;
use /dev/sdX to target the device itself, and not a partition:
sudo sh ventoy -i -r 100 -S -g -L VOLUME /dev/sdX
Substitute VOLUME for a volume label name to use.
Substitute /dev/sdX for the location of your USB device.
Preserve some space on the target device (example allows 100mb).
According to the neofetch data in the linked thread the machine mentioned has 4GB of RAM also. If RAM was not upgraded presumably the stock harddrive (Toshiba MQ01ACF050 with 500 GB) wasn’t either.
Point being, each machine needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis. What may seem sufficient for one, may not be for another. Likely, the OP’s dilemma is a result of a combination of factors; system resources may play a part, just as much as other factors we might not be privy to, might contribute. I can assume without fact checking that the Toshiba drive is likely on the slower end of the spectrum, for example.
Aside:- 4GB (especially now) is generally insufficient RAM for most systems, whether it be Linux, Mac or Windows. That’s a given. 4GB might often be touted as enough to run [enter OS here] but in reality, is only the minimum required. I like to run software on top of any OS I use, which, depending on the requirements of that software, can invariably demand more resources.
Despite all that, it could simply be as you suggest, a borked USB. I guess we’ll wait and see what other useful information the OP can provide. Cheers.
This other machine with 8GB of RAM may have been beneficial. You might consider (as @Mirdarthos previously suggested) opting for a more lightweight distribution for the Thinkpad. It doesn’t strictly need to be XFCE, does it?
There are people with visual difficulties, the font configuration in my sisyema is very large, the ‘min-max’ option does not appear, it is covered up … – … someone should fix that format, whatever …
Thanks 6x12, for the graphic … I’m just downloading it, maybe that’s all …
I have no idea about the Live environments, but my Linux, with Plasma, after startup uses ±2GB Ram. But it’s heavily optimized for me. The Live environment has to be a lot more generic and as such probably uses quite a bit more.
I think that (basically a calamares issue) might be it. We had similar discussions before and it was mentioned that older (and smaller) iso worked when the later ones didn’t. I also think some architect/iso-tools install might work too.
As to how much ram one can work with; it depends on the user, I remember talking to a guy here who said his pre 2010 runs fine on 2GB. For surfing with a couple of open tabs and playing music xfce never goes above 2GB.
… opting for a more lightweight distribution for the Thinkpad. It doesn’t strictly need to be XFCE, does it?
*If there is a possibility to install Xfce4 later that would be fine with me, the space I have on that partition is 27GB – if this is possible please, which one do you recommend?. Thanks.
