After suggestions from the community on drives that were known to work with Tails, a list of five drives was compiled(2 of each). Overall they performed well, but there was an issue(shown below list) with 2 of them. It's not a big deal, is easily overcome, and should be fixed in the next Tails update.
These USB drives will work with Tails:
- Kingston Data Traveler SE9 G2 16gb
- Lexar Twist/Turn Jump Drive 16gb
- Mushkin Atom 16gb
- Onn 32gb(Walmart brand)
- Transcend Jetflash 700 16gb
Please note
Some USBs are giving the error message "_________USB is configured as non-removable by manufacturer and tails will fail to start on it" This is even happening to drives that were known to work fine before. The Tails team are aware of this and have offered a work around that can be found Here. If you want to read more about the bug report you can do so Here. Should be fixed in Tails 3.1, due out Aug 8
2 of the 5 USBs tested had the error shown above, the Kingston Data Traveler and the Transcend Jetflash. The work around from their site fixed the problem and allowed me to finish installation/upgrade. They were left in the "known to work" testing because the new update of Tails in Aug should fix the problem. Soon as that update comes out I will verify the error is fixed with these drives.
Since we point users to the DNM Bible to set everything up I followed the same procedures.
Testing done:
Each pair of drives was first loaded with Tails 2.12 following the install instructions for a fresh install, adding persistence(created PGP keys, keepass database, browser bookmarks, etc.), and then backing up. None of the drives had any problems at all with this test.
Then each pair was upgraded to Tails 3.0 following the manual upgrade instructions, including making sure persistence was preserved, and then backing up. Both the Kingston and Transcend drives were unable to complete the upgrade until the code from Tails site was entered into root terminal.
And finally each pair of drives was completely wiped to start a new fresh install of Tails 3.0 following the same instructions as before, with persistence, and then backing up. Same problem with the Kingston and Transcend again until entering code in root terminal.
Some final notes:
The original post that started the testing: Creating a list of USB drives that DO work with tails
The code given on the Tails website as a work around does Not save on your drive. If you restart Tails and try to create another drive by cloning you will get the same error until you add the code again.
All of the drives above can be found online easily. They range from $6-15 each. The Onn is a Walmart brand and can be found in most stores. The Lexar can be found in most Target stores.
The Onn is manufactured by Sandisk as a private label for Walmart(just found this out but since passed testing left it in there)
Sorry post is so long
I have way too many USB drives now!
This is awesome. Thank you for putting in the effort for this!