Just wanted to post the link below in case anyone run into the same problem I was having in creating a portable Mint drive.

TLDR: Follow the link on steps for Ubuntu. Works the same with Mint. [Link](https://itsfoss.com/intsall-ubuntu-on-usb/)

I purchased an M.2 nvme and enclosure to make a portable Mint drive to essentially have an OS I could take on the go or swap between other systems in my house easily as needed.

I downloaded the .iso and made a bootable install drive. Got the OS to install on the nvme just fine, but the different machines I was using wouldn’t recognize it as a bootable drive. I was banging my head against the wall going through the bios settings, reboots, and restarts, then came across the link above. Followed the step and worked like a charm.

I have tried to swap between 3 different machines and has worked with all of them. Might need to adjust bios settings on the individual machines, especially if windows secure boot or SATA setting aren’t compatible.

Anyway, I hope this can help at least one person save some time and headaches.