ISOs Explained + four programs to make Linux boot media : linux

[+] JustMarkov@lemmy.ml 52 points 3 months ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

[deleted]

[-] AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works 19 points 3 months ago

Found the Ventoy bro /s

[-] blitzed@noauthority.social 8 points 3 months ago

Only FOUR ISO's?

I forget the number, but I maxed out a 32GB flash drive with an absurd amount of ISO's *LOL*

Wowzerz, this new external NVMe I need to format, how many ISO's can I shoehorn onto 1TB, and the boot speeds will probably blow my mind \0/

[-] otter@lemmy.ca 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

What are some recommendations for putting Ventoy on your main USB (with other contents instead of just ISOs)? I need to find the guide I saw, it mentioned some configurations to prevent it from searching every directory for ISOs

Also the linked website can be subscribed to from here :)

!veronicaexplains@tinkerbetter.tube

[-] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago

Only 4? Those are rookie numbers

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[-] Drusenija@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

I have Ventoy on a USB stick, tried to use it recently for DBAN and it didn't work, is there any way to get around that these days? Haven't looked into it recently.

[-] f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 months ago

It works for Ultimate Boot CD, which includes DBAN and a lot of other fun stuff.

I play with retro hardware and Ventoy has also worked for me with some weird old isos that even Rufus didn't work with (XP/Server 2003 multidisc from eXPerience that uses a Linux bootloader?)

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[-] funbreaker@kbin.run 31 points 3 months ago

I like Ventoy because I'm an ISO hoarder but if the task needs a dedicated USB, then I'll open Etcher.

[-] theshatterstone54@feddit.uk 3 points 3 months ago

I don't.... understand.... the downvotes. I do the same thing though I never really get to the Balena Etcher part. Also, Ventoy is the only way to get a Windows ISO up and running from Linux, as far as I know.

[-] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

The down votes are from the Etcher part, it has a cult of lovers and a cult of haters.

I'm l fine with people using Etcher, Rufus, or whatever works for them, but I'm aware that both software I just named has passionate haters.

[-] Blaiz0r@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 months ago

Etcher is not recommend anymore because it's adware and there are better free alternative like Impression

[-] funbreaker@kbin.run 3 points 3 months ago

I'll check Impression out, thanks!

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[-] TheFool@infosec.pub 25 points 3 months ago

I really don’t get why I should use anything else than dd

[-] julianh@lemm.ee 16 points 3 months ago

Fear?

[-] TheFool@infosec.pub 29 points 3 months ago

[-] jaxiiruff@lemmy.zip 10 points 3 months ago

Not everyone likes to use commands for something as trivial as this, its nice to press a couple buttons and wait for it to be done vs learning how dd works and what arguments to use etc.

[-] foudinfo@jlai.lu 14 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

My favorite way to create a boot media is simply to use cat. No arguments, no shenanigans just a cat into the device :

cat debian.iso > /dev/sda

[-] neodc@sh.itjust.works 19 points 3 months ago

Replace cat with pv to get a progress bar for free

[-] Ghoelian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 months ago

iirc there was a reason you should use dd instead of directly copying the data, I think something to do with device block alignment or something?

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[-] qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 2 points 3 months ago

One caveat is that you will need write access to the drive, which probably means you need to run as root

can't run that with sudo as-is, unlike dd.

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[-] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 5 points 3 months ago

Not everyone likes to install compicated graphical software which does a thousand and one things it shouldn't do just to copy files to an external drive

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[-] Thrickles@lemm.ee 18 points 3 months ago

Great suggestions. The Ventoy bros are weird. Just use what works for you.

[-] megabat@lemm.ee 15 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

dd, or cat with a shell redirect are all you need to write that iso.

My trouble with dd is all the flags I need to remember to make it fast and more convenient. dd if=file of=/dev/device oflag=direct status=progress bs=1M is there anything I'm missing?

[-] Molten_Moron 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

bs=1M

This part varies based on your hardware (my hardware is much faster with a value of 4096) , but other than that it's everything.

Here is a handy script that can help determine which bs size is best for your hardware.

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[-] mesamunefire@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

dd can be soooo much faster too. But like you, I always forget the tags. I should make an alias sometime...

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[-] oo1 12 points 3 months ago

dd

[-] PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Lpt: root your Android phone so that you can dd the thing in case the screen breaks.

[-] qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 2 points 3 months ago

Also a super useful tool for measuring real world bandwidth, both on physical media and over the network ( dd status=progress ... | nc ...).

[-] BCsven@lemmy.ca 8 points 3 months ago

Nice thing about GNOME DE is it comes with Gnome Disks. Select device, click the restore image button and point to the ISO

[-] Ziglin@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

Or you could just install it on any other system with Wayland or x11.

Gparted works fine for me, so that's what I use.

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[-] lord_ryvan@ttrpg.network 2 points 3 months ago

I like how simple Mint's USB image writer makes it for newbies, both to look it up in the menu as well as the simple UI

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[-] jaxiiruff@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 months ago

Fedora Media Writer is the best, I hardly use BalenaEtcher but its good too incase the former doesnt work

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[-] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

I don't burn ISOs often enough to need a dedicated ventoy drive, or to remember how to use the DD command, so Impression is generally what I use. I generally prefer Libadwaita/GTK4 apps that look at home on my system.

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[-] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 3 points 3 months ago

Little known fact, Disk Manager comes with almost every distro, and works just fine.

[-] Aatube@kbin.melroy.org 3 points 3 months ago

It's also an old and jumbled-up format paralleling .gif in a surprising amount of ways, including being never intended for its primary usage, still being popular, and newer formats proving much better.

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[-] briongloid@aussie.zone 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I generally use the Raspberry Pi Imager, It works just as well with USB's as TF cards.

GitHub repo

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[-] otter@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 months ago

!veronicaexplains@tinkerbetter.tube

[-] SexualPolytope@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 months ago

I do use Ventoy, but a more "traditional" alternative that I like is Popsicle. Super lightweight, and works very well. Some cases do require a dedicated USB, where Ventoy won't work, at least not without trickery (e.g. anything with persistent storage).

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