Favorite way to write iso images to usb

Lounge EndeavourOS pub
1
  • Ventoy
  • balenaEtcher
  • Gnome Disk Utility
  • Rufus
  • KDE iso image writer
  • dd command
  • imagewriter
  • Popsicle
  • Other
0 voters
2

SUSE Studio Imagewriter FTW! A close second is balenaEtcher. Neither has ever let me down.

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3

Usually with dd, but the relatively new KDE ISO Image Writer is also quite nice.

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4

Usually dd because it’s exciting

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5

I am very lazy and love dragging isos into ventoy. Makes it easier to test new distros on hardware.

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6

Where does one find this KDE ISO Image? I checked the Archlinux repos, the Archlinux ARM repos, and the AUR and did not find it.

By the way, I use gnome-disk-utility on Plasma. I use it for a lot of things besides writing images.

Pudge

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7

The iso image writer is here: https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/isoimagewriter/

it doesn’t have kde in the name, but on description link above, you can see it does link to kde website

If you mean to say ISOs given by KDE, they’re here: https://neon.kde.org/download (ubuntu based)

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8

Thank you my friend. I was looking for everything but isoimagewriter.
It is available for Archlinux and Archlinux ARM. I will have to check it out.

Pudge

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9

Ventoy and dd are all one needs.

Ventoy I use to check out the latest ISO’s without needing to install and without having to waste time burning to the drive. A simple drag and drop to the device and I’m checking out the OS in a matter of seconds.

I use dd for those that will be on the disk for a time period. (I have a drive with just the latest ISO and when we put out a new one I will overwrite that one with the new image)

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10

isoimagewriter in the repo

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11

Yes, very exciting when you realized that the dev name changed this boot and you just dd’d all over your Linux partition on the HD. Much fun has been had :wink:

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12

Balena. Or DD if I’m feeling smart. (edit: formatting)

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13

I have been using plain old cat for a while now. It’s simple and easy to remember.

As root:

cat /path/to/iso > /dev/disk/by-id/usb-blah-blah-blah

Just tab complete when you get to “usb-” to bring up your flash drive.

There are a few other nice easy command line options like cp and tee in this article: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/USB_flash_installation_medium#Using_basic_command_line_utilities. It is somewhat baffling that dd is the most commonly known command line utility for this, since it is basically the most complicated and hardest to remember (and easiest to make a terrible mistake).

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14

Gnome Disk Utility is my go-to tool for all image file writing to usb. It has never failed me and has several other useful functions as well. I install it on every system no matter what desktop I happen to use.

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15

On Windows/Mac: Fedora media writer. Works excellent. Can use any iso, not just Fedora. And works on Windows and Mac so no Etcher.

On my computer: mintstick

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16

be careful with that one..
https://discovery.endeavouros.com/installation/create-install-media-usb-key/2021/03/

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17

" Warning!

We do not recommend using etcher anymore as there are privacy concerns, etcher is Anonymously reporting errors and usage information. It is not clear if this is done. Also, it wants you to validate that you agree with it. Lately, users reporting also burned sticks does not work properly for the latest ISO."

Interesting. Wowsers. yay -Rn ethcher-bin coming up.
This page was fantastic btw.

this is awesome. like dd, however, the output and input path have to be perfect. (painful lesson once) but I love knowing cat exists for other stuff. cat is where I usually view memory info etc. I had no idea it did stuff :slight_smile:

gnome-disks is a fantastic tool. I use for all my light work…(check problems, s.m.a.r.t., edit) but for some reason real partition dirty work I delegate to gparted. This combo has just worked. I forgot it burned ISOs! great to know.

@joekamprad —on your link even tee and cp can do this! my mind is blown tonight :slight_smile:

@dirtydog I’m starting to think ‘other’ is the right answer!

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bal
bal908×226 36.6 KB

valid concerns on your part. clicked on the gear icon. report stats was set to REPORT by default. I moved the button to the left

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19

I always use Ventoy, never had any problems.
It is easy to use and can be customized(themes etc).

Most problems with Ventoy people run into is from not updating to latest version before trying to install any ISO.

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20

dd on linux, rufus on windows.

1 Like