Howto make USB boot drives

[sudodus]

mkusb version 22.0.8, 22.0.9, 22.1.0, 22.1.1, 22.1.2

- mkusb 22.0.8 . dus.8 (and mkusb.8) for man dus & man mkusb updated . dus-iso2usb: syslbl="Not Ubuntu 19." when not Ubuntu - mkusb 22.0.9 . upgrade of mkusb-nox: . made more convenient for isotesting with SSD drives which are seen as ATA even when connected via USB . pv replaced by dd options (takes care of sync too) status=progress oflag=dsync and bs modified to 1M . discouraging text when creating Windows installer . protecting source when a block device (bugfix) - mkusb 22.1.0 . mkusb-nox: added inverse video and lsblk output to help identify the target device - mkusb 22.1.1 . dus-iso2usb: redbacks when errors causing exit . dus: p_toolsel: print command line for dus-iso2usb - mkusb 22.1.2 . several fixes of zenity window sizes . p_ldr: set livedrive in system made by dus-iso2usb which is a grub-n-iso system with isodevice . copyright updated

Improvement in program package mkusb version 22.0.8

The man page is updated: several updates (including the introduction of iso2usb): man mkusb and man dus link to the same file.

A minor bug-fix avoids an error when trying to use iso2usb with non-Ubuntu iso files. We cannot expect iso2usb to work [with non-Ubuntu iso files]. It is much more likely that 'cloning' and 'dus-persistent' works (because iso2usb assumes some special features to boot via grub into an iso file). But anyway, there should not be an error with non-Ubuntu iso files, and it is fixed now (at least for Linux Mint 21: no error when running dus-iso2usb, but the USB drive will not work. You should use dus-persistent or mkusb-plug to get a working persistent live drive with Linux Mint 21).

Improvement in program package mkusb version 22.0.9

There is a major upgrade of mkusb-nox in order to make it useful today (after six years of 'sleep'). It is a useful cloning tool when running in text mode. 'mkusb-nox' and also useful when iso-testing because it identifies the target device almost automatically.

Users without a GUI may prefer 'mkusb-nox'. It can clone an iso file or img file to make a live drive in a safe way. It has the original mkusb user interface to help you identify and select the correct target device. 'mkusb-nox' works with USB and other drives seen as '/dev/sdx' and memory cards seen as '/dev/mmcblkn' where 'x' is a letter and 'n' is a digit.

'mkusb-nox' can still be very efficient for iso-testing (repeated cloning of daily updates of iso files to the same target device even when running in a terminal window of a graphical desktop environment).

sudo mkusb-nox file.iso all   # 'all' to show all mass storage devices

You find a detailed description in the NOX Quick Start Manual.

Please notice that 'mkusb-dus' works also in text mode and will replace 'mkusb-nox' for many users.

Improvement in program package mkusb version 22.1.0

User friendly improvement to make it easier to identify input errors when running mkusb-nox:

- more inverse video
- lsblk output

Improvement in program package mkusb version 22.1.1

User friendly improvement to make it easier to identify input errors when running dus-iso2usb:

- output text with different background (blue or red) to help the user notice what might be wrong (which can be difficult when dus-iso2usb is called from dus).

Improvement in program package mkusb version 22.1.2

- User friendliness in dus and dus-persistent (improved zenity window sizes).

- Bug fix: Identifying and setting the livedrive variable when running dus in a system made by dus-iso2usb which is a grub-n-iso system with a partition isodevice.

---

Unstable: You get/update this new version of mkusb from the unstable PPA via the following commands

sudo add-apt-repository universe     # this line only for standard Ubuntu

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mkusb/unstable
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mkusb           # to install
# sudo apt full-upgrade          # upgrade to current version (with all other upgrades), only for installed systems

sudo apt install mkusb guidus dus mkusb-common  # to upgrade all mkusb basic components including dus

sudo apt install usb-pack-efi    # for persistent live drives that work in UEFI and BIOS mode with 32-bit iso files

You get only the version dus (alone or with guidus) via one of the following commands (if you don't care about mkusb-11, mkusb-nox, mkusb-bas)

sudo apt install dus
sudo apt install guidus

You get only the version mkusb-plug via [the update command and] the following command,

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mkusb-plug

Alternative way to get mkusb: There are tarballs at

- help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb/gui/tarball with only dus and guidus (mkusb version 12),

- help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb/plug with only mkusb-plug.

---

Stable: mkusb version 22.1.1 is in the stable PPA. The policy is to test mkusb for a long time and in several environments before it is uploaded to the stable PPA (unless there are minor tweaks or bug-fixes).

You get/update this version via the following commands

sudo add-apt-repository universe      # this line only for standard Ubuntu

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mkusb/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mkusb            # to install
# sudo apt full-upgrade           # upgrade to current version (with all other upgrades), only for installed systems

sudo apt install usb-pack-efi     # for persistent live drives that work in UEFI and BIOS mode with 32-bit iso files

You get only the version dus (alone or with guidus) via one of the following commands (if you don't care about mkusb-11, mkusb-nox, mkusb-bas)

sudo apt install dus
sudo apt install guidus

You get only the version mkusb-plug via [the update command and] the following command,

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mkusb-plug

Usually there is drive space enough to install all the following mkusb packages explicitly:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mkusb guidus mkusb-plug usb-pack-efi

Please notice that if you have already installed mkusb-plug or dus/guidus from a tarball, you had better remove that version when you install via PPA. The advantage with the PPA version is that it gets updated/upgraded automatically along with other program packages that are installed from the Ubuntu repositories.

[guiverc]

I had issues with a `calamares` kinetic install... so I re-wrote the thumb-drive with the jammy.1 ISO (for comparison) using

sudo mkusb-nox jammy-desktop-amd64.iso all

and I LOVED the warnings of mismatch with what was on my thumb-drive, and ISO I was writing to it.

Ubuntu jammy 22.04 amd64 i386  _found_ in iso-file
Ubuntu jammy 22.04 amd64 i386  _not_ in USB device

1: source: jammy-desktop-amd64.iso 
   target: Name: usb-Verbatim_STORE_N_GO  Dev: /dev/sdb  Size: 15506MB 
MODEL      NAME FSTYPE  LABEL                SIZE
STORE N GO sdb  iso9660 Lubuntu 22.10 amd64 14.4G
           sdb1 iso9660 Lubuntu 22.10 amd64  2.6G
           sdb2 vfat    ESP                  4.1M
           sdb3                              300K
           sdb4 ext4    writable            11.8G
 Final checkpoint 
Please check again that it is the correct target device! (y/n)

As my Lubuntu media is unique, I can recognize it & rely on visual clues... but my other flavors are just a letter/number scrawled in texta on the thumb-drive that is very hard to read (always rubs off) based on a map nearby that tells which letter/number I should be using... This will make it much easier for me to find the correct thumb-drive I believe.

I liked how it showed on my qterminal, so thank you. Yeah I was getting the same detail before via GUI window, but I do prefer it on textual terminal.

[sudodus]

Thanks for testing, @guiverc,

When developing/modifying software it is important , that new eyes check that things work as they should, and that the dialogue is not confused or confusing.

[guiverc]

Possibly of no value, but my primary desktop died awhile back, which was the primary box I wrote daily ISOs to thumb-drive. On occasion I use other (normally Ubuntu) boxes, but my current (backup) primary box is running Debian testing (bookworm/sid) and I'm using mkusb-nox just like I did when using kinetic.

guiverc@dc780-deb:~$   lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Debian
Description:    Debian GNU/Linux bookworm/sid
Release:        testing
Codename:       bookworm
guiverc@dc780-deb:~$   apt-cache policy mkusb-nox

mkusb-nox:
  Installed: 22.1.2-1ubuntu1
  Candidate: 22.1.2-1ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 22.1.2-1ubuntu1 500
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/mkusb/unstable/ubuntu kinetic/main amd64 Packages

No issues, at least not with Lubuntu kinetic I'm mostly writing. It's `mkusb-nox` I'm mainly using (and just threw up warning write finished), but I do use `dus` on occasion too.

[1fallen]

Please note I'm very happy with this tool, and just not on Debian/Ubuntu, but Arch as well.
Just one request if possible, sure would be nice to have it as a Appimage.
I'm back testing Suse(Tumbleweed) will play with it on that platform
@ sudodus no pressure, more of a want than need. (However you know that. )

[sudodus]

@1fallen,

- You suggest to make an AppImage file for mkusb. I guess Snap and Flatpak would be alternatives. Why do you suggest AppImage?

- Are you interested only in cloning or also some of the other things mkusb can do (for non-Ubuntu/non-Debian distros)?

- How important is the user interface: GUI by zenity, TUI by dialog or plain text?

- Please try the existing dus tarball and mkusb-nox tarball if you have not tested them yet and let me know how close they are to what you would expect from an AppImage file. (Obviously a tarball is not as convenient as an AppImage, but where/how do they work and/or fail for example in Arch and openSUSE)?

. The end of the dus-installer script is

needed="pv parted gdisk lsblk df mount gzip xz xterm rsync tar dialog zenity"

if [ "$action" == "install" ]
then
 for i in $needed
 do
  which "$i" >/dev/null
  if [ $? -ne 0 ]
  then
   if [ "$i" == "lsblk" ]
   then
    echo "please install: util-linux"
   elif [ "$i" == "df" ]
   then
    echo "please install: coreutils"
   elif [ "$i" == "xz" ]
   then
    echo "please install: xz-utils"
   else
    echo "please install: $i"
   fi
  fi
 done
fi

Are the packages util-linux, coreutils and xz-utils used by non-Ubuntu/non-Debian distros? I guess these programs/packages would be included in a corresponding AppImage? Or only part of them e.g. assuming that df, mount, gzip, tar are always there already?

. mkusb-nox is the only file in its tarball and needs no extra file in current versions of Ubuntu and Debian, but may need some extra programs/packages in some other distro.

[1fallen]

I should of known better, let me think on this a bit further.
Working on the tarballs as I type this. (I will Report back later)

[1fallen]

A-OK on Arch and Suse"Tumbleweed"
Everything functions well on Arch, >> I'm now running some tests On Tumbleweed, to make sure the absent "grub-pc" is not an issue.

inxi -S --no-host
System:
  Kernel: 6.0.0-1-default arch: x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Xfce v: 4.16.1
    Distro: openSUSE Tumbleweed 20221013

and:

# /boot/grub2/grub.cfg.

[1fallen]

At this time I withdraw my request for a Appimage. This works for me.
BTW, I like the improvements so far.

[sudodus]

@1fallen,

grub-pc is used 'only' when making a persistent live system with dus-persistent to boot in BIOS mode without using a template, and I don't think dus-persistent will work anyway with openSUSE Tumbleweed because the mkusb scripts do not understand the boot structure (too different from Ubuntu and Debian).

Cloning should work without grub-pc. Wiping and creating a standard storage device should work too. If I remember correctly making a Windows installer uses a template, so it should work too. But other things might cause problems, so it is important to test that things really work.

Finally, I'm glad that the current tarballs work for you, so that you can withdraw the request for AppImage