Return to the main FromUSBStick page


Creating a bootable Ubuntu USB flash drive from Ubuntu

Install and run Startup Disk Creator alias usb-creator

You can find usb-creator-gtk in the Unity Dash by typing "Startup Disk Creator" (Ubuntu Desktop) or usb-creator-kde in K-Menu-->Applications-->System-->Startup Disk Creator (Kubuntu). If it is not there, then you can install it using the Synaptic Package Manager or Ubuntu Software Center

The Startup Disk Creator clones the iso file, which means that you need neither erase nor format the target drive. It will be completely overwritten anyway by the cloning process. The Startup Disk Creator looks like this in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS:

Screenshots: Startup Disk Creator - to SSD or pendrive

Notes

Unetbootin

You can get Unetbootin for Linux via this link: unetbootin.sourceforge.net

Unetbootin should also work well in Ubuntu, when installed via the developer's ppa. (The version in the Ubuntu repositories might not be up to date and should not be used.)

https://launchpad.net/~gezakovacs/+archive/ubuntu/ppa

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gezakovacs/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install unetbootin

If you are using UEFI, there are/were problems to use Unetbootin with some Debian versions due to a bug.

Start Unetbootin, select an ISO file or a distribution to download, select a target drive (USB drive or Hard Disk), select persistence if you wish, then reboot once done. If your USB drive doesn't show up, reformat it as FAT32. Mount the FAT32 partition (for example by un-plugging and re-plugging the drive).

If you don't reboot, because you want to use the USB flash drive in another computer, unmount (eject) the FAT32 partition before unplugging it, otherwise you might corrupt the file system.

See this detailed description.

mkusb - dd image of iso file to USB device safely

Simple, safe, high success rate

The mkusb tool was developed to make it simpler and safer to create boot drives with the method to flash or clone an iso image or a compressed image file. It is using dd under the hood.The target is a mass storage device, often but not always a USB drive, sometimes a memory card, an internal drive or an eSATA drive.

Cloning an iso file to a mass storage device makes a boot drive, provided it is a hybrid iso file, post-processed with isohybrid. Most modern linux distros provide hybrid iso files.

The cloning method with dd has a high success rate.

mkusb is particularly good for pre-release testing and new releases, when the standard tools might not be ready (if the configuration of the booting has been changed since the previous release).

Quick start manual and mkusb PPA

The fastest way to start making USB boot drives is to install the mkusb PPA, install and update the mkusb package like all the other program packages. See this link

https://launchpad.net/~mkusb/+archive/ubuntu/ppa

If you run standard Ubuntu, you need an extra instruction to get the repository Universe. (Kubuntu, Lubuntu ... Xubuntu have the repository Universe activated automatically.)

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

Otherwise the following three command lines are enough to install mkusb.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mkusb/ppa  # and press Enter
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mkusb

View or download the mkusb quick start manual.

mkusb - wiki page

mkusb is described with more details at the following wiki page

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb

mkusb - persistent live drives

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb/persistent: mkusb-dus - classic mkusb

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb/minp: mkusb-minp - method for Ubuntu 19.10+

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb/plug: mkusb-plug - very safe plug-in method to identify the target device (the USB flash drive)

How is it easier to make a persistent live drive with Ubuntu 19.10?


Return to the main FromUSBStick page

Installation/FromUSBStick/fromUbuntu (last edited 2024-12-23 17:08:06 by nio-wiklund)