[SOLVED] USB not working with installation image

Garrett · 2017-03-24 11:56:06

I've looked everywhere and can't find a solution to my problem.

sudo dd if=bl.iso of=/dev/sdb

I end up with a USB stick that doesn't automatically mount on insertion and isn't recognized as a boot option when turning on a laptop.

I also tried:

sudo -i
cat bl.iso > /dev/sdb
sync

But I end up with the same thing. I always make sure to format as fat32, and I've never had issues with other distro images.

Each time, I investigate with gparted and find a message like this:

Unable to detect file system! Possible reasons are:
- The file system is damaged
- The file system is unknown to GParted
- There is no file system available (unformatted)
- The device entry /dev/sdb1 is missing

Any suggestions? (Other than using the Debian netinstall script.) Am I missing something important?

Last edited by Garrett (2017-03-24 12:51:08)

damo · 2017-03-24 12:15:47

Garrett wrote:

... Am I missing something important?

Possibly the instructions on the BL website? There is a link to How do I write a CD/DVD/BD image to a USB flash drive?

You didn't specify a block size (speeds things up), and probably removed the drive before the file buffer was synced.

sudo dd if=bl.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M;sync

or

cp bl.iso /dev/sdX;sync

Garrett · 2017-03-24 12:30:42

I always do bs=1M and I've tried sync afterwards. Always the same thing. Also, as soon as it's finished, the device disappears from my file manager.

damo · 2017-03-24 12:34:55

Garrett wrote:

I always do bs=1M and I've tried sync afterwards. Always the same thing. Also, as soon as it's finished, the device disappears from my file manager.

The dd process unmounts the drive, IIRC. You have double-checked that the BIOS is set to boot the usb? If you have a UEFI system then the BL Hydrogen iso won't work unless you set the BIOS to Legacy boot.

Garrett · 2017-03-24 12:50:48

Okay! So, silly me, I had previously switched the BIOS to Legacy and installed another distro, but for some reason, the BIOS was set to UEFI again. After switching back to Legacy, all is good!

Sorry for the oversight. Thanks a bunch!

damo · 2017-03-24 12:54:06

Sorted, good!

PS Clever avatar you have

Garrett · 2017-03-24 13:46:06

Thanks! ]:D

#1 2017-03-24 11:56:06

[SOLVED] USB not working with installation image

#2 2017-03-24 12:15:47

Re: [SOLVED] USB not working with installation image

#3 2017-03-24 12:30:42

Re: [SOLVED] USB not working with installation image

#4 2017-03-24 12:34:55

Re: [SOLVED] USB not working with installation image

#5 2017-03-24 12:50:48

Re: [SOLVED] USB not working with installation image

#6 2017-03-24 12:54:06

Re: [SOLVED] USB not working with installation image

#7 2017-03-24 13:46:06

Re: [SOLVED] USB not working with installation image

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