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Installing iso on USB

Posted: 17 May 2014, 13:53
by Jacoby59
Is there a way to copy the contents of an iso to an USB drive and make it bootable other than using dd? The reason why I don't want to use dd is because the last time I used disk destroyer it really did destroy the disk. I tried doing it with Unetbootin but it's not working for some reason.

Are there any other apps for doing that in Porteus? And if not, is there an alternate command for doing it through terminal?

Thanks!

Re: Installing iso on USB

Posted: 17 May 2014, 15:17
by fanthom
using 'dd' is not necessary. please read installation instruction included in the ISO.

Re: Installing iso on USB

Posted: 17 May 2014, 15:23
by Jacoby59
fanthom wrote:using 'dd' is not necessary. please read installation instruction included in the ISO.
Oh no, it's not about installing Porteus. I'm currently using Porteus 3.0 and I'm planning to install another distro on another USB and keep it as backup. I downloaded the iso file of OpenSuse (it does not contain an instruction manual) and now I can't find an app on Porteus that automates the tasks of copying the files from the iso file to the USB and making the drive bootable (much like Startup Disk Creator on Ubuntu).

Thanks!

Re: Installing iso on USB

Posted: 17 May 2014, 22:33
by brokenman
Mount the ISO on a loop.

Code: Select all

mkdir /mnt/loop
mount -o loop /path/to/your.iso /mnt/loop
Copy the files from the ISO to your USB. Install your preferred boot loader onto the USB (syslinux, grub etc). You can do this from ubuntu also.

Re: Installing iso on USB

Posted: 18 May 2014, 00:20
by Jacoby59
Does the '/to' come after or before the /your iso?

I keep getting this error - mount: /mnt/sda/NWQ//mnt/sdb1/opensuse.iso: failed setting up loop device: No such file or directory

Re: Installing iso on USB

Posted: 18 May 2014, 02:02
by francois
Brokenman was talking on the way to transfer the porteus system (in iso form) to the usb.

Because you want to install opensuse and porteus on the same usb. You will need to create 1) an opensuse live usb or cd disk with the opensuse iso (if this option exist). So you need two usb (or one cd and one usb if you have a cd writer), 2) then partition a second usb with two or more partitions depending on the fact you want to have a swap partition or not (gparted program would be good to do that), 3) install opensuse on that second usb , 4) and only then install porteus on its own partition on that second usb and 5) finally, depending on the bootloader (grub legacy, grub2, syslinux, etc. ) that you will use configure the bootloader menu entries.

In conclusion, you better learn to install opensuse alone to begin with. This will be done on the opensuse forum. Then come back, if you want to install porteus too. There is a lot to be learned with installing opensuse alone on the usb key.

Watch out that you do not erase some of your hdd partitions.

Sorry. :(

Note. for more info see:
fdisk command
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/fdisk_partitioning.html
grub2
http://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php? ... 055#p12055
dd to install iso
http://crunchbanglinux.org/wiki/statler ... stallation
A good thread providing examples on how to manage multiple system with grub2:
http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=17005
grub legacy
http://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=946