Install from USB, using osx to prep media

[dirty.hippy]

I am trying to install ubuntu onto a computer without a cd drive. I have only a macbook at my disposal, with no other OSes easily available. According to this guide (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick), I need a .img image to boot from USB. How can I convert the stock .iso image to a .img image suitable for USB installation? The guide lists no osx-compatible converters, and Google isn't turning anything up. Is a regular Ubuntu install (not Net Remix) available directly in .img format? I have not been able to find it if so. Or, is there another method I'm overlooking? Thanks in advance for suggestions!

[iponeverything]

It is just an extension, for your purposes the file is the same.

If the extension matters to you change it with:


mv file.iso file.img

[dirty.hippy]

My understanding is that while the file format of .img and .iso my be identical, Ubuntu releases on .imf are formatted for usb booting while releases on .iso are formatted for optical disk. Just changing the extension won't repack a release intended for cd/dvd for usb. I'd love to be wrong about this, though.

[linuxopjemac]

read this howto:
http://mac.linux.be/content/installation-ubuntu-karmic-koala-macbook-pro-31-usb-stick

[dirty.hippy]

Perhaps I wasn't clear, but I'm not trying to install ubuntu to my macbook, but to another computer. Using that guide as a starting point, would it be possible to: follow the first 3 steps (through installing to a usb stick) as described, then use the USB stick to boot my new computer, then install ubuntu to the HDD of the new computer from the running USB installation?

[linuxopjemac]

If your "other computer" is also a Mac, you need that fancy EFI stuff. Otherwise I would just follow this wiki:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick

[dirty.hippy]

That's the guide I have been using, and linked to in my first post. It requires a .img file, which I do not have and cannot find. I can find one for UNR, but I don't want UNR, I want regular old Ubuntu.

[edit] The computer I'm trying to install to is not a mac, it's a regular old atom amd64.

[mick222]

Try unetbootin i think it's available for mac . That will create a bootale usb from an iso file

[dirty.hippy]

Try unetbootin i think it's available for mac . That will create a bootale usb from an iso file

Unetbootin is not available for OSX.

[linuxopjemac]

didn't read well, sorry.

[dirty.hippy]

didn't read well, sorry.

No worries, I appreciate the suggestions! It's irritating that my use case is not so well supported, but that's life.

[Kevbert]

Can you run up a Ubuntu live-CD ? If so, there should be an option to make a USB startup disk (under System-Admin) then just point it to your ISO file and you should be OK.

[dirty.hippy]

Can you run up a Ubuntu live-CD ? If so, there should be an option to make a USB startup disk (under System-Admin) then just point it to your ISO file and you should be OK.

That is interesting, I shall have to give it a try. Also, I suppose unetbootin would work from the liveCD as well...

[mick222]

You could always install ubuntu remix then

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop and remove netbook remix you should then have a normal ubuntu install .

[linuxopjemac]

I found something interesting:

I erased a USB stick, then unmounted it:

jeroen-diederens-computer:/Users/jeroen/Desktop root# diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk1

I converted the .iso file into a .dmg file with Toast. Then I dd-ed it to the USB...

jeroen-diederens-computer:/Users/jeroen/Desktop root# dd if=/Users/jeroen/Desktop/disk2.dmg of=/dev/disk1s1 bs=1m
149+1 records in
149+1 records out
157258921 bytes transferred in 140.699247 secs (1117696 bytes/sec)

I can't boot from it, probably because it's only MBR, but I guess when I stick it in a PC, it will boot. I will try later to put it in a PC.

EDIT: I cannot set the BIOS of my PC to boot from USB, I guess the PC is too old for that...

[dirty.hippy]

You could always install ubuntu remix then

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop and remove netbook remix you should then have a normal ubuntu install .

This seems like the ticket, thanks!


I found something interesting:

...



In poking around the BIOS of the new computer, I found an option to boot from a USB HDD, but treat it as a CDROM. If the UNR image doesn't work out I'll explore this option more.

[mick222]

EDIT: I cannot set the BIOS of my PC to boot from USB, I guess the PC is too old for that..
I thought that to but was installing lucid and used f11 to choose the boot device and discovered boot from usb device there, my phone was pluged in.

[dirty.hippy]

Well, I finally got things going using unetbootin. I first tried using on the ubuntu livecd, but it refused to install because of a dependency problem (p7zip-full, not that it matters). Luckily a friend stopped who had a windows VM available, so I was able to use the windows version of unetbootin. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

[linuxopjemac]

Just for your information:

I was able to make a bootable USB from within Ubuntu with a net install iso of Debian Lenny. I inserted the thing on my work PC and I booted in Debian. It works very well for PC. I could not get the same to work for an Intel Mac, not even with GPT or Mac partitioned USB drive. rEFIt complained about the firmware of my MacBook 2,1 (EFI 1.1). Probably it's not good enough for USB booting.