Howto make USB boot drives

[oygle]

@sudodus - Thanks for your help. As it turns out, the plan to erase an old laptop and install Win 8 or 10 on that, have now come to a halt. I had no end of problems with trying to use the Microsoft ISO and a purchashed key, plus it does seem the HDD is well on its way out. It also seemed the MS install wrote to the USB, as the usb had errors ??

It was hard to determine if the problems were on the usb or not, but I suspect the usb was fine. I even tried this

mkusb-nox Win8.1_English_x64.iso

but then after spending most of the day on it, there arose a "loop situation" where the attempted installs appeared to only partially work, take out the media, restart, .. again and again. I need to forget about doing this on that old (now "cactus") laptop.

@oygle,

I have tried to make simple step by step instructions for installing Windows using mkusb-plug.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1274...274975#1274975

Thank you, I have made a note of that.

[sudodus]

@oygle,

mkusb-nox does not work with newer versions of Windows, that 'want to' create a file greater than 4 GB. Nowadays I would recommend mkusb-dus or mkusb-plug instead.

- Is there any sign of failure (error message or warning message) when you try to create the Windows installer in the USB drive?

- Please use mkusb-dus to wipe the whole USB pendrive 'Wipe the whole device'. After that it may behave better.

- Please check that the internal drive is good. See this link about S.M.A.R.T. information.

---

Edit:

If you want to run in text mode, you can run mkusb-tow directly (instead of mkusb-nox). mkusb-tow is called from the GUIs of mkusb-dus and mkusb-plug. But it is safer to start it via a GUI (to get the correct target device).

$ mkusb-tow
 Run 'mkusb-tow' with sudo or as root 
------------- mkusb-tow makes it safer to create a boot drive -------------
From Windows iso file create installer in e.g. USB pendrive or memory card
Usage:
 sudo /path/mkusb-tow <source file> <target device> 
Example:
 sudo mkusb-tow windows.iso /dev/sdx
Help:
mkusb-tow -h
Version:
mkusb-tow -v
Available devices 
NAME      SIZE TRAN   MODEL
sda     238,5G sata   SanDisk SD6SB1M2
sdb       3,7T sata   WDC WD4002FYYZ-0
sdc      14,6G usb    Extreme         
nvme0n1 232,9G nvme   KINGSTON SA2000M8250G

[oygle]

@sudodus, Thanks very much for your help.

mkusb-nox does not work with newer versions of Windows, that 'want to' create a file greater than 4 GB. Nowadays I would recommend mkusb-dus or mkusb-plug instead.

That could well have been the problem.

- Is there any sign of failure (error message or warning message) when you try to create the Windows installer in the USB drive?

No, none at all, whether I used the gui or the command line of mkusb and the tools included with it, all actions were fine, no errors.

- Please use mkusb-dus to wipe the whole USB pendrive 'Wipe the whole device'. After that it may behave better.

- Please check that the internal drive is good. See this link about S.M.A.R.T. information.

Thanks, yesterday I did actually get to install the Win 8.1 by modifying a registry key, so it's all okay now, thanks for your help.

[sudodus]

mkusb version 12.7.0, 12.7.1, 12.7.2

- mkusb 12.7.0 * dus: p_checkpoint: full lsblk output to zenity * mkusb-plug: srctst and mkusb-sedd: puer: . identify new versions of Ubuntu (.disk/info) . and and a minor cosmetic tweaks (zenity window size) - mkusb 12.7.1 * dus-persistent: probe_source: upefi [from now] always default for debian - mkusb 12.7.2 * dus 12.7.2 and mkusb-plug 2.8.6 with several sub-scripts: quoted grep 'patterns'

Improvement in program package mkusb version 12.7.0

- dus 12.7.0: p_checkpoint: full lsblk output to zenity

The zenity window will show the full output of lsblk

lsblk -o MODEL,NAME,FSTYPE,LABEL,SIZE "$target"

in order to make it easier than before to identify the target device and avoid mistakes.

- mkusb-plug 2.8.5: srctst: added a second test to identify newer versions of Ubuntu iso files and a minor cosmetic tweak (zenity window size)

- mkusb-sedd 2.8.5: puer: added a second test to identify newer versions of Ubuntu iso files and some minor cosmetic tweaks (zenity window size etc)

Improvement in program package mkusb version 12.7.1

- dus-persistent 12.7.1: probe_source: upefi [from now] always default for debian

This is a simplification because upefi (usb-pack-efi) works in all current and recently deprecated Debian versions. The new version tested is Debian Bullseye alias version 11: using the file debian-live-11.0.0-amd64-standard.iso

Improvement in program package mkusb version 12.7.2

dus 12.7.2 and mkusb-plug 2.8.6 with several sub-scripts: quoted grep 'patterns' (that were previously not quoted and vulnerable to unexpected results when there are certain file names).

---

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 12.7.1 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.

[sudodus]

The following link suggests a work-around for a question at AskUbuntu,

"How to preserve and freeze modification made during a LiveSession of LiveDisc and to prevent any further modification without remastering the LiveDisc".

Custom LiveDisc: Workaround using a persistent live system

I have tested a step further on this path, to actually run live (live-only with or without toRAM). And it seems to work (at least in the current Lubuntu Impish iso file, to be released as version 21.10).

Summary:

- Create a persistent live Ubuntu family system with mkusb

- Boot persistent live and modify your system to get the custom system that you want

- Boot live and create a tarball with 'backup' in the 'usbdata' partition.

- Run 'extractor4live' and your live system is now the custom system.

- Next time run 'extractor4live' again ...

Encryption?

- The tarball is not encrypted. I think it can be left to the end user, who wants encryption, to replace the tarball with an encrypted zip-file. This is a rather simple encryption, but maybe enough for a private user. An installed system with LVM and LUKS-encrypted disk can be recommended for more advanced encryption.

extractor4live:

#!/bin/bash

grep ' persistent' /proc/cmdline
if [ $? -eq 0 ]
then
 echo persistent
 echo 'You should use this shellscript when booted live (live-only)'
else
 echo live
 usbd=$(find /media/ -name "extractor4live" | head -n1)
 usbd=${usbd%/*}
 cd /
 sudo tar --exclude=./upper/usr/lib/systemd/* --strip-components=2 \
      -xvf "$usbd"/1-writable.tar.gz ./upper/ \
      > "$usbd"/list4live.log  2> "$usbd"/error4live.log
fi

Please test the following instructions, and give me feedback, particularly if something must be improved

README:

Instructions about the files in this directory

1. Backup and restore

The file 'backup' must be run when booted live, and it will backup the content of the
partition for persistence.

./backup

It will create one tarball each time,

1-writable.tar.gz
2-writable.tar.gz
...

The file 'restore' must be run when booted live, and it will restore content of the
partition for persistence from the selected tarball.

./restore

2. Running a custom system live (live-only)

2.1 Modify the system by running a persistent live system,

install tools
tweak the appearance
...

2.2 Boot live, change directory to this one (usbdata) and run 'backup'

Now you have a tarball. Normally one tarball, '1-writable.tar.gz'.

2.3 If you wish, you can change the label of the partition for persistence to
something else than 'writable' or 'casper-rw', for example 'ext-data'. This will
make the drive live-only (until you change the label back again).

3. Make the live system into your custom system

You can run live or live + toRAM. And you can repeat this many times.

3.1 Boot live, change directory to this one (usbdata) and run 'extractor4live'

./extractor4live

It will extract what is stored in the tarball '1-writable.tar.gz' to the live system,

and write to the log files

error4live.log
list4live.log

I have seen the following errors, but do not know yet, if they cause problems.

tar: rofs: Cannot utime: Read-only file system - OK
tar: rofs: Cannot change ownership to uid 0, gid 0: Read-only file system - OK
tar: etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-software-service.desktop: Cannot mknod: Operation not permitted - OK
tar: etc/security/limits.d/audio.conf.disabled: Cannot mknod: Operation not permitted - ?
tar: Exiting with failure status due to previous errors - only 'summary'

Please check for errors and report bugs, that may be related to them.

3.2 Change directory to your home and enjoy :-)

cd

3.2 More than one custom live system

If you have two or more tarballs, you can make extractor files for each of them.

4. Start using your custom live system

When you shutdown or reboot, what you have done in the live system is forgotten,
except if you store things in the 'usbdata' partition or the 'ext-data' partition.
So normally you should change directory to your home and enjoy :-)

cd

[guiverc]

mkusb version 12.7.0

- dus 12.7.0: p_checkpoint: full lsblk output to zenity

The zenity window will show the full output of lsblk

lsblk -o MODEL,NAME,FSTYPE,LABEL,SIZE "$target"

in order to make it easier than before to identify the target device and avoid mistakes.

Thank you !!

I LOVE that feature !!

[C.S.Cameron]

re extractor4live:
I get Syntax error: end of file unexpected (expecting "then"), when trying to run the script.
I'm not very good at scripts.

[sudodus]

@C.S.Cameron,

Sorry, the script is kind of rough, not very user friendly (yet), but I don't get that error. There should be a 'then' after the line with 'if', and there is unless you did not get it right when copy/pasting it into an editor. The last line should contain 'fi' (not 'if'), which is closing the if-statement (if-then-else-fi). Maybe that is the problem?

When booted live you should first create a 'backup' tarball of the partition for persistence, and put this file 'extractor4live' into the NTFS file system of 'usbdata', and then run it to get the 'custom live' system.

[C.S.Cameron]

Do I need to activate the script with chmod +x ?
I made the tarball by running the /usbdata/backup script
I copy / pasted the extractor4live script from page 108.
I double checked every item you mentioned, still no luck.

[sudodus]

- I think all files in usbdata will be executable by default (because of the way it is automounted).

- It should not complain expecting "then". Please check the md5sum,

$ md5sum extractor4live readme.e2l
0a906573c175eec439d5898067a10efd  extractor4live
400cd939afb1a54d99809bfc4730fbf1  readme.e2l

It is possible that I uploaded and edited the file code in the post. Please tell the web browser to re-read the page so that your browser will display a current version of the file code. (Today I copied and pasted it into an editor and wrote it to another file name and checked that it is what it is supposed to be with diff and with md5sum.)

I can upload 'extractor4live' and 'readme.e2l' to a server, where you can download them.

See phillw.net/isos/linux-tools/mkusb