Bootable USB Flash Drive

tacticsWiz · 08-04-2017, 10:42 PM

I'm on an Acer chromebook (the specs are below). I got crouton and did sudo bash. I ran the following command to make a bootable USB flash drive and install Slackware 14.2 on that same 32GB USB flash drive:

dd if=/home/chronos/user/Downloads/slackware-14.2-install-d1.iso of=/dev/sda1 bs=4MB; sync

Will that give me a bootable USB stick drive?

Acer Chromebook R 11 Convertible, 11.6-Inch HD Touch, Intel Celeron N3150, 4GB DDR3L, 32GB, Chrome, CB5-132T-C1LK

TheEzekielProject · 08-04-2017, 10:52 PM

Omit the partition number

Code:

dd if=/home/chronos/user/Downloads/slackware-14.2-install-d1.iso of=/dev/sda bs=4MB; sync

Note that this creates a live cd, and no changes will be saved when you shutdown. You will have a "fresh" slackware each time you boot. If you want changes to persist, install to the usb using the installer provided by the iso

tacticsWiz · 08-04-2017, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheEzekielProject

Omit the partition number

What do you mean by this?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheEzekielProject

Note that this creates a live cd, and no changes will be saved when you shutdown. You will have a "fresh" slackware each time you boot. If you want changes to persist, install to the usb using the installer provided by the iso

The dd command is so I can boot off the stick drive and get going with the installation. That's my intention - to install Slackware with the installer that comes with d1.

TheEzekielProject · 08-04-2017, 11:33 PM

I mean it should be

Code:

of=/dev/sda

not

Code:

of=/dev/sda1

Quote:

I ran the following command to make a bootable USB flash drive and install Slackware 14.2 on that same 32GB USB flash drive:

Also, if you are putting the .iso on the usb, you will not be able to boot from and install to the same usb that the .iso is currently running on.

tacticsWiz · 08-04-2017, 11:42 PM

Thank you for your replies TEP!

If sda isn't the hard drive then what series of letters represent the hard drive? I put sda1 to avoid writing the .iso to it.

TheEzekielProject · 08-04-2017, 11:59 PM

/dev/sda is a block device on your system, /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2 etc, are partitions on the block device.

I'd definitely recommend double and even triple checking that you do select the device you are intending to install to as picking the wrong one will delete EVERYTHING on that device!

You should be able to find the proper device by running

Code:

lsblk

You should get output similar to

Code:

lsblk
NAME          MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINT
sda             8:0    0 223.6G  0 disk  
├─sda1          8:1    0   512M  0 part  /boot/efi
└─sda2          8:2    0 223.1G  0 part  /
sdb             8:16   0   1.8T  0 disk  
└─home        254:0    0   1.8T  0 crypt 
  ├─home-home 254:1    0   1.8T  0 lvm   /home
  └─home-swap 254:2    0    19G  0 lvm   [SWAP]
sdd             8:48   0   2.7T  0 disk  
└─sdd2          8:50   0   2.7T  0 part  
  └─3tb       254:3    0   2.7T  0 crypt /media/3tb
sr0            11:0    1  1024M  0 rom

Since you have a 32GB usb, look for a 32GB (or thereabout) in SIZE and note its device name.

tacticsWiz · 08-05-2017, 12:02 AM

The problem would be that my CB hard drive is also 32GB!

TheEzekielProject · 08-05-2017, 12:06 AM

In that case I would run lsblk without the usb attached and then with it attached and compare output. You should be able to get the proper device name.

tacticsWiz · 08-05-2017, 12:13 AM

Yes, I'm aware of the comparison technique.

Both sda and sda1 pop up. So, I'll use sda with the dd command as you recommended. But not right now 'cause I'm busy with some math problems. I'll get to that tomorrow morning and I'll let you know how it went.

TheEzekielProject · 08-05-2017, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tacticsWiz

Yes, I'm aware of the comparison technique.

Both sda and sda1 pop up. So, I'll use sda with the dd command as you recommended. But not right now 'cause I'm busy with some math problems. I'll get to that tomorrow morning and I'll let you know how it went.

Ok, so sda1 is a partition on sda. These are the same device.
Devices are differentiated by the last letter. e.g. /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, /dev/sdc, etc, these are separate physical devices.

Edit: I just want to make it abundantly clear. I'd hate for you to completely wipeout your Chromebook OS because of a miscommunication

tacticsWiz · 08-05-2017, 12:27 AM

sda is my USB flash drive. I know because when I put sda1 in the dd command all the files got written to the usb drive.

Question: So putting sda rather than sda1 will make my USB stick drive bootable and get rid of errors?

TheEzekielProject · 08-05-2017, 12:35 AM

When you are dd'ing an .iso file to a flash drive, yes.

tacticsWiz · 08-05-2017, 12:37 AM

Gotcha! :-)

TheEzekielProject · 08-05-2017, 12:42 AM

Good luck! Come back if you have any more questions!

tacticsWiz · 08-05-2017, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheEzekielProject

Good luck! Come back if you have any more questions!

OK, so I got this thing to boot from the USB drive, but after I pressed enter at "boot:", you know, where it tells you to enter any parameters if you have any to enter, the screen went stark black right away, and it's non-responsive. No characters, no beeping sounds, nothing.

I wish I could provide more info or text snippets from the screen. But, that's pretty much all that happens.

It happens right after I press enter and before the text starts rolling by - so I don't get to see any booting up text at all.