How to install latest Rpi-imager on Ubuntu 20.0.4

Shaggy1 · 03-31-2024, 06:34 AM

System info:

Code:

$ cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="20.04.6 LTS (Focal Fossa)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS"
VERSION_ID="20.04"
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
VERSION_CODENAME=focal
UBUNTU_CODENAME=focal
larrycotton@larrycotton-Latitude-E7440:~$ uname -a
Linux larrycotton-Latitude-E7440 5.15.0-101-generic #111~20.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Mon Mar 11 15:44:43 UTC 2024 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
larrycotton@larrycotton-Latitude-E7440:~$

Hi

I am trying to install the latest version of the rpi-imager (1.8.5) on my Ubuntu system.

To do so I downloaded imager_1.8.5_amd64.deb and ran the commands:

Code:

$ sudo apt update

$ sudo apt upgrade

$ sudo apt install ./imager_1.8.5_amd64.deb

However when I dos I get the following dependency errors:

Code:

apt install ./imager_1.8.5_amd64.deb 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree           
Reading state information... Done
Note, selecting 'rpi-imager' instead of './imager_1.8.5_amd64.deb'
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies.
 rpi-imager : Depends: libc6 (>= 2.34) but 2.31-0ubuntu9.14 is to be installed
              Depends: libgnutls30 (>= 3.7.0) but 3.6.13-2ubuntu1.10 is to be installed
              Depends: libqt5core5a (>= 5.15.1) but 5.12.8+dfsg-0ubuntu2.1 is to be installed
              Depends: libqt5dbus5 (>= 5.14.1) but 5.12.8+dfsg-0ubuntu2.1 is to be installed
              Depends: libstdc++6 (>= 12) but 10.5.0-1ubuntu1~20.04 is to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

Does anyone know what I would need to do to install the required dependencies ?

Or whether it is worth it - I have an Rpi 5 and am as yet unsure whether the latest imager version is required for that or not?

business_kid · 03-31-2024, 01:12 PM

The imager is built using older libraries than you have. You need a newer build of RPi-imager.

Personally, I use this approach

Code:

sudo dd if=/path/to/latest_image of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M status=progress

If your sdcard is un a usb socket, use 'of=/dev/sdX'. It might wait a while after finishing before returning a prompt. Wait for the prompt, as it's syncing the sd card and finishing the write.

rclark · 03-31-2024, 02:42 PM

Or just install etcher . Makes it easy. https://etcher.balena.io/

Shaggy1 · 04-01-2024, 12:27 PM

Thank you for your replies.

> The imager is built using older libraries than you have. You need a newer build of RPi-imager.
I got the impression it was the other way round - the imager was built with libraries that were newer than the ones I have on the OS ?

I tried the older version of rpi-imager that I already have and that seemed to work - wasn't sure whether I needed the newer version or not, but it seems not.

I did not realise that I could use dd to directly copy the image to an sd card - is that directly bootable or would I need to do something to the image beforehand ?
(I did try it and for me it did not boot, though it may have been the sd card was not in correctly)

business_kid · 04-01-2024, 01:50 PM

Sorry, I misread that error message.

Yes, the image should boot fine. You don't need any imagers. The essential is to address the drive, ajnd not any partition. The images come with a partition table. The 1st partition is fat, the second ext<something>.

Shaggy1 · 04-06-2024, 09:36 AM

Thank you for the information - good to know I can use dd directly.