using "dd" to burn images to a USB drive

seansolina · 07-30-2007, 09:53 AM

Hi All,

I was wondering if I can use "dd" to put an .ISO image of a live cd onto a USB drive.

I can use dd if=/any_.img_file of=/dev/sdc for any .img image file. Can't I use the same command to copy an .ISO file?

dd if=/any_.ISO_File of=/dev/sdc

???

Paul7 · 07-30-2007, 10:03 AM

Normally dd can everything. But be carefull and check the conv swich of man page of dd
Paul7

Matir · 07-30-2007, 10:23 AM

Yes, you can use dd to copy the ISO there, but that does not mean it will be bootable or even usable.

seansolina · 07-31-2007, 07:39 AM

I saw that it copied the .ISO file onto the drive.

Before I copied it to it, I made an active partition on the flash drive and formatted it VFAT. If it can copy an .ISO image, how come it won't copy the complete image and make that drive bootable?

Thanks so much for your replies.

Sean

Matir · 07-31-2007, 09:39 AM

Because the bootloader setup for a CD and a flash drive are very different. The people at SYSLINUX (who also make ISOLINUX) have bootloaders for both and a description of the differences.