[SOLVED] dd command to make bootable USB

I realize this post is solved, but I have one more question regarding the dd command.
When I used the command I didn't put anything after the output file, however BW-userx added && sync, and I have seen other uses where bs=4M after the output file. What do they do and why a difference? Thanks again everyone for all the time and info you have put into this thread.

Paul

Originally Posted by pablo27 When I used the command I didn't put anything after the output file, however BW-userx added && sync, and I have seen other uses where bs=4M after the output file. What do they do and why a difference?

i must say, this is a very poor description of a command.
why not just show the command?

incidentally, i know exactly what you mean and will break it down for you.

dd if=some.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4m && sync

let's agree that this line of commands has 6 elements.
elements 1-3 are clear by now, i think.
element 4 belongs to the dd command.
you can check what it does by entering 'man dd' in a terminal, then enter '/bs':

bs=BYTES read and write up to BYTES bytes at a time (default: 512)

it means blocksize.
4M means 4 Megabytes (surely someone will correct me on this, but close enough).

Element 5 does not belong to the dd command anymore. it's a logical operator that can be used to string commands together: if A was succesful, do B.

'sync' is a separate command. again, read 'man sync'.
if you write to a usb stick, it is very important to do that before you rip it out.