ISO and USB selection. When launched, Startup Disk Creator will look for the ISO files in your Downloads folder, as well as any attached USB storage it can write to. It’s likely that both your Ubuntu ISO and the correct USB device will have been detected and set as ‘Source disc image’ and ‘Disk to use’ in the application window. Insert a USB flash drive to your Mac. Make sure it's at least 8GB, which is usually marked on the USB.
- Ubuntu Usb For Mac
- Ubuntu Iso To Usb Mac
- Burn Ubuntu Image To Usb
- Live Ubuntu Usb For Mac
- Ubuntu Create Live Usb
I screwed with some bin files in MAC OSX, and can't log in. Anyways, I want a bootable ubuntu usb so I can recover my files/look at the disks. I KNOW HOW TO MAKE A USB BOOTABLE IN MAC. However, I do not know how to make one in Ubuntu. I have a computer with ubuntu, but need to make a bootable usb FOR A MAC. Any help is greatly appreciated. If your Mac still refuses to boot off your USB stick you may find it easier to boot and install off an Ubuntu DVD instead. See our How to burn a DVD on macOS for further details. Alternatively, if you feel confident using the macOS command line, see the community documentation on How to install Ubuntu on MacBook using USB Stick for a more. In this guide, I'm going to show you how to create a USB drive that contains all of the necessary files to boot your Windows PC or Mac into Ubuntu. To create this bootable USB drive, also known as a live USB, you will need access to a USB drive with at least 2 GB of storage and a functioning computer, but it does not matter if it is a Mac.
Contents
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The general procedure to install Ubuntu (or Ubuntu flavour, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, ...) from a USB flash drive is:
Get the correct Ubuntu installation file, 'the iso file', via this link or Ubuntu flavour via this link. Download the iso file into your running computer (for example into the directory Downloads in the internal drive, not into the USB flash drive that you want to make into a USB boot drive).
Check with md5sum (or another checksum tool) that the download was good.
- Put Ubuntu onto your USB flash drive alias 'stick' alias 'pendrive' alias 'thumb'. Tools for this purpose are described in this help page.
- Configure your computer to boot from USB flash drive and boot from it.
Try Ubuntu (Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, ...) before installing it.
- Install Ubuntu to your internal drive (hard disk drive or solid state drive or external drive).
See also: Installation/FromUSBStickQuick for beginners starting from Windows.
Ubuntu can be installed from a USB flash drive. This may be necessary for most new portable computers without DVD drives and is handy for others because a USB flash drive is so convenient. Also, you can configure Ubuntu on the USB flash drive to save changes you make, unlike a read-only CD/DVD disk.
Booting from a USB flash drive created with usb-creator alias Startup Disk Creator and mkusb will behave just as if you had booted from the install CD. It will show the language selection and then the install menu, from which you can install Ubuntu onto the computer's hard drive or launch the LiveCD environment. Other utilities, e.g. UNetbootin, may create slightly different boot drives or if on UEFI might not work at all with Debian iso files due to a bug
Note: This article uses the term 'USB flash drive' alongside USB stick, USB drive, USB device, USB pendrive and thumb drive.
To create a USB installation device, you will need:
a 4 GB USB flash device/drive/stick. If the iso file is smaller than 2 GB, it is possible to use a 2 GB USB device, at least with some of the methods. Files on this USB device will be erased, so backup the files you want to keep before making the device bootable. Some of the tools require that this USB device is properly formatted and mounted while other tools will overwrite whatever is on the target device. Please follow the instructions for each tool.
an Ubuntu flavour ISO file downloaded from an official web page, ubuntu.com/download or http://releases.ubuntu.com, stored in your running computer (for example in the directory Downloads in the internal drive, not in the USB flash drive that you want to make into a USB boot drive).
Check with md5sum (or another checksum tool) that the download was good. In Linux there is the tool 'md5sum'. In Windows you can do it with Rufus: click on the circle with a tick mark (more about Rufus here.)
Dummy headlines
After a major remake of this help page the following headlines are kept here because they may be linked to from other web sites. Several other headlines further down in the page are also kept for this reason.
Notes about speed
Notes about size
Notes about bootability
The flash hardware
There is a detailed description at the sub-page /pre |
There are various methods available for Windows to create a bootable Ubuntu USB flash drive.
NEVER try to use one of your hard disk drives or partitions in this process unless you really know what you are doing, as data will get erased.
Rufus
Rufus is the tool in Windows that is recommended officially by Ubuntu. A tutorial is available from here.
Download Rufus.
balenaEtcher
Download balenaEtcher
Pendrivelinux's Universal USB Installer
Download Universal USB Installer
UNetbootin
Download UNetbootin
Win32 Disk Imager
Download Win32 Disk Imager
There is a detailed description at /fromWindows including Rufus, balena Etcher, Universal USB Installer, Unetbootin and Win32 Disk Imager. |
Install and run Startup Disk Creator alias usb-creator
The Ubuntu Startup Disk Creator is dedicated to creating USB boot drives for Ubuntu and Ubuntu family flavours (Kubuntu, Lubuntu ... Xubuntu).
- Use another tool (e.g. 'UNetbootin' or 'mkusb'), if you want to create a USB boot drive with another Linux distro (alias Linux operating system).
You can find usb-creator-gtk by typing 'Startup Disk Creator' (Ubuntu Desktop) or usb-creator-kde in K-Menu-->Applications-->System-->Startup Disk Creator (Kubuntu). If it is not there, then you can install it using the Ubuntu Software Center.
- Insert and mount the USB drive. Inserting the USB drive should auto-mount it.
- Start the Startup Disk Creator
- In the top pane of the Startup Disk Creator, pick the .iso file that you downloaded.
- If the .iso file isn't listed, click 'Other' to locate and select the .iso file that you downloaded.
- In the bottom pane of the Startup Disk Creator, pick the target device, the USB flash drive. If more than one choice, please check carefully, until you are sure that you will be writing to the correct device.
- After checking that you are pointing to the correct target device, the USB flash drive, you can start the action.
You must enter a password because this is a risky operation. Use the password of the current user ID (the same as for login and running tasks with 'sudo'. Password is not required when installing from a 'live' system (booted from a DVD disk or another USB flash drive).
The Startup Disk Creator clones the iso file, which means that you need neither erase nor format the target drive. It will be completely overwritten anyway by the cloning process. The Startup Disk Creator looks like this in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS:
Screenshots: Startup Disk Creator - to SSD or pendrive
Notes
NEVER try to use one of your hard disk drives or SSDs or partitions in this process unless you really know what you are doing, as data will get erased.
There are bugs that affect the Ubuntu Startup Disk Creator, when you run it in old Ubuntu versions in BIOS mode and try to create USB boot drives with other versions. In the Ubuntu Startup Disk Creator version 0.3.2 in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, these bugs are no longer a problem, so you can install any version of the Ubuntu flavours from 16.04 LTS and newer versions.
UNetbootin
Download UNetbootin
- UNetbootin works in and with most Linux distros.
- It is an extracting tool (not a cloning tool).
- It can make a persistence file up to 4GB in size to save data and defaults.
mkusb - dd image of iso file to USB device safely
Install mkusb via PPA
If you want to clone from a general image file to a drive, you can use mkusb. It lets you clone to any drive that is not busy, also an internal drive, and there are very obvious warnings to prevent mistakes.
- mkusb can also
- run in Debian and many linux distros that are similar to Ubuntu and Debian,
- clone from iso files of most Linux distros to create USB boot drives,
- create persistent live drives of the Ubuntu family and Debian, using all available drive space for persistence and/or data storage,
- restore a USB boot drive to a standard storage device.
There is a detailed description at /fromUbuntu including the Startup Disk Creator, UNetbootin and mkusb. |
See How to install Ubuntu on MacBook using USB flash drive and this Ubuntu Forum thread by Quackers
There is a good wiki page about booting with UEFI, and a good tutorial thread, UEFI Installing - Tips.
Test if running in UEFI mode
You may want to test if your Ubuntu flavour is running in [U]EFI mode. An installed system and a live system too is using the directory /sys/firmware/efi, so you can run the following command line,
The following command line is more robust and also easier to understand, so you may prefer it (if you copy & paste and are not bothered by typing a long command line),
Boot and install
Stable portable systems - good for USB sticks
Creating an EFI-only image
Ubuntu single boot in UEFI mode
'Do it yourself'
When the boot structure is modified in Ubuntu or the booting software, there can be problems until the extracting tools are modified to manage the modification. It is worthwhile to find a method that is as simple as possible and to learn how to use it in order to manage the extraction also when the boot structure is modified.
- For an UEFI only boot flash drive you need no installer
- Make the drive boot both in UEFI mode and BIOS mode
See this link: Installation/iso2usb#Do_it_yourself
Portable installed system booting from UEFI and BIOS
Multiboot pendrives
Booting ISO files on internal drive
Booting USB drives with grub2 and iso files 'grub-n-iso'
There are more details at the sub-page /alt |
Remove all unneeded USB items, but keep the network cable attached.
Boot menu
Instead of editing BIOS settings, you can choose a boot device from the boot menu. Press the function key to enter the boot menu when your computer is booting. Typically, the boot screen displays which key you need to press. It maybe one of F12, F10, F9.
Edit the BIOS settings
Insert the bootable USB flash drive that you just created in your target computer and restart it. Most newer computers can boot from a USB flash drive. If your computer does not automatically do so, you might need to edit the BIOS settings.
Restart your computer, and watch for a message telling you which key, hotkey to press to enter the BIOS setup.
- It will usually be one of F1, F2, F9, F10, DEL, Enter or ESC.
- The hotkey should be described in the user manual provided by the manufacturer of the computer (a printed or electronic document).
You can also search your hardware on boot-keys.org.
Press this hotkey continuously or tap repeatedly (different between computers) while your computer is booting to edit your BIOS settings. (On HP Mini Netbooks, the correct key is usually F9.)
Select 'hard disk/USB-HDD0'
Note: with some motherboards you have to select 'hard disk/USB-HDD0' to choose the USB flash disk. It may work like this because the system sees the USB drive 'a mass storage device' as a hard disk drive, and it should be at the top of the boot order list.
So you need to edit the Boot Order. Depending on your computer, and how your USB key was formatted, you should see an entry for 'removable drive' or 'USB media'. Move this to the top of the list to make the computer attempt to boot from the USB device before booting from the hard disk.
Chainloading
PLoP Boot Manager
- For old computers that cannot boot from USB
Flow chart for trouble-shooting
See this link: Why Doesn't a Bootable USB Boot
There are problems with the versions of the Startup Disk Creator alias usb-creator in versions of Ubuntu older than 16.04 LTS. There are similar problems with old versions of Unetbootin. Until these problems are solved other tools work, for example mkusb and Win32DiskImager described in the following links, https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb and https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Win32DiskImager/iso2usb
The version 0.3.2 (and newer versions) of the Startup Disk Creator alias usb-creator in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (and newer versions) clones the iso file and creates a read-only file system. This method is very robust, but if you want to re-use the USB stick as a storage drive, you must restore it. Two methods are described in the next paragraph.
'Postrequisites' - after installation: how to restore the USB stick to a standard storage drive. The standard is an MSDOS partition table (MBR) and a partition with the FAT32 file system.
gparted
Disks
mkusb
There is a detailed description at the sub-page /post |
FromUSBStickQuick for beginners starting from Windows
USB Installation Media: custom, manual, older versions, and technical instructions and troubleshooting. There are also network installation options available.
Why Doesn't a Bootable USB Boot: flowchart and lists of possible causes to help troubleshooting
MinimalCD alias mini.iso
booting with grub2
booting with UEFI
Ubuntu Forums tutorial 'Howto make USB boot drives'
Ubuntu Forums tutorial 'Howto help USB boot drives'
Ubuntu Forums tutorial 'How to create an external USB bootable Linux hard drive (without dual-boot)'
Unetbootin for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X
Paul Sutton's Unetbootin how to
Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way (from Windows)
Pendrivelinux about Multisystem
Pendrivelinux about grub2
YUMI – Multiboot USB Creator
Choosing between Live USB and Full USB Installation
Try Ubuntu (Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, ...) before installing it
LiveCD/Persistence
Dual Boot with Windows
Discussion about tools to create USB boot drives at the Ubuntu Forums 'http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2291946'
CategoryLiveCategoryInstallationCategoryInstallationCategoryInstallation
Ubuntu Usb For Mac
Bootable USB flash drives has become popular, given that it is easy to create, it comes in handy, accessible, and very convenient. You might have a damaged installation on your operating system. Or you might need an upgrade to the newest version available. Your new computer or laptop did not have an operating system with it. Whatever the reason may be, bootable USB flash drives makes it easier for everyone to re-install or install an operating system to your laptops and computers. Here is a list of benefits of having a bootable USB flash drive:
- USB flash drives are compatible to all laptops and computers. You might have noticed that laptops and computers have USB ports but not all laptops and computers have a CD drive or DVD drive.
- Faster transfer speed. USB flash drives pretty much transfers data faster than SD cards.
- You can bring the USB flash drive with you anywhere without a hassle. You can just put in your pocket, or in your bag without an added weight since it is very light.
Basically, you only need three things to make a Ubuntu bootable USB flash drive:
- Etcher – the software that we are going to use to create a bootable USB flash drive
- Ubuntu – an operating system that we are going to write on your USB flash drive
- USB flash drive – well, I am just stating the obvious
Etcher, or balenaEtcher, is a free program and an open source utility. Etcher is primarily used to write image files like .img and .iso files to create a bootable USB flash drive. Here is a list of the things that you would love about Etcher (balenaEtcher):
- GUI (Graphical User Interface) looks great.
- It works fast.
- Free to use! Who would not love anything that is free?
- Easy to use. It is very user-friendly.
Ubuntu, is an open source operating system. It is under the Linux distribution based on Debian. And here is a list of the things that you would love about Ubuntu:
- You do not have to pay anything because Ubuntu is totally free! Other operating systems would cost you money so why not go with Ubuntu, right?
- It has better security compared to other operating systems.
- It is resource-friendly. Meaning to say that it can still run on older hardware. So, that means you can still use your older laptops and computers with this operating system.
- It is customizable. Which means that you can personalize the user interface however you want it!
- Ubuntu is an open source program. This means that you can go through the source code and contribute to innovate and improve the operating system.
- It saves your time. Ubuntu can actually install the updates in the background so you won’t have to restart your laptops or computers.
- It is suited for development. It is helpful for programmers with all the aid to make things a whole lot easier and convenient.
Here is how to make a Ubuntu Bootable USB flash drive with Etcher (balenaEtcher)
Step 1: Download the latest Ubuntu ISO file
- To download the Ubuntu ISO file, you can get it here: https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
- Go ahead and copy and paste the link above to a browser
- Look for the latest version of Ubuntu and go ahead and click Download.
As per Ubuntu’s website, please take note of the recommended system requirements:
- 2GHz dual core processor or higher
- 4GB system memory
- 25 GB of free hard drive space
- USB port for the installer media
- Preferably with internet access
P.S.
It is always better to download the latest version of this operating system.
Step 2: Download the latest Etcher
- If you do not have the Etcher yet, you can get it here: https://www.balena.io/etcher/
- Click Download
- Once the download has finished, double click on the file
- The Installation Wizard will be launched, just follow the steps accordingly.
Step 4: Plug in your USB flash drive to your laptop or computer’s USB port
- Go ahead and plug the USB flash drive to your laptop and computer’s USB port
- Make sure that the USB flash drive has 2GB of storage or larger
P.S.
To avoid confusion, make sure to only plug in the USB flash drive that you are going to use to create a bootable USB flash drive. And since we are going to write on your USB flash drive, do not forget to back it up otherwise the content will be deleted.
Step 5: Select the Ubuntu ISO file
- Once you have launched Etcher, click on “Select image”
- Go ahead and locate the Ubuntu ISO file that you have downloaded earlier (usually this is saved on your Downloads folder not unless you have saved the file on a different location)
Step 6: Select the Drive
Ubuntu Iso To Usb Mac
- Go ahead and click “Select Drive”
- Choose the USB flash drive that you are going to use to create a bootable USB
P.S.
Burn Ubuntu Image To Usb
If you have multiple USB flash drives plugged into your laptop or computer, make sure that you have checked the name of the drive where the USB flash drive is plugged into. You do not want to choose the incorrect one. Remember, all files will be deleted.
If you only have one USB flash drive plugged into your laptop or computer, Etcher will automatically detect and have the device pre-selected.
Step 7: Double check your selection
Live Ubuntu Usb For Mac
- Before we proceed with the flashing process, go ahead and double check first that you have selected the correct Ubuntu ISO file
- And then also double check that you have selected the correct device
Step 8: The Flashing Process
- Once you are sure that you have all the correct selection, go ahead and click the flash image
- The flashing process will now then start and a progress bar will be shown directly below the flash image
- Once the flashing process is completed, it will let you know that the flash is complete
So, there you have it. You have successfully made a Ubuntu bootable USB with Etcher!
Ubuntu Create Live Usb
Last Updated on April 10, 2020 by Etcher