Cloning a "live USB" installation

[#1]

From what I see it appears that this UUI is a Windows program! So are you running this on Wine?

The easiest option is to use a Terminal so open one.

Then change directory to where the puppy.iso is, for example:

cd Download/

Insert the disk you want to copy the ISO to then do a listing.

sudo fdisk -l

Identify your disk from the output displayed, then ensure the disk isn't mounted by unmounting it.

sudo umount /dev/sdXX

With the above done you can now write the ISO to the disk.

sudo dd bs=4M if=puppy.iso of=/dev/sdXX status=progress

The sdXX is the device name you identified above.

The dd operation will take some time so don't interrupt it. You'll get output on the console as the operation proceeds.

[#2]

Thank you @Mook    I did read up on the dd but did not understand it properly, and thought it best to leave things alone, rather than install Linux puppy on my hard drive by mistake/accident.

I will now go and see what progress I can make from your very detailed and helpful instructions

Thanks again. 

[#3]

If you are unsure about identifying the correct device, you might want to try this.

Remove the USB devices you've plugged in from the machine then do an:

sudo fdisk -l | grep sd

This will reduce the output of the fdisk command to items that contain sd, such as /dev/sda /dev/sdb etc. You can exclude / remove the

| grep sd

if you want too, it's up to you.

Now insert your physical target USB drive and repeat the command you used above.

There should now be an extra entry in the output, and this is your device. Once you have this information continue the steps I've shown above. If you're still confused post the terminal output as text from these commands.

I'm not normally online much later than this but I'll come back and see if you've posted.

[#4]

@Mook   some of your commands don`t work... !     cd Downloads.....  had to check it    cd ~/Downloads   that worked...

Next was      sudo fdisk -1

invalid option --`1`

  However  ... disk manager tells me that the USB stick I want to use is /dev/sdb1

so I copied and pasted the line   ( adding in my dev/sdb1

gerry@gerry-Inspiron-5558:~/Downloads$ sudo dd bs=4M if=puppy.iso of=/dev/sdb1 status=progress

and got this.....

dd: failed to open 'puppy.iso': No such file or directory

gerry@gerry-Inspiron-5558:~/Downloads$

probably because it is called     bionicpup64-8.0-uefi.iso 

I then entered 

gerry@gerry-Inspiron-5558:~$ sudo dd bs=4M if=bionicpup64-8.0-uefi.iso of=/dev/sdb1 status=progress

[sudo] password for gerry:    

and got this.....

      
dd: failed to open 'bionicpup64-8.0-uefi.iso': No such file or directory
gerry@gerry-Inspiron-5558:~$

see pic

after about 6 try`s....due to typing errors..  ! ! ...

[#5]

The commands do work when entered correctly and used with a modicum of common sense! How was I to know where the file was or what it was called. That's why I said for example and why I used puppy.iso so you'd know what I was referring to.

If you are in the directory where the ISO resides then use tab completion to fill in the details for you. So, after typing if=./bion press the tab key and this will complete the entry with the filename enter the remaining commands and see where that takes you.

[#6]

@Mook  Thanks.... the problem is.... that my "modicum of common sense" is not yet sufficient ! ! ! ..but it did spot that you missed out the ~/   ! ! ! ! ! ! ..( after I tried your version first, of course ! ! ! !! )

OK on the tab completion method... will give that a go...

@Mook   ok  did it ... ! ... BUT... I forgot to add on the /dev/sdb1 bit.... ad the terminal went mad... just rotating this, very very fast,.....   until I closed the terminal.... hope I haven`t done the Hdd in ! ! .

Anyway.... had another go... added the /dev/sdb1 in this time... and got this... very soon afterwards

So....I then went to "Computer" and gave it the "Eject" command  from the drop down menu on the usb stick...

did not disappear.... so then (using a modicum of sense ! ) decided to "unmount" it from the terminal... did the umount command you previously mentioned... it said it was not mounted..

removed it... plugged it in to my other laptop... and trying to boot from it... but the only thing I have is a Flashing Cursor on the top left... ( yes I did check the option to boot from usb ) ..

[#7]

@Mook  so... having waited.. still nothing.. so.. I thought... "hmm.... maybe I messed it up.. I`ll have another go with a different usb stick...

so... did the same thing again.. but this USB stick flashes  while it is processing.. and that made me think that the first one, was prematurely ended... hopefully when this one stops flashing.. all will be well ! !

############

I GIVE UP     

############

after the flashing stopped, I waited a while, and then did a sudo umove

removed the usb... stuck it in the 2nd laptop... did not even show up when going to boot options..

Thanks for the interest... but .. i think I`ve had enough now...  

[#8]

The mistake was tiny, but fatal.

sdb1 is the first partition on your USB

sdb is the whole disk.

Since you boot disks (not partitions) you needed to dd to of=/dev/sdb

[#9]

---

@shutter wrote:

@TheRoadCrew  Hmm... I think maybe it is ME not doing things in the right order....and Linux hiding windows telling me things  that i can`t see..

so... when I plug in the usb stick... it shows on "computer"... and when I "open" it to see what is on.. it has "already" done that. (hence the "Cannot Mount" message ) .... but nothing is shown, I have to find it...(maybe it is hidden under another window!..)... which is what i have found since my last post..

---

Generally, USB sticks are mounted on insertion and show up in the file manager.

Probably better to access it from 'Devices' than from 'Computer' - you can unmount it from here too (click on the up arrow-like symbol).

[#10]

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@shutter wrote:

all I want to do is to get the .iso file for Linux Puppy as you suggested , on to a USB stick, so that I can then use it... either as a "live" test.. or to install it on a pre selected and pre formatted hard drive.

---

Working on the KISS principle, Mint has it's own tool for that:

[#11]

@TheRoadCrew  Thanks again for your input... yes, I know it "shows up" on the "menu" listings... but somehow just clicked on "computer" for to see if it was "active" and view it`s contents....maybe an old "windows" habit !>..

as I said... maybe it`s just me.. doing things the wrong way round and fouling things up along the way..

I also tried the image writer, or similar,... may not have been that particular one I chose on the menu... but it did not work for me....again.. just "local" confusion, about where to look for what I want..  ( all a learning curve, I am sure ! ! !)

as it happens... I tried again... after vilereynards "helpful" ( for a change ) comment about sdb instead of sdb1 and it has, in fact, installed Linux Puppy or PuppyLinux on the usb stick...been playing around with it for about an hour. and quite impressed with it... had to change the desktop picture though...

Geting to grips with all the differences ...  give me something to do today...

Many thanks, again... I do appreciate the help.

cheers

[#12]

@shutter I only do helpful. 😀

[#13]

@VileReynard  Occasionally....   when prodded to be so......