~pcwiz Posted August 27, 2008 Share Posted August 27, 2008 This sounds like a complete noob question but how do I image a bootable ISO onto a usb flash drive in OS X? I've already tried restoring the ISO to the usb drive using Disk Utility but I get an error something like "cannot validate source" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacUser2525 Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 This sounds like a complete noob question but how do I image a bootable ISO onto a usb flash drive in OS X? I've already tried restoring the ISO to the usb drive using Disk Utility but I get an error something like "cannot validate source" If you don't care about the extra space left over and the probability that you will need to repartition/format before using the key again then try as root. dd if=/path/to/file.iso of=/dev/disk? Replacing the disk? with the value you see from diskutil list for the key. Now whenever I write a disk image to floppy in Linux you need the disk to be unmounted as your working on a raw block device and the image is supposed to have the file system contained within it that is written to the disk so I imagine the same applies in OS X's version of dd. Also never done it with a USB key so if there is a special way that it needs to be partitioned that is out of the normal way of doing it then you'll need to know how recreate that before proceeding. It really should be as simple as a reverse process first namely before the .iso write. dd if=/dev/disk? of=/path/to/saved/usb.img Then after you are done your testing write the usb.img back to the key to restore the contents as it was before you started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagar Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 the problem is with the iso, fiddle with it, some ISOs will resotore, some won't. you can try using the "scan for restore" function, converting it to .dmg with hdiutil, and stuff like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted August 28, 2008 Author Share Posted August 28, 2008 MacUser2525, your suggestion sounds great, I'm gonna try it soon. Hagar, didn't use hdiutil but used Disk Utility's convert function to convert the ISO to a compressed DMG, and the same error. Tried it with 2 different ISOs (Gparted and Partition Magic boot ISOs) and the same error. Gonna try the dd method and see if it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makwanad Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 This sounds like a complete noob question but how do I image a bootable ISO onto a usb flash drive in OS X? I've already tried restoring the ISO to the usb drive using Disk Utility but I get an error something like "cannot validate source" I had an ISO of OS X once, I used carbon copy cloner to copy it to an external hard drive and now my brother is happily running 10.5 I'm not sure whether this will work with a USB flashdrive, I take it that it's not a large ISO? Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagar Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Tried it with 2 different ISOs (Gparted and Partition Magic boot ISOs) and the same error. :s why are you using disk util on linux & dos disks? yes, by all means use dd or similar for those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~pcwiz Posted August 28, 2008 Author Share Posted August 28, 2008 Thanks for the tip. You know, if this works I'm gonna make an interface for the DD utility, for writing images to drives. Gonna be sweet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m16 Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 That would be a real lifesaver pcwiz.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doraemon Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I tried the dd method...not sure what you mean by "of=/dev/disk?" Which disk are you referring to? I directed this instead to my USB volume at "/Volumes/USBDrive" However, this did not work: "dd: /Volumes/USBDrive: is a directory" Perhaps you could explain... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacUser2525 Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I tried the dd method...not sure what you mean by "of=/dev/disk?" Which disk are you referring to? I directed this instead to my USB volume at "/Volumes/USBDrive" However, this did not work: "dd: /Volumes/USBDrive: is a directory" Perhaps you could explain... The disk number as it is seen by diskutil/the operating system here in the output below with one of my USB sticks plugged in you will see it is disk6 or for your purpose /dev/disk6 look for this when you do the command on your machine to get the proper number. MacUser2525s-Mac-Pro:~ MacUser2525$ diskutil list /dev/disk0 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *596.2 Gi disk0 1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk0s1 2: Apple_HFS Leopard 40.0 Gi disk0s2 3: Apple_HFS Home 40.0 Gi disk0s3 4: Apple_HFS music 80.0 Gi disk0s4 5: Apple_HFS video 435.5 Gi disk0s5 /dev/disk1 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *931.5 Gi disk1 1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk1s1 2: Apple_HFS Seagate_1 931.2 Gi disk1s2 /dev/disk2 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *931.5 Gi disk2 1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk2s1 2: Apple_HFS Seagate_2 931.2 Gi disk2s2 /dev/disk3 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *931.5 Gi disk3 1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk3s1 2: Apple_HFS Seagate_3 931.2 Gi disk3s2 /dev/disk4 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: GUID_partition_scheme *1.4 Ti disk4 1: EFI 200.0 Mi disk4s1 2: Apple_HFS Media 1.4 Ti disk4s2 /dev/disk6 #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: FDisk_partition_scheme *3.7 Gi disk6 1: DOS_FAT_32 KINGSTON 3.7 Gi disk6s1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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