How do I have to format the drive in order to create a bootable USB?
I'd appreciate it if I could get an answer soon... Thanks!
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1This is also unclear to me. I'm wondering are you trying to create a live media installer or an installed system on a USB. – Elder Geek May 01 '15 at 16:21
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REOPEN. What version of Ubuntu are you installing? Are you trying to install in UEFI mode (secure boot), or legacy (using MBR). There are some newer methods, not yet in the suggested 'already answered' link. – david6 May 02 '15 at 00:25
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@david6 So why don't you suggest them in the other link? I'm going to reopen this though because it looks like the OP isn't interested in how to make a bootable USB as much as what format type the partition/drive must use. – Seth May 02 '15 at 18:56
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To the best of my knowledge, it does not matter how you format (i.e. choice of filesystem) your pendrive. If your aim is to make a bootable pendrive with e.g. Unetbootin it is probably the best to format in VFAT. Given that the pendrive is plugged into the computer and mounted (i.e. you can browse its content) you can proceed as follows from the terminal:
Identify the device name /dev/sd* of the pendrive (from its size and/or mounting point) by typing
df -h
which will produce a list of all partitions currently mounted in Linux. Let us say that your device is called "/dev/sdc1". Unmount the pendrive by typing
umount /dev/sdc1
this will unplugg it from Linux (do not remove the pendrive physically). To format the pendrive you simply have to type
sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/sdc1
which will erase your pendrive and create a new empty VFAT filesystem. (Check that you selected the correct device name before formating.) Now you can toggle the disk as bootable with the cfdisk utility. Type
sudo cfdisk /dev/sdc
and select the 'sdc1' partition graphically and toggle it as bootable. Write the changes to the disk. Voila!
Anders
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Please explain, how to do that (see How do I write a good answer?). – David Foerster May 01 '15 at 15:04
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Please [edit] your answer, if you want to add information. Especially file or program output listings (with the help of the
{}button in the editor toolbar) are much more readable there and overall it's best to have everything relevant in one place. Also, comments may be deleted for various reasons. – David Foerster May 01 '15 at 20:44
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It should not matter. You can use Startup Disk Creator which is pre-installed in Ubuntu.
Ron
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In case you're trying to create a bootable Live USB drive using a specific Ubuntu version, the most straightforward way to do it in my opinion is to just write the whole image to the drive:
sudo dd if=<path_to_image_to_read> of=<path_to_device_file_to_write>
*<path_to_image_to_read> = path to the Ubuntu image; <path_to_device_file_to_write> = path to the USB drive's device file as reported by lsblk ;
kos
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