Re: New Linux User needs some guidance

[Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org>]

On Tue, Oct 08, 2019 at 01:13:18PM +0100, Tony van der Hoff wrote:
> cp copies a file onto s file system, bit that's not what's wanted here.
> To create a bootable image from a .iso, you need 'dd'

I know I'm repeating what others have said, but this misunderstanding
is so damned pervasive that it *requires* repetition to drive it out
of people's heads.

cp copies bytes to a target.  That target *could* be a file within a
file system.  Or it could be a raw disk device.

dd also copies bytes to a target.  That target *could* be a file within
a file system.  Or it could be a raw disk device.

Either one will work.  You just have to specify the correct target.

The Debian installation guide gives the exact instructions, and it
chooses cp, because it's the simplest command to type.

In fact, so few people actually READ THE INSTALL GUIDE that I will just
copy it here.  Maybe someone will read it here, if I copy it for them.

https://www.debian.org/releases/buster/amd64/ch04s03.en.html

  The CD or DVD image you choose should be written directly to the USB
  stick, overwriting its current contents. For example, when using an
  existing GNU/Linux system, the CD or DVD image file can be written
  to a USB stick as follows, after having made sure that the stick
  is unmounted:

    # cp debian.iso /dev/sdX
    # sync

  ! Important
  The image must be written to the whole-disk device and not a partition,
  e.g. /dev/sdb and not /dev/sdb1. Do not use tools like unetbootin
  which alter the image.