USB-Imager

USB-Imager is a GUI tool to write bootable disk images to USB key.

1. Features

• No root privileges required.
• Drives get unmounted and locked (if encrypted) before writing.
• Writing support for hybrid ISOs by checking the MBR signature.
• Adjustable write buffer

Planned:

• Automatic deactivation of LVM2 volumes before writing
• Write to multiple USB keys simultaneously
• Checksum verification after copying
• Multilanguage support

2. Requirements

Requirements for an installation with pip:

• Debian based linux (e.g. Ubuntu):

  For *ubuntu linux open Software & Updates and activate the universe repository or activate it via terminal.

  $ sudo add-apt-repository universe && sudo apt update
  $ sudo apt install python3-pip gir1.2-udisks-2.0 qt5-default
  

• Red Hat based linux (e.g. Fedora):

  $ sudo dnf install python3-pyside2
  

• Slackware based linux (e.g. openSUSE):

  $ sudo zypper install python3-pyside2 typelib-1_0-UDisks-2_0
  

3. Installation

• Arch based linux:

  The installation of usb-imager-git can be done via any package manager that supports the AUR.

  $ sudo pacman -S trizen
  $ trizen -S usb-imager-git
  

• pip / pipenv:

  If the distribution's own package manager is not supported yet, the USB-Imager can alternatively be installed via the Python package manager pip.

  Please try to install USB-Imager without sudo first. Only sometimes it necessary to do a system-wide installation, because in some distributions the search path $PATH is not configured correctly to find the startup program.

  $ pip3 install -U usb-imager
  $ pip3 uninstall usb-imager
  

  or pipenv:

  $ pipenv install usb-imager
  $ pipenv run usb-imager
  $ pipenv uninstall usb-imager
  

4. Usage

Start USB-Imager via the desktop icon or just type usb-imager in your terminal window.

5. Tested linux distributions

• Arch based:

  • Manjaro 20.2.1 "Nibia" -> KDE Plasma, Xfce, Gnome, Cinnamon, Mate

• Debian based:

  • Ubuntu "Bionic Beaver", "Focal Fossa" -> Kylin, Kubuntu, Xubuntu

• Red Hat based:

  • Fedora 33 -> Workstation

• Slackware based:

  • openSUSE 15.2 "Leap" -> Gnome

6. Support

If you want to report a bug or request a feature, you can do so here. You can also write an email to skynet-devel@mailbox.org.

7. Acknowledgements

Thanks to:

• the programmers at SUSE Linux Products GmbH for their SUSE Studio Imagewriter. It was the inspiration for this little tool.
• Rico for Beta-Testing.
• my loved ones for their almost infinite patience.

Changelog:

Version 1.1

• usb-imager-git is now available in the Arch-Linux AUR repository
• Writing buffer values changed
• Improved error detection and error messages in case of missing dependencies
• Code improvements and minor bug fixes

Version 1.0

• Initial version