Etcher warning

[LarryB1607]

I usually use Unetbootin to unpack ISO files to a USB, however it was suggested to use Etcher to do this for LLOS 5.  I used a 32 GB drive for this which had some files on it, but these were all in folders so the unpacker should have left these alone.  Not the case.  All of the files were wiped and the remaining space on the drive has been lost.  So if you are going to use Etcher, make sure the drive is clean or partitioned.  I believe I can eventually get all of this space back by zeroing the drive and reformatting.

[Paul74]

Hi,
I alway re-initialize USB drive before using Etcher to store a new ISO. No problem.

[Moltke]

I usually use Unetbootin to unpack ISO files to a USB, however it was suggested to use Etcher to do this for LLOS 5.  I used a 32 GB drive for this which had some files on it, but these were all in folders so the unpacker should have left these alone.  Not the case.  All of the files were wiped and the remaining space on the drive has been lost.  So if you are going to use Etcher, make sure the drive is clean or partitioned.  I believe I can eventually get all of this space back by zeroing the drive and reformatting.

I'm using ventoy https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html it's pretty easy to use as all you need to do is copy the .iso to the USB stick. To use it:

1. - Download from here https://www.ventoy.net/en/download.html
2. - Once downloaded, open thunar and navigate to the folder/directory it is, you'll see a .tar.gz file, select it, right-click on it and select extract here
3. - Open the extracted folder, you should see among some other files 2 scripts;  CreatePersistentImg.sh and Ventoy2Disk.sh right-click on an empty/blank space and from the context menu choose open terminal here
4. - Plug your USB device/stick in and type in the terminal

Code:

lsblk

this will list the drives/partitions on your pc, take note of the USB, it might be something like

Code:

/dev/sdc

. Double check to make sure that's the right one.
5. - Install ventoy in the USB by typing in the terminal

Code:

sudo sh ./Ventoy2Disk -i /dev/sdc    #change accordingly to yours.

type in your password when asked, read everything carefully so you know what's going to happen and confirm by typing y when ready. You'll be warned again that all the data on the device will be lost, type y if you want to proceed.





6. - Wait for the process to be finished, it'll take just a couple of minutes, once it does, close the terminal and copy whatever .iso file or files onto the USB and try whether it worked or not. You can keep on using your device as you usually do and next time you want/need to try an OS just delete the old ones - if there's not enough room in the device, otherwise just copy the new .iso file or files onto it.

Hope this helps!

[LarryB1607]

Thanks for the replys.  LLOS 5 is on the drive , but the rest of the drive appears to be unreadable/writable at this time.  I am going to use it to install the OS and then try to return it to its original state.  I thought it would have been nice of Etcher to give a warning that the drive would be over written.  That was the purpose of my post.

I plan to create a small partition next to the Home partition.  There I am going to backup my current Home folder and put Timeshift files there.  I am currently using LLOS 18.04 and have done some customization's and hope to get as many of these back as possible with the new install as possible by replacing the new files with the old ones.  Hopefully 4 GB of space will be enough for the backup area.

I will probably take a look at Ventoy after this is done.

[Moltke]

Thanks for the replys.  LLOS 5 is on the drive , but the rest of the drive appears to be unreadable/writable at this time.  I am going to use it to install the OS and then try to return it to its original state.  I thought it would have been nice of Etcher to give a warning that the drive would be over written.  That was the purpose of my post.

I plan to create a small partition next to the Home partition.  There I am going to backup my current Home folder and put Timeshift files there.  I am currently using LLOS 18.04 and have done some customization's and hope to get as many of these back as possible with the new install as possible by replacing the new files with the old ones.  Hopefully 4 GB of space will be enough for the backup area.

I will probably take a look at Ventoy after this is done.

Well, every tool to write/burn .iso files to USB devices does just the same, most do warning but others like etcher don't, they think users should know what they're doing; if you're about to write/burn an .iso file to a USB keep in mind any data on it will be lost, since the process will completely reformat it. I filed a request of this feature few months ago on their github page https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/issues/3049 but looks like they don't care and users should be more careful, which I too think they should but still ... such a warning will be useful.

[LarryB1607]

I did not have the issue of overwriting a drive when I used Unetbootin.  I have done this several times.  So I just assumed that using another tool would give the same results.  My fault for assuming, theirs for not warning.