Feature changed by: Maximilian Maher (maxmaher) Feature #305658, revision 75 Title: Official USB stick images openSUSE-11.2: Done Priority Requester: Mandatory Projectmanager: Important Requested by: Stephan Binner (beineri) Description: It would like to see openSUSE releases with official USB images (one with KDE, one with GNOME) next to the Live-CDs. As alternative the Live-CD images could be mastered in a way that they also can boot from USB (afaik they are not able atm) together with a small app/script to install them to USB - other distributions offer that. Test Case: - Look for official USB stick images and test if you can use them + * Look for official USB stick images (opensuse.org) + * Get one of them and try to boot from usb + * Test if the system can boot Discussion: #1: John Thomas (john_tomas) (2009-01-13 16:28:57) Official USB images together with a small app/script to install them would be extremely cool!!! Anyway, since you said "afaik they are not able atm" i can tell that there's 2 workarounds already please see: UNetbootin (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/) wich is actually simple and easy Portable Suse (http://en.opensuse.org/Portable_SUSE) for wich there's also a very good toturial at PenDrive Linux (http://www.pendrivelinux.com/usb-suse-flash-drive-install/) Hope i've been of any help #2: Martin Schlander (cb400f) (2009-01-15 22:15:45) Just for clarification. The images should be installable, and preferably tested on top selling netbooks. Usb-images with only live capabilities "won't do". #3: Maksym Grytsenko (maksymgrytsenko) (2009-01-16 14:28:55) That would be nice! Lots of people already bought their netbooks, but the ease of installation is not always obvious #4: Andrey S (seld) (2009-01-16 15:12:02) This is a very good idea, since some notebooks don't even have a CD/DVD- drive (including mine), so sometimes you are unable to install from the CD and have to rely on unofficial live-USB guides. #5: Marcus Moeller (marcusmoeller) (2009-01-16 20:34:13) kiwi already allows usb installations. #6: hou ghi (houghi) (2009-01-17 11:16:02) This will not only be interesting for portables. I would rather use a USB key then burn a CD/DVD that I then trow away when the new version comes out. I believe this was also partly duscussed on FOSDEM last year. If all images would be available for download, this would be nice. Otherwise my preference would be Network, DVD version (4GB), Live CD's. Software to place the images on the USB stick must be available for Linux in GUI and CLI and also for Windows. Then instead of a flashlight in the boxed set, you could put a USB key in the boxed set. #7: Jimmy Berry (boombatower) (2009-01-18 10:40:56) SUSE Studio support a RAW format that can just be placed on a USB stick using dd. That would work for me...expect that you can't install from it. #8: Armin Moradi (amoradi) (2009-01-19 16:30:29) I think a software (GUI preferred) to make a live USB stick is not only a good idea, but a necessary one. I, too, would like to stick in my USB stick rather than burning another CD/DVD. Plus, KIWI method is not so obvious for new users, and SUSEstudio is not yet public. #9: Greg Kroah-Hartman (gregkh) (2009-01-20 05:05:01) So if we just turn the .iso live-cd images into usb images that can be copied with 'dd' to the stick, that's all that would be needed? #10: Tristan Hoffmann (tristanhoffmann) (2009-01-20 16:25:24) What about a yast module that makes it possbile to create openSUSE USB- Sticks? You have to think about people, who don't know what dd is, the normal users. It should be done in 3 Clicks ("Create openSUSE bootable USB Stick", Select the right USB device and "Yes, I am sure"). #13: Eric Springer (erikina) (2009-01-22 23:57:03) (reply to #10) As long as this isn't a replacement for a xplatform, xdistro solution. #11: Todd R (theblackcat) (2009-01-22 22:05:28) Would it be possible for a single USB stick image to be both bootable and be able to be launched in a virtual machine inside another OS? #12: Eric Springer (erikina) (2009-01-22 23:55:41) (reply to #11) Probably not a great spot for such questions, but the answer is yes. A virtual machine is just that, it emulates a real machine. So if it doesn't work, it would be a bug in the virtual machine. (But I'm not aware of such bugs) #14: Eric Springer (erikina) (2009-01-23 00:03:52) I personally like the idea of a "usb image". Something that can be directly copied (dd'd) onto a USB. We can make a couple simple GUI tools around it (for linux and windows) or perhaps extend some current burning programs. It offers the most flexibility (instead of some solution that's tied to a particular file system / weird booting scripts. Right now many distros accomplish bootable USBs in very different ways, but I think a "usb image" could become standard very quickly, which really would be nice. And while I'm dreaming, perhaps OBS could produce the .img's as a first class citizen alongside our iso's. #20: Matt Barringer (mbarringer) (2009-04-16 10:41:09) (reply to #14) The openSUSE:/Tools:/Devel/ repository has kiwitools-imagewriter, which is a cross-platform GUI for writing raw images, as SUSE Studio creates, to USB devices. Currently it only works on Linux and OSX, but I'll get Windows support working one of these days. #15: Stephan Kulow (coolo) (2009-02-09 15:37:26) Our 11.1 live cds can be used as USB images (see bug#441278). Anything else is a bug. For the future we might provide USB images that can be used as full system - without install option. But I don't see us providing any kind of GUI tools, leave alone to windows users. So I think this feature is done. Does someone want to check our wiki pages to make sure it does not state misinformations about the "live cds can be used as USB images"? #16: Christian Jäger (eet) (2009-04-13 14:58:43) I'm sorry, Stephan, but this answer can be seen as arrogant. If it is so simple, WHY are there so many people asking how in the world to make a bootable openSUSE USB stick and why, if it all should be so simple, are the related how-tos so very, very complicated? If it really were so that openSUSE Live-CD images could be used as USB-images, why is there NO indication of that on the openSUSE websites whatsoever? The how-tos on your wiki provide horribly complicated step-by-step guides on how to use Kiwi to create usb-images! And then they point to external guides for the conversion of live-CD images into live-USB images. And - what surprise -, these guides are also horribly complicated and nowhere near the ease-of-use your answer to this feature requests implies. Fact is, Ubuntu does it right, why can't openSUSE? Please, don't dismiss feature requests that easily in the future! It really comes across as being user-unfriendly, bordering on arrogant. #17: Stephan Kulow (coolo) (2009-04-15 15:00:00) (reply to #16) "why can't openSUSE?" - I can tell you: I asked if someone wants to check the wiki pages and noone did. That is why. openSUSE users don't act, they only blame others. And it's not "your wiki", it's openSUSE's wiki - everyone can edit it. But of course it's easier to make openFATE a flaming forum. #18: Christian Jäger (eet) (2009-04-15 23:16:17) I checked the Wiki pages and there is nothing that to indicate that and how openSUSE Live-CD images can be used for bootable USB-keys. That nobody outside that specific discussion on bugzilla seems to know about this possiblity is so typical of a seemingly chaotic project management. I'm sorry but you cannot blame that on users. I highly respect community and Novell developers alike, but if you develop a feature you have to tell people about it. How senselessly frustrating it is, if creating usb-images from Live-CDs actually works (it doesn't work for me) while everybody thinks openSUSE is the last distribution NOT allowing for easy USB-system creation. It is no use, if something is technically possible but nobody tells users that it is and how to do it. Stupid and selfish users 'not checking wiki pages and telling you nothing's there' is really no excuse for a failed project management here. Sorry, I love openSUSE but sometimes I find remarks by Novell staff here and on bugzilla to dismiss user complaints all too easily. #19: Christian Jäger (eet) (2009-04-15 23:18:33) Oh, and what use it is that I can edit the wiki pages? I have no idea how to convert those Live-CD images into USB-images; or at least my attempts at doing that failed. If you know how to, please let us know! #21: T. J. Brumfield (enderandrew) (2009-06-13 20:32:14) What I would like is a tool to create customized, persistent USB images from my installed system with the packages I want. #22: Stephan Kulow (coolo) (2009-06-24 11:50:43) (reply to #21) Use dd(1). #23: Mahmoud Hossam (mhh91) (2009-07-03 08:15:36) kiwi doesn't have a GUI,which makes it harder for the most of users out there besides,kiwi can be only installed from OpenSUSE,which is a huge drawback #24: Jimmy Berry (boombatower) (2009-07-19 11:36:19) It seems like this would we fairly simple to package and provide as a download option. Reguardless of the possibility of converting a CD image to be used on a USB, it is not obvious nor will most attempt this. Seems like this is an extremely useful option, possibly even replace CD/DVD altogether in the future. Providing a download with the simplest possible instructions on how to place it on a USB stick would be a great tool for those checking out Linux and those just upgrading their systems. I would really like to see this if possible. #25: Stephan Kulow (coolo) (2009-07-24 12:33:45) ok, M4 live isos can be put on usb stick and the BIOS will even boot from it, but due to bug 496505 the system won't boot if it has a cdrom drive. I used dd if=openSUSE-KDE4-LiveCD-Build0180-x86_64.iso of=/dev/disk-by- id/MY_USB-part-0\:0 bs=4M #26: dale ritchey (dale14846) (2009-07-24 21:17:20) (reply to #25) I followed the instructions and am running on a usb stick Live kde i686 Toshipa sattelite l25 circa 2005 cpu speed 1599 ram 1.5 gigs with 256 M for Xserver Great going guys #27: Jimmy Berry (boombatower) (2009-08-03 20:37:37) Running live off a USB? That is definitely useful, but what I would like to see is (possibly just like live CD) the ability to install from a USB to elleviate the need to (somewhat wastefully) burn discs everytime a new version comes out. #28: Stephan Binner (beineri) (2009-08-06 23:26:23) (reply to #27) When you dump the Live CD on USB then the installer of the Live CD should work on USB as on the Live CD. There do also exist experimental USB install images at http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/openSUSE:/Factory:/Live/images/ And - have you heard about rewriteable CDs? :-) #29: Jimmy Berry (boombatower) (2009-08-07 10:06:14) (reply to #28) Seems like there is resistance to this idea without much more reason then, "You can already do ths if you follow these instructions." This seems like a very useful download option and if there already exists ways then writing a script and running it as part of build service (officially) does not seem hard or that there is any real reason not to. As I said before, it seems very plausible that people will stop using the CD/DVD download in favor of the USB due to the benefit or reusability and easy of use. Maybe this is off in the distant future, but reguardless it doesn't seem hard to add and very neat to have. A DVD download is provided when two CDs (KDE & GNOME) as sufficient. Same reasoning behind USB, useful. #30: Stephan Kulow (coolo) (2009-08-07 10:41:28) (reply to #29) the live cds will be usable from USB and will also install from there. The DVD is the DVD and will stay that way - at least for now. The way the live CDs are usable as USB should be possible to adapt to DVD too, but that's out of scope for now -- openSUSE Feature: https://features.opensuse.org/305658