Gnome Disk Utility did not copy the 2 partitions on my Ventoy FD. Failed
to boot.

I installed mkusb but have trouble navigating all the question boxes
that pop up.

I decided to take a closer look at DD. A very powerful program. DD
failed to copy 1 FD to another FD. I am not sure if the error was to my
bad typing or what. I then decided on a different approach. Using DD I
was able to make an iso of the FD (Ventoy Disk) aka as MB Multiboot. I
succeded in making an iso. I then used USBImageWriter to write to a FD.
Results=Bootable. I think that DD is the preferred way to make an exact
copy of drives. The command I used was Sudo dd if=/device/SDX where X
was the usb flash drive (using lsblk to identify the drive), it took
about 45 minutes to create the iso=32gb. Then the rest was easy, using
usb image writer aka Mint Stick to burn to the new FD.

Thanks to all for the help.

Nic wrote:
> I installed mkusb but have trouble navigating all the question boxes
> that pop up.

Here is an interesting web forum discussion of the qx "How to clone a
bootable Ubuntu USB stick into a larger one?"

What makes it particularly worthwhile is the extensive contributions by
sudodus, who is the dev for mkusb. sudodus also actively participates
in many usb related topics in the Ub forums.

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1179010/how-to-clone-a-bootable-ubuntu-usb-stick-into-a-larger-one

I haven't cloned my Ventoy yet, but I believe it can be done w/ the
mkusb c command.

--
Mike Easter

On 2/19/22 11:21 AM, Mike Easter wrote:
> Nic wrote:
>> I installed mkusb but have trouble navigating all the question boxes
>> that pop up.
>
> Here is an interesting web forum discussion of the qx "How to clone a
> bootable Ubuntu USB stick into a larger one?"
>
> What makes it particularly worthwhile is the extensive contributions
> by sudodus, who is the dev for mkusb.  sudodus also actively
> participates in many usb related topics in the Ub forums.
>
> https://askubuntu.com/questions/1179010/how-to-clone-a-bootable-ubuntu-usb-stick-into-a-larger-one
>
>
> I haven't cloned my Ventoy yet, but I believe it can be done w/ the
> mkusb c command.
>
Let us know how it works out.

On 2/19/22 11:21 AM, Mike Easter wrote:
> Nic wrote:
>> I installed mkusb but have trouble navigating all the question boxes
>> that pop up.
>
> Here is an interesting web forum discussion of the qx "How to clone a
> bootable Ubuntu USB stick into a larger one?"
>
> What makes it particularly worthwhile is the extensive contributions
> by sudodus, who is the dev for mkusb.  sudodus also actively
> participates in many usb related topics in the Ub forums.
>
> https://askubuntu.com/questions/1179010/how-to-clone-a-bootable-ubuntu-usb-stick-into-a-larger-one
>
>
> I haven't cloned my Ventoy yet, but I believe it can be done w/ the
> mkusb c command.
>
A question, are you familiar with the idea of booting a live distro onto
a smart phone? Similar in fashion to a live distro on a computer. I read
that more and more phones are being built that can have a Linux os
flashed onto them, but what I was thinking is more like a flash drive
connected to a phone and when the phone is booted up it will boot from
the flash drive.

https://tuxphones.com/2022-linux-on-phone-guide/

Nic wrote:
> are you familiar with the idea of booting a live distro onto a smart phone?

Personally, for the most part, I don't 'do' (mobile) phones.

I have about half a dozen or so landline-like home phones around the
house which are VoIP which is what I do 99.99% of my phone conversation on.

I have 2 mobile phones which are virtually never turned on. One is an
old 'feature phone' (which means not smart) which has a cell plan. I
only take with whenever I'm traveling such as out of state and then I
only use it for voice. Its OS is an ancient linux.

The other mobile is a smart phone which doesn't have a cell plan. I use
it as a mobile phone when traveling by accessing wifi. I also sometimes
have use for its smart features. I have used its bluetooth as a remote
for TV watching on my RPi. I use its storage of ripped CD mp3s for
listening to oldies. Its OS is android.

I'm not a phone person. For decades in the past I carried a beeper; I
don't do that either.

--
Mike Easter

Nic wrote:
> are you familiar with the idea of booting a live distro onto a smart phone?

Recently Jesse Smith of DistroWatch reviewed the stock linux on a
PinePhone and then subsequently reviewed a different linux he installed
to the same phone.

https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20211220#pinephone The
PinePhone running Manjaro and Plasma Mobile

https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20220124#ubports UBports on
the PinePhone

--
Mike Easter

On 2/19/22 15:32, Nic wrote:
> Gnome Disk Utility did not copy the 2 partitions on my Ventoy FD. Failed
> to boot.
>
> I installed mkusb but have trouble navigating all the question boxes
> that pop up.
>
> I decided to take a closer look at DD. A very powerful program. DD
> failed to copy 1 FD to another FD. I am not sure if the error was to my
> bad typing or what. I then decided on a different approach. Using DD I
> was able to make an iso of the FD (Ventoy Disk) aka as MB Multiboot. I
> succeded in making an iso. I then used USBImageWriter to write to a FD.
> Results=Bootable. I think that DD is the preferred way to make an exact
> copy of drives. The command I used was Sudo dd if=/device/SDX where X
> was the usb flash drive (using lsblk to identify the drive), it took
> about 45 minutes to create the iso=32gb. Then the rest was easy, using
> usb image writer aka Mint Stick to burn to the new FD.
>
> Thanks to all for the help.

45 minutes?? That seems an extremely long time to me.

Edmund

--
“The further a society drift from the truth,
the more it will hate those who speak it”

George Orwell

Mike Easter wrote:
> Nic wrote:
>> are you familiar with the idea of booting a live distro onto a smart
>> phone?
>
> https://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20220124#ubports  UBports on
> the PinePhone
>
The UBports site talks about Ubuntu Touch for phones; Volla Phone,
Fairphone 2, Nexus 5, OnePlus One, PinePhone & PineTab

https://ubports.com/ We are building a secure & private operating system
for your smartphone

--
Mike Easter

On 2/19/2022 4:15 PM, Edmund wrote:
> On 2/19/22 15:32, Nic wrote:
>> Gnome Disk Utility did not copy the 2 partitions on my Ventoy FD. Failed to boot.
>>
>> I installed mkusb but have trouble navigating all the question boxes that pop up.
>>
>> I decided to take a closer look at DD. A very powerful program. DD failed to copy 1 FD to another FD. I am not sure if the error was to my bad typing or what. I then decided on a different approach. Using DD I was able to make an iso of the FD (Ventoy Disk) aka as MB Multiboot. I succeded in making an iso. I then used USBImageWriter to write to a FD. Results=Bootable. I think that DD is the preferred way to make an exact copy of drives. The command I used was Sudo dd if=/device/SDX where X was the usb flash drive (using lsblk to identify the drive), it took about 45 minutes to create the iso=32gb. Then the rest was easy, using usb image writer aka Mint Stick to burn to the new FD.
>>
>> Thanks to all for the help.
>
> 45 minutes?? That seems an extremely long time to me.
>
> Edmund

I think that would encourage me to find a better way.

I don't mind grinding the living shit out of HDD for science,
but since I've had USB sticks fail, it's just a waste of
money to be burning holes in them for science.

There are a metric ton of softwares that know how to
do "smart copy". Take a program like "ntfsclone".
Or other programs that end in "...clone". There
are programs that only copy the clusters or the inodes
needed to represent the file system. Copying gobs
of "white space" from file systems, is completely unnecessary.

For boot media, copying the MBR, copying the stage 1.5 of
GRUB in the first part of the storage device. Good programs
know which parts to copy.

Not knowing the answer to the question, I would be
tempted to try Clonezilla, because it at least uses
the programs that end in "...clone". It starts off
on the correct footing. I could not tell you whether
it copies boot devices correctly.

And you can test these ideas *without* burning USB drives.

VirtualBox allows a virtual USB stick to be set up, and
backed by a container. I can install a Linux in a Guest,
and fool it into thinking a USB stick is present. And then
at least I have a way of preparing image equivalents
of a USB stick. You still need a mechanism to do V2P
afterwards though.

One thing that VirtualBox does not do well, is UEFI boot.
If you need to verify UEFI compliance on your USB stick image,
whatever happens may not be indicative of what will happen
on a physical machine.

But at least, it's not absolutely essential, that every
experiment requires ruining a USB stick :-)

Paul

On 2022-02-20, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
> On 2/19/2022 4:15 PM, Edmund wrote:
>> On 2/19/22 15:32, Nic wrote:
>>> Gnome Disk Utility did not copy the 2 partitions on my Ventoy FD. Failed to boot.
>>>
>>> I installed mkusb but have trouble navigating all the question boxes that pop up.
>>>
>>> I decided to take a closer look at DD. A very powerful program. DD failed to copy 1 FD to another FD. I am not sure if the error was to my bad typing or what. I then decided on a different approach. Using DD I was able to make an iso of the FD (Ventoy Disk) aka as MB Multiboot. I succeded in making an iso. I then used USBImageWriter to write to a FD. Results=Bootable. I think that DD is the preferred way to make an exact copy of drives. The command I used was Sudo dd if=/device/SDX where X was the usb flash drive (using lsblk to identify the drive), it took about 45 minutes to create the iso=32gb. Then the rest was easy, using usb image writer aka Mint Stick to burn to the new FD.
>>>
>>> Thanks to all for the help.
>>
>> 45 minutes?? That seems an extremely long time to me.
>>
>> Edmund
>
> I think that would encourage me to find a better way.
>
> I don't mind grinding the living shit out of HDD for science,
> but since I've had USB sticks fail, it's just a waste of
> money to be burning holes in them for science.
>
> There are a metric ton of softwares that know how to
> do "smart copy". Take a program like "ntfsclone".
> Or other programs that end in "...clone". There
> are programs that only copy the clusters or the inodes
> needed to represent the file system. Copying gobs
> of "white space" from file systems, is completely unnecessary.
>
> For boot media, copying the MBR, copying the stage 1.5 of
> GRUB in the first part of the storage device. Good programs
> know which parts to copy.
>
> Not knowing the answer to the question, I would be
> tempted to try Clonezilla, because it at least uses
> the programs that end in "...clone". It starts off
> on the correct footing. I could not tell you whether
> it copies boot devices correctly.

Clonezilla is what I use. Clone directly or via backup and recover. I
have used it many times and if it gives an error then there is an error to
be fixed, going on will end in failure.

As Paul says there are other programmes as well, and they even have a
"proper" GUI, none of this text based stuff.

>
> And you can test these ideas *without* burning USB drives.
>
> VirtualBox allows a virtual USB stick to be set up, and
> backed by a container. I can install a Linux in a Guest,
> and fool it into thinking a USB stick is present. And then
> at least I have a way of preparing image equivalents
> of a USB stick. You still need a mechanism to do V2P
> afterwards though.
>
> One thing that VirtualBox does not do well, is UEFI boot.
> If you need to verify UEFI compliance on your USB stick image,
> whatever happens may not be indicative of what will happen
> on a physical machine.
>
> But at least, it's not absolutely essential, that every
> experiment requires ruining a USB stick :-)
>
> Paul

Gordon wrote:

> Clonezilla is what I use. Clone directly or via backup and recover. I
> have used it many times and if it gives an error then there is an error to
> be fixed, going on will end in failure.

Or maybe Clonezilla needs to fix its own errors first. As long as they
don't fix this, I don't trust Clonezilla, not a for a single bit:

https://cjoint.com/data/LBuhLCYFSQD_cl.jpg

I am definitely not the only one who has encountered this "error" btw.

> As Paul says there are other programmes as well, and they even have a
> "proper" GUI, none of this text based stuff.

I wouldn't mind the text based stuff, as long as it's reliable. Not
being able to see that two numbers are the same doesn't exactly fill me
with confidence.

Edmund wrote:

> On 2/19/22 15:32, Nic wrote:
>> Gnome Disk Utility did not copy the 2 partitions on my Ventoy FD. Failed
>> to boot.
>>
>> I installed mkusb but have trouble navigating all the question boxes
>> that pop up.
>>
>> I decided to take a closer look at DD. A very powerful program. DD
>> failed to copy 1 FD to another FD. I am not sure if the error was to my
>> bad typing or what. I then decided on a different approach. Using DD I
>> was able to make an iso of the FD (Ventoy Disk) aka as MB Multiboot. I
>> succeded in making an iso. I then used USBImageWriter to write to a FD.
>> Results=Bootable. I think that DD is the preferred way to make an exact
>> copy of drives. The command I used was Sudo dd if=/device/SDX where X
>> was the usb flash drive (using lsblk to identify the drive), it took
>> about 45 minutes to create the iso=32gb. Then the rest was easy, using
>> usb image writer aka Mint Stick to burn to the new FD.
>>
>> Thanks to all for the help.
>
> 45 minutes?? That seems an extremely long time to me.
>
> Edmund
>
>
I thought so also, but it worked. I was cloning a usb FD (32gb) that had 2
partitions was bootable, a grub menu, and 9 iso's. It was not a simple copy
process because the disk needs to be bootable after it is burned. There may
be DD options that might have shortened that time, but DD is a very powerful
software, with many published options, it is probably a major component of
Unix and a complex interface in user/machine interactions. As a side
note,this was a Ventoy disk, the 2nd partition had uefi appended to its
name. This might explain the lengthy duration.

Nic wrote:
> A question, are you familiar with the idea of booting a live distro
> onto a smart phone? Similar in fashion to a live distro on a
> computer. I read that more and more phones are being built that can
> have a Linux os flashed onto them, but what I was thinking is more
> like a flash drive connected to a phone and when the phone is booted
> up it will boot from the flash drive.

DW UBports review:
> Running alternative operating systems on the PinePhone is unusually
> easy. Because the PinePhone features open hardware, all we need to do
> to install a different operating system is flash the image of another
> mobile distribution to a microSD card and place the card in the
> proper slot above the PinePhone's battery. The next time the phone
> boots, it'll load the new operating system.

Typically the way one connects a flash drive to a phone is to have an
extension to change the USB interface from A to mini-A.

It isn't 'normal' for a phone's boot mechanism to provide an optional port.

--
Mike Easter

On 2/20/22 11:25 AM, Mike Easter wrote:
> Nic wrote:
>> A question, are you familiar with the idea of booting a live distro
>> onto a smart phone? Similar in fashion to a live distro on a
>> computer. I read that more and more phones are being built that can
>> have a Linux os flashed onto them, but what I was thinking is more
>> like a flash drive connected to a phone and when the phone is booted
>> up it will boot from the flash drive.
>
> DW UBports review:
>> Running alternative operating systems on the PinePhone is unusually
>> easy. Because the PinePhone features open hardware, all we need to do
>> to install a different operating system is flash the image of another
>> mobile distribution to a microSD card and place the card in the
>> proper slot above the PinePhone's battery. The next time the phone
>> boots, it'll load the new operating system.
>
> Typically the way one connects a flash drive to a phone is to have an
> extension to change the USB interface from A to mini-A.
>
> It isn't 'normal' for a phone's boot mechanism to provide an optional
> port.
>
>
>
So it can be done, not with a flash drive as I asked but with a microSD
card. So now my question is are there many Linux Mobile Distributions? I
imagine that in the future, computers will come with no os and people
will be using some small optical disk/chip with persistence to make the
connection. That will exclude those who already have implanted such a
chip into their bodies. Another fascinating area is packet radios and
software defined radio (SDR)'s, I wonder if it possible to use a
computer and be able to transmit to 11 meter band (CB radio frequency) ?
Since the computer hardware already has the digital/analog IC, it would
require a physical radio transmitter  to interface with the computer on
some designated frequency. I know that currently they are using some
kind of transmitter in credit cards, where you just swipe it at a
terminal for money. So in practicality a small transmitter with a small
battery could be triggered to transmit voice. Of course all this low
power  computer/radio hardware would have to rely on the antenna.

Nic wrote:
> not with a flash drive as I asked but with a microSD card.

That is also the way my RPi device works.

> So now my question is are there many Linux Mobile Distributions?

There are two useful questions (for the linux phone-oriented, which
doesn't include me): which phones are out there which lend themselves to
booting a linux distro, and which distro/s can they boot. The UB ports
site addresses the first, as does the tuxphones article you posted,
which tuxphones also covers a lot of different angles.

> I imagine that in the future

Apparently it is hard for you to stay focused on YOUR topic,
transferring a Ventoy USB to another stick.

--
Mike Easter

On 2/20/22 12:53 PM, Mike Easter wrote:
> Nic wrote:
>> not with a flash drive as I asked but with a microSD card.
>
> That is also the way my RPi device works.
>
>> So now my question is are there many Linux Mobile Distributions?
>
> There are two useful questions (for the linux phone-oriented, which
> doesn't include me): which phones are out there which lend themselves
> to booting a linux distro, and which distro/s can they boot.  The UB
> ports site addresses the first, as does the tuxphones article you
> posted, which tuxphones also covers a lot of different angles.
>
>> I imagine that in the future
>
> Apparently it is hard for you to stay focused on YOUR topic,
> transferring a Ventoy USB to another stick.
>
Maybe I do have a problem staying focused, but I am happy I was able to
duplicate my Ventoy, was thinking of giving a couple away as gifts to
some friends and relatives.

For the record i am not a phone person either, I have an el cheapo
tracphone that I carry when on the road, to call a tow truck. I ususally
have to turn it on to check the battery.

Nic wrote:
> I am happy I was able to duplicate my Ventoy,

You forgot to say which way you did it.

Was it dd or other?

--
Mike Easter

On 2/20/22 2:53 PM, Mike Easter wrote:
> Nic wrote:
>> I am happy I was able to duplicate my Ventoy,
>
> You forgot to say which way you did it.
>
> Was it dd or other?
>
I did leave a detailed explanation, look through the thread, I used DD
for part of the process.

Nic wrote:
> Mike Easter wrote:
>> Nic wrote:
>>> I am happy I was able to duplicate my Ventoy,
>>
>> You forgot to say which way you did it.
>>
>> Was it dd or other?
>>
> I did leave a detailed explanation, look through the thread, I used DD
> for part of the process.
>
Oh.

This is not a useful result.

http://al.howardknight.net/?ID=164538948200
From: Nic
Message-ID: <zTnQJ.47725$f2a5.11237@fx48.iad>
Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2022 04:31:10 -0500

I notice your headers say KNode. What distro are you using to handle
that old KDE app?

--
Mike Easter

On 2/20/22 3:42 PM, Mike Easter wrote:
> Nic wrote:
>> Mike Easter wrote:
>>> Nic wrote:
>>>> I am happy I was able to duplicate my Ventoy,
>>>
>>> You forgot to say which way you did it.
>>>
>>> Was it dd or other?
>>>
>> I did leave a detailed explanation, look through the thread, I used
>> DD for part of the process.
>>
> Oh.
>
> This is not a useful result.
>
> http://al.howardknight.net/?ID=164538948200
> From: Nic
> Message-ID: <zTnQJ.47725$f2a5.11237@fx48.iad>
> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2022 04:31:10 -0500
>
> I notice your headers say KNode.  What distro are you using to handle
> that old KDE app?
>
Linux Mint. You asked for my solution to cloning the Ventoy disk, and
now you are asking about knode.  Why do you say 'not a useful result'?

Are you aware they are ripping you a new hide at ACF?

But don't let that bother you, there is always some one who insists they
are the leader  and ruler and will lead us to the promised land.

Nic wrote:
> Mike Easter wrote:
>> Nic wrote:
>>> Mike Easter wrote:
>>>> Nic wrote:
>>>>> I am happy I was able to duplicate my Ventoy,
>>>>
>>>> You forgot to say which way you did it.
>>>>
>>>> Was it dd or other?
>>>>
>>> I did leave a detailed explanation, look through the thread, I used
>>> DD for part of the process.
>>>
>> Oh.
>>
>> This is not a useful result.
>>
>> http://al.howardknight.net/?ID=164538948200
>> From: Nic
>> Message-ID: <zTnQJ.47725$f2a5.11237@fx48.iad>
>> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2022 04:31:10 -0500
>>
>> I notice your headers say KNode.  What distro are you using to handle
>> that old KDE app?
>>
> Linux Mint.

Well, knode /was/ in the Ub 18.04 repo/s which Mint 19.x used. In its
'trinity-knode' form it is also available for current Deb bullseye. It
isn't available in the repos for 'current' Mint 20.x (19.3 is still
supported) or current Ub such as 20.04.

> You asked for my solution to cloning the Ventoy disk, and
> now you are asking about knode.  Why do you say 'not a useful result'?
>
A useful result would be one in which you used an app or command and
'just did it' w/o going thru' a roundabout make an .iso trip.

--
Mike Easter

On 2/20/22 4:17 PM, Mike Easter wrote:
> Nic wrote:
>> Mike Easter wrote:
>>> Nic wrote:
>>>> Mike Easter wrote:
>>>>> Nic wrote:
>>>>>> I am happy I was able to duplicate my Ventoy,
>>>>>
>>>>> You forgot to say which way you did it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Was it dd or other?
>>>>>
>>>> I did leave a detailed explanation, look through the thread, I used
>>>> DD for part of the process.
>>>>
>>> Oh.
>>>
>>> This is not a useful result.
>>>
>>> http://al.howardknight.net/?ID=164538948200
>>> From: Nic
>>> Message-ID: <zTnQJ.47725$f2a5.11237@fx48.iad>
>>> Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2022 04:31:10 -0500
>>>
>>> I notice your headers say KNode.  What distro are you using to
>>> handle that old KDE app?
>>>
>> Linux Mint.
>
> Well, knode /was/ in the Ub 18.04 repo/s which Mint 19.x used.  In its
> 'trinity-knode' form it is also available for current Deb bullseye. 
> It isn't available in the repos for 'current' Mint 20.x (19.3 is still
> supported) or current Ub such as 20.04.
>
>> You asked for my solution to cloning the Ventoy disk, and now you are
>> asking about knode.  Why do you say 'not a useful result'?
>>
> A useful result would be one in which you used an app or command and
> 'just did it' w/o going thru' a roundabout make an .iso trip.
>
>
>
Such is the state of Linux, Mike you are starting to smell fishy don't
tell me am I on candid camera?

Mike Easter wrote:

> Nic wrote:
>> I installed mkusb but have trouble navigating all the question boxes
>> that pop up.
>
> Here is an interesting web forum discussion of the qx "How to clone a
> bootable Ubuntu USB stick into a larger one?"
>
> What makes it particularly worthwhile is the extensive contributions by
> sudodus, who is the dev for mkusb. sudodus also actively participates
> in many usb related topics in the Ub forums.
>
> https://askubuntu.com/questions/1179010/how-to-clone-a-bootable-ubuntu-usb-stick-into-a-larger-one
>
>
> I haven't cloned my Ventoy yet, but I believe it can be done w/ the
> mkusb c command.
>
Let us know if and when you do.