From d6998b06744064deb7ed6ea38a062c51638d33bc Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Rastus Vernon Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2016 22:32:03 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] nixos manual: recommend use of dd for writing the image Unetbootin works by altering the image and placing a boot loader on it. For this reason, it cannot work with UEFI and the installation guides for other distributions (incl. Debian and Fedora) recommend against using it. Since dd writes the image verbatim to the drive, and not just the files, it is not necessary to change the label after using it for UEFI installations. vcunat: tiny changes to the PR. Close #14139. --- nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-usb.xml | 16 ++++++++++++---- 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-usb.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-usb.xml index 5def6e8753f..a4b5dafbed1 100644 --- a/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-usb.xml +++ b/nixos/doc/manual/installation/installing-usb.xml @@ -7,10 +7,18 @@ Booting from a USB Drive For systems without CD drive, the NixOS live CD can be booted from -a USB stick. For non-UEFI installations, -unetbootin -will work. For UEFI installations, you should mount the ISO, copy its contents -verbatim to your drive, then either: +a USB stick. You can use the dd utility to write the image: +dd if=path-to-image +of=/dev/sdb. Be careful about specifying the +correct drive; you can use the lsblk command to get a list of +block devices. + +The dd utility will write the image verbatim to the drive, +making it the recommended option for both UEFI and non-UEFI installations. For +non-UEFI installations, you can alternatively use +unetbootin. If you +cannot use dd for a UEFI installation, you can also mount the +ISO, copy its contents verbatim to your drive, then either: