Knowledge Base

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====== Flash Disk Image to SD Card ======

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These instructions are specific to Linux.
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Download the image or zip file from a mirror or torrent.

Open a terminal session in the folder where you downloaded the image.

If it's a zip file, extract the image file:

<code bash>
unzip <filename>.zip
</code>

Run df to see which devices are currently mounted:

<code bash>
df -h
</code>

Insert the SD card.

Run df again.  The new device is your card.  It will probably be something like "/dev/sdc1".  The last part (e.g. "1") is the partition number, while the first part (e.g. "/dev/sdc") is the actual device name.  Note that multiple partitions of the device may be mounted separately, so you may see multiple entries like "/dev/sdc1", "/dev/sdc2", etc.

Unmount //all// partitions, e.g.:

<code bash>
umount /dev/sdc1

umount /dev/sdc2
</code>

Write the image file to the device as follows.  (Make sure you use the device name, //not// the partition, and make sure the device name matches what you found in the df check above.)

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It is absolutely critical that you use the correct device name in this step.  Using the wrong name can result in you wiping out the wrong drive!
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<code bash>
sudo dd bs=4M status=progress if=<filename>.img of=/dev/sdc
</code>

A block size of 4M usually works, but if you have trouble, you should try 1M.  Keep in mind that using a block size of 1M will take longer to write the image.

After the dd command finishes, flush the cache to ensure that all data is written:

<code bash>
sudo sync
</code>

Remove the SD card.