[Live-demo] [OSGeo] #1761: Xenial version of usb-creator fails to create a live usb key

[OSGeo]

#1761: Xenial version of usb-creator fails to create a live usb key
----------------------+----------------------------
 Reporter:  kalxas    |       Owner:  live-demo@…
     Type:  defect    |      Status:  new
 Priority:  critical  |   Milestone:  OSGeoLive10.0
Component:  LiveDVD   |  Resolution:
 Keywords:            |
----------------------+----------------------------

Comment (by kalxas):

 After extensive testing I found the following:

 1. usb-creator 0.3.2 (version bundled with Ubuntu 16.04) is doing a direct
 copy of an iso to the usb key. It probably uses dd command and it does not
 create a partition table before copying the data. It has also dropped
 support for persistence.

 2. upstream 16.04 iso files must have some kind of partitioning setup
 within the iso, because they work fine with this new version of usb-
 creator, but also they can be created with the dd command from any other
 GNU/Linux distribution.

 3. usb-creator < 0.3.0 is not doing direct iso copy. Instead it creates a
 partition table and then copies the iso file in the first partition. This
 way it leaves space for creating extra partitions (e.g. for persistence).
 Within the source code one can see that there is a distinction between
 using an iso file and using a raw disk image file as a source. This code
 has been removed in the latest version, which treats both raw and iso
 files as one.

 4. usb-creator < 0.3.0 is installing a bootloader at the end of the usb
 creation while 0.3.2 does not.

 ----

 Steps to create a working live usb with OSGeoLive 10.0 from an Ubuntu
 16.04 host system:

 1. Remove usb-creator with
 {{{
 sudo apt-get remove usb-creator-common usb-creator-gtk
 }}}

 2. Add a ppa with previous version available and install the previous
 version:
 {{{
 sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gcpp-kalxas/ppa-tzotsos
 sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get install usb-creator-common=0.2.67ubuntu2 usb-creator-
 gtk=0.2.67ubuntu2
 }}}

 3. Insert a usb key

 4. Use the usb-creator to erase the key and select the iso file to create
 the live usb key.

 4. Boot from the created usb key.

 5. If during the boot process you get a notification that boot
 configuration is missing, a boot prompt will appear: just enter "live" and
 press enter. OSGeoLive will boot normally.

 6. Open a terminal from within OSGeoLive and execute:
 {{{
 mount | grep cdrom
 }}}

 7. Use the device name listed on your terminal from the previous step
 (e.g. /dev/sdb1) to install the bootloader on the usb key. (Important: be
 careful not to overwrite master boot record of another disk in your
 system!!! To make sure of the usb device name you can use {{{sudo lsblk}}}
 to list the device names on your system.)
 {{{
 sudo syslinux /dev/sdb1
 }}}

 8. Reboot and your OSGeoLive usb key will work as expected.

 ----
 Steps to create a working live usb with OSGeoLive 10.0 from an older
 Ubuntu host system:

 Just use steps 3 to 8 of the previous list.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/ticket/1761#comment:2>
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