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  • Can I dd copy an sdcard image to a USB stick for a Pi 4B?

    From Chris Green@3:633/10 to All on Mon Mar 9 16:51:00 2026
    Does a bootable USB stick for a Pi 4B have the same format as a
    bootable SD card? I.e. can I just use dd to copy one to the other
    (not on the Pi itself) and expect it to work?

    --
    Chris Green
    ·

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From JJenssen@3:633/10 to All on Mon Mar 9 18:54:52 2026
    Am 09.03.26 um 17:51 schrieb Chris Green:
    Does a bootable USB stick for a Pi 4B have the same format as a
    bootable SD card? I.e. can I just use dd to copy one to the other
    (not on the Pi itself) and expect it to work?


    My experience is that you can.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Chris Green@3:633/10 to All on Mon Mar 9 18:28:07 2026
    JJenssen <joemajen@arcor.de> wrote:
    Am 09.03.26 um 17:51 schrieb Chris Green:
    Does a bootable USB stick for a Pi 4B have the same format as a
    bootable SD card? I.e. can I just use dd to copy one to the other
    (not on the Pi itself) and expect it to work?


    My experience is that you can.

    OK, thanks.

    --
    Chris Green
    ·

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From paul lee@1:105/420 to Chris Green on Mon Mar 9 18:55:05 2026
    Does a bootable USB stick for a Pi 4B have the same format as a
    bootable SD card? I.e. can I just use dd to copy one to the other
    (not on the Pi itself) and expect it to work?

    While I don't understand the 'format' bit, yes you can absolutely dd a USB to and SD for a Pi image...

    dd if=/dev/xxx of=/dev/xxx

    (There are other options you can use that I prefer;)

    dd if=/dev/xxx of=/dev/xxx bs=4M status=progress conv=fsync

    Find USB/SD devices:
    lsblk

    Verify write after dd:
    sync



    |07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
    |08.........

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (1:105/420)
  • From Lawrence D?Oliveiro@3:633/10 to All on Wed Mar 11 12:30:01 2026
    On Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:52:49 +0000, druck wrote:

    Use lsblk to list the available drives and make sure you don't write
    to anything that is mounted.

    It is useful add output of the SIZE, VENDOR and MODEL fields in lsblk,
    as additional verification that you?re destroying the right volume. ;)

    sudo unmount /dev/xxx

    s/unmount/umount/

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From John R Walliker@3:633/10 to All on Wed Mar 11 09:08:42 2026
    On 11/03/2026 00:48, Lawrence D?Oliveiro wrote:
    On Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:52:49 +0000, druck wrote:

    Use lsblk to list the available drives and make sure you don't write
    to anything that is mounted.

    It is useful add output of the SIZE, VENDOR and MODEL fields in lsblk,
    as additional verification that you?re destroying the right volume. ;)

    sudo unmount /dev/xxx

    s/unmount/umount/

    Then check it again. Then one more time to be sure.
    John


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.12
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Michael J. Mahon@3:633/10 to All on Wed Mar 25 18:37:01 2026
    druck <news@druck.org.uk> wrote:

    Just make sure you put the source device name in for xxx on the left,
    and the correct destination device name for xxx on the right. If you do
    get it wrong the disc will be corrupted instantly and pressing Ctrl+C
    wont be quick enough.

    ?sounds like the voice of experience. ;-)

    --
    -michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II: http://michaeljmahon.com

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)