In the category of “tools that can save an ill Mac,” there are few that are more important than a bootable macOS installation USB stick. Whenever I go on a business trip, I make sure I have a couple of these packed in my carry-on luggage. On more than one occasion, this tool has saved the trip from disaster.
Your Mac won’t boot? This tool is the first thing to try. You’ve done something by mistake, and your Mac is now unstable? This tool can fix it. (Yes, this did happen to me when I was on a business trip to Japan. I will spare you the gory details.)
- You have a bootable Ubuntu on your USB stick. Conclusion # You have learned how to create a bootable Ubuntu USB stick on Windows. If you hit a problem or have feedback, leave a comment below.
- In this tutorial I'll show you how to use Mac to create a Ubuntu USB drive that can be used on a PC. How to Create a Bootable Ubuntu USB Drive 1. Download Ubuntu Downloading Ubuntu. Open a web browser and navigate to the Ubuntu download page. In the dropdown menu, under Choose your flavour, ensure that you select the appropriate version.
It used to be rather challenging to create such a tool, but then a wonderful utility appeared: DiskMaker X. Developed by a lone programmer, Guillaume Gète, DiskMaker X quickly became (and continues to be) the best utility to create a bootable macOS installation USB stick. All you need is:
Step 4: Plug in your USB flash drive to your laptop or computer’s USB port. Go ahead and plug the USB flash drive to your laptop and computer’s USB port; Make sure that the USB flash drive has 2GB of storage or larger; P.S. To avoid confusion, make sure to only plug in the USB flash drive that you are going to use to create a bootable USB. All you need is: DiskMaker X. A macOS installation app (such as the “ Install macOS Mojave ” app from Apple) 8 GB USB thumb drive. Run DiskMaker X on your Mac, point it to the macOS installation app and insert the USB stick. A few minutes later, you’ll have a bootable installation USB stick for that version of macOS.
- DiskMaker X
- A macOS installation app (such as the “Install macOS Mojave” app from Apple)
- 8 GB USB thumb drive
Run DiskMaker X on your Mac, point it to the macOS installation app and insert the USB stick. A few minutes later, you’ll have a bootable installation USB stick for that version of macOS.
Along the way, you’ll see progress notifications of “DiskMaker X 8 for macOS Mojave”
When you hear DiskMaker roar (No kidding! There actually is a roar at completion!), you’ll see macOS Mojave downloading.
Run into any problems? Just check the FAQ that Guillaume maintains or send him an email. It’s one of the best-supported shareware apps I have ever encountered.
If you had asked me last week if it was possible to create a bootable macOS installation USB stick on a Windows PC, I would have immediately answered no. However, in a feat of technical wizardry, this has been accomplished.
Mauro Huc details in Pureinfotech how to create a bootable macOS USB stick on a Windows 10 PC. The process is not as seamless as DiskMaker X, but that it’s possible at all is simply amazing.
This must be the week for creating a bootable macOS USB sticks on non-Apple devices, since a question just appeared on Quora asking if this can be done on an Ubuntu Linux PC. No answer to this question yet, so we will have to wait and see if someone knows how to do this.
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With Ubuntu 16.04 LTS inching ever closer to release, now feels like a good time to recap how easy it is to make an bootable Ubuntu USB drive.
Just like the live CD, a live Linux USB allows you to boot Ubuntu on your machine without needing to install it on your hard-drive. Live images are a useful way to test hardware compatibility (things like Wi-Fi drivers, touch-screens, etc) before committing to a full install.
In this article we show you 3 ways of making a bootable thumb drive on the 3 major desktop operating systems: Windows, OS X and Ubuntu.
How to Create a Bootable Linux USB Drive on Windows
Our preferred tool for creating bootable Ubuntu sticks in Windows is ‘Linux Live USB Creator’ – often called ‘Lili’ for short.
The free and open-source app is incredibly straightforward to use. Just follow each step in turn. It’ll even download the .iso file for you if you don’t have one to hand.
If you don’t like this app (or can’t get it run) there are alternatives, including Rufus (Github link)
How to Create a Bootable Linux USB Drive on Mac OS X
For an OS that’s prized for its simplicity it’s strange that creating a bootable USB on a Mac is not easy.
But it’s not impossible, either.
Canonical recommend a command-line method to create a bootable USB with Ubuntu on Mac O SX. The instructions are concise though the process is involved.
Create Bootable Usb Ubuntu Mac Os
For something less longwinded you could give the open-source, cross-platform UNetBootin app a go.
It has to be said that while the success rate of images created using this app is poor (you can’t use the USB’s it creates to boot a Mac, for instance) it is the ‘easiest’ way to create a bootable Ubuntu USB on Mac OS X.
Like LiLi above, Unetbootin can even automatically download a Linux distro .iso file, which is handy if you feel the itch to distro hop but don’t know exactly which flavor to try.
Remember that to boot from a USB on a Mac you will need to hold down the Alt/Option’ key during boot.
Other GUI alternatives include
How to Make a Bootable Linux USB Drive on Ubuntu
Ubuntu comes with an app to create live USB drives already installed.
Open the Dash and search for ‘USB Startup’.
Launch the app, locate your .iso file, choose your USB drive (double check it’s the correct one!) and then hit ‘install’.
Make Bootable Usb Mac
You can also configure persistence though I’ve never had a USB boot when I’ve enabled this feature.
Create Ubuntu Bootable Usb
What’s your preferred method for creating bootable Linux USB drives? Let us know in the comments!