¶ Introduction
These instructions will allow you to create a USB stick which can be used to reformat one or more computers with Endless OS. Compared to a normal Endless OS USB stick, a USB stick created following these instructions requires fewer clicks to reformat a computer with Endless OS, but cannot be used to try Endless OS from the USB stick, or install dual-boot with Windows.
Note: These instructions are aimed at special circumstances sometimes encountered by Endless partners. Most users should instead follow the simpler instructions around creating an Endless USB Stick. Please see our Installation documentation for more info.
¶ Procedure - Windows
You will need:
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A USB stick or external hard drive with enough capacity to store your image plus approximately 4GB for the live installer system. For faster speeds, use a USB3 device connected to a USB 3 port, which can be recognized by having blue connectors or a SS (SuperSpeed) label.
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A computer running Windows 7 or later
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The Endless Installer for Windows, you can download it from the following link: Endless Installer
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The Endless OS image and its signature file (two files, a large file with extension: .img.gz and a small file with extension .img.gz.asc). If you don't have your custom image available, please contact our support channels to get a download link.
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The Endless Mass Installer and its signature file (two files, a large file with extension: .img.xz and a small file with extension .img.xz.asc). If you don't have these files, please see Endless OS direct download or contact our support channels to get a download link.
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Insert your blank USB into an available USB slot.
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Create a new folder in your computer and put all the downloaded files in it (The Installer for Windows, Endless OS image + signature files and the Endless Mass Installer + signature file.
- Double click on the
endless-installer.exefile. It will prompt you for admin rights to run the app. - You will see the following welcome screen. In order to have the option to use your own custom image, locate the legend that says: “For advanced install options using an Endless USB Stick, click here". You have to press on “click here” while holding the CTRL key on your keyboard.
- The installer will present you with 2 options. Choose “Create Reformatter USB”.
- Next, it will ask you to choose which version of Endless you want to create the installer on. If the files are correctly downloaded, you will see your custom Endless image as an option in “Use existing image file”. Choose your image from the drop down menu. Click “Next”
- The next screen will let you choose where to create the installer, which will show the previously inserted USB stick in the drop down menu. You must check the box that states “I understand that this will erase all my files on the USB device”. Click “Next”.
- The installer will proceed to verify your files first, then it will write the installer in the USB. This process can take a while. At the end, it will prompt a message that your Reformatter USB has been created.
¶ Procedure - Endless OS
You will need:
- A blank USB Stick with enough capacity to store your image. For faster speeds, use a USB3 device connected to a USB 3 port, which can be recognized by having blue connectors or a SS (SuperSpeed) label.
- A computer running Endless OS
- The Endless OS image and its signature file (two files, a large file with extension: .img.gz and a small file with extension .img.gz.asc). If you don't have your custom image available, please contact our support channels to get a download link.
- The Endless Mass Installer and its signature file (two files, a large file with extension: .img.xz and a small file with extension .img.xz.asc). If you don't have these files, please see Endless OS direct download or contact our support channels to get a download link.
- Place the above mentioned files in a single folder.
- Open the Disks app by typing the word "disks" in the search bar.
- Once Disks is open, you will see the list of all the storage devices connected to your PC.
- Insert your USB device, you will see it being added to the list of storage devices.
- Locate the Device path (highlighted in a red circle in the picture below, eg: /dev/sdc). You will need this information for the next steps.
If you are not using a brand new USB, make sure your device does not have extra partitions. If your USB has any extra partitions, you may use the same Disks app to delete all of them
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Close the Disks app and open a Terminal window by typing "terminal" in the search bar.
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Navigate to the folder where you store the required files.
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Run the following command to start the process. Take a look at the guide below on what to write between the brackets. You need to insert 3 pieces of information:
gnome-session-inhibit --inhibit suspend sudo eos-write-installer -i [eosinstaller] -o [Endless OS image] [device]
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[eosinstaller]: This is the file name of the installer. It starts with "eosinstaller..." ending with extension .img.xz
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[Endless OS image]: This is the file name of the Endless image you want to use, it ends with extension .img.gz
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[device]: This is the device that belongs to your USB, e.g.
/dev/sda,/dev/sdb. Refer to Step 5 for how to determine the device name on your system.Example:
gnome-session-inhibit --inhibit suspend sudo eos-write-installer -i eosinstaller-eos3.9-amd64-amd64.210522-223424.base.img.xz -o impact-eos3.9-amd64-amd64.210602-035451.oaxaca.img.gz /dev/sdb
Make sure you write the file names correctly to avoid errors. File names above are examples, the files you will use will be different than the examples. There are several ways to do facilitate writing the file names, it can be by drag and dropping the files into the terminal, or autocompleting the file name using the TAB key. You may want to test a procedure first.
- The system will automatically start creating the USB Reformatter. This process could take up to an hour. You will be able to see the progress made by the installer until it is done.
- When you are done, you will see the progress bar at 100% and a message that the device has been unmounted. Now you can unplug your USB device and use it to install Endless OS in a computer.