Linux – Trouble installing openSUSE 13.1 via live USB

kdelinuxliveusbopensuse

I downloaded the 32-bit KDE iso for openSUSE 13.1 from software.opensuse.org/131/en.
I am attempting to install, from USB, to a computer currently running Debian/Fedora.
After downloading the openSUSE iso, I made an openSUSE live USB using the following command:

sudo dd if=/home/mike/downloads/openSUSE-13.1-KDE-Live-i686.iso of=/dev/sdb
  • After restarting the computer, the openSUSE installer page appears, and seems to be operating fine. However after selecting either i) installation, or ii) openSUSE KDE live, a terminal screen appears with a lot of code, none of which looked familiar (nor could I copy it), and at the end it said: reboot in 120 seconds
  • After this, the screen automatically returned to the Grub menu.
  • I restarted the computer and attempted to try again, however this time it just went straight to Grub.
  • I deleted the USB drive, reinstalled the same .iso image via the same command as above, and again the same thing happened.

Has anyone else experienced this? Do you have any suggestions? I suppose my next attempt will be to download the GNOME version, and see if this works, but I really don't want GNOME. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Best Answer

The dd command is rocket science compared to using a graphical application like UNetbootin from the Debian and Fedora repos to make your openSUSE live USB. I have used the dd command successfully to prepare a Linux live USB in this answer. My dd command is a little bit different from yours, however I suggest using UNetbootin instead of dd to make the live USB whenever it is possible.

In order to make an openSUSE live USB using UNetbootin you need a USB flash drive at least 8GB in size formatted to FAT32. The reason why your flash drive has to be so large is that your openSUSE iso file is 4.1GB and you need to have some extra space on the flash drive when making the live USB in UNetbootin. UNetbootin will make your flash drive bootable if it is not bootable already. If your dd command has deleted the filesystem on your flash drive, then you will have to find a way to reformat the flash drive or else use another flash drive that has not had the filesystem overwritten by dd.

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