I update this server with images and iPXE images you can use to netboot my personal spin of BDisk.
You can https://bdisk.square-r00t.net/download/bdisk-mini.iso[download] a demo of the iPXE functionality. Note that your computer needs to be connected to a valid Internet connection via ethernet and be able to get a DHCP lease for it to work.
NOTE: Advanced users, you can https://www.gnupg.org/gph/en/manual/x135.html[verify^] it against the GPG signature (https://bdisk.square-r00t.net/download/bdisk-mini.iso.asc[ASC], https://bdisk.square-r00t.net/download/bdisk-mini.iso.gpg[BIN]). Please see https://devblog.square-r00t.net/about/my-gpg-public-key-verification-of-identity[this blog post^] for information on fetching my keys and such. Note that while this project is in flux, I may be signing with temporarily-generated throwaway keys.
Once downloaded, you can follow the appropriate steps based on your operating system:
=== Windows
==== CD/DVD
Simply put a blank CD/DVD-R (or RW, RW+, etc.) in your optical media drive. Find where you downloaded the above file (it should be named `bdisk-mini.iso`). Right-click and select *Burn disc image*.
You'll most likely want to https://svwh.dl.sourceforge.net/project/usbwriter/USBWriter-1.3.zip[download] a program called https://sourceforge.net/projects/usbwriter/[USBWriter^]. Unzip it (or just open it via double-clicking) and copy the `USBWriter.exe` program somewhere you'll remember- your desktop, for instance.
Next, make sure your USB thumbdrive is inserted in your computer and https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17418/windows-7-create-format-hard-disk-partition[formatted/"initialized"^] already.
WARNING: Formatting a disk/partition will *destroy* any and all data on that device! Make sure there is nothing on your USB drive you want to keep, as formatting BDisk to it *will* delete any data on it.
Now right-click on the USBWriter icon and select *Run as administrator*. You may get a warning pop up asking for permissions for USBWriter. It's safe to click Yes.
Select the proper USB flash drive from the *Target device* dropdown menu. If your USB drive isn't showing up, try clicking the Refresh button and looking again. (If it still doesn't show up, you may need to reboot your computer.)
Click the *Browse...* button and find where you saved `bdisk-mini.iso`. Once you've found it, double-click it. Then click *Write*. It might take a little bit of time depending on how fast your USB interface is, so give it some time. When it finishes, click *Close*. You now have a bootable USB thumbdrive.
==== Booting
Booting differs depending on each and every hardware, but *typically* you should get a message when you first start up for "_Setup_" and/or "_Boot options_" or the like. The terminology differs here. It will probably be an *F__#__* button (usually `F2`, `F4`, `F10`, or `F12`) or the *Delete* key. While rebooting, try to hold or press repeatedly this key and you should come across an option somewhere with a list of devices to boot from or an order you can set. Make sure the USB (or CD/DVD, whichever media type you're using) is set as first, and save.
Unfortunately, the OS X/macOS Disk Utility doesn't work with hybrid ISOs (what `bdisk-mini.iso` is). At all. You're out of luck, I'm afraid, unless you happen have a spare USB thumbdrive handy.
CAUTION: *Be sure* to find the disk that matches the size of your thumbdrive! If you use the wrong disk identifier, it will break your OS X/macOS install at best and delete all your data at worst!
Now that you've found which disk your USB device is (the `/dev/disk__#__` part), we can continue. Make sure that it is the disk ID *right above* the line that contains your flash drive size! For our example, I will use `/dev/disk__42__` as an example as it's highly unlikely you'll have that many disk IDs, but be sure to replace this in the following commands with the proper disk ID you found above.
Then we need to unmount the disk, in case it's already mounted.
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk42
Assuming you saved BDisk Mini to your Desktop, you can do:
NOTE: the above command may prompt you for a password. This is the same password you use to log into your Mac (and unlock the screensaver, etc.). No characters will show up when you type (for security reasons, in case someone is behind you watching your screen) so it may take you a couple tries.
This will run for a couple seconds. When it finishes, you should see something similar to (but not necessarily the same numbers as) this:
0+1 records in
0+1 records out
169 bytes transferred in 0.000530 secs (318865 bytes/sec)
At this point you _may_ get a popup warning you _"The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer."_ If you do, just click the *Ignore* button.
The instructions here don't differ too much than from Windows, though it's always the same key. From it being in a shutdown state, power on your Macbook Pro (or whatever it is you have) and hold the *Option* key (or the *Alt* key on non-Apple keyboards). The *Option/Alt* key should bring up a boot menu that will let you select a USB device to boot from.
Strangely enough, you should still be able to _boot_ a BDisk Mini CD/DVD, you just can't *burn* one. I'm tempted to make a cheap dig at Apple, but I'll refrain.
Easy. Most (if not all) of https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Optical_disc_drive#Burning[these^] should support burning `bdisk-mini.iso` to disc (I'm partial to _cdrecord_). If you prefer a GUI, try some of https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Optical_disc_drive#Burning_CD.2FDVD.2FBD_with_a_GUI[these^] instead (I like _k3b_).
Very similar to OS X/macOS in approach. First open a terminal emulator- the ways of navigating to it depends on your window manager/desktop environment, but it's usually under a System or Utilities menu.
You should see a device matching your USB thumbdrive's size. In our example, I use */dev/sdz* as it's unlikely you have that many disks attached to a system, but be sure to replace this in the following commands with the proper disk ID you find.
CAUTION: *Be sure* to find the disk that matches the size of your thumbdrive! If you use the wrong disk identifier, it will break your GNU/Linux install (or possibly Windows install if you're dual-booting, etc.) at best and delete all your data at worst!
Make sure it isn't mounted:
umount /dev/sdz
You should get a message that says `umount: /dev/sdz: not mounted`. If it was mounted before, it's unmounted now.
Next, simply dd over the ISO file.
sudo dd if=~/Desktop/bdisk-mini.iso of=/dev/sdz
NOTE: the above command may prompt you for a password. This is the same password you use to log in (and unlock the screensaver, etc.). No characters will show up when you type (for security reasons, in case someone is behind you watching your screen) so it may take you a couple tries.
This will run for a couple seconds. When it finishes, you should see something similar to (but not necessarily the same numbers as) this:
If you get a popup from your desktop environment (assuming you're using one) about not being able to mount a disk, or that it's unformatted, etc. and it prompts you to format, ignore/cancel/close it- do *not* format it! This would erase the BDisk Mini image on it.
Exactly the same as those for Windows. (Unless you're running GNU/Linux on Mac hardware, in which case follow the booting instructions for Mac instead.)
