[arch-general] How to install archlinux using a specific parition of usb instead of the whole usb?

[Hongyi Zhao]

Eli Schwartz via arch-general <arch-general at archlinux.org>
于2019年11月6日周三 上午9:41写道：
>
> On 11/5/19 8:35 PM, Hongyi Zhao via arch-general wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I try to use a specific partition of usb to install archlinux, the
> > following is the step:
> >
> > Suppose the /dev/sdc is my usb:
> >
> > $ sudo ddrescue -f archlinux-2019.11.01-x86_64.iso /dev/sdc2
> The ISO contains multiple partitions, so probably not.

Why when using the whole usb disk, the problem will disappear?

> Why are you
> trying to do this, precisely?

I want to use a usb disk for installation of multiple distros, say,
Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, and so on.
In this case, I must not using the whole usb disk for only one iso,
and on the other hand, using whole usb disk for only one iso, is
wasting of the usb's space, considering that we cannot use it for
doing other things.  Furthermore, I noticed that the dd-based method
is more robust than using the iso directly with grub's loopback
module.
To say the least, for the Debian iso, the dd-based method can do the
trick while the loopback method will fail to detect the cd-rom during
the installation progress.

> Maybe you want to install archlinux
> following the install guide, but installing to the USB partition instead
> of an HDD. For example,
>
> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Installing_Arch_Linux_on_a_USB_key

This is not the aim that I want to achieve.

>
> Alternatively, you can use grub to boot an ISO *file* as a loopback
> device. Some people do this to create multiboot USBs.

As I said above, this method is not so robust as the dd-based method.
 In detail, the most robust method for using  the usb disk to
installation a unix/linux OS, should be the dd-based method which
using the whole usb disk.  But this method has the shortcoming that it
will occupy the whole usb disk with only a small iso image and
prohibit us for using the usb disk to do other things at the same
time.

>
> --
> Eli Schwartz
> Bug Wrangler and Trusted User
>


-- 
Hongsheng Zhao <hongyi.zhao at gmail.com>
Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences
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