Creating a bootable USB stick (within OSX 10.8)

[Colonel Panic]

Does anyone know of a simple Mac application that will help automate the process of creating a bootable USB stick using Mac OSX 10.8? All the guides I can find with Google are either way above my comprehension (need to use Terminal), or don't work for me.

I have downloaded a .iso file onto my desktop, but need to put it on to a blank bootable USB stick.

TIA!

[TheKentishFledgling]

I used an app called Lion Diskmaker and it worked....

[stevelup]

The exact procedure will vary depending what the ISO was in the first place.

These instructions here will work for most applications

Just to clarify - there's no such thing as a bootable USB stick as such - it's the image itself that has to be bootable. The trick is getting the image onto the stick without breaking the bootyness...

[Colonel Panic]

Thanks both;
TKF - that app makes a bootable disc of either 10.7 or 10.8 - I'm wanting to make a bootable disc to update my SSD firmware, so don't think it will do what I need.
stevelup - I did follow some similar instructions from another site, but it didn't seem to work. Either because I manually changed the file extension .iso to .dmg (in Finder), or because I am using a BT keyboard and that prevents me from pressing C during the re-boot? That said, the USB drive didn't show up in SysPref / Start Up Disk either. But I'll have another go now & will let you know how I get on ...

[stevelup]

You can't just rename it - you need to use hdiutil as per the link.

I'd do the following:-

1) Prepare the stick using the instructions on the Ubuntu site
2) Remove it from your machine
3) Stick it in again
4) Go to System Preferences > Startup Disk and choose the USB

Not sure why you're holding C by the way - it's option (alt) that you want - that will get you into boot manager where you can select which device you want to boot from.

[Colonel Panic]

stevelup - the file I downloaded is called crucial-c400.040H.04.00.iso

In Part 3 of that guide do I type the following into Terminal?

hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o ~/Users/JJB/Desktop/crucial-c400.040H.04.00.img ~/Users/JJB/Desktop/crucial-c400.040H.04.00.iso

or should I reverse the two .img / .iso sections within that command?


PS I now see that I should have held the ALT key during re-boot, not the C key. oops!

EDIT - crossed with your reply, but the main question still applies

[stevelup]

You have it the right way round (the output filename is first).

I have to say that you may have mixed success with this. The ISO image is a hybrid (Windows/Mac) and might not work correctly when burned to a USB stick. Can you use an optical drive instead?

[Colonel Panic]

I can easily use a CDROM - that was my first thought, but I wasn't sure how to do it

[stevelup]

That's even easier!

Right click on your ISO and choose 'Open with Disk Utility'

You'll then see the ISO listed in the left hand column. Click it, then click Burn

(ps. You can then press C if you like when booting )

[George512]

What are you trying to a create a bootable USB of? A *nix OS or Mac OS? It's a nightmare trying to get things to boot from USB on Macs... I presume it's because of the bastardised EFI they run. I struggled for ages the other week.

You may have limited success with unetbootin, that's a useful program! Although I have had most success by creating bootable EFI USB sticks, e.g. Ubuntu EFI versions. A Google search would give more specifics

[stevelup]

It's a firmware update tool for an SSD.

The key thing to remember is that a Mac will only boot from a USB if it has a GUID partition table.

[George512]

It's a firmware update tool for an SSD.

The key thing to remember is that a Mac will only boot from a USB if it has a GUID partition table.

Oh right, that makes sense now I see the mention of Crucial earlier in the thread. I have an OCZ SSD and their Mac Bootable Tools USB worked first time for me, but I know the pain in trying to get it to work. I think sometimes blessing the HD with rEFIt can give some success in booting from MBR based USB sticks.

[stevelup]

Hopefully CP has just burned a CD which will be a lot less painful!

Or he has bricked his machine which is why we've not heard back

[Colonel Panic]

Sorry for the lack of an update; I put the file onto a CD no problems (_so_ much more easily than onto a USB stick!), and then booted up from it; the programme started up OK, but seemed to hang after showing the "Finding Drives" message. (See first screenshot on these instructions). So after waiting perhaps 5-10 minutes I gave up, turned it off and re-booted normally.

I'll re-visit the issue after the New Year when Crucial's technical support team are at least on standby