USB Flash Drive Installation

While most of the development and testing of MOSA is done using virtualization software, MOSA does indeed boot on real hardware too.

There are several ways to put MOSA on a USB flash drive. Below are the most common ones, including the one we’ll be following here:

• Ventoy (All platforms)

• Rufus (Windows only)

• dd (Linux, unofficial Windows version exists)

We’ll be following the dd way here.

Windows

1. Create a MOSA disk image using the MOSA Launcher Tool.

2. Download the unofficial dd utility for Windows, as linked above.

3. Open a command prompt window and change directory to the build directory (usually a subfolder under %TEMP%).

cd %TEMP%\MOSA

4. Copy the dd.exe executable to the current directory.

5. Connect the USB flash drive you wish to ERASE and install the MOSA image onto.

Danger

Data on the USB flash drive will be lost!

6. Determine the device path for the USB flash drive.

Get a list all the block devices on your system by typing the command below. Find the one for the USB flash drive you just connected.

Danger

Be careful! A mistype or wrong drive selection may corrupt your hard drive or other storage devices. Do not proceed unless you entirely understand these steps.

dd -list

7. Type the following and substitute the of= parameter with the device path found in the previous step.

dd of=\\?\Device\HarddiskX\PartitionX if=bootimage.img bs=512 –progress

8. Wait until all the blocks are written to the USB flash drive before disconnecting it.

9. Now boot a PC with the USB flash drive connected!

Linux

1. Create a MOSA disk image using the MOSA Launcher Tool.

2. Download the unofficial dd utility for Windows, as linked above.

3. Open a command prompt window and change directory to the build directory (usually a subfolder under %TEMP%).

cd /tmp/MOSA

4. Connect the USB flash drive you wish to ERASE and install the MOSA image onto.

Danger

Data on the USB flash drive will be lost!

5. Determine the device path for the USB flash drive.

Get a list all the block devices on your system by typing the command below. Find the one for the USB flash drive you just connected.

Danger

Be careful! A mistype or wrong drive selection may corrupt your hard drive or other storage devices. Do not proceed unless you entirely understand these steps.

sudo fdisk -l

6. Type the following and substitute the of= parameter with the device path found in the previous step.

dd of=/dev/XXXX if=bootimage.img bs=512 status=progress

7. Wait until all the blocks are written to the USB flash drive before disconnecting it.

8. Now boot a PC with the USB flash drive connected!