Griller Miller had helped me learn to use Balena Etcher in a Telegram channel conversation. After that I was able to successfully transfer ISO images several times onto USB drives. Today, I went through the process to put Manjaro KDE plasma iso image onto a USB. Worked, or so I thought. I plugged it into another machine and attempted to bring up Manjaro into Oracle VM VirtualBox. It seems the USB had an .efi file on it and not an iso. Although it was marked as a bootable file, the VirtualBox said it wasn’t bootable. I went through the folders in the USB, but there was no iso image there. I then plugged the USB into another computer, turned off the secure boot and let the computer seek the USB. It can see it, but doesn’t take the instruction to boot from it. So, it has to be me, but HOW did the ISO image get turned into an .efi during the process of moving from a downloaded file to a USB? Does Balena Etcher have magic powers of which I am not aware? Any info appreciated.
Okay. It was me! I proved it to myself. Solved. The Manjaro USB does boot, just not to the VirtualBox. I’ve got it running independently elsewhere. It’s lovely. A must have!
LOL! You found the answer yourself it seems, @famcoll!
In any VM app you use, you do not need the actual bootable USB. All you have to do is instruct it to load the ISO file into its own Virtual Drive and it will take it from there. 
Try out Ventoy, easy to install and use. I like it more than Etcher.
Ventoy, that’s a first for me. I usually go either for Rufus (I’ve known it for a while) or Etcher (I learned of it recently). I usually flash USB drives directly through Linux via its “Disks” app (which works like a charm). Thank you for the info and welcome to the forums @Keithmj!
I used Etcher and Rufus, they are nice and work great but playing with Ventoy I had 12 distros on the 64gb pin drive along with gparted, Rescuezilla and other files. I like trying new things like Linux and using it. We should always keep learning and I hope to learn more here and from Jeffrey.
Hi, I’ve just been told by someone in the chat that Rufus isn’t an option for Linux computers. I can’t get Balena Etcher to open so I can create a bootable flash drive. I’m running Cinnamon Mint and trying to flash Manjaro OS so I can load it onto an older MacBook Pro. When I go to Downloads and double-click on the file, it doesn’t open.
I have that same problem with Balena Etcher, so I usually go to the main apps page and type in Balena Etcher and launch it from there. I’m not sure why it won’t work from the downloads file, but it doesn’t. Good luck. Once you get it open, it works like a charm on Cinnamon.
I just tried that and it didn’t work. Thanks for the suggestion.
Keith, how do you get ventoy to run? I’ve tried several things to open it and keep getting additional windows that open and I don’t know what to do with it.
Vasileios, how do you use the Disks app with Etcher? I’ve downloaded both the 32bit and 64bit versions of Balena Etcher. I’ve right-clicked on the file name, clicked on Properties, went to Permissions and checked the box for Allow Executing File as Program. I’ve done this on both versions and still can’t get either one to open. I’m running Cinnamon Mint on an HP Latitude laptop. I’d appreciate any help. Thank you!
I just tried these steps and it still didn’t work. How to Install Etcher on Ubuntu {via GUI or Terminal} | phoenixNAP KB 
If you’re flashing from Linux, then simply right-click on your ISO file and select to Open With “Disk Image Writer”. Then select your USB and you’ll be good to go. If Disk Image Writer doesn’t immediately appear, select “Other Applications” and you will spot it on the list.
Disks functions independently from Etcher, so you don’t need it. Just right-click on your ISO and run it with “Disk Image Writer”. That should flash the USB for you (don’t forget to have it plugged in and select it from the dropdown list).
Sorry for the delay. I put Ventoy on the stick using a windows computer. old laptop, just click on the EXE and it will find the stick, you really don’t install it on the computer. Once you get it install on the stick it will work on Linux. They have one for Linux but I haven’t installed it yet, guess I need to try it. Check out Ventoy, but there are others out there that are great also.
On Linux I just use their usb boot program.
Remove Ventoy using the Ventoy program, click on left upper corner and use the clear selection, let it format the pin drive and them reinstall it again. Once installed just copy the ISO file to the pin drive, then you are done, you can add other files to it also if you want,
Put it in the computers USB port and boot the computer to Install the ISO file. I hope this helps.
I have used Cinnamon Mint USB Image writer several times and it works as it should, no problems.
I downloaded ventoy to my ubuntu laptop and extracted it but there is no .exe. I cant get it to start up the program. Sorry, newbie here.
Bravo! That’s the spirit! 