I have downloaded the 3 files iso and the other 2 on an external drive. Reformated the drive then downloaded the 3 above. Tried the program #balenaetcher will not allow me to choose as location to boot from.
Any suggestions of similar products? Or simple “newbie” instructions for using the “terminal”.
Swimming in unchartered territory. All grace requested and any guidance is sincerely appreciated.
Hey @TXBLH!
To make a USB thumb drive bootable via an ISO file, you’ll need to flash it and boot it one at a time.
A good set of instructions for the process you will find here:
Also, if you have Windows, then you can have an alternative application, such as Rufus.
Hi @vasileios
Just jumping into this thread regarding the Etcher instructions. Got a late 2013 iMac. Can’t say I haven’t struggled with loading etcher & Ubuntu on one flash drive, with Zorin on another. But in all instances, when I do the mac download of etcher, it only gives an option to download into applications. There’s no 3 step process of Etcher-USB-FLash. Not with any attempt I’ve made, or where I’ve saved it to. It won’t let me download to the desktop at all. I can download straight to the USB, though again, in erasing on the disk it doesn’t allow any partition option & despite clicking MS-DOS Fat it always reverts to MS-DOS FAT32 in the process.
Have since tried loading onto iMac. Gotta use the inner USB it seems to get into boot options, and also gotta connect bluetooth keyboard with cable. Mouse I’ll have to go shopping for I guess. However, Ubuntu doesn’t show up as a boot option, so I’m guessing perhaps the Etcher process I’ve used didn’t work. But really not sure.
Thoughts?
And thanks in advance
Hey @DerekSK,
Can you download it to your Applications folder and then move it to the desktop?
Also, FAT32 is the format that you would normally want, but some newer Macs are using the AHCP(?) format. For that you have to use the native Apple Disk Utility to make the USB.
Hey @DerekSK,
The process is correct. First download Etcher, then copy it to the Applications folder, which will allow you to actually run it. Once you do it (transfer the icon to the app folder), then go to your Applications folder and run it from there. Naturally, your Mac might protest that it’s an unknown app (unless it’s the newest macOS that does that). Select to open it, if it ask you, and you will get the Etcher Interface with the three steps.
For a USB to boot, you’ll need to go through the flashing process. Simply copying an ISO into the USB will not make it bootable, just a storage medium. 
Thanks for that @vasileios. Was skipping the obvious step(s)! I hadn’t thought I was doing it right. Just needed it dumbed down a bit more. Ha! Need to warm the brain cells up again on having to think. Will give that a crack in the morning.
Hey @SBHX
Cheers for the question/suggestions. Still learning! I don’t know why I was avoiding putting it there, but I guess I was. And the FAT32 option is still on my iMac, but I was just going on what I’d seen in the breakdown video focusing on just the FAT option which was in theory choosable on my disk utility.
Too late for my brain now after work to try now, so I’ll be back onto it in the morning.
Thanks again.
Thank you for this. I have tried this @balenaetcher will not recognize the external drive when I try to choose it. It is unavailable to choose. Meaning, it shows it is there but will not let me choose it.
Hey @TXBLH!
Do you happen to select the ISO from the same drive you’re trying to flash?
The reason you’re getting this message is that you’ll need to have the ISO file on a different drive than the one you’re trying to flash. When the process begins, all the files within that drive will be deleted.
flash? I’m sorry I don’t know that term. I have an external drive, I downloaded the 3 files to. The program to create a boot (even one mentioned above) directs us to choose the file on the external drive, then the external drive itself. Am I misunderstanding that?
I boot from the drive with the iso on it? As I understand, but maybe I am completely off?!
@TXBLH HI, I am not one of the experts here but I have done this on a Macbook Air 2014. You need BalenEtcher downloaded in your apps and workable. I downloaded the distro I wanted to use to the Macbook, to the downloads file. They need to be on a different drive than the one you are going to “flash” to (flash, make a bootable on an external drive, usb) You open Etcher, follow the directions, choose the file from downloads, or where ever you put it, it should show your external drive, chose that and hit Flash. I believe you may need one external drive per distro, not sure there.
Hey @TXBLH!
What @Tracy said is correct. You will need to download and install balenaEtcher - Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives.
Once you install it, have your ISO file available on your desktop and run Etcher. Once you do, these are the three easy steps to make a USB thumb drive bootable - which will allow you to preview and install Linux. 
