Missing KDE Partition Manager and ISO Writer

[fbt89]

I installed from ISO the latest Manjaro Plasma 6 because I had other issues that I wanted to clear up with a fresh install. That worked, but I noticed that KDE Partition Manager and SUSE Studio Imagewriter were not installed. I installed KDE PM but not a ISO manager. So, two questions, why weren’t these included in the ISO? And, what is the recommended ISO writer for Manjaro.

[soundofthunder]

@fbt89

why weren’t these included in the ISO?

You should have downloaded the full Plasma 6 ISO; the minimal Plasma 6 ISO unsurprisingly contains a minimum of content to keep the file size relatively small; perhaps you downloaded that instead.

Edit:- It seems partitionmanager was indeed omitted from the Plasma 6 ISO, as were a number of other packages. I presume some of those might be made available via Updates when ready.

@fbt89

And, what is the recommended ISO writer for Manjaro.

I recommend using a Ventoy USB to boot any ISO. The beauty of using Ventoy is that nothing else is needed. Simply copy/drag any ISO to the Ventoy USB, and you’re done.

Boot with a Ventoy USB, and ISO files are automatically listed in the Ventoy menu, and can be booted directly. A 32GB (minimum) capacity USB should allow ample space to store several ISOs of your choice.

Ventoy is available from the official Manjaro extra repository:

sudo pacman -S ventoy

Type ventoy (without arguments) to see usage information:

Usage:  Ventoy2Disk.sh CMD [ OPTION ] /dev/sdX  
 CMD:  
  -i  install Ventoy to sdX (fails if disk already installed with Ventoy)  
  -I  force install Ventoy to sdX (no matter if installed or not)  
  -u  update Ventoy in sdX  
  -l  list Ventoy information in sdX  
  
 OPTION: (optional)  
  -r SIZE_MB  preserve some space at the bottom of the disk (only for install)  
  -s/-S       enable/disable secure boot support (default is enabled)  
  -g          use GPT partition style, default is MBR (only for install)  
  -L          Label of the 1st exfat partition (default is Ventoy)  
  -n          try non-destructive installation (only for install)

Write the Ventoy system to an empty USB drive;

• target the device itself /dev/sdX, and not a partition:

This is the command I might normally use to create a Ventoy USB:

sudo sh ventoy -i -r 100 -S -g -L VOLUME /dev/sdX

• Enable -s or disable -S Secure Boot.
• Substitute VOLUME for a volume label name to use.
• Substitute /dev/sdX for the location of your USB device.
• Preserve some space on the target device (example allows 100mb).

See also: Ventoy (GitHub);

I hope this helps.

Cheers.

[fbt89]

I thought I got the full, would the min contain Office, VLC, Firefox, Elisa etc? I found ISO writer from KDE in the repositories, it’s good enough for me.

[soundofthunder]

@fbt89

I found ISO writer from KDE in the repositories, it’s good enough for me.

Ventoy is the most recommended approach in 2024.

The problem with writing an ISO to USB is that one can never be certain that the written data matches the content of the original ISO. Even with Rufus, this can be a problem, and it’s one of the most widely recommended ISO writers.

A Ventoy USB removes that possibility, because you boot directly from the original ISO instead. Plus, it saves the need to write a new USB every time you want an installer to boot from. You can keep several ISO’s on the same Ventoy USB; limited only by the size of the USB.

That said, KDE’s ISO Writer is no better or worse than any other, I imagine, so as is said…
Whatever floats your boat.

@fbt89

I thought I got the full, would the min contain Office, VLC, Firefox, Elisa etc?

I don’t recall specifically which packages are dropped from the Minimal ISO, but KDE Partition Manager seems to be installed by default. Is it possible you’re just not seeing an icon for it? This could result from another issue entirely. I stand corrected.

pacman -Qi partitionmanager

SUSE Studio Imagewriter doesn’t seem to be installed by default even in the older ISO. I don’t recall it, either, at least not in Manjaro in recent years; but then, I’ve been known to be forgetful. LibreOffice, is now optional to install; with other choices available via Calamares.

The size difference between Minimal (2.9 GB) and Full (3.5 GB) Plasma 6 ISO’s is a clear indication that many packages exist in Full and not in Minimal; however, in this case, partitionmanager seems to be removed from both.

In the meantime you could install GParted:

sudo pacman -S gparted

(a much better partitioner, imho)

Cheers.

[Takakage]

Current Manjaro KDE ISO profile

2024-05-13 commit

- partitionmanager
+ #partitionmanager

[philm]

@fbt89

I noticed that KDE Partition Manager and SUSE Studio Imagewriter were not installed.

Partitionmanager needs kpmcore. Since we still use Calamares 3.2 series, which is Qt5 based kpmcore5 is needed. So we had a conflict to provide Partitionmanager due to this issue. Also Gparted is available on Live-Session and can be used to do extra partitioning as needed. Imagewrite, well might have been dropped from the profile.

[AzTurk]

just open you terminal and type sudo pacman -S partitionmanager
hope you will get it back your KDE Partition Manager

[soundofthunder]

@AzTurk

just open you terminal and type sudo pacman -S partitionmanager
hope you will get it back your KDE Partition Manager

While this is true, perhaps it’s best to install GParted if access to a partitioner is needed, until the above-mentioned conflict has been resolved. Cheers.

sudo pacman -S gparted

[fbt89]

Well this came up because I was having a problem with a USB drive that I haven’t used in awhile. That issue has been solved by tossing the old drive into the trash. I’ve since removed KDE Partition Manager. Will probably go thru this again, when I need it in the future.