T440s problems! — how to make a bootable drive?

hello, i’ve made a very similar post before. my problem is that i’ve taken so long to try to do this so i wasn’t able to update it properly ! well, i’ve done everything that was asked of my in my last forum post. i’ve uploaded the update and the ventoy thing to the drive! but how do i make it bootable ? or “live” ? im not understanding what im doing wrong. when i plug in the usb it doesn’t acknowledge it at all! i don’t know how to make a terminal window either… i am not very good with understanding tech so please be patient: ) i need the computer by sunday unfortunately so im looking for any help i can get! thank you!

‘when i use the script given it would say:
error:file ‘ /boot/vmlinuz-5.19-x86_64 ‘ not found.
error: you need to upload the kernel first
error: can’t find command “sodu”
error: can’t find command “manjaro-chroot”
error: syntax error
error: incorrect command
error: syntax error

press any key to continue…’

what do i do?

From this thread, I presume? :wink:

Ventoy IS creating a bootable drive.
After installing it to the drive, the drive will appear as … Ventoy.
And then you can simply copy any ISO you want to it.

When you use this Ventoy drive to boot,
every ISO you copied on to it will appear as a choice to boot it.

You just copy any ISO to the Ventoy drive.
Simple copy operation, nothing fancy.

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yes, haha!

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how would i copy it into the drive then to be specific? do i just have the iso and ventoy in the same drive? do i insert the iso into ventoy somehow?

also you need to check some files , kernel 5.19 is EOL
then go in chroot ( red prompt # )
and return

mhwd-kernel -li
ls /etc/mkinitcpio.d/*.preset
ls /boot/
ls /lib/modules/
exit ( end chroot ) 

wait wait wait, so would the sodu code go first? where would i put the code that you’ve just provided me?

You insert the drive - or already have it inserted.
It will report as … all the space on it is free.
Simply copy / move / whatever … some ISO to it.

Then shut down the running system and on reboot, choose that Ventoy drive to boot from.
It will present you with the option to boot from the ISO you did copy onto it.
Simple, really.

I don’t see any problem,
except with you having difficulty in actually installing Ventoy to the device.
You appear to make it more difficult than it actually is.

What did YOU do to install Ventoy?
not to you system, but to the drive you want to boot some ISO from?

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There’s a pretty good guide on the Mint Forum for Ventoy usage and I’m pretty sure there is at least one on this Forum. I’ll update this post if I can get the Forum Search to behave!

i’m still failing at this… it says i need to load a kernel first everytime and i also do not know anything about coding or computers…most of this stuff issnt simple for me haha! i don’t know what im doing at all. im not sure how to upload a kernel and i don’t see an option for anything about ventoy. when i plug into the drive into the computer (broken one) it gives me the same error! saying about the kernel and that the file is missing, not evening acknowledging the iso and ventoy thingy on the drive.

i installed ventoy by the website, then i just put it inside of the drive by dragging it into the usb drive! then i downloaded the ISO and put it in the same usb. that’s it

And that’s wrong
It’s not the (very easy) procedure.

Perhaps you’d be better suited with:

sudo cp ~/Downloads/YourISO_of_choice /dev/Your_USB_Device

Ventoy is quite easy to use - but you need to read some - and actually install it to your USB device -
not just copy it like you apparently did.

What does that even mean?

You install Ventoy to your system,
then use it to make your USB a bootable device.

After that, you just copy whatever ISO to it - and you can boot that.

sudo pacman -Syu ventoy

… should be sufficient. :wink: Then you open the GUI from the menu to install the Ventoy software to the desired USB device, and following this, drag-and-drop the desired .ISO file to it.

Then you may need to hit the appropriate key at power-on and select the USB device to boot from.

This is not how you make the USB drive work with ventoy.
You must write ventoy to the USB using the ventoy software.
Then drag+drop your ISO file into the USB like you just did.

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I’m afraid you will need to learn quickly.

However, based on your input so far, if Sunday is your goal you will have a difficult time reaching it.

If you’re asking “How do I create a Ventoy USB and launch a Manjaro ISO Live environment from it?” then please see the Ventoy information provided for you further in this post.

What script? If you mean:

… There is no script there - only a series of commands.

Important: There is no sodu command…

The command is sudo.

I agree, you need help.

Let’s take it from the top:


Welcome to the Manjaro community

As a new or infrequent forum user, please take some time to familiarise yourself with Forum requirements; in particular, the many ways to use the forum to your benefit:


Required Reading:

Resources:


Update Announcements:

The Update Announcements contain update related information and a Known Issues and Solutions section that should generally be checked before posting a request for support.


System Information:

Output of the following command (formatted according to forum requirements) may be useful for those wishing to help:

inxi --admin --verbosity=8 --filter --no-host --width

Be prepared to provide more information and outputs from other commands when asked.


Regards.


Frankly, my first impulse is to point you here:

However, see how you go with this information about Ventoy. With Ventoy you must first create a Ventoy USB to boot using UEFI.

If you do not comprehend the concept of UEFI, then this will become tedious very quickly. I dare say, your Sunday milestone is out of the question.


My recommendation at this point is to find someone locally who is computer literate enough to do handle all of this for you – a friend or family member perhaps, or your nearest available computer repair shop.

Nonetheless, read on for Ventoy:


Ventoy

Boot with a Ventoy USB, and ISO files are automatically listed in the Ventoy menu, and can be booted directly. A 32GB capacity USB should allow ample space to store several ISOs of your choice; an 8GB capacity USB might hold one, or two ISO’s; do the math.

Ventoy is available from the official Manjaro extra repository:

sudo pacman -S ventoy

Write the Ventoy system to an empty USB drive;

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

Create a Ventoy USB (for UEFI mode): :eyes:

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

Create a Ventoy USB (for BIOS mode):

sudo sh ventoy -i -r 100 -S -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).

Ventoy general usage

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)

Update a Ventoy USB:

  • ensure the updated Ventoy version is available in Manjaro; and then:

To update the Ventoy system on an existing Ventoy USB;

sudo ventoy -u /dev/sdX
  • The Ventoy USB update process is non-destructive.

See also: Ventoy (GitHub);


Notes

  • There is a Windows GUI version of Ventoy. If you choose to use it please pay attention to available options in the File menu before creating the Ventoy USB.

  • This is noted (somewhere) in Ventoy’s own documentation, but I’ll add it here for convenience; When an ISO is dragged/copied to the Ventoy USB it’s recommended to rename the ISO (using underscores) so that no blank spaces appear in the filename.


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:warning: You did not ‘install’ ventoy.

You simply visited the Ventoy Website and downloaded some file you don’t understand. Then you copied it to your USB.

What you should do is INSTALL it.

If you do not know how to install software (using the add/remove software GUI) in Manjaro, then you should instead think about using something else - Linux Mint is friendly - though you still must be able to load up a GUI to install software.

When you INSTALL it, you can LAUNCH it, then you will SEE it.

Ventoy

  • Then after you INSTALL it, you quit Ventoy.

  • Next step is to OPEN DOLPHIN and select VENTOY USB:

  • You then DRAG your ISO image into the Dolphin Window.

Screenshot_20250111_103531

There is no clearer instruction than this.

Now you can reboot, making sure to boot from the USB.

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The OP may also pay a bit of attention to post 13! It really is that simple.

I just plugged one of mine in and it needs updating …

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