Are You Using Balena Etcher

[bob466]

I just realized I hadn't installed Etcher in Mint Cinnamon 22.1...so when looking online I saw this...

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmint/comments/1j746qw/stop_using_etcher_to_create_bootable_linux_mint

It makes you wonder...so I downloaded the AppImage 2.1.3...when I opened it I saw this...

Etcher collects data...really, I don't think so.
When I tried to burn my Foxclone ISO to my Flash Drive I got this...

I know the Foxclone ISO is good because the checksum is good and I burnt it to a Flash Drive using Mint's USB Image Writer and it's in Ventoy too...As they say...use it at your own risk.

 

[Condobloke]

on Nov 27, 2019

Etcher secretly spies on the user without consent. · Issue #2977 · balena-io/etcher

Reopening #2057 - the issue is still valid. Etcher version: 1.5.63 Operating system and architecture: darwin x64 Wikipedia defines spyware as: Spyware is a software that aims to gather information ...

github.com

I have been unable to find anything more recent

Is anyone here able to run a test which would indicate if balena 'phones home etc etc ?....or ventoy perhaps ?

 

[kc1di]

Can't be of much help here either I've used Etcher in the past and had no problems with it. But with mint you have mint stick it's simple and easy so have not had to use etcher in awhile. But would be interested in knowing for sure if it's is indeed spy ware. Because I have recommended it to many windows users to burn .ISO for Linux. I must say though that I've never ever seen that screen pop up on my machines with etcher.

 

[Terminal Velocity]

When I was moving from Windows I were using Rufus, it looks like a real tool, more to my liking. Etcher is more polished and simplified and it made bad bootable usbs for me. Now With Cinnamon I only use the built in tools for such jobs

 

[PuppyHome]

I've read that too a while back. Have used it once a year or so ago as the whole Linux community was saying it is the "go-to" app to create live USB's.
Wasn't really impressed at all so reverted back to the native Linux USB Image Writer (which works perfectly) or use DD.

 

[MikeWalsh]

I've tried using it several times over the years.....with a singular lack of success.

Etcher expects to find a full Linux file-system ready laid-out for it to copy. Puppy's file-system doesn't even exist until after the read-only SFS packages have been decompressed during the boot process.....and even then it's only into RAM.

Puppy's 'file-system' only ever exists in 'virtual' form.....and NEVER on your storage drive (which is where Etcher is looking). In almost 11 years, I haven't used a Puppy "installer" ONCE (the only time I ever used the 'Puppy Universal Installer' was for the very first time I installed her). I use the 'quick'n'dirty' method instead. So, I:-

• Create a uniquely-named directory alongside my other, existing Puppy 'frugal' installs.
• Copy half-a-dozen files/SFS packages into it.
• Open the Grub4DOS menu.lst file.
• Copy/paste an existing entry.
• Change three words (to correspond to the new frugal 'install'), and....save.

Job done. This works because Puppy's Grub4DOS - and the more recent Grub2Config - bootloaders have both been modified to search TWO layers deep in order to locate a bootable kernel.

If I want to create a 'Live' USB - for whatever reason - I stick with the 'tried & tested'. UNetbootin has always worked for us in Puppyland. The 'Rosa Image Writer' (from Rosa Linux) also works a treat.

(shrug...)


Mike.

 

[Trynna3]

After a brief research on the web I went for Ventoy for installation .iso files. Never regretted it or needed to change it. Once used Rufus to install Ubuntu with persistence on a usb and that's it.

 

[bob466]

Etcher has been deleted...I will only use Ventoy or the Mint USB Image Writer from now on.

I've used etcher for a few years and never saw a massage saying.."we collect your data" before.

 

[The Duck]

I've use dd copy and etcher and gnome image writer never had a problem with them.

 

[bob466]

I've use dd copy and etcher and gnome image writer never had a problem with them.

I didn't till now either but as you can see..."error opening source" which I find very strange because the Foxclone ISO is good as the checksum is correct and can Boot to it in Ventoy and with Mint's USB Image Writer.

 

[MzQ1NjExN2]

You can also try Raspberry Imager/formatter. Worked for me 100% of the time and very very easy to use. However since I've started using Mint I've been using the native imager/formatter.

Raspberry Pi OS – Raspberry Pi

From industries large and small, to the kitchen table tinkerer, to the classroom coder, we make computing accessible and affordable for everybody.

www.raspberrypi.com

 

[KGIII]

Etcher appears to work okay here.

I do know that it shows ads in the Windows version. As their goal is a professional product, this does not surprise me.

As for collecting data, I'm mostly okay with that so long as it is disclosed. I've yet to read the Etcher TOS but I doubt their legal department is going to let them collect data without making it known somewhere (perhaps buried in said terms of service).

At least I hope they have a legal department, even if it's just an outsourced agency that reviews their contracts and other legal documents. In this environment, they'd be really silly to not have a legal department. That's just asking for trouble.

 

[Condobloke]

You can also try Raspberry Imager/formatter. Worked for me 100% of the time and very very easy to use. However since I've started using Mint I've been using the native imager/formatter.

For anyone interested, rpi-imager can be found in Linux Mint's Software Manager.

 

[Thunderpants]

Tried Etcher but soon reverted to 'gnome-disk-utility' which I'd used for years without problems.

 

[MzQ1NjExN2]

Lol.

 

[909mjolnir]

dd seems to be fairly reliable, so that's what i usually use.
on windows, even rufusp connects to the wifi to download stuff.

 

[MikeWalsh]

dd seems to be fairly reliable, so that's what i usually use.
on windows, even rufusp connects to the wifi to download stuff.

It should be! It's been around since the early days of Unix, so that's.....let me see.....getting on for 60 years now. Or summat around that kinda ball-park.

( Correction; my bad. It first appeared as part of Unix version 5.....released in 1974:- )

dd (Unix) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That's still half-a-century. It's, um, quite "mature" by now....

Mike.

 

[Alexzee]

Etcher worked for me last year.
Most of the time I use dd.

 Unmount and Format the USB Device

After confirming your target drive, you need to unmount it before formatting it.

sudo umount /dev/sdb*

Next, format the unmounted drive. Let’s do this with the following command:

sudo mkfs.vfat -I /dev/sdb

 Create a Bootable USB Using the dd Command

We’re ready to copy the ISO file to the USB drive using the dd command. I’d recommend navigating to the directory where you downloaded the ISO. Let’s say you put it in your user’s “Downloads” directory.

cd ~/Downloads

Since we’re already in the right directory, we can use the following command to write ISO to USB and create a bootable USB stick:

***This archlinux .iso is "just and example":-
4. $ sudo dd if=~/Downloads/archlinux-2023.07.01-x86_64.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress

Thanks for the heads up on Etcher.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Are You Using Balena Etcher​

Yes and no.

I first brought Etcher to the forum's attention nearly 8 years ago, here, https://www.linux.org/threads/advic...-as-just-a-desktop-operation.12737/post-44801

@atanere and I soon became advocates for how easy it was to use, but that was when it was just Etcher.

Then Balena bought them and it became Balena-Etcher.

It was available as a 64-bit appimage for a number of years, and was cross-platform, which was useful to Windows users.

I scrupulously got updated versions for a number of years.

Now they only provide the 64-bit as a zip, and for appimage you only get Legacy.

I simply carry around balenaEtcher-1.18.8-x64.AppImage with me from distro to distro, no nags, no info collection.

Wiz

 

[KGIII]

Now they only provide the 64-bit as a zip, and for appimage you only get Legacy.

Look below the list. It's easy for the eyes to gloss over it, or it was for my eyes. There are .deb and .rpm versions available.

You then will navigate your way to Github and their release page.

Releases · balena-io/etcher

Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives, safely and easily. - balena-io/etcher

github.com

With this being the current example:

Release v2.1.3 · balena-io/etcher

c2fc369 (Remove stale secrets, 2025-02-26)

github.com