Solved RockyLinux installation failing

[Alexzee]

I seem to recall @Brickwizard saying a few months back that balenaEtcher is problematic.
Heeding the warning I stopped using it.

 

[Brickwizard]

I seem to recall @Brickwizard saying a few months back that balenaEtcher is problematic.
Heeding the warning I stopped using it.

Yes i have seen a few reports saying there were gremlins about, I don't know if they have been fixed or not, so just use what works for you,,

 

[TheRealDeal]

This could be related? -- https://linux.org/threads/how-to-create-a-linux-boot-usb-from-windows.55320/#post-258408

The problem is some distros check the checksum of the created iso.
The dd mode iso doesnt match the iso mode of the iso. Hence checksum differences, and refusal to install.


Title: PSA: Avoid Rufus ISO Mode for Linux Boot USBs – Use DD Mode Instead
Hey folks,
Just wanted to share some hard-earned experience for anyone creating Linux bootable USBs, especially if you're helping others or troubleshooting failed installs.

The Problem with Rufus ISO Mode​

Rufus is a popular tool for creating bootable USBs on Windows, but its "ISO Image Mode" can cause major headaches when used with many Linux distributions.
When you select an ISO in Rufus, it asks:

If you choose ISO Image Mode, Rufus extracts the ISO contents and writes them to a FAT32 or NTFS filesystem. This is fine for Windows ISOs, but it breaks the integrity of many Linux ISOs.
Why? Because many Linux distros (like Fedora, Ubuntu, etc.) include checksums in the bootloader or initrd. When the installer boots, it verifies the media. If the structure has been altered (as ISO mode does), the checksum fails. The installer may then refuse to proceed, warning that the image might be corrupted or tampered with — a logical and security-conscious response.

The Fix: Use DD Mode​

If you use DD Image Mode, Rufus writes the ISO bit-for-bit, preserving the original structure and checksum. This is equivalent to using dd on Linux or tools like balenaEtcher or Fedora Media Writer.

Why It Sometimes Works (e.g., Debian)​

Some distros like Debian are more forgiving. They don’t always enforce strict media checks, so Rufus ISO mode might appear to "work." But that’s not a guarantee — and it leads to confusion when other distros fail.

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Recommended Tools for Linux USB Creation​

Tool	Platform	Method	Notes
dd	Linux/macOS	Raw write	Powerful but dangerous if you mistype the device path.
Fedora Media Writer	Windows/Linux/macOS	Raw write	Great for Fedora and other Red Hat-based distros.
balenaEtcher	Cross-platform	Raw write	Simple, reliable, and verifies the write.
Rufus (DD mode)	Windows	Raw write	Works well if you choose DD mode. Avoid ISO mode for Linux.
Ventoy	Cross-platform	Bootloader-based	Great for multi-ISO USBs, but some distros may not boot properly without tweaks.

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TL;DR​

• Avoid Rufus ISO mode for Linux ISOs.
• Use DD mode or a raw-write tool like Etcher or Fedora Media Writer.
• If you're helping others, label your USBs with the method used (e.g., "Ubuntu-DD" vs. "Ubuntu-ISO").
• If you're using Ventoy, be aware that some ISOs may need extra config to boot properly.

It's has been some time I know sorry for that, but I wanted to add further experience that I've made during this issue in case any poor soul should encounter this problem like I did:

I stated that somehow anything that has been written from my desktop PC gets corrupted and the USB drives are totally fine since when I wrote from any other device, it booted like a charm. Lately, I had to setup my desktop PC's OS from scratch many times. Back then, I was skeptical about this being the cause of some low-level software bug within Linux (since that'd mean that many other devices would be affected as well), which is why I've more tended towards a hardware issue, but wasn't able to identify any of my components as the origin of this problem:

This tells me that this is a hardware issue either relying deep in the CPU, Motherboard or all of the usb thumb drives

I'm now finally coming to the conclusion that the origin of this issue must be my motherboard: an ASRock B550M HDV.
I'm telling you that this is not the first time that ASRock motherboards create stupid issues, I can now understand why their prices are one of the lowest. But don't fall for the prices or at some point you'll regret not paying a bit more to avoid lot's of headache. For all of my setups I've (unfortunately) implemented everywhere ASRock motherboards and over those 3 years I'm concluding those bad points about their products:

• current issues with latest AMD processors ("Murder"-Boards feat. Gamers Nexus)
• incredibly bad BIOS / UEFI (updates / features / support) speaking from own experience:

On my homeserver I had the issue that the BIOS settings for "Sleep" (S3 - S5) weren't working at all. I've reached out to the official ASRock forum and even the support. Do you know how long it took them to reply back to me? Thats right, more than half a year!
Not even mentioning how the entire forum was full of spam and the reply from them was totally not helpful. I eventually got around by letting Linux do the work for sleeping.

• unreliable hardware to the point of unfixability:

1. A year ago I was casually playing with one of my friends, at some point I suddenly didn't get any sounds out of my system. Neither did it recorded my voice correctly. I turned my entire OS upside down, which didn't help. After investigating on the hardware, I then came to the conclusion that SOMEHOW the lead connecting the audio chip from its soldering joints to the Motherboards circuits got loose.

2. Recently, a good friend of mine wanted to upgrade to a good gaming PC. I've supported him by putting together all the components that he can buy for a very good self-built PC. Guess what motherboard brand I unfortunately used as a habit. And you guessed again correctly: This guy had issues getting his PC started for more than 2 months because the entire Motherboard was just bricked. Just so you know: This dude is a total normie, not into tech at all, featuring the very popular mindset: "I just want it to work and get on with my life" and I'm not trying to blame him for that, I can totally understand if someone isn't into tech as I am. So it was really akward for me to be the guy that made the choices for him and assuring him that nothing could go wrong by building your PC yourself together and after assembling he found himself infront of a pc that wasn't booting at all: The motherboard dimmed some LED's EVEN FALSELY INDICATING that this is an issue from the CPU AND RAM. So he bought new RAM and CPU and even let those get checked by others, which told him those were totally fine. On his PC, the ASRock motherboard was still yapping about both of those new changed components, which couldn't be (BIOS version was compatible btw. I made sure of that). So as a normie, after all that trouble he eventually gave the rig to a hired PC assembler and he came to the conclusion that CPU and RAM were fine, the issue was sitting deeply within the ASRock motherboard.

3. The issue that this forum post is about, where anything written from USB becomes corrupted in some weird way.

Even though I cannot uphold any strong proof that this time it's ASRock motherboards fault again, after taking meticulous actions in investigating all other hardware components, which turned out to be totally fine and ASRock failing the consumer multiple times as I've told you about my bad experience with ASRock above, I can only come to the conclusion that I'll never buy ASh*t again and seeing something bad on the motherboard as the origin is the only logical explanation to this bizarre issue on my system.

___


May this forum post help any poor soul and hopefully prevent them from buying any other ASh*t product.