Ventoy to 'Preparing to Install' guide?

brent

devs/maintainers/anyone:

...been installing bare metal out of Ventoy the last few days with no glitches. I'm in a new Mate install right now. This is coming from a die-hard write-your-iso-to-a-usb-with-DD kind of fellow. I don't technically know what Ventoy does to an .iso but at this point I wonder if it should have inclusion in the 'Preparing to Install' guide?
Just throwing it out there.
It's easy and as long as it works I think I may keep using the ventoy install system.
I have no idea if there is data (anecdotal or otherwide) about it's failure rate or quirks in that capacity though.

WetGeek

brent I wonder if it (Ventoy) should have inclusion in the 'Preparing to Install' guide?

I've seen posts praising Ventoy like it's the greatest thing since women, but when I tried it, I got so confused that I never did get it installed and working. I have no problem with Etcher, so I admit I didn't try very hard to get Ventoy working.

Perhaps you could write a tutorial for folks like me? You seem to have a good handle on it.

Staudey

Just yesterday there was someone on IRC with a Ventoy-related issue, so I think it's too soon to officially recommend it. Someone would have to test every ISO on a number of systems anyway (at least BIOS + UEFI, but possibly other combinations), before we could in good conscience give a recommendation for the tool by including it in the "Preparing to Install" documentation.

brent

Staudey you would have to test the snot out of it for sure, and your plate is full enough I imagine. thanks for responding

brent

WetGeek Ironically I created it in W10 but its still incredibly do-able. Perhaps I will write one.

BuzzPCSOS

I have used Ventoy since it was first reviewed on Ghacks. It is ideal for anyone wanting to try out a few distros as once the usb stick has been set up with Ventoy it is simply a case of copying the chosen ISO to the stick to make it bootable. Typically I carry several Linux ISOs and a few Windows ISOs on the same stick which gives me a very ample tool box to fix numerous computer problems.
Typically download the Linux image ventoy-1.0.##-linux.tar.gz from https://github.com/ventoy/Ventoy/releases
Extract the files and run the executable VentoyGUI.x86_64. It will format your usb stick, so make sure it is not full of important stuff. It will create two partitions on your stick (one hidden), copy your chosen ISO on to the larger Ventoy partition. There is support for Bios and Uefi boot by simply checking a box in the Options menu, most computers seem to get along with it fine even some very old slow machines that I really did not expect to work with it at all.
There is a good tutorial on the Ventoy site but it is very easy to get lost in all of the other features that I have never used. Commands that could potentially cause data loss require a second, sanity check, authorization which makes the whole user experience feel very safe.
I would recommend Ventoy to anyone who wants to boot from a selection of ISOs that may need to be regularly swapped with others.

WetGeek

BuzzPCSOS I have used Ventoy since it was first reviewed on Ghacks.

Thanks for this summary of what it takes to get started using Ventoy. Somewhere around here I have a 128 GB USB key that I bought when I wanted to try running Solus from it -- just to see if it were really possible. I'm busy with other tasks right now, but as soon as I can, I'll look for that USB key and give Ventoy a try.

WetGeek

BuzzPCSOS I have used Ventoy since it was first reviewed on Ghacks.

My new 128 GB USB drive arrived today, and beore I install Ventoy on it, I have a question about its usefulness for me. As it happens, I install a large number of .ISO files, but I install them on VirtualBox VMs to explore other interesting distros. VirtualBox gets them from the ISOs share on my NAS. I usually only install one on hardware when my wife kills another laptop, and I need to replace Windows on her new one.

I've been trying to figure out how Ventory would help me to create VMs, and it occurs to me that it's unlikely to help. On the rare occasions when I install a system on hardware, it's always Solus 4.3 Plasma, and I use the same USB drive I've used ever since I installed the .ISO on it using Etcher.

Would Ventoy really help me somehow, or should I just try to find some other use for this USB drive?

brent

WetGeek I did it once in solus and once in W10 and W10 was easier.
Basically the iso installs the "operating system"---the file manager that you can drag any old iso into and stack them up like corn tortillas.
If you can boot into Ventoy usb you can choose any of your iso collection and run it at will by double-click.

stalebrim

brent sounds too complicated etcher is much easier

WetGeek

brent If you can boot into Ventoy usb you can choose any of your iso collection and run it at will by double-click.

Obviously, you haven't seen my .ISO collection. 😊 But I'm still determined to give Ventoy a try. When I looked, I couldn't find my 128 GB USB drive, so I just ordered another one. Amazon's "choice" was only $10.

brent

stalebrim complicated in linux you will be using source code/iso. In windows the "iso" is standard *exe extension so poof and boom the usb is formatted. I'm glad I kept WIN around if for no other reason than this🙂

BuzzPCSOS

brent I have access to both Windows and Linux but prefer the setup in Linux 😆
Once it is on your USB the boot operation appears identical and the Ventoy version can be updated to the latest build from Windows or Linux regardless of what operating system it was installed from.
Once you have got to grips with it the whole system seems so simple it is a joy.

brent

WetGeek
old tech bloke makes the ventoy and uses it in his VM

but there ain't much else supporting this online that I could see. I'm inclined to agree with you. ventoy might be an extra/uneccessary middleman for your aims. he basically described it as a 'gigantic bootloader'.
for most uses i think a ventoy usb is simply an iso repository (storage) that launches the OS when you need it to.

with the amt of distros you have they are probably better off in nas of wherever you keep them. bei interested in second opinions

WetGeek

WetGeek should I just try to find some other use for this USB drive?

Speaking of this USB drive, when I bought it, I ordered a 128 GB Amazon Basics version. The label on the box it came in says it's an Amazon Basics 128 GB Ultra Fast 3.1 Flash Drive. But Dolphin calls it ... wait for it ...

What should I believe?

murbert

WetGeek for the use case you outlined there's no point in using that thumb drive for Ventoy.

stalebrim

WetGeek

Would Ventoy really help me somehow, or should I just try to find some other use for this USB drive?

Ventoy's useful when installing on bare metal, but I don't see it helping with VMs.

brent

get an opinion in the Plamsa equivalent of gnome-disks
and another reading from gparted
should be interesting. maybe they put a 250GB in their by mistake.
edit: inxi -Dj

WetGeek

brent get an opinion in the Plamsa equivalent of gnome-disks

Now, why didn't I think of that? Apparently it was simply packaged in error.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

WetGeek

murbert there's no point in using that thumb drive for Ventoy.

Thanks for confirming that. I thought not, but I'd never used Ventoy, and didn't want to go with an assumption when I could simply ask someone who had used it.

brent

WetGeek Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

De nada. Here's some more: Am man with one watch always knows what time it is; a man with two is never sure.

Good luck with the power supply. Get a bright light and the tiny tools out. Easy work in a desktop, a laptop not so much🙂

johano

stalebrim, as well as keeping ISO's for fresh installations, I find Ventoy otherwise useful–to keep system tools/diagnostic/recovery type ISOs. It also manages attaching persistence files to ISOs well, and so allowing keeping distro/s set up as you like for portable use. Agreed that for @WetGeek's VM use it doesn't really bring anything much of use.

@WetGeek, it seems to like to explore a lot of distros, and with your new 0.25 TB USB stick you would have plenty of room to play around with distros using persistence files. Probably not worth the effort though to become acquainted with Ventoy for short stay distros that you want to evaluate and check for interest's sake, when your current skills with VMs fit the role better?