I tried everything and scoured the whole interweb, with no luck. So here I am.
I am using a Dell laptop running Win 10. But I previously did all this stuff on a Mac running Mojave, with similar results.
I have been trying to create a functioning Tails OS Live on USB. I downloaded the 4.6 img file for USB from the Tails website and I validated the file. All good. I then used Etcher to Flash a USB key I have. The flashing completes successfully. The validation is also successful.
So, I turn off the PC. I reboot. I get “Operating System not found”.
I know for a fact that my laptop can boot with a USB, I have another USB with Tails and that loads fine. The problem with that USB is that I can’t create a Persistent volume on it. I tried creating the second USB via Tails Installer, but it never works. I still get the same “Operating system not found” with any USB I create via Tails Installer.
Any ideas on why Etcher is creating a USB that does not work? Is there anything specific I need to know?
Hello, Etcher just writes the disk image to the drive, it does not modify it.
I don’t know what “Tails Installer” is or how it works.
But looking here https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/persistence/configure/index.en.html , it seems like you can create a persistent storage directly from tails.
That’s my conundrum. By the way, my current Tails USB doesn’t let me create a Persistent volume, which is why I tried all the above.
Recapping.
On the Tails Installert topic: yes, in theory, yes. And I tried a million times. From within Tails, I used the Tails Installer. I cloned Tails: no boot. I used the img file for USB (validated): no boot. I used the ISO file for DVD (validated): no boot. I used the ISO file for VM machines (validated): no boot. I also tried all the above with different USB keys. No luck.
That is why I started using my Win 10 laptop with Etcher. I downloaded all three version of Tails 4.6 and validated them, and then used them with Etcher. I always complete the flashing successfully AND the validation. It all looks good.
But when I try to boot the laptop with this freshly flashed USB, I get the “Operating System not found” error.
I am honestly lost, at this point. I started this as a fun thing, wanted to check this distro but I really can’t seem to make it fully work.
Hi @liambrown10 – thanks for the additional details, and for trying an Ubuntu image, written with Etcher, on your laptop. If I understand correctly, that has booted successfully – which lets us know that Etcher is able to write images that your laptop can boot.
I’m unsure from your previous posts whether:
you have not been able to use Etcher to write a Tails image of any kind – with or without a persistent volume configured – that can your laptop can boot;
or you have been able to use Etcher to write a Tails image, but only without a persistent volume configured, that can your laptop can boot.
Can you let us know which it is?
I’m also curious if you have a Tails image that:
does not boot your laptop when written with Etcher,
but does boot your laptop when written with another tool to the same USB key.
I’m trying to narrow the problem down a bit, and determine whether the problem lies with Tails, Tails with a persistent volume, a particular USB key, or Etcher itself.