Application Note

Prepare a USB Drive for ASTi Software Installation (#139)

You can install ASTi software on your ASTi system using a USB drive. This is a multistep process that involves the following:

1. Logging into the ASTi File Transfer Portal,
2. Downloading one or more software installation files,
3. Loading installation software onto the USB drive, and
4. Installing the software.

This article addresses the USB drive part of the process with links to relevant information elsewhere on the ASTi website.

Requirements and Setup

The USB drive's storage capacity must be larger than the downloaded file and come from a reliable manufacturer, such as Kingston, SanDisk, or Samsung. Cheap or counterfeit USB drives may experience errors during this process and may result in unsuccessful software installation.

Once you've procured acceptable media, obtain the required .iso image file from ASTi. You can download .iso image files and their checksums from the ASTi File Transfer Portal. Here, you can download SERA, Voisus, and Telestra files; they will have an .iso file name extension.

After downloading, perform a file checksum operation to ensure the integrity of the .iso file. If the .iso checksum does not match the known-good checksum that ASTi provided, download the file anew and repeat verification. For more information about verifying the download, go to Verify the Integrity of Downloaded Files.

Next, transfer the .iso image to the USB drive. This process is not the same as simply copying the .iso file to a USB drive as you would any other file (e.g., vacation photos). It transforms the USB drive from a storage device into a device that acts like a DVD using the downloaded .iso file. You can complete this process on a Windows or Linux system.

Note: ASTi only supports Fedora Media Writer on Windows and dd on Linux. Any other methods may result in invalid media or installation errors.

(Windows) Install and Set Up Fedora Media Writer

To install and set up Fedora Media Writer, follow these steps:

1. Download Fedora Media Writer from GitHub at github.com/FedoraQt/MediaWriter/releases.
2. Install it as you would any other Windows program.
3. Make sure the .iso file exists on the same computer as Fedora Media Writer.
4. Make sure the USB drive is plugged into the same computer.
5. Right-click Fedora Media Writer to Run as administrator.
6. In the first window, click Select .iso file, and select Next.
7. Click Select... and find the .iso file on the local system. Ensure the desired USB drive is selected in the drop-down menu. Select Write. The application displays the operation's progress.
8. When complete, select Finish, and close the application.

You are now ready to proceed with software installation. Follow the instructions in the applicable product cold-start guide.

After the installation finishes, you can use Fedora Media Writer again to restore the USB device from bootable media back into a regular storage drive:

1. Insert the USB device into the same computer as Fedora Media Writer. Due to the types of partitions that Windows supports, the device may not appear as a new drive. Don't panic.
2. Right-click Fedora Media Writer to Run as administrator.
3. Select Restore {USB_drive}, and then select Next.
4. When the application displays, "Your drive was successfully restored," select Finish, and close the application.

The USB device should mount in the file system as a standard storage device with a drive letter (e.g., "E:\").

(Linux) Run the dd Command

To run the dd command on a Linux operating system, follow these steps:

1. Insert the USB device into the Linux system.
2. Make sure the .iso file exists on the same system.
3. Open a terminal, or log into the command line.
4. At the prompt, enter dd if={path to .iso file} of={path to USB device} status=progress (e.g., dd if=/media/TelestraServer-8.4.0.iso of=/dev/sdc status=progress).
5. (Optional) To determine which device designation represents your USB drive, run lsblk to view information about mounted drives available to the Linux system.
6. Once the dd process is complete, run umount to unmount the volume, and remove the USB device from the system (e.g., umount /dev/sdc).

You are now ready to proceed with software installation. Follow the instructions in the applicable product cold-start guide.

Troubleshooting

As mentioned earlier, low-quality or counterfeit USB drives are not reliable for this type of operation. Their use may result in any number of errors or failures during software installation or when writing the .iso image to the drive. If you experience a failure in either case, try using a different USB drive made by another manufacturer.

If you continue to have trouble installing ASTi software, contact ASTi Support at (703) 471-2104, ext. 2, or email support@asti-usa.com to talk about other options.