Select and use ISOs

Media

Definition

We call a media here a ISO image file that allows to install and/or update Mageia and by extension any physical support where the ISO file is copied.

You can find them here.

Classical installation media

Common features

  • They use the traditional installer called drakx.

  • They are able to make a clean install or an update from previous releases.

DVD

  • Different media for architecture 32 or 64 bits.

  • Some tools are available in the Welcome screen: Rescue System, Memory Test, Hardware Detection Tool.

  • Each DVD contains any available desktop environments and languages.

  • You'll be given the choice during the installation to add or not non free software.

DVD dual arch

  • Both architectures are present on the same media, the choice is made automatically according to the detected CPU.

  • Xfce desktop only.

  • Some languages only (be, bg, ca, de, en, es, fr, it, mk, pl, pt, ru, sv, uk) TO BE CHECKED!

  • It contains non free software.

Live media

Common features

  • Can be used to preview the distribution without first installing it on a HDD, and optionally install Mageia on your HDD.

  • ISO contains only one desktop environment (KDE or GNOME).

  • Different media for architecture 32 or 64 bits.

  • Live ISOs can only be used to create clean installations, they cannot be used to upgrade from previous releases.

  • They contains non free software.

Live CD KDE

  • KDE desktop environment only.

  • English language only.

  • 32 bits only.

Live CD GNOME

  • GNOME desktop environment only.

  • English language only.

  • 32 bits only.

Live DVD KDE

  • KDE desktop environment only.

  • All languages are present.

  • Different media for architecture 32 or 64 bits.

Live DVD GNOME

  • GNOME desktop environment only.

  • All languages are present.

  • Different media for architecture 32 or 64 bits.

Boot-only CDs media

Common features

  • Each one is a small image that contains no more than that which is needed to start the drakx installer and find the ISO file to continue and complete the install. These ISO files may be on the PC hard disk, on a local drive, on a local network or on the Internet.

  • These media are very light (less than 100 Mo) and are convenient when bandwidth is too low to download a full DVD, PC without DVD drive or PC that can't boot on a USB stick.

  • Different media for architecture 32 or 64 bits.

  • English language only.

boot.iso

  • Contains only free software, for people who refuse non free software.

boot-nonfree.iso

  • Contains non free software (mostly drivers, codecs...) for people who need it.

Media downloading and checking

Downloading

Once you have chosen your ISO file, you can download it either using http or BitTorrent. In both cases, a window give you some information, like the used mirror and the possibility to change if the bandwidth is to low. If http is chosen, you can also see something like

md5sum and sha1sum are tools to check your ISO integrity. Use only one of them. Both hexadecimal numbers have been calculated by an algorithm from the file to be downloaded. If you ask this algorithm to calculate again this number from your downloaded file, either you have the same number and your downloaded file is correct, or the number is different and you met a failure. Then this window appears:

Check the radio button Save File.

Checking the downloaded media integrity

Open a console, no need to be root, and:

- To use md5sum, type: [sam@localhost]$ md5sum path/to/the/image/file.iso.

- To use sha1sum, type: [sam@localhost]$ sha1sum path/to/the/image/file.iso.

and compare the obtained number on your computer (you may have to wait for a while) with the number given by Mageia. Example:

Burn or dump the ISO

The checked ISO can now be burned on a CD or DVD or dumped on a USB stick. These operations are not a simple copy and aim at make a boot-able media.

Burn the ISO on a CD/DVD

Use whatever burner you want but ensure the burning device is set correctly to burn an image, burn data or files is not correct. More information in the Mageia wiki.

Dump the ISO on a USB stick

All Mageia ISOs are hybrid, which means you can 'dump' them on a USB stick and use it to boot and install the system.

[Paralajmërim]

"dumping" an image onto a flash device destroys any prior file-system in the partition; any data will be lost and partition capacity will be reduced to the image size.

To recover the original capacity, you have to format the USB stick.

Using Mageia

You can use a graphical tool like IsoDumper

You can also use the dd tool in a console:

  1. Open a console

  2. Become root with the command su - (don't forget the final -)

  3. Plug your USB stick (do not mount it, that means do not open any application or file manager that read it)

  4. Enter the command fdisk -l

  5. Find the device name for your USB stick (by its size), for example /dev/sdb in the screenshot above, it is a 8Go USB stick.

  6. Enter the command: # dd if=path/to/the/ISO/file of=/dev/sdX bs=1M

    (x)=your device name eg: /dev/sdc Example: # dd if=/home/user/Downloads/Mageia-4-x86_64-DVD.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=1M

  7. Enter the command: # sync

  8. Unplug your USB stick, it is done

Using Windows

You can try:

- Rufus

- Win32 Disk Imager

Mageia Installation

This step is detailed in the Mageia documentation.

More information, is available in the Mageia wiki.