Bootable USB stick create failure - balenaEtcher 2.1.4, Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS iso, Win 10

yorkearwaker · October 15, 2025, 3:58pm

Dear Ubuntu Community,

Ubuntu Version:
Ubuntu Desktop 24.04.3 LTS

Download WS, the iso image download link

Download Ubuntu Desktop WS, the Ubuntu tutorial page

Desktop Environment (if applicable):
Windows 10 Pro

Assume this means the desktop env being used to perform the tasks described in this topic.

Problem Description:
Create a bootable USB stick WS, the Ubuntu tutorial page for creating bootable USB stick

Followed instructions on the Ubuntu tutorial page in how to create a bootable USB stick.

Downloaded the latest version of balenaEtcher from the link provided in the Ubuntu tutorial page. balenaEtcher version 2.1.4 .

Went through the three steps

Flash from file
Select target
Flash!

USB stick

sanDisk, USB 3.2 , 64GB

After Flash! the following is returned in PowerShell cli.

PowerShell 7.5.3
PS C:\Users\yorke> wmic logicaldisk where drivetype=2 get deviceid, volumename, description
Description     DeviceID  VolumeName
Removable Disk  D:
Removable Disk  E:

PS C:\Users\yorke> Get-PnpDevice -PresentOnly | Where-Object { $_.InstanceId -match '^USB' }

Status     Class           FriendlyName                                                                     InstanceId
------     -----           ------------                                                                     ----------
OK         USB             USB Composite Device                                                             USB\VID_0C…
OK         USB             USB Mass Storage Device                                                          USB\VID_07…
OK         USB             USB Root Hub (USB 3.0)                                                           USB\ROOT_H…
OK         Camera          Integrated Webcam                                                                USB\VID_0C…
OK         Biometric       Synaptics VFS7552 Touch Fingerprint Sensor                                       USB\VID_13…
OK         Bluetooth       Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4 Bluetooth                                               USB\VID_0C…
OK         HIDClass        USB Input Device                                                                 USB\VID_04…
OK         DiskDrive        USB  SanDisk 3.2Gen1 USB Device                                                 USBSTOR\DI…

Relevant System Information:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.6332]
Dell XPS 15 9560

Screenshots or Error Messages:

Type Windows key and R key

Windows + R
diskmgmt.msc

The following partition on the USB drive is the same size as the Ubuntu ISO download.

(D:)
5.91 GB RAW
Healthy (Basic Data Partition)

The ISO image downloaded.

Windows reports the drive needs formatting. Win reported this immediately after Flash! failure message.
Removed USB stick and reinserted into Laptop. Windows reports USB requires formatting. For both drive D: and drive E: .

File Explorer view after balenaEtcher Flash! . Before flash only drive D: was available. After flash drive E: was available. After flash neither are recognised as FAT32 by Windows 10, and the ‘You need to format the disk in drive D: before you can use it.’ message is displayed. Followed by the 'Location is not available ’ message.

What I’ve Tried:
Tried to find an SHA key for Iso file but could not find one on the download page referenced above. Nor on the Alternative downloads page linked below.

Alternative downloads WS

Have not tried restarting laptop and F12 boot menu selection.

Looking on Ubuntu Community hub for similar issues.

Install Failure with BalenaEtcher WS,
USB stick trouble WS
Not able to boot in Ubuntu to install it WS, tangentially relevant if not specifically so
…

Looking online for similar issues

Balena Etcher fails to flash image onto the drive and also “corrupts” it WS, reddit, linux4noobs
…

Ongoing searches online.

Yours,
York

ogra · October 15, 2025, 4:02pm

For the 24.04.3 image they are here:

rubi1200 · October 15, 2025, 4:24pm

Have you considered using Rufus?

I have always had more success with that.

yorkearwaker · October 15, 2025, 4:28pm

Dear @ogra,

Many thanks for your prompt response.

Great resource.

The SHA check file seems to indicate the iso file is not corrupted. Please see command line output below.

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.6332]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\yorke>cd C:\Users\yorke\Documents\env\desktop-perd8ms\ubuntu-iso

C:\Users\yorke\Documents\env\desktop-perd8ms\ubuntu-iso>dir
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 7EE5-8235

 Directory of C:\Users\yorke\Documents\env\desktop-perd8ms\ubuntu-iso

15/10/2025  17:13    <DIR>          .
15/10/2025  17:13    <DIR>          ..
15/10/2025  17:08               598 sha-.2025-08-07.txt
15/10/2025  17:13               833 SHA256SUMS.gpg
15/10/2025  14:44     6,345,887,744 ubuntu-24.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso
               3 File(s)  6,345,889,175 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  742,334,447,616 bytes free

C:\Users\yorke\Documents\env\desktop-perd8ms\ubuntu-iso>CertUtil -hashfile ubuntu-24.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso SHA256
SHA256 hash of ubuntu-24.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso:
faabcf33ae53976d2b8207a001ff32f4e5daae013505ac7188c9ea63988f8328
CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

Which matches the SHA from the resource provided.

faabcf33ae53976d2b8207a001ff32f4e5daae013505ac7188c9ea63988f8328 *ubuntu-24.04.3-desktop-amd64.iso

Will attempt to reboot laptop and see if boot menu recognises the USB as bootable.

Thanks. Will report back with progress.

yorkearwaker · October 15, 2025, 4:43pm

Dear @rubi1200 ,

Thanks for your response.

Downloaded Rufus some months ago when first thinking about this. But wanted to try the method on the Ubuntu tutorial in the first instance. Will continue with the Ubuntu tutorial method approach which recommends balenaEtcher for a bit longer. However may have to consider alternatives like Rufus or Ventoy or similar if there continue to be issues.

Thanks.

Yours,
York

Frogs_Hair · October 15, 2025, 8:59pm

To restore the usb for future use from Windows after flashing with Etcher see the recover section at the link. I’ve used this procedure many times.

https://blog.balena.io/did-etcher-break-my-usb-sd-card/

yorkearwaker · October 15, 2025, 10:14pm

Dear @Frogs_Hair ,

Many thanks for your response.

Brilliant! Just the reassurance needed. And great to learn about the support for Raspberry Pi too.

Will review this balena blog post in the morning. And take appropriate action as necessary.

Yours,
York

Frogs_Hair · October 15, 2025, 10:19pm

Your welcomed ! My first try with Balena Etcher led me to the blog after trying to use the usb for another task. I received the drive must be formatted notification.

yorkearwaker · October 16, 2025, 2:18pm

Dear Ubuntu Community,

Downloaded the Ubuntu Desktop 24.04.3 ISO file a second time. Weirdly at a similar time. Likely some deep rooted psychological factor or or a timelord conspiracy or pure random chance.

Both 2025/10/15 download and 2025/10/16 download report same size in File Explorer .

It appears the first download 2025/10/15 may have been corrupted. See properties for Size: and Size on disk: values are not the same.

The second download 2025/10/16 properties for Size: and Size on disk: value are the same.

Will attempt to repeat Flash! process with balenaEtcher . Got the following error.

Renamed iso files. The error was due to (1) in 2025/10/16 download.

Note. The USB was not reformatted beforehand. It still retains drive D: and drive E: .

Windows requested insert USB drive.

However in the background … balenaEtcher continues to Flash!

Validating!

Flash completed!

Disk Management reports drive D: and no strange drive E:

File Explorer shows no strange drive E:

However …

Restarting laptop did not bring up USB boot drive.

Restarting laptop and holding down F12 key did not bring up boot menu or USB boot drive.

Restarting laptop and holding down F10 key did not bring up boot menu or USB boot drive.

Yours,
York

quarkrad · October 16, 2025, 7:40pm

You could try pressing F2 to go into bios and then change the boot order.

Dennis_N · October 16, 2025, 7:46pm

I have seen cases where a particular USB port would not boot something while a different port would. That is one thing you could test.

You could also try to temporarily change the default boot device to USB in the BIOS. Then insert USB and then restart or power off/on.

Comment:
I like Ventoy. Once you have it set up, It eliminates the need to create a USB flash drive for installs. You still have to boot the Ventoy app via a USB port or SATA.

yorkearwaker · October 16, 2025, 8:28pm

Dear @Dennis_N and @quarkrad ,

Thanks for your response.

Tried a different USB port. Didn’t seem to work. Same issues. But didn’t go through all options; F12, F10, . Good advice though.

Will try F2 and boot order tomorrow. Thanks. Had been on my mind to do so but didn’t get round to it today.

If that fails will reformat USB and also give it a EFI System Partition ESP . As this has been recommended in some online sources too. ESP formatted as FAT32 with the boot file located at /EFI/BOOT/BOOTx64.EFI . Need more investigation of this.

Thanks.

Yours,
York

quarkrad · October 17, 2025, 6:34am

I’ve build many ubuntu/linux systems via a usb stick and never formatted a EFI partition on it (i.e. the usb stick). My understanding is that the only EFI partition you need is on the HD you are installing the OS on.

nio-wiklund · October 17, 2025, 9:09am

In order to get a temporary boot menu with your Dell computer, I suggest that you tap the F12 key repeatedly right after booting (typically once or twice per second).

In the temporary menu, you should be able select a line with the arrow keys and press the Enter key to boot into the Ubuntu system on the USB drive.

yorkearwaker · October 17, 2025, 4:34pm

Dear @quarkrad and @nio-wiklund ,

Many thanks both for your responses.

Success! Tested Ubuntu Desktop 24.04.3 LTS on the XPS 15 9560 with bootable USB drive.

Worked like a charm. Thanks.

Had tried this in an earlier iteration through this. But with the first attempt at Ubuntu iso and balenaEtcher Flash to USB drive which had failed. Not in with the second attempt which had succeeded.

Also goes to show the helpfulness of a structured approach to these things. A check list of things to try and how to do them.

Unfortunately the Dell Service Manual does not go into the detail of the method outlined in your message. The Dell Service Manual states only ‘Bring up the one-time boot menu by pressing F12 key.’ Notwithstanding other online sources on StackExchange and Reddit and so on mentioning pressing the key repeatedly upon boot. This caused me some confusion.

Boot Sequence, XPS 15 2-in-1 Service Manual WS

Thanks again for the reminder to do so. Also the clarity of activity method instructions which brings a greater level of certainty of process.

Thanks for the confirmation. Was hoping this was a red herring.

Next week, starting Monday 20 October 2025, replace internal SSD drive and then boot from USB and install Ubuntu! With a fair wind and following seas will land upon Linux shores and new horizons on or before Friday next.

Canonical hued bootable USB with Ubuntu Desktop 24.04.3 LTS iso disk image file flashed by balenaEtcher 2.1.4 . The vessel that enables launching upon a Linux voyage.

See also, SSD M.2 2280 NVMe drive for Ubuntu 24.04, WS

Yours,
York

tea-for-one · October 17, 2025, 5:19pm

It’s always a nice gesture to mark the relevant post as a solution:-

It allows Ubuntu users/searchers to easily find a workable solution to same/similar problems
The user posting the answer receives recognition for their effort
The thread is closed to prevent meandering off-topic in the future
Users/helpers know that they can ignore topics with a solution and concentrate on assisting elsewhere

It seems that post no. 14 from @nio-wiklund is the pertinent reply