PART2: Cloning AMD64 UEFI Image Disk From Windows

# we assume you have a PC with Windows system and 7zip (or Winrar) installed
# and GParted Live USB stick bootable


# more info on GParted website to create your a bootable Live system)
# and another USB drive for the image disk

WINDOWS PC

# download the distribution from our website/github and extract it with 7zip (or Winrar)
# insert your USB drive and format it using NTFS with for example ‘imgdisk’ name
# then copy the extracted image disk (.img) from Windows to your USB drive
# optional: rename image disk to musiclounge.img or medialounge.img

BAREBONE PC (HTPC)

# insert the the GParted Live USB, the imgdisk usb stick, plug a keyboard (and optionally a mouse)
# and turn the HTPC ON
# quickly hit F10 (NUC) or F12 to show up the boot menu
# boot UEFI:disk corresponding to GParted live USB
# GParted app should be opened so you can identify easily
# your internal hard drive (/dev/sda) and your USB stick ‘imgdisk’ (/dev/sdX)
# in our example:

internal hard drive (ssd): /dev/sda
imgdisk partition 1: /dev/sdb1

# QUIT GParted app

# open terminal with root permissions
# mount your usb imgdisk

  1. $ mount /dev/sdX /media
  2. $ cd /media
  3. $ ls

# IMPORTANT: check the integrity of the image disk

  1. $ sha1sum medialounge....img

# compare the result with the SHA1 line on website
# if this doesn’t match then your image disk is corrupted, you can’t go further until your img disk is clean
# clone from image disk to your internal disk (/dev/sda)
# ALL DATA IN INTERNAL HARD DRIVE/SSD WILL BE ERASED

  1. $ sudo dd if=musiclounge.img of=/dev/sda bs=2048 status=progress

# then fix gpt backup header/table on the target disk

  1. $ sudo sgdisk -e /dev/sda

# unmount /media

  1. $ cd /
  2. $ umount /media

# now launch GParted app to resize the root partition (3) of your internal disk (/dev/sda3)

# double-check and APPLY all changes

# expand partition 3 (minimum 16GB)


# shutdown your HTPC
# remove both GParted live usb and imgdisk usb drive

# congrats! You are now ready to enjoy your distribution

PART1: Cloning AMD64 UEFI Image Disk From Windows (Rufus)

# we assume you have a PC with Windows system with 7zip (or Winrar) and Rufus installed
# an USB Drive with GParted Live USB bootable


# more info on GParted website to create your a bootable Live system)


# and an USB3 To SATA adapter cable

# if you do not have the cable, follow the instructions of SOLUTION 2

WINDOWS PC

# download the distribution from our website/github and extract it with 7zip or Winrar

# IMPORTANT: check the integrity of the image disk
# and compare the result with the corresponding SHA256 line on website

# run powershell (i.e. Windows Terminal) and type:

Get-FileHash C:\path\to\imagedisk.img

# if this doesn’t match then your image disk is corrupted, you can’t go further until your img disk is clean
# connect your SSD (or 2.5″ Hard drive) to your PC with the Startech USB3 To SATA adapter


# then run Rufus and select the image disk, tick the “List USB Hard Drives” and select your SSD
# clone from image disk to your internal disk
#ALL DATA IN INTERNAL HARD DRIVE/SSD WILL BE ERASED


# After the cloning, close Rufus, disconnect the adapter cable from the PC and mount the SSD inside your Barebone PC/NUC

BAREBONE PC (HTPC)

# insert the the GParted Live USB, plug a keyboard (and optionally a mouse)
# and turn the HTPC ON
# quickly hit F10 (NUC) or F12 to show up the boot menu
# boot UEFI:disk corresponding to GParted live USB
# GParted app should be opened so you can identify easily
# your internal hard drive (/dev/sda)
# Fix the GPT backup header/table if GParted prompts to do so

# resize the root partition of your internal disk (/dev/sda3)

# double-check and APPLY all changes

# expand partition 3 (minimum 16GB)


# shutdown your HTPC
# remove both GParted live usb

# congrats! You are now ready to enjoy your distribution

Cloning AMD64 UEFI Image Disk From Windows

# cloning large UEFI image disk (5GB+) from Windows to internal hard drive (or SSD) may cause of corrupt installation
# also due to GPT structure, cloning to another disk is not enough, you need to rewrite the GPT backup header/table on the last 33 sectors of your target disk
# finally you really need to resize the root partition to get enough space for using the distribution

# here are the instructions to make this from Windows and with GParted Live on Linux side.

SOLUTION 1 Requirements

This way is very easy but requires to remove the hard drive/SSD from the Barebone PC/NUC and a special USB3.0 to SATA adapter cable (ref. USB3S2SAT3CB from StartTech).

Windows PC with Rufus and 7-Zip (or Winrar) Installed
1 USB Drive with Bootable GParted Live

1 USB3 To SATA adapter cable

SOLUTION 2 Requirements

Windows PC with Rufus and 7-Zip (or Winrar) Installed
1 USB drive for the image disk
1 USB Drive with Bootable GParted Live