SD Card Imaging Problems

[TheGeek56]

I've been trying to image Kali on my SD card so I can play around with it on my RPI, but i've been running into an issue. I format the SD card to FAT32 just fine. Then when I run Win32 Disk Imager, it finishes with a "Write Sucessful" But when I try to open it, it says "You must format [drive] to use it again." I format the SD card and the issue continues. Any help?

[B.Goode]

I've been trying to image Kali on my SD card so I can play around with it on my RPI, but i've been running into an issue. I format the SD card to FAT32 just fine. Then when I run Win32 Disk Imager, it finishes with a "Write Sucessful" But when I try to open it, it says "You must format [drive] to use it again." I format the SD card and the issue continues. Any help?

But when I try to open it, it says "You must format [drive] to use it again.

What are you trying to open it with, and why? The only sensible thing to do with an SD card that has been written with Win32DiskImager is to put it in an RPi and boot from it.

[TheGeek56]

Explorer, and also because it wasn't booting with the RPI. So I tried to check it but got the error.

[fruitoftheloom]

I've been trying to image Kali on my SD card so I can play around with it on my RPI, but i've been running into an issue. I format the SD card to FAT32 just fine. Then when I run Win32 Disk Imager, it finishes with a "Write Sucessful" But when I try to open it, it says "You must format [drive] to use it again." I format the SD card and the issue continues. Any help?

Did you use the SDFormatter Tool (size adjustment ON) or a Digital Camera to format the SD Card, as these usually solve issues.

You should be able to read the SD Card after writing in Windows Explorer, but will only see the FAT32 Partition.

[drgeoff]

If you are putting an OS image on a card you do not need to format it. The image overwrites the boot sector, partition table, file system etc.

[TheGeek56]

If you are putting an OS image on a card you do not need to format it. The image overwrites the boot sector, partition table, file system etc.

It doesn't seem to be booting. :/

[fruitoftheloom]

If you are putting an OS image on a card you do not need to format it. The image overwrites the boot sector, partition table, file system etc.

It doesn't seem to be booting. :/

Did you download the correct .IMG for your RPi Model

https://www.offensive-security.com/kali ... e-download

[B.Goode]

It doesn't seem to be booting.

See viewtopic.php?f=28&t=58151

In your case I can think of 3 broad possibilities -

1. Your SD card writer is not compatible with writing image files. (Have you tried writing the image for a 'well-known' OS such as a recent version of Raspbian, as an experiment, to see whether your tools are up to the job?)

2. Your download of Kali is corrupt. (Have you checked the checksum if one is published? If the download was a .zip file, have you unzipped it to give you a .img file?)

3. The version of Kali you have downloaded is not compatible with your RPi. Check the Kali site for options.

[TheGeek56]

Did you download the correct .IMG for your RPi Model

https://www.offensive-security.com/kali ... e-download

Yep

[TheGeek56]

It doesn't seem to be booting.

See viewtopic.php?f=28&t=58151

In your case I can think of 3 broad possibilities -

1. Your SD card writer is not compatible with writing image files. (Have you tried writing the image for a 'well-known' OS such as a recent version of Raspbian, as an experiment, to see whether your tools are up to the job?)

2. Your download of Kali is corrupt. (Have you checked the checksum if one is published? If the download was a .zip file, have you unzipped it to give you a .img file?)

3. The version of Kali you have downloaded is not compatible with your RPi. Check the Kali site for options.

All has been done.

[hansotten]

Try to eliminate the source of your error:

- really really use SD formatter (formatting is not the same!)
- use another SD card
- write an image of Raspbian (e.g. wheezy, smaller than jessie, < 4 GB) and try that

If this all works its the Kali image.

[drgeoff]

Make sure you are instructing Win32DiskImager to write to the whole card, NOT the drive on it.

@hansotten
Formatting is irrelevant when writing images.

[TheGeek56]

Narrowed it down to Kali. Worked with Raspbian. Any ideas?

EDIT: Me being illiterate with most things related Linux, I failed to remember that XZ was a file extension. So I renamed it to kali.img instead of opening it up with 7zip...

[B.Goode]

I renamed it to kali.img instead of opening it up with 7zip...

That would indeed be a mistake that would lead to an unbootable SD card, and one that would also be unreadable from Windows.

This recent message on Twitter might help: https://twitter.com/RPiSpy/status/661919634279555072

[TheGeek56]

Issue resolved, thank you for the help