What Is Etcher?

888 Views, 0 Favorites, 0 Comments

What Is Etcher?

BalenaEtcher, or commonly referred to as Etcher is a free open-source tool that is used for creating bootable USB drives. It copies and writes the .iso and .img files onto a drive. It is a cross-platform utility and works across all OS including Windows, macOS, and Linux. This tool runs at very high speeds and can perform all the operations automatically. It allows simultaneous processing. This streamlined app saves your time by not executing any needless codes. It also flashes your Raspberry Pi devices that support the USB protocol. Therefore, it is widely used for developing Raspberry Pi projects. This tool is easy on the eyes and has a very attractive graphical interface. Etcher has a user-friendly interface and you don’t require any prior programming knowledge while using it.

PROS

It makes drive selection obvious by automatically detecting USB. This avoids the wiping of the entire hard drive.
It validates the copied data after every process also checks whether the flashing has been done correctly or not. In the case of a corrupt device, the validation process comes to play. It also allows you to disable this step if you want to save time and space.
Etcher runs at an insane speed of 75Mbytes/s per port. It has the fastest writing speed and burns 50% faster than the other apps.
It has a user-friendly interface and completes the whole process in just three steps. The app limits these three processes into a single window. These include selecting the image file, choosing the target device, and performing the flash process.
GPT/UEFI Support with NTFS UEFI Support. It doesn’t require you to go through any complicated installation process and is very easy to install. It stores the list of the storage space device along with their respective names to avoid confusion among different drives.
The Pro version has an additional feature called Modular Expansion. It allows expansion over 16 destinations at once while continuing to operate at full speed.
This tool is commonly used for creating a Raspberry Pi SD card.
Apart from ISO and IMG files, etcher also supports the following file formats: ZIP, DMG, DSK, RAW, XZ, BZ2, HDDIMG, GZ, and ETCH.

CONS

This is a clean and user-friendly tool. Therefore, it can perform advanced tweaking which Rufus can easily do.
Etcher sends data to Balena by default. You have to manually disable it.
Etcher has a comparatively large file size than other similar apps.
You may experience unnecessary advertisements and reduced privacy settings in the latest version of BalenaEtcher. The user can easily get vexed due to frequent notification updates.

INSTALLING ETCHER ON WINDOWS

Go to Etcherpc.com or open https://truzine.com
This is the official website of Etcher.
Select "Etcher for Windows" from the drop-down menu. Now, download it.
Double-click the .exe file and follow the Etcher Setup Wizard.
You will have to run it as an administrator to complete the installation process.

INSTALLING ETCHER ON MAC

Go to https://balena.io/etcher/.
Select "Etcher for macOS" from the drop-down menu. Download it.
Double-click the .dmg file to follow the Etcher Setup Wizard.
You will have to drag the Etcher app to your Application folder.
You can open it by double-clicking the app icon.

INSTALLING ETCHER ON LINUX

Go to https://balena.io/etcher/.
Select "Etcher for Linux" from the drop-down menu and download it. You will have to choose between the versions for 32-bit and 64-bit.
Go to ~/ Downloads and enter the following command: $ cd~/Downloads
You will have to unzip the Etcher file by entering the following command: $ unzip etcher-electron-1.4.6-linux-x64.zip
Move the AppImage file to /opt directory. Enter the following command: $ sudo mv etcher-electron-1.4.6-x86_64.AppImage /opt
Run Etcher with the help of the following command: $ /opt/etcher-electron-1.4.6-x86_64.
AppImage Now, a dialog box will appear seeking the permission for installation of a desktop file. Click Yes. Etcher will be launched.