How to create a multi partition sd disk image without root privileges in Linux?

Creating a multi-partition SD disk image without root privileges in Linux can be a challenge for users without elevated privileges. This is because the creation of disk images usually requires root access, as it involves modifying the file system. However, there are alternative methods for creating a multi-partition SD disk image without having to use root access.

To create a multi-partition SD disk image without root privileges on Linux, you can use the DD command. This command is used for copying and converting files and can be used to create an image of an SD card with multiple partitions.

First, you need to find the device name of your SD card. You can use the lsblk command to list all the available block devices and their mount points.

You should see a list of all your block devices, including your SD card. Note the device path of your SD card, for example, /dev/sdb.

Next, create a blank disk image file with the dd command. This file will be used to store the entire contents of the SD card, including all the partitions.

This command creates a 4GB disk image file called sdcard.img. You can adjust the size of the file by changing the count parameter.

Now you need to create the partitions on the disk image file. You can use the fdisk command to do this.

This command opens the fdisk utility on the sdcard.img file. Follow these steps to create the partitions:

After creating the partitions, you need to create a filesystem on each partition. You can use the mkfs command to do this.

These commands create an ext4 filesystem on the first partition (sdcard.img1) and a FAT32 filesystem on the second partition (sdcard.img2). You can adjust the filesystem type by changing the -t parameter.

Finally, you need to mount the partitions on the disk image file to access them.

These commands create two mount points (mnt1 and mnt2) and mount the first and second partitions on them, respectively. You need to replace START_OFFSET with the starting sector of each partition, which you can find using the fdisk -l sdcard.img command.

That's it! You can now access the partitions on the disk image file as if they were on a real SD card. Remember to unmount the partitions and delete the mount points when you're done.

This tutorial will guide you through the process of creating a multi-partition SD disk image without root privileges using fdisk and losetup in Linux.

First, create a blank image file for the SD card using the dd command. Replace sdcard.img with the desired name of the image file and X with the size of the image file in megabytes.

Next, partition the image file using fdisk. Run the following command to start fdisk with the image file.

Follow the prompts to create the desired partitions. For example, to create two partitions of equal size, enter the following commands:

Next, set up loop devices for each partition using losetup. Run the following command to set up a loop device for the first partition.

This will output the loop device name, such as /dev/loop0p1.

Repeat this command for each partition, changing the partition number in the command. For example, to set up a loop device for the second partition, run:

This will output the loop device name, such as /dev/loop0p2.

Next, create a filesystem on each partition using the mkfs command. Replace /dev/loop0p1 with the loop device name for the first partition and /dev/loop0p2 with the loop device name for the second partition.

Finally, mount the partitions to a directory using the mount command. Replace /mnt/sdcard/part1 with the desired mount point for the first partition and /mnt/sdcard/part2 with the desired mount point for the second partition.

You can now copy files to the mounted partitions as needed.