Tim: >> Why would anyone think that a command like: >> >> dd if=boot.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=8M >> >> Is going to write to anywhere else than /dev/sdb? Ranjan Maitra sent: > No, I would not think so. But if the device is not mounted, would it > not write to the mount point, especially because you are doing so as > root (so nothing to stop you). This logic seems to make sense to me, > and indeed is what happens when I have done it accidentally (without > mounting the USB drive). There's nothing logical about what you've said. The example command line does not mention a mount point, only devices. The "if=" is where it gets its input from, and "of=" is where it goes to ("input" and "output" "files," even though the output is not exactly a file, in this case). That example's output is to /dev/sdb. It'll either output to /dev/sdb, or fail if there isn't a /dev/sdb device available. Being root isn't magical, it won't suddenly make the command do something that you didn't type into it. There is only one way you could write to the mount point, and that's by mentioning a mount point in the "of=" parameters. e.g. dd if=sample.iso of=/mnt/drivename But that's not how you'd use "dd" in this kind of situation - where you were wanting to write to the underlying device, from the beginning of its storage, not just copy a file into its filesystem. I can't help think but you're doing it wrong if you get those kind of results. -- [tim@localhost ~]$ uname -rsvp Linux 3.9.10-100.fc17.x86_64 #1 SMP Sun Jul 14 01:31:27 UTC 2013 x86_64 All mail to my mailbox is automatically deleted, there is no point trying to privately email me, I will only read messages posted to the public lists. ZNQR LBH YBBX! -- users mailing list users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Fedora Code of Conduct: http://fedoraproject.org/code-of-conduct Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org