Run Backtrack Linux from a USB thumb drive on a Mac

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Running Backtrack from a USB thumb drive on a MacBook Air

1. Download Backtrack Linux. I used BT5R3-GNOME-64.iso.

2. Format the thumb drive with Disk Utility (FAT, MBR).

3. Use UNetbootin to copy the image to the thumb drive.

4. Use fdisk to mark the partition as active:

   • Run diskutil list to check the device path for the thumb drive. On my system, it was /dev/disk2.
   • Unmount the disk with diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2.
   • Run fdisk -e /dev/rdisk2 to edit the MBR. (Note the r, though I doubt it's actually necessary.)
   • Useful commands in fdisk: print to print the current MBR content, f 1 to mark the first partition as "active", write to write the changes to the MBR.

5. Reboot, hold the Option key, and choose the drive labeled "Windows".

Notes

• I tried making two partitions on the thumb drive, and installing Backtrack on the first one. It did not show up in the boot loader.