‘USB Image Writer’ and ‘USB Formatter’ are two great tools for the newbies available for the Linux Mint users. It would be great if they are made available under Ubuntu MATE. Could anyone please fork them and make them available under Ubuntu MATE, like @Wimpy did with MATE Menu ( forked from MintMenu) and MATE Tweak ( forked from Mint Desktop)?
I agree about the usb image writer. I have found the the one that comes bundled with Mate can be occassionally a bit flakey and refuse to wipe the destination usb prior to writing the iso to it. Whereas, the usb image writer i install never does this. No idea why. I should say, this is nothing to do with Mate. I have always found this issue with any of Ubuntu’s usb image writers.
The version I install is:
usb-imagewriter_0.1.3-1linuxmint2_all.deb
OK, I’ve done some research.
The image writer shipped by Linux Mint is actually based on an old Canonical project. The original project required HAL and the Mint team have worked around this by enumerating /sys/block with a shell script.
I’ve looked at the original code and I can replace HAL with udisks. There are some other fixes floating about I can incorporate too.
So, I won’t fork the Mint version but I will see what I can create from the original code.
That’s what we need. The important thing is to make these tools available by default under UM, not their origin. 
I've been cooking up a little something.
Eye Candy
Change log
- Added .iso to list of accepted extensions. [lp: #434493]
- Fixed progress bar. [lp: #354142]
- Migrated to udisks. [lp: #714721]
- Updated .desktop file.
- Updated branding.
Install
If you want to test USB Image Writer then you can install it on Ubuntu MATE 12.04, 14.04, 14.10 and 15.04.
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/crazy-mate
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install usb-imagewriter
You will find it under the System -> Administration menu as USB Image Writer.
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You know @Wimpy what brought me into UM without it’s few shortcomings? Your dedication towards this project. Keep it up and possibly, Ubuntu MATE would become the most popular *buntu flavor. Fingers crossed!
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Nice work Martin!
Looks the job as well.
USB Image Writer is available for testing. Anyone wondering why I made this, just look at the instructions on the website for putting the Ubuntu MATE iso on a USB stick 
Being able to direct people to a graphical utility, will be much better. If only there was a guide I could link to in the Tips, Tricks and Tutorials category that explains how to install USB Image Writer and then how to use it to make a bootable USB stick from the Ubuntu MATE iso images. Hint, hint! 
I can do that Martin. I’ll do it sometime tomorrow
Bug to report on that Martin. I’ve just installed it and when I go to the image writer to open it, it informs me that there is no target device and I must insert a USB. However, the USB is already inserted.
I’ll reboot to see if it fixes it.
nope, same problem
It doesn't matter if the device is already in and it doesn't fix it if I take the device out and then plug back in.
I should also mention, this is on Ubuntu Mate 14.04 LTS. I reinstalled it due to Precise acting up a bit
Looks like my filters to locate USB devices are too stringent. I’ll update it this evening and include a little USB scanner to if it doesn’t work I can get some debug output from you
I’ve just uploaded a quick hotfix to the PPA. It should be built and published in the next half hour. No time for a diag tool right now. But apt-get update and apt-get upgrade and let me know how it works.
still not working.
I ran it from the terminal to see the output:
stephen@stephen-desktop:~$ gksu imagewriter
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
proxy = bus.get_object("org.freedesktop.UDisks", "/org/freedesktop/UDisks")
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 241, in get_object
follow_name_owner_changes=follow_name_owner_changes)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dbus/proxies.py", line 248, in init
self._named_service = conn.activate_name_owner(bus_name)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 180, in activate_name_owner
self.start_service_by_name(bus_name)
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py", line 278, in start_service_by_name
'su', (bus_name, flags)))
File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dbus/connection.py", line 651, in call_blocking
message, timeout)
dbus.exceptions.DBusException: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.UDisks was not provided by any .service files
Also, got this popup again:
@Wimpy It’s not working for me. The problem is the same as mentioned by @stevecook172001. The output from the terminal is here:
gksu imagewriter
proxy = bus.get_object(“org.freedesktop.UDisks”, “/org/freedesktop/UDisks”)
File “/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py”, line 241, in get_object
follow_name_owner_changes=follow_name_owner_changes)
File “/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dbus/proxies.py”, line 248, in init
self._named_service = conn.activate_name_owner(bus_name)
File “/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py”, line 180, in activate_name_owner
self.start_service_by_name(bus_name)
File “/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dbus/bus.py”, line 278, in start_service_by_name
‘su’, (bus_name, flags)))
File “/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/dbus/connection.py”, line 651, in call_blocking
message, timeout)
dbus.exceptions.DBusException: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.UDisks was not provided by any .service files
I'm going to temporarily re-install the working Mint deb of the imagewriter that I had on the system immediately prior to installing the Mate version and then run it from the terminal to compare the output:
The terminal output is:
stephen@stephen-desktop:~$ gksu imagewriter
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
Gtk-Message: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
Oh dear.........
My original Mint usb-imagewriter is now not working either. Though, it was working prior to uninstalling it and replacing with the Mate one. Which logically suggests that there must be something in the Mate imagewriter install that has changed some aspect of the system and that even after uninstalling the Mate usb- imagewriter and replacing it with the Mint one, that change has somehow remained in place such that it is now deliteriously affecting the Mint usb-imagewriter's functionality.
It got slightly futher with the mint usb imagewriter. This is the screenshot:
At which point it now just hangs.
Though, to reiterate, the Mint version worked prior to installing the Mate one. Any ideas how to fix?
For information, the version of the Mint usb imagewriter that I was using and that worked prior to the insrtallation of the mate one is:
usb-imagewriter_0.1.3-1linuxmint2_all.deb
One other thing I should add, that may help you identify the problem Martin;
When I first uninstalled the Mint imagewriter and installed the Mate imagewriter, and found it didn’t work. I reinstalled the Mint one and tested it and found it working. That was the point as which i made the initial post on this thread informing you the Mate one wasn’t working.
Then, when you indicated you had made some improvements, I uninstalled the Mint one again and re-installed the Mate one again. When i found it still didn’t work, I again uninstalled it and re-installed the Mint one again. It was at this point that the Mint one wouldn’t work anymore.
All of which suggests that it is the later changes you made to the Mate imagewriter that is causing the Mint one not to work anymore.
Update:
I reinstalled Ubuntu Mate 14.04 amd64 and immediately allowed it do a software update. I then immediately installed Mint USB imagewriter in the usual manner. But, I am now finding that the Mint image writer does not even now work on a fresh install. However, early yesterday, and certainly prior to that, when i installed it on Ubuntu Mate, it did work. Has anything been added to the software updates for Ubuntu Mate in the last 24 hours that may be causing Mint USB imagewriter to not work now?
As things currently stand, I now have no usb image writer that works on Ubuntu Mate.
I do have one other option and that is to install Virtualbox with an XP VM and install Pendrivelinux’s Universal USB Installer on that. Which is what I am going to do to keep me going for the moment.
No changes, that I’ve made. But no idea what might have been updated in the Ubuntu base. I’ll check later.