Shrinking SD card ISO
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2026 7:33 pm
Based almost entirely on this post found here:
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1174487 ... card-image
Create smaller version of pi
Two things:
dd
pishrink.sh
Burn an image to an SD card and dial it in appropriately.
Startup, add username and pw, autologin.
Open Add and Remove:
Change mirror locations
Activate AUR repository
Install updates
Wait.....
Reboot:
Install Telegram, Vivaldi, Kodi, Keepassxc, Timeshift, and any other packages wanted.
Reboot:
Dial in network access to shares.
In Nautilus under network right click and add location
Use smb://157.117.225.32 and name it Throomah
Open it and it will ask for credentials, check save password
Set up Kodi:
Install kodi-rpi
Run Kodi once then shut it down.
Download Kodi_transfer.tar.gz from NAS/coronary_programs/Kodi/MASTER_BACKUP
In terminal:
navigate to home/biffboffo/.kodi and delete all folders there
navigate to Documents folder and move tar.gz file to home/biffboffo/.kodi
Navigate to folder in Nautilus and extract contents there
move tar.gz file back to Documents
start kodi and smile.
Set up Telegram:
From menu, add it to the panel
Open Telegram
Activate it with QR code
Set background and theme
Set up Vivaldi:
From menu, add it to the panel
Open Vivaldi, follow prompts.
Activate sync
Change theme color in Themes/Edit
C/P color code from appropriate note
Set up Keepassxc:
From menu, add it to the panel
Open Keepassxc
Set theme, drop to background, lock on minimize, etc...
Open System Settings:
Change appearance as needed. Move will be discovered here.
Run Timeshift:
In Terminal run:
sudo timeshift-gtk <--funky that way
setup rysnc and manual creation
Create a backup.
Shut it down....
Remove SD card and insert it into adapter on Whitman. Be sure you have enough storage medium to receive it.
In terminal:
lsblk <--to get list of devices
umount /dev/xxxx <-- to unmount all partitions
sudo dd if=/dev/your_device of=/home/of/the/copy_name.img <-- last part names the file
No news is good news... wait.
Once finished... in terminal navigate to folder with .img file:
sudo pishrink.sh copy_name.img smaller_copy_name.img
Wait for a while....
Afterwards, you can compress the file into tar.gz format even smaller.
Balena or Etcher will write it to SD card from there.
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1174487 ... card-image
Create smaller version of pi
Two things:
dd
pishrink.sh
Burn an image to an SD card and dial it in appropriately.
Startup, add username and pw, autologin.
Open Add and Remove:
Change mirror locations
Activate AUR repository
Install updates
Wait.....
Reboot:
Install Telegram, Vivaldi, Kodi, Keepassxc, Timeshift, and any other packages wanted.
Reboot:
Dial in network access to shares.
In Nautilus under network right click and add location
Use smb://157.117.225.32 and name it Throomah
Open it and it will ask for credentials, check save password
Set up Kodi:
Install kodi-rpi
Run Kodi once then shut it down.
Download Kodi_transfer.tar.gz from NAS/coronary_programs/Kodi/MASTER_BACKUP
In terminal:
navigate to home/biffboffo/.kodi and delete all folders there
navigate to Documents folder and move tar.gz file to home/biffboffo/.kodi
Navigate to folder in Nautilus and extract contents there
move tar.gz file back to Documents
start kodi and smile.
Set up Telegram:
From menu, add it to the panel
Open Telegram
Activate it with QR code
Set background and theme
Set up Vivaldi:
From menu, add it to the panel
Open Vivaldi, follow prompts.
Activate sync
Change theme color in Themes/Edit
C/P color code from appropriate note
Set up Keepassxc:
From menu, add it to the panel
Open Keepassxc
Set theme, drop to background, lock on minimize, etc...
Open System Settings:
Change appearance as needed. Move will be discovered here.
Run Timeshift:
In Terminal run:
sudo timeshift-gtk <--funky that way
setup rysnc and manual creation
Create a backup.
Shut it down....
Remove SD card and insert it into adapter on Whitman. Be sure you have enough storage medium to receive it.
In terminal:
lsblk <--to get list of devices
umount /dev/xxxx <-- to unmount all partitions
sudo dd if=/dev/your_device of=/home/of/the/copy_name.img <-- last part names the file
No news is good news... wait.
Once finished... in terminal navigate to folder with .img file:
sudo pishrink.sh copy_name.img smaller_copy_name.img
Wait for a while....
Afterwards, you can compress the file into tar.gz format even smaller.
Balena or Etcher will write it to SD card from there.