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This article will show you how to write image file to SD card on Windows and Mac. Secure Digital Card (SD Card) is mostly used to store files and media on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. However, in the new technological era, various Single-Board Computers (like Raspberry Pi) or Small Board Computers (SBC) are coming out, which increases the demand for SD Card because it can run a target OS from SD card for computing and programming, which is cheaper than desktop computers and laptops.
To make these tiny computers do more, you have to put an OS on them using an SD card. And most operating systems, including Raspbian, are sent out as.img files, which are a well-known file type for installing OSes. To use the features of macOS, you need to burn the.img file to an SD card and make it usable. Then, you can put the SD card into a Raspberry Pi or other similar small computer. We did a similar topic for Windows PC, which you may not know about. Now it’s time to show you how to burn an.img file to an SD card on a Mac, which is a little different from Windows.
How to write image file to SD card on Windows
- Download and install Win32DiskImager.
- Connect a micro SD card to your computer.
- Use a micro SD adaptor to connect the card to a SD card slot.
- Use a USB reader if your computer doesn’t have a built in one.
- Right click the Win32DiskImager icon and select Run as administrator.
- Click the icon in the Image file section and browse your hard drive to find a previously downloaded image.
- Select your SD card from the Device drop-down list.
- Click Write.
- Confirm the operation.
- Once the process is complete…
- Remove the micro SD card, pop it into your Pi and power it on.
How to write image file to SD card on Mac
- Download and start the Pi Filler.
- Browse your hard drive to find a previously downloaded image file.
- Connect a SD card to your MAC…
- Click Continue.
- Click Erase SD Card.
- Provide password and click OK to proceed.
- Click Quit and remove the SD card.
- Connect the card to your Rasbperry Pi and power it on.
FAQs
For an SD card to work on both Mac and Windows PC, it needs to be formatted with a file system that works with both Mac and Windows. It’s fine to change the SD card’s file system to either FAT32 or exFAT. FAT32 is better for compatibility, and exFAT doesn’t have a file size cap of 4GB.
There may be more than one reason. Your MacBook might have a broken card reader or SD card slot. It could also be a virus, a damaged SD card, or the wrong system settings. All of these things can cause an external drive to be hidden or an SD card to be unusable on a Mac.
Here is a basic list, broken down by use case, of the formats we suggest for your USB flash drive. If you will definitely only ever work with Macs and never with any other system: Use Journaled Mac OS Extended. If you need to move files between Macs and PCs that are bigger than 4 GB, use exFAT.