# Issues creating an image-file from a SD-card
**URL:** https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305
**Category:** General Discussion
**Created:** [15 July 2020 19:08 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305 "2020-07-15T19:08:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lelo](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Lelo)
#### Post date: [15 July 2020 19:08 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/1 "2020-07-15T19:08:13Z")
Hello.
I have succesfully converted Buster-based ARMbian-Images to DietPi using the very nice “Other device”-instruction:
An Orange Pi Zero and an Banana Pi M2+ are running nearly fine now.
But I have discovered two problems:
- Before starting the converted DiePi I made an Image-file with Win32DiskImager. As I only have 32GB SD-cards the
.IMG-file went 32GB big, but after zipping it the file size was below 2GB. Is there a way/tool to create an .IMG-file
which only uses the space really used on the SD-card (pure .IMG-file, no extra zipping)?
- When i wrote this .IMG-file to another SD-card with a capacity of also 32GB using W32DiskImager and balena Etcher
both programs stated that I would need a little more space on the target SD-card. How is that possible?
So: How do I create an .IMG-file with minimum-size and compatible to other SD-card capacities?
Cheers,
Lelo
---
### Author:  [@Joulinar](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Joulinar)
#### Post date: [15 July 2020 22:05 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/2 "2020-07-15T22:05:02Z")
For the image creation DietPi use following script.
```nohighlight
bash -c "$(curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MichaIng/DietPi/dev/.meta/dietpi-imager)"
```
1. install Debian base image
2. run the PREP script
3. shutdown that device
4. take out SD Card
5. mount SD Card on a different DietPi device or DietPi VM
6. run dietpi-imager script
7. Select Drive as source
8. select dd as cloning tool, DO NOT select Clonezilla installer, since this only works for x86\_64 target systems
9. select external usb drive
10. select rootFS
11. specify file name
12. be patient, creation of the image will take some time
---
### Author:  [@Lelo](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Lelo)
#### Post date: [16 July 2020 15:02 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/3 "2020-07-16T15:02:24Z")
Thanks for your response, but I don´t succeed with this:
I have a Windows-laptop with an “Linux Mint XFCE” installed in VirtaulBox. It looks like a USB3-Port is not supported in VB,
but connecting the carderader to a USB2 port shows me the SD-card mounted in Thunar-filemanager.
I opened a terminal, entered the command you stated (with & without sudo) and got this reponse ("–\>" = translation):
```nohighlight
sudo bash -c "$(curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MichaIng/DietPi/dev/.meta/dietpi-imager)"
[sudo] Passwort:
bash: Zeile 19: /boot/dietpi/func/dietpi-globals: Datei oder Verzeichnis nicht gefunden ---> File or directory not found
bash: Zeile 21: G_CHECK_ROOT_USER: Befehl nicht gefunden ---> command not found
bash: Zeile 22: G_CHECK_ROOTFS_RW: Befehl nicht gefunden ---> command not found
bash: Zeile 24: G_INIT: Befehl nicht gefunden ---> command not found
environment: Zeile 59: G_WHIP_MENU: Befehl nicht gefunden ---> command not found
```
Where did I go wrong?
---
### Author:  [@Joulinar](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Joulinar)
#### Post date: [16 July 2020 15:04 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/4 "2020-07-16T15:04:58Z")
You would need to have a virtual machine running DietPi 😉
Should not be a problem on Virtual Box 🕶
---
### Author:  [@Lelo](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Lelo)
#### Post date: [16 July 2020 19:36 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/5 "2020-07-16T19:36:54Z")
Ah, OK, I thought “some DD-scripting” would do well with any linux.
Worked with VBox and the Dietpi-PC-Image fine then. Thanx for your support. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@Joulinar](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Joulinar)
#### Post date: [17 July 2020 00:37 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/6 "2020-07-17T00:37:08Z")
yes, dietpi-imager is expecting a couple of DietPi functions (G\_) as you can see on your error message
---
### Author:  [@Krotosz6](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Krotosz6)
#### Post date: [11 September 2022 06:38 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/7 "2022-09-11T06:38:34Z")
Hello, I am a fresh fan of dietpi. I liked dietpi for its minimization while having intuitive and automatic configuration tools.
I would like to make a clean system image using dietpi-imager for OdroidU3 and I am following the instructions exactly. I encountered this error:
```auto
DietPi-Imager: mount /dev/sdb2 /tmp/DietPi-imager_mnt
enviroment: line 433: 1968177152 bytes (1.83GiB) + 4*1024 : syntax error in expression (error token is "bytes (1.83GiB) + 4*1024**2 ")
```
---
### Author:  [@Joulinar](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Joulinar)
#### Post date: [11 September 2022 07:00 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/8 "2022-09-11T07:00:27Z")
Welcome to our community.
Can you be a little bit more specific at which step you are facing the issue
---
### Author:  [@Krotosz6](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Krotosz6)
#### Post date: [11 September 2022 07:12 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/9 "2022-09-11T07:12:15Z")
I have a issue at the step 12.
> [@Joulinar](#):
>
> 1.
> - install Debian base image
>
> 2.
> - run the PREP script
>
> 3.
> - shutdown that device
>
> 4.
> - take out SD Card
>
> 5.
> - mount SD Card on a different DietPi device or DietPi VM
>
> 6.
> - run dietpi-imager script
>
> 7.
> - Select Drive as source
>
> 8.
> - select dd as cloning tool, DO NOT select Clonezilla installer, since this only works for x86\_64 target systems
>
> 9.
> - select external usb drive
>
> 10.
> - select rootFS
>
> 11.
> - specify file name
>
> 12.
> - be patient, creation of the image will take some time
---
### Author:  [@Krotosz6](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Krotosz6)
#### Post date: [13 September 2022 09:55 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/10 "2022-09-13T09:55:26Z")
Does anyone have any ideas what is going on?
I also have a question. Does DietPi-imager create an image of the system with all user data and loaded applications, or in a raw installer clean system?
---
### Author:  [@Jappe](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Jappe)
#### Post date: [13 September 2022 10:00 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/11 "2022-09-13T10:00:10Z")
It creates an image from everything on the drive, everything you installed and created.
If you want a clean fresh system, then download the image from the website 😉
---
### Author:  [@Joulinar](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Joulinar)
#### Post date: [13 September 2022 11:57 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/12 "2022-09-13T11:57:42Z")
> [@Krotosz6](#):
>
> Does DietPi-imager create an image of the system with all user data and loaded applications
Yes, it is a full image of the existing system.
---
### Author:  [@Krotosz6](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Krotosz6)
#### Post date: [15 September 2022 11:04 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/13 "2022-09-15T11:04:15Z")
I know but the problem is I have DietPi from Other System dietpi-installer from custom Debian Bullseye XFCE for Odroid U3 and I made some changed to good working on OdroidU3 and I would like to make clean fresh system for the others for this board. 😉 I made uncompressed image installer version on with `dd` on the console and now with instruction I would like to use dietpi-imager just fot the others. 😉
---
### Author:  [@Joulinar](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Joulinar)
#### Post date: [15 September 2022 12:20 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/14 "2022-09-15T12:20:04Z")
The imager script will not create a clean image. It will take the system as is. basically do the same as using `dd` command. What we do in addition is to shrink and compress the IMG file.
---
### Author:  [@mohammadazeemwani](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/mohammadazeemwani)
#### Post date: [12 November 2024 11:43 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/15 "2024-11-12T11:43:52Z")
suppose i worked on a diepi vmware installation
and make everything up to date
does it means that using dietpi-imager i can create .img from vmware
and burn it to sd card and it will work exactly on an actual Pi
---
### Author:  [@Jappe](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Jappe)
#### Post date: [12 November 2024 11:56 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/16 "2024-11-12T11:56:45Z")
No, the Pi uses ARM architecture while your VM is probably x86\_64.
It’s like trying to run a windows on a RPI.
---
### Author:  [@Joulinar](https://dietpi.com/forum/u/Joulinar)
#### Post date: [12 November 2024 14:27 UTC](https://dietpi.com/forum/t/issues-creating-an-image-file-from-a-sd-card/4305/17 "2024-11-12T14:27:20Z")
> [@Jappe](#):
>
> It’s like trying to run a windows on a RPI.
not the best example, [https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-install-windows-10-and-11-on-a-raspberry-pi-4-the-easy-way/](https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-install-windows-10-and-11-on-a-raspberry-pi-4-the-easy-way/) 🤣
But yes, you can’t use a VM image on a RPi due to different CPU architectures.