How to write Raspbian OS image file to SD cards on Apple macOS / OS X

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You can write a Raspbian image file to an SD card on macOS / OS X using the command line tool “dd”. Here’s how you can do it:

  1. Insert the SD card into your Mac’s card reader.
  2. Determine the device name of the SD card by running the following command:
diskutil list
  1. Unmount the SD card if it is mounted by running the following command (replace “/dev/diskX” with the actual device name of the SD card):
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX
  1. Write the image to the SD card (replace “/path/to/raspbian.img” with the actual path to the Raspbian image file, and “/dev/rdiskX” with the actual device name of the SD card):
sudo dd if=/path/to/raspbian.img of=/dev/rdiskX bs=1m

Note: The dd command may take several minutes to complete. When it’s finished, you can eject the SD card and insert it into your Raspberry Pi.

Note: The use of ‘rdisk’ instead of ‘disk’ in the device name is important to ensure that the write is performed efficiently.

Note: It is important to be careful when using the “dd” command, as using the wrong device name may result in data loss.

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