Gamoo

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Install guide

Download, check, write to a USB drive, boot, install. About half an hour, most of it waiting.

Installing can erase a disk. Gamoo OS is in beta. Back up your files first, and if you can, install on a spare disk or computer.

  1. 1

    Check your computer

    You need a 64-bit PC (x86_64) that boots in UEFI mode, and a USB drive of 8 GB or more — everything on it will be erased. The full list is on the download page.

  2. 2

    Download the image

    Get the ISO from the download page, from SourceForge or by torrent. Keep the SHA-256 shown there at hand for the next step.

  3. 3

    Verify the download

    Compare the file's checksum with the SHA-256 on the download page. If they don't match exactly, the file is corrupted or was tampered with — download it again and don't use it.

    Linux

    sha256sum gamoo-os-*.iso

    macOS

    shasum -a 256 gamoo-os-*.iso

    Windows (PowerShell)

    Get-FileHash .\gamoo-os-*.iso -Algorithm SHA256
  4. 4

    Write it to a USB drive

    Use a tool that writes disk images, such as balenaEtcher (Windows, macOS, Linux): pick the ISO, pick the USB drive, write. Copying the ISO file onto the drive like a regular file does not work.

    On Linux you can also use dd — double-check the device name, it overwrites whatever you point it at:

    sudo dd if=gamoo-os-*.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync
  5. 5

    Boot from the USB drive

    Plug the drive in and turn the PC on while pressing its boot menu key — usually F12, F11, F8 or Esc, depending on the brand. Pick the USB entry marked UEFI.

    If the drive doesn't show up, open the firmware settings (often F2 or Del) and make sure UEFI boot is enabled. Legacy BIOS boot is not supported by the installer.

  6. 6

    Install

    Follow the installer: language, keyboard, and the disk to install on. Pay attention to the disk step — choosing a whole disk erases everything on it.

  7. 7

    First boot

    Remove the USB drive and restart. On first boot you create your account. The first account is the computer's administrator — in a family, that's the parent.

    Each child gets a separate account of their own. A child account can't install software or change system settings; anything like that asks for the administrator's password. The rest of Guardian Mode is on the roadmap — see what's coming.

  8. 8

    Updates and rollback

    Gamoo OS updates as a whole: the new version is prepared in the background and takes over on the next restart. If an update causes trouble, the previous version is still in the boot menu — pick it and you're back where you were.

Stuck? Read the FAQ.