bmaptool

Bmaptool is a command-line tool used to flash disk images onto devices like SD cards or USB drives. It efficiently copies the data from a disk image file onto the target device by using raw block-level operations. It can be helpful for writing disk images of Linux distributions or other systems onto removable media.

Here are some features and functionalities of bmaptool:

1. Fast and efficient: Bmaptool uses the "block map" concept, which divides the disk image into small chunks called blocks. It then only writes the non-empty blocks onto the target device, making the process faster and more efficient.

2. Block-level reliability: By operating at the block level, bmaptool ensures that data is written accurately and reliably onto the target device. This reduces the risk of data corruption or incomplete writes.

3. Support for various disk image formats: Bmaptool can handle various disk image formats like raw images (.img), compressed images (.gz, .bz2), and other common image formats used in Linux distributions.

4. Metadata handling: Bmaptool can handle associated metadata in the image file, such as file permissions, symbolic links, and extended attributes.

5. Progress monitoring: During the image writing process, bmaptool provides a progress indicator, allowing you to monitor the status and estimated time remaining.

6. Flexibility: Bmaptool provides options to control various aspects of the flashing process, such as block size, parallelization, compression, and more.

Overall, bmaptool is a reliable and efficient tool for flashing disk images onto storage devices, making it a useful utility for system administrators, developers, or anyone who frequently works with disk images.