motte 0.1.5

Under-construction Linux desktop USB formatter and ISO flasher.
Documentation

Motte

Under construction: Motte is an early Linux desktop USB formatter and ISO flasher. Verify every selected target carefully; flash and format actions are destructive.

Motte is a Rust desktop app for preparing USB drives and writing Linux install images.

It focuses on the Linux workflow for creating Arch Linux install media:

  • Detect removable USB drives with lsblk.
  • Flash .iso or .img files directly to a selected USB device.
  • Pick an ISO with the built-in Image Vault browser, paste a path, or drag a file into the window.
  • Wipe old signatures before flashing when requested.
  • Format a USB drive as FAT32, exFAT, or ext4 for normal storage.
  • Show guarded destructive-action confirmation, live logs, and write progress.
  • Includes local copied KnottDynamics SVG assets under assets/; the live UI uses a simpler line-art mark and monochrome procedural background.

Run

cargo run

Motte is designed as a fixed single-screen Linux media tool. The target list scrolls internally when needed, while the workflow, status, and submit controls remain visible.

Workflow

  1. Plug in a USB drive or SD card.
  2. Select the target drive card in Motte.
  3. Choose the USB or SD media profile on the action side.
  4. Choose Wipe + Flash, Flash ISO, or Format Drive.
  5. Select an Arch Linux ISO or .img card image with the Image Vault browser, paste a path, or drag an image into the window.
  6. Check the target acknowledgement box.
  7. Press Review + Submit and approve the final destructive-action dialog.

Interface

  • Blue-black Knott editor styling with cyan active states and restrained SD accents.
  • Packaged PNG logo asset displayed in the header.
  • Compact USB/SD media profile and operation mode strips.
  • Procedural black-and-white botany/fractal background animation.
  • Built-in Image Vault browser, avoiding native file-dialog crashes.
  • Persistent target sidebar, compact pre-flight state, and fixed action dock.
  • Structured actionable failure messages with technical output in a floating Details inspector.
  • Live write progress without turning the whole application into a scrolling page.

System Tools

Motte shells out to standard Linux tools for destructive operations:

  • lsblk
  • pkexec for privilege escalation, unless MOTTE_NO_PKEXEC=1 is set
  • udisksctl for desktop-aware unmounting when available
  • umount
  • wipefs
  • dd
  • parted
  • partprobe
  • udevadm
  • blockdev
  • mkfs.vfat or mkfs.fat, mkfs.exfat, or mkfs.ext4 for format mode

Install the matching packages for your distro. For Arch-based systems this usually means polkit, udisks2, util-linux, parted, dosfstools, exfatprogs, and e2fsprogs. In format mode, Motte attempts to install missing formatter packages through pacman, apt-get, dnf, or zypper after authorization.

Safety

Motte only lists disks that lsblk reports as removable, hotplug, or USB transport devices, including detected removable SD/MMC media. Every flash or format action still destroys data on the selected target. Verify the /dev/... path, check the target acknowledgement box, then approve the final confirmation dialog before starting.

Test

cargo fmt --check
cargo test
cargo check

Package

cargo package
cargo publish

Publishing requires a crates.io account and a configured Cargo registry token.

License

MIT