Can I install a pre-downloaded image of Raspbian Stretch with NOOBS Lite?

Question

I have downloaded Raspbian Strech OS and also I have downloaded NOOBS Lite. Can I install Raspbian Stretch through NOOBS Lite offline?

Answer 1

Yes you can download NOOBS_Lite (https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/NOOBS_lite_latest), unzip it and write all files and folders to the SD card. On the SD card there is a folder (directory) os. Create another folder (directory) Raspbian and/or Raspbian_Lite in the os folder (ie os/Raspbian and/or os/Raspbian_Lite). Download the following files from https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbian and/or https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbian_lite.

Raspbian.png, boot.tar.xz, os.json, partition_setup.sh, partitions.json, and root.tar.xz

And place then on the SD card in folder os/Raspbian and/or os/Raspbian_Lite. This SD card should boot up in the Raspberry Pi as mine did.

NOTE: The SD card should have only one DOS (VFAT) partition for the whole card. New SD cards 32GB or less are formatted this way.

Answer 2

Yes, if you create a custom OS version.

You can create a custom OS version for use with NOOBS, and include that with NOOBS Lite. This custom OS version will include the image, so no network connection will be required. The documentation specifies that a Linux PC is required to do this, and provides step-by-step commands that you may follow.

Note that if you don't do this, though, according to the NOOBS documentation:

The full version has Raspbian included, so it can be installed from the SD card while offline, whereas using NOOBS Lite or installing any other operating system requires an internet connection.

^{(emphasis mine)}

You will need the full version of NOOBS, not NOOBS Lite, if you wish to install Raspbian offine, unless you add a custom OS version to NOOBS Lite.